On Wednesday, December 24th the theme of myCourses was changed to be brought in line with RIT colors and design.

We outline the cosmetic changes to the theme and discuss fixes if you previously customized your course.

Index

Theme Differences

This is a cosmetic theme change only. No changes or updates have been made to the system or the tools.

Beyond the color changes, the only other adjustment to the theming is the top navigation bar. Based on user comments the course number and title have been added back to the navigation bar so it is clear which course you are working in throughout the course. To highlight the course title the main navigation has been shifted to the right.

myCourses new theme:

myCourses previous theme:

Adjusting a customized course

If you have previously customized your course, some aspects may not appear correctly under the new theming. You have two options to address this.

1. Make a new copy the the current default navigation bar and/or homepage and customize those again. If your changes were minor, this may be the easiest approach.
2. Edit your customized navigation bar and/or homepage. We will advise for some common issues in this document. Additional documentation on Customizing your course is offered below. If you would like to work with a staff member, please schedule a consultation using our request form at: http://www.rit.edu/tls/consult

Navigation Bar

Make a new copy of the current default and customize it

1. In your course go to Edit Course on the navigation bar.
2. Select Navigation & Themes.
3. Click the action menu arrow next to RIT Default, and select Copy.
   
4. Set the Active Navbar to RIT Default - Copy, or the name of the newest copy if you had others, then click Apply.
   
5. In the list of navigation bars click on the title RIT Default - Copy to edit it, or the name of the newest copy if you had others.
6. On the Edit Navbar screen you will be able to customize the links on your navigation bar.
   • Use the Add Links button to add new links to the chosen quadrant on the Navbar.
   • Point at a current link, then click the X that is shown to remove that link from the Navbar.
   • You may click and drag links to move them between quadrants.
7. Click Save and Close to complete your work.

Edit your customized navigation bar

In your course point at the course navigation bar and click on the pencil icon that is shown.

There are two common changes that need to be made to previously customized navigation bars.

Common Change 1 - Adjust the links

If your course navigation appears like this example, you will need to adjust your links.

The new link layout is:

You must have links in the top row to avoid the cut-off in the example image.

You may click and drag links to move them between quadrants.

It is recommend you follow the new layout, adding our removing your links as appropriate.

It is also recommended that you avoid using the quadrants to the left for links to keep in line with the new theming. Links will wrap adjust themselves and wrap appropriately to take the best advantage of the space available to them.

Remember to click Save or Save and Close to complete your work.

Common Change 2 - Add the course title

The course title has been removed from the Homepage and returned to the navigation bar in the new design.

If your course navigation appears like this example, with the blank space between the white line and the navigation links, you will need to add the course title to your navigation bar.

1. On the Edit Navbar page, click the section next to the Left Logo.
   
2. Under Title, select Custom.
   

3. Copy and paste the following in to the field beneath Custom:

   {OrgUnitName} ({OrgUnitCode})

4. Click < Hide Properties.

5. Click Save or Save and close to complete your work.

Customizing your course

Additional information on customizing the home page of your course can be found in the myCourses Help and Resources.

Homepage Customization