Navigate the dashboard
Understand the FuxamLMS sidebar and Home screen tabs — what each item opens and how role profiles shape what you see.
When you sign in to Fuxam Web, you land on your personal Home screen. The sidebar on the left is the primary compass: it reaches institution-wide tools from Fuxam Base and your own shortcuts, while the tabs across the top of Home organise course lists, programme views, and student administration. Learning this layout once saves time every day for the rest of the term.
This page describes structure — what exists and what it opens. To change what appears on the Dashboard tab, see Customise your home dashboard. To jump into a course without browsing My Courses, see Pin courses.
Why it matters
Universities run on dozens of parallel obligations — lectures, deadlines, announcements, elective choices, grade checks. Fuxam centralises those streams behind a small set of persistent navigation points. If you know where Calendar lives versus where My Courses lives, you spend less cognitive effort hunting and more on the actual task.
The interface also adapts to your role. A tab or sidebar item that a colleague sees may be hidden for you, not because the feature is absent institution-wide, but because your role profile or your institution’s enabled features do not include it. Recognising that pattern prevents confusion during onboarding.
How this fits
The sidebar and Home tabs are the front door to FuxamLMS:
- Institution-wide items (Calendar, Chat, Info Hub, and optionally Emails and Tasks) mirror capabilities documented under Fuxam Base. The LMS also exposes course-scoped versions through Calendar and attendance and Communication.
- Home tabs route students toward Student home workflows — curriculum, booking, module election, and the Management tab.
- Pinned Courses feed directly into Courses.
Key concepts
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Sidebar | Left-hand navigation; collapsible to save screen space. |
| Home | Your personal landing area with multiple tabs. |
| Role profile | Named permission set controlling sidebar and tab visibility. |
| Institution features | Product modules your institution has licensed and enabled, such as Chat or Modules and Curricula. |
| Pinned Courses | Personal sidebar section listing courses you have pinned. |
The sidebar
The sidebar contains the following items:
| Item | What it opens |
|---|---|
| Home | Your personal home screen with widgets and tabs |
| Calendar | Your institution-wide calendar showing all your appointments |
| Chat | Global messaging across all your courses and direct conversations |
| Info Hub | Announcements and posts from your institution |
| Emails | Compose and manage emails sent through Fuxam |
| Tasks | Your personal task list |
Calendar and Chat are only shown when your institution has those features enabled.
Pinned courses
Below the main navigation items, the sidebar shows a collapsible Pinned Courses section listing any courses you have pinned. This lets you jump directly to a course without going through the home screen. Full instructions are in Pin courses.
The home screen tabs
When you open Home, you see a set of tabs across the top. The tabs available to you depend on your role profile and your institution’s feature settings:
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | Your personalised widget grid |
| My Courses | All courses you are enrolled in or teaching |
| Curriculum | Your study programme and its required modules |
| Bundles | Course bundles you have access to |
| Management | Attendance, time tracking, documents, grades, and more |
| Module Catalog | Browse and elect modules from your curriculum |
What to do on each tab
| Tab | Typical next step |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | Scan widgets; customise via Customise your home dashboard |
| My Courses | Open a course — see Open a course |
| Curriculum | Review programme progress — see View your curriculum |
| Bundles | Access grouped courses — see Course bundles |
| Management | Personal records — see Management tab |
| Module Catalog | Elect modules — see Module Catalog |
Best practices
- Anchor on Home, branch via sidebar. Start from Dashboard for today’s agenda and tasks; use Calendar when you need the full institutional schedule.
- Learn one Base shortcut. If announcements matter to you, make Info Hub a habit; if coordination matters, prioritise Chat. Deeper behaviour is covered in Communication.
- Do not assume symmetry. Teachers often live in My Courses and pinned lists; students split time between Curriculum, Module Catalog, and Management. Compare notes with peers in the same role, not a different one.
- Re-check after role changes. A promotion, new committee role, or module-organizer assignment can unlock Emails, Tasks, or admin tabs without any UI tour.
Common pitfalls
| Situation | What is usually happening |
|---|---|
| I cannot see Curriculum or Module Catalog | The Modules & Curricula feature or the Module Catalog institution setting is not enabled for you. |
| Emails or Tasks is missing | Your role profile lacks the relevant permission. |
| Calendar or Chat is missing | The institution has not enabled that Base feature. |
| A course appears in My Courses but not in the sidebar | Only pinned courses appear under Pinned Courses; enrollments are listed on the My Courses tab until you pin them. |
FAQ
Is the sidebar the same in every Fuxam module?
Where do I find course-specific chat or calendar?
Institution-wide Chat and Calendar sidebar items show aggregated views. Inside a course, use that course’s own tabs — see Communication and Calendar and attendance.
Can an administrator change my Dashboard layout?
No. Widget layout is personal to your account. Administrators control which widgets are available in the Widget Store and which tabs appear for your role.