An updated navigation system is coming in January 2026. This will make it easier to move around the Ultra system and between sites, and makes better use of screen space.

System-level changes

Only small changes to system-level navigation:

• more compact navigation menu
• Sign out moved to the bottom of the screen
• profile avatar shown in the navigation menu (if you have set one)

Site-level changes (Courses & Communities)

Some changes to how site looks, and extra features to make navigation easier:

• Sites open full-width, rather than as an overlaid panel. Return to the general Ultra Home page using the Home icon.
• Use the new Course switcher feature to quickly move between your recent sites.
• The banner image becomes full width, with the site name overlaid. This frees up more screen space for content.
• Top menu and header bars changes from white to a dark colour.

The main site navigation bar appears on the left hand side on a larger screen, or can be accessed through the three lines icon in the top left on a smaller screen.

Use the menu to navigate between:

• Your profile: manage your notification settings, avatar and personal information
• Home: landing page with key system updates and departmental links
• Activity: summary of activity collated across all your sites
• Courses: access your module and other academic-related sites
• Communities: access your non-academic sites, such as departmental noticeboards. If you are not enrolled on any Community sites, this option will not appear.
• Calendar: collates Due Dates across all your sites. Does not integrate with the Timetable or other UoY systems.
• Messages: summary of Messages (announcements for specific students) in your sites. These are not used much, and you may not see this item in your menu.
• Marks: summary of assessments and marks received across your sites
• Tools: access to some LTIs - it's not likely you'll need this page.

Your current page is highlighted in the menu.

When you log into Ultra, you will land on the Home page.

The Home page contains:

• Communications from the VLE support team:
  • trending topics (eg. assessment guides before CAP)
  • key support links (getting help, accessibility etc.)
  • details of any system issues
• Department-specific links: eg. department website, handbooks, Library Subject Guide, careers informatiom

Within a site, click the purple cross icon in the top left of the page panel to return to the Home page.

From early January 2026, sites will open as full-width pages. Click the Home icon to return to the Home page.

Courses

This lists all your module sites and other academic-related sites such as the Academic Integrity Tutorial and Turnitin Tutorial.

You can customise this page in a number of ways:

1. Layout: select list or grid layout (grid layout contains image thumbnails)

2. Search courses by module/site name or keyword

3. Terms: select a specific academic year

4. Filters: various course types (which aren't used at UoY)

5. Items per page: Show 25, 50 or 100 sites per page

6. Favourite your modules: click the star icon to pin to the top of the default all sites list and any applicable search/filter results.

Communities

This lists any non-academic sites, like student noticeboard or departmental careers sites. The page works in the same way as the Courses page.

Trouble-shooting access issues

A site appears on your Courses page but it's marked as Closed: the lecturer hasn't made the site available for students yet. Sites are usually opened by the start of the first week of the semester, but if you can't access after that, let your lecturer know.

A site is missing from your Courses page: this can happen in various situations. If:

• there are filters on your Courses page: filters may not include this site. To fix it, reset filters and search again.
• the site appears for other students on the module but not for you: this is likely an enrollment issue. To fix it, contact your lecturer or departmental administrators.
• the site doesn't appear for any students on the module: there may not be a VLE site for that module, or it may be an enrollment issue. To fix it, contact your lecturer or departmental administrators.

The image below shows the new site navigation coming in January 2026:

Within sites, you'll navigate between parts of the site using the top menu. The menu tabs are:

• Content: the site homepage, where all your module content is found. This also shows the module teaching staff.
• Calendar: Due Dates for assessments within the site. Note! This does not integrate with the Timetable or other UoY systems.
• Announcements: updates from module staff.
• Discussions: any discussions in the site, including any just for your specific group.
• Gradebook: collates all assessments in the site.
• Groups: details of any groups you are in for collaborative work.

The top menu banner also includes:

• Home: to close the site and return to the Home page (from January 2026).
• Courses: to move between recently-visited course sites, or to go to the Courses page (from January 2026).

Use the right browser

Use either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to make sure the site works well.

Don't use Safari.

Beware session timeouts!

If pages aren't loading or functions stop working, log out and log back in.

Still having problems? See our Troubleshooting guide for more things to try: