Quercus (Canvas) Course Navigation allows instructors to organize the links displayed in their course menu. Instructors can reorder, show, or hide navigation items to help students locate course materials, activities, and information.
Instructors can also add custom links to frequently used resources, including external websites or other Quercus pages.
Organizing Course Navigation
A clear course navigation menu helps students find the information and activities they need without navigating through unnecessary links.
When organizing your course menu, consider:
- Prioritizing frequently used areas: Place important links, such as Modules, Announcements, or Assignments, where students can find them easily.
- Reducing unnecessary links: Hide areas students do not need to access directly. For example, Files can remain hidden while instructors share materials through Modules or Pages, and People can remain hidden when students do not need access to the course roster.
- Maintaining instructor access: Standard Canvas navigation links, such as Files, People, Pages, and Assignments, remain accessible to instructors even when hidden or disabled for students. However, some external tools, including the UT Advanced Group Tool and Course Analytics, may need to be enabled in Course Navigation for authorized teaching staff to access them.
- Maintaining consistency: Use a predictable navigation structure throughout the course.
- Checking the student experience: Use Student View to confirm which links students can see and access.
Reordering and Hiding Navigation Links
To manage your course navigation:
- Open your Quercus course.
- Select Settings from the course navigation menu.
- Open the Navigation tab.
- Reorder links by dragging them into your preferred order. Alternatively, use the options menu beside a link to move it.
- To hide a link, select Disable from its options menu or drag it into the hidden navigation items area.
- To show a hidden link, select Enable or move it into the visible navigation items area.
- Select Save.
The visible navigation links appear in the order you specify.
Understanding link visibility: A crossed-out eye icon beside a navigation item indicates that the link is not visible to students. This may be because the link has been disabled or the associated course area has no published content.
Some external tools do not display the crossed-out eye icon. For example, Course Analytics and the UT Advanced Group Tool may be available only to authorized teaching staff even when their navigation links are enabled.
Use Student View to confirm which navigation links students can see. The instructor’s navigation menu does not necessarily reflect the student experience.
Hiding a navigation link does not necessarily prevent students from accessing its content through another course area. If access restrictions are required, review the relevant content availability and permissions settings.
For detailed instructions, consult Canvas’s How do I manage Course Navigation links?
Adding Custom Links to Course Navigation
Custom links can provide direct access to frequently used resources, such as course readings, external websites, or specific Quercus pages.
The Redirect Tool allows instructors to add custom links to the course navigation menu.
To add a custom link using the Redirect Tool:
- Open your Quercus course and select Settings.
- Open the Apps tab.
- Locate and select Redirect Tool.
- Select + Add App.
- Enter a descriptive Name for the link. This name will appear in the course navigation menu.
- Enter the URL of the resource.
- For external websites, select Force open in new tab.
- Select Show in Course Navigation.
- Select Add App.
The custom link will appear in your course navigation menu. You may need to refresh the page before it becomes visible.
To change its position, return to Settings > Navigation, move the link to the desired location, and select Save.
Important: Review the link name and URL carefully before adding a custom link. Redirect Tool links cannot be edited or deleted through the course navigation menu after creation, although they can be hidden.
Custom links are most useful for resources students need to access regularly. For occasional links, consider adding them directly to Modules or course content using the Rich Content Editor.
Reviewing Navigation from the Student Perspective
After organizing your course navigation, use Student View to check how the menu appears to students.
Review whether:
- Students can locate important course materials and activities.
- Navigation labels are clear and meaningful.
- Links lead to the intended content.
- Hidden or unpublished course areas are not unintentionally presented as available.
- External resources open and display as expected.
Student View does not fully reproduce access to every external tool or integration. Additional testing may be needed for those resources.
For detailed instructions, consult Quercus (Canvas) Student View.