How to: Add other contact details to Canvas

Why would I add extra contact details to Canvas?

Canvas allows you to add extra contact details to your account in order to receive notifications from the system. You may want to do this if you have another email address that you access more frequently than your RMIT email, or you may want to add your mobile phone number for immediate important alerts. Please see How to: Set notification preferences to learn how to control what notifications are received by each of your contact points.

How do I add additional contact details to Canvas?

Follow the printable instructions below or watch the screencast. Please note students are unable to see your additional contact details, they are simply used by the system to set alerts. If you wish to add contact details that students can see, you must update the Teaching team information page in the Orientation module.

Printable instructions: Add other contact details (.pdf)

For further information:

Canvas Doc: How do I add contact methods to receive Canvas notifications as an instructor?
Canvas Doc: How do I add an additional email address as a contact method in Canvas as an instructor?
Canvas Doc: How do I add a text (SMS) contact method in Canvas as an instructor?
Canvas Doc: How do I set my Canvas notification preferences as an instructor?

Students are unable to see your additional contact details, they are simply used by the system to set alerts. If you wish to add contact details that students can see, you must update the Teaching team information page in the Orientation module.
Control what notification you receive to each contact point by adjusting the Notification Settings. Please see How to: set notification preferences for more information.
Notifications cannot be set per course, or by access role. Any settings you choose will apply to all courses you have access to in Canvas.

FAQs

I don’t think students received the welcome announcement. What do i do?

If your welcome announcement was created prior to your course being published and it was NOT set to delayed posting, then your students will not have received an email about the announcement.

If this is the case, you can resend the announcement by editing it, selecting delayed posting and set the date and time for some time in the future. Note that your course must be published for the notification to be sent out.

Announcements > Open desired announcement > Edit > Delay posting > set date and time > Save

How can I tell whether the students received my announcement?

In your account notification settings there is an option to be notified immediately of an announcement created by you. Make sure that option is selected, and the system will send you the same email copy that the students get.

Account > Notifications > Announcements created by you

Using Gmail, how can I set up a filter that manages the influx of Canvas notifications?

Put a tick in the checkbox next to an example of the message you want to filter
Click the More dropdown button on the top menu bar
Select Filter messages like these
You need to choose text in the subject line or the body of the email that is specific to that particular type of message. So for Message notifications, for example, adding the following into the Subject line field and replacing [course name] with your actual course name will select only the notifications of new messages from that particular course.
Add into Subject field: ([course name]) just sent you a message
Click Create filter with this search
Select the options you wish to apply.
Recommendation: select Apply the label and create a descriptive label for messages coming from that course.
Create filter