[ARCHIVED] Linking to a Redirect App on the Course Menu within a Page

[mcordes1]

I created a Redirect App and placed the link on the Course Menu. Within a page, I want to link to the Redirect since it is on the Course Navigation; however, when I am on the page and select Course Link and Course Navigation I can only select the native Canvas Navigation items (Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes, Modules, etc.). Does anyone know how to link to a Redirect listed on the Course Menu within a page?

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hi @debbie_ellis ...

In case you want to see the Guides that describe what @Ron_Bowman referred to, they are here:

• How do I use the Canvas App Center in a course? - Instructure Community
• How do I add an external app in a course? - Instructure Community

Also, this is the Redirect Tool information page on the EduAppCenter website.

I hope this will be of help to you.

[Chris_Hofer]

Hello there, @mcordes1 ...

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning for wanting to add a link to the Redirect app on a content page in your course (if I am understanding your question correctly).  I just tested this in my own sandbox course.  I added the Redirect app to my course navigation.  I set it to point to Google.com.  So, my question to you would be ... if you are setting your own Redirect to an external website like Google, on the page where you want to link to the Redirect app...why not just link to the actual website instead?  It would save students another click of the mouse.  I'd be curious to know the reasons why for wanting to use the Redirect app in this way so I have a better understanding on things.

I hope this will help a bit...looking forward to hearing back from you soon.  Take care...be well.

[Ron_Bowman]

@mcordes1 

I agree with @Chris_Hofer  I don't see why you would want to do that.

However, if you want the link to it, just go to the navigation link, right click on it and select copy link location.

Use that url as the the link for whatever you are doing on the page.

[Chris_Hofer]

@Ron_Bowman ...

Correct...I forgot to include instructions for how to find the link to the Redirect course navigation button, so thanks for providing that clarification.  @mcordes1 would need to change this link every time the course content was imported into a new course shell though...as the CourseID number (ex: https://SchoolName.instructure.com/courses/12345) would always change.

[debbie_ellis]

Where would I find the Redirect app?

[Ron_Bowman]

@debbie_ellis 

Click on the settings navigation link

Clikc on the Apps link in the list at the top

type redirect in the filter by name box.

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hi @debbie_ellis ...

In case you want to see the Guides that describe what @Ron_Bowman referred to, they are here:

• How do I use the Canvas App Center in a course? - Instructure Community
• How do I add an external app in a course? - Instructure Community

Also, this is the Redirect Tool information page on the EduAppCenter website.

I hope this will be of help to you.

[mcordes1]

Thank you so much for replying! We decided to move in another direction; however, the intention of trying to link to the Redirect app through course navigation and not just the URL that the Redirect app points to was to make the Redirect app evergreen in the course. 

For example, if I titled the Redirect app Bookstore and linked this app to the URL for the current Bookstore, I could reference the Redirect app on a page that explains how to locate the course material.  If the Bookstore URL ever changed, I could simply update the Redirect app URL and not have to update the course link to the Redirect app on the pages in the course. This way the source of truth for the URL is always the Redirect app and I would have to remember how many places I had referenced this in the course. 

Thanks again for the conversation!  

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hello there, @mcordes1 ...

Thank you for coming back to provide a reply.  I can totally see where the scenario you described would be beneficial.  It's always a bit of a chore when you have to update one link several places...especially if you don't always remember where that link existed on your pages.  I'm not sure that the Redirect Tool was really meant to be used in that way, though I think that @Ron_Bowman's suggestion of grabbing the URL from your "Bookstore" Redirect Tool button may be a good work-around.  The only thing you'd have to keep in mind, though, is that when you copy the content from one course to another, you're going to have to make sure that the link points to the new course URL (as I mentioned in my earlier post).

What would you think of maybe creating a page in your course that contains helpful resources for your students...including a link to the Bookstore?  Or, another idea would be to create a module at the top of your "Modules" page called "Resources"...and just include a link to the Bookstore as an item within the module.  That way, it's one link, and your students know to visit the top of the "Modules" page whenever they need to access the link to your Bookstore.   How do I add an external URL as a module item? - Instructure Community  Just thought I'd throw that suggestion out there for you to consider, too.

Hope this helps a bit.

[mcordes1]

At our institution, we have a template that all courses use to build, and then, the courses are copied out for the live courses.  Unfortunately, we wouldn't be able to update that link for every course. This is why we ended up going in a different direction, but I really appreciate the discourse and ideas! 

Thanks!