How do I create a site using a template?

Template sites are curated collections of tools and content that can work together to enhance teaching, learning, and collaboration.  You may use a template to help structure content and activities for your course or project.

Templates for collaboration sites:

  • Basic Collaboration: Includes standard tools for communication and collaboration, such as Announcements, Discussions, and Resources.
  • Basic WordPress: Includes the tools necessary to create a WordPress site and to upload and embed media on it.

Templates for course sites:

  • Basic Course: Includes standard tools for essential course activities, such as Announcements, Gradebook, Resources, and Roster.
  • Activities Grid: Includes a customizable course schedule where you can structure content and activities in your site, and link to resources, assignments, and assessments so students can access them easily from a single page.
  • Activities Menu: Includes customizable course modules for activities, which you can use to simplify the presentation of your content and direct your students to particular materials and activities. Modules for each week, session, subject, or other units, can be progressively released to students throughout the semester to guide their coursework.
  • Activities Week-by-Week: Similar to the Activities Menu, this template automatically creates modules for each week in the semester. These modules are created as subpages in Lessons (15 subpages), rather than pages. The weekly subpages can include course readings, links, activities, external tools, and other content. Weekly subpages can be progressively released to students throughout the semester.
  • School-Specific Templates: Include tools and content designed for courses in specific schools, such as Virginia Engineering Online courses offered through the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and courses offered through the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

Tip: Site Builder also includes other options for creating a site:

  • Quick Guide (available for course sites only) - Answer questions about your course design, materials, and requirements and receive customized tool recommendations based on your responses.
  • From Scratch - Review the available tools and select the choices best suited for your needs to create a fully customized site.
  • From Previous Site - Copy tools and content from another site you created.

Video Guide

Step-by-Step Instructions

Go to Home.

When you first log into UVACollab, you are placed in your Home site.  If you are viewing another UVACollab site, select the Home tab in the favorites bar at the top of the screen, or in your My Sites list, to access it.

Select Site Builder.

Select Site Builder from the tool menu in your Home site.

Select the site type.

Select the Get Started button for the type of site you are creating:

  1. Collaboration: A collaboration site is used to support project teams, research groups, and other collaborative work.
  2. Course: A course site is an online space for a course. Each course site is associated with an academic term, and instructors who are assigned to rosters in the Student Information System (SIS) may add the rosters to their sites.

Enter basic information.

When you create a course site, select an academic term and roster(s). If you are creating a collaboration site, skip to the step about entering the title.

For a course site, select an academic term and roster(s).

If you are creating a course site:

  1. Select the academic term, e.g., 2022 Spring. If you are listed as an instructor or teaching assistant in the Student Information System (SIS), any rosters that are assigned to you for the selected term will be displayed.
  2. To add multiple sections of a course to a single site, select the Add all sections toggle.
  3. To add individual rosters to the site, select the Add roster toggle for each roster.
  4. To remove a group of selected sections, select the Added all toggle.
  5. To remove a selected roster, select the Added toggle.

Enter or review the name of the site, then continue.

  1. Whether you will need to enter a site title depends on the type of site you are creating:
    • Course site:
      • If you selected a single course roster, or several sections of the same course, the name of your course will be automatically filled with the name of the course in SIS. You may edit this title if desired.
      • If you did not select a roster to add to the site, or if you selected several rosters with different course names in SIS, enter a meaningful name for your course in the box provided.
    • Collaboration site: Enter the name of the collaboration site.
  2. Select Continue.

Choose Select Template.

Use the Select Template button to display the available options.

Select the desired template.

Use the Select button to choose a specific template.

Tip: You may select More Info to learn about a template.

Review the tools included in the template.

Site Builder will display the tools that are included in the template by default.

  1. If you do not want to include one of these tools in your site, select the Remove this tool (X) button.
  2. Select More Info to view a description of the tool.

Confirm the selected tools and create the site.

  1. Select Save Draft to create your site as an unpublished site.
  2. Select Publish Site to give your participants access as soon as the site has been created.

You will be placed in your new site.

After the site creation process is complete, you will be placed in your newly created site.

Note: If you saved your site as a draft, an Unpublished Site banner will appear at the top of each page in your site.