Adjusting your profile, settings, and notifications

In this section, we will address how to set up your Canvas profile, adjust your general account settings, and personalize your notification settings. If you are using an institutional account, the ability to adjust your profile, settings, and notifications may be limited or different than described in this section. While your individual situation may vary, let's start by covering how to set up your Canvas profile, which other users will see as they interact with you on Canvas.

Adjusting your profile

Your Canvas profile includes your profile picture, biography, and website links. To begin, perform the following steps:

1. Click on your name in the top-right menu of the dashboard.
2. This will bring you to your profile page. Your profile page is a part of your account settings, which are laid out similarly to the way Canvas courses are laid out.

Your other account settings appear on the left-side menu as shown in the following screenshot, but for now, let's update your profile picture:

Adding a profile picture

Including a photo of yourself makes your presence on Canvas immediately more relatable and inviting. When participants can see a photo of someone who is writing to them or is posting on discussion boards, the Canvas community becomes more vibrant, personalized, and engaging. To add or change your profile picture, perform the following steps:

1. Click on the gray outline of a person next to your name on your profile page. Notice that when you hover your mouse over this gray image, an icon appears in the bottom-right part of the image that looks like a pencil. This pencil icon is the symbol for editing something within Canvas, so in most situations, you can click on the pencil icon wherever you see it in order to edit what you're looking at. In the following screenshot, you see an example of the gray outline as well as the editing pencil icon seen throughout Canvas:
2. After you click on the pencil icon, a pop-up window will appear with three options along the top side: Upload a Picture, Take a Picture, and From Gravatar.
3. To upload a photo from your computer, click on Upload a Picture and then click on choose a picture below it.
4. From there, another pop-up window will appear, which will allow you to select the image you would like to use as your profile picture from your computer. Once you have found the picture on your computer, click on the file and then click on Open.
5. Next, you can crop the picture into a square using the cropping tools that appear. After you have cropped your photo, click on Save and your picture will be updated. The following screenshot displays the cropping tools as well as the Save button:
6. If you click on Take a Picture at the top of the pop-up window, your webcam will open and you will be able to take a new photo to use as your profile picture.
7. If you have a Gravatar account (a separate account from Canvas), you can click on From Gravatar to select your profile picture from your Gravatar account.
8. After you click on the Save button, the profile picture window will close and you will see that the image you selected has replaced the default gray outline profile picture as displayed in the following screenshot:

Editing your profile

To edit what other Canvas users can see about you, you can adjust your name, title, and bio, as well as add links to your personal or professional websites. As with your profile picture, any information you add to your Canvas profile will help participants gain a better understanding of who you are as a person. Within a fully online learning environment, establishing personal connections with participants can be very important in building a productive and comfortable learning community. To add information to your profile, perform the following steps:

1. Begin on your profile page and click on Edit Profile on the right side of the screen.
2. This will open editing boxes for your Name, Title, Bio, and Links fields. You can click on each editing box to adjust or add content.
3. When you are finished editing, click on Save Profile at the bottom of the screen before moving on, as shown in the following screenshot:

Once you have saved your updates, they will be visible to other Canvas users when they view your profile. You may notice a message under the Ways to Contact Me section that mentions you have not registered any services. Next, we will learn how to adjust your account settings and add alternative forms of contact including e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers, or registered services such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype, or LinkedIn.

Adjusting your account settings

To adjust your account settings such as your display name, contact information, language, time zone, and integrated web services, click on the Settings link in the top-right menu:

You can also access your settings by clicking on the Settings link on the left-side menu of your profile page. Let's begin by adjusting your contact information so anything you receive from Canvas goes to an address, device, or program that you check frequently.

Adding a new e-mail address

On your Settings page, the Ways to Contact section on the right-side menu includes the e-mail address with which you have registered and the option to add more e-mail addresses as well as more methods of contact. To add an e-mail address, perform the following steps:

1. Click on the Add Email Address link.
2. A pop-up window will appear that will let you add as many alternate e-mail addresses as you would like, with the option of signing in to Canvas with any of them.
3. If you would like to sign in to Canvas using a new e-mail, type in the new e-mail address, check the box next to I want to log in to Canvas using this email address, and then click on Register Email in the bottom-right corner of the pop-up window, as shown in the following screenshot:

Once you click on Register Email, the pop-up window will close and you can continue editing your contact information.

Adding a cell phone number for SMS text notifications

One of the unique features of Canvas is the ability to receive notifications from Canvas directly to your cell phone. Depending on your desired level of availability to participants and how frequently you would like to monitor activity with your courses, you may choose to add your cell phone number and receive notifications via SMS texts. For example, this feature might be a wise option if you consistently check your cell phone but rarely check your e-mail. To add your cell phone number in order to receive SMS text message notifications, perform the following steps:

1. Click on Add Contact Method under the Ways to Contact section on the right-side menu of the Settings page.
2. In the pop-up window, enter your cell phone number and select your provider. The SMS e-mail address should automatically appear once you select your provider. Note that Canvas SMS services are currently geared toward US providers.
3. Once you have entered your number and selected your provider, click on Register SMS in the bottom-right corner of the pop-up window, as shown in the following screenshot:
4. You will then see a new pop-up window (next screenshot) appear in your browser that asks for a confirmation code. You should receive an SMS text on your cell phone with the confirmation code, which you should then enter into the pop-up window on your screen and click on Confirm. If you do not receive an SMS text with a confirmation number and you entered your phone number correctly, click on the Re-Send Confirmation link in the pop-up window. If you entered your number incorrectly, close the pop-up window and begin the process again by clicking on Add Contact Method under the Ways to Contact section on the right-side menu of the Settings page:
5. Once you have confirmed your cell phone number, you will be able to receive notifications via text messages.

Editing your general settings

As with many other online services you may have encountered, configuring the general settings of your Canvas...