Tables/column text

DaniPowers

When creating a table to create columns on a page, is there a way to default the columns that have text in them to automatically start at the top vs the middle, so that you don't have to go back in and figure out code to populate something to show a two column page that reads correctly?

Chris_Hofer

Hi @DaniPowers ...

What is the purpose of using tables in your page design?  Is it strictly for layout purposes?  If so, tables are meant to hold data...and not be used so much for page design.  There are accessibility that arise from using tables in this way.  So, if possible, you should find other ways to present your material to your students.

Do you know if your school has purchased DesignPLUS / Design Tools from Cidi Labs?  You may have heard of this software, but it integrates with Canvas and provides a wide variety of tools to design your course pages.  One of the very new features of DesignPLUS is columns.  The new columns tool lets you add two or more columns to a page (and yes, the cursor starts at the top of each column) where you can add your information.  This is different than using tables.  (For example, you could create two columns to use as a comparison between two things.)

On this page, there's a video called "Stories of Heroism", and if you go to about the 49:30 mark, that's where Kenneth will start talking about the new columns tool that is part of the DesignPLUS sidebar.

Webinars | Cidi Labs

If you don't have the Cidi Labs product, I did find a posting here in the Community that might be a good alternative for you...though you may need to know a bit of HTML coding.  I don't know if the code snippets in this link will still work ... as I have not tested them in my own sandbox course, but you might want to test it out in your own sandbox course:

Columns Without Tables: code-snippet - Instructure Community - 243013 (canvaslms.com)

I hope that some of this will be of helpful for you.  Sing out if you have any questions about this...thanks!