How do I create a site from scratch?

When you create a site from scratch in Site Builder, you are presented with the full suite of tools to tailor the toolset to your specific needs.

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 Template - Create a site based on a template—a suite of tools and content assembled to work together to enhance collaboration, teaching, and learning.
  • 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.

Select the From Scratch option.

Use the Select Your Tools button to access the list of available tools.

Search, sort, and filter tools.

  1. Enter the name of a tool or keyword in the Search tools box.
  2. By default, tools are sorted in Alphabetical order from A-Z.  You can change the order as follows:
    • Select Popularity to sort tools in order of most- to least-used.
    • Select the Alphabetical button to change the order from A-Z to Z-A, or vice versa.
  3. To display only tools from a specific category, e.g., Administration, select the name of the category from the Filter menu.
  4. By default, the tools are displayed as cards (Grid view).  To change the display from Grid to List view, select the appropriate View icon.

View the available tools.

Select the More Info button for a tool to display a description of the tool, and an image gallery with example images of the tool in use in a site.

Learn more about a tool.

In the information window for a tool:

  1. Select the Close information (X) button to return to the list of available tools.
  2. Select the Add tool toggle to add the tool to your site.
  3. Under the Preview heading, an image gallery displays.  To scroll through the available images, hover your mouse over an image and select one of the arrow (> or <) icons that appear, or select one of the View slide (dot) icons underneath the image gallery.

Add your desired tools.

  1. Select the Add tool toggle for each tool to add to your site.
  2. To remove a selected tool, select the Added toggle.

Review toolset.

When you are done adding tools, select Review Toolset.

Tip: The Review Toolset button includes the number of tools you have selected to add in parentheses, e.g., (6 Tools).

Review the selected tools.

Site Builder will display your selected tools.

  1. If you decide not 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.