Navigate 3.1.2 Creation and Investigation Into Courses

Of the free software programs for creating a course shell I chose Canvas.  The reason I chose this one is that I really liked the interface, found it well organized, simple, and pleasant to look at.  I also really like Blackboard and Moodle but I have previous experience with those so I wanted to gain experience in a new (to me) program as well.
I found it extremely simple to begin my course.  I registered as an instructor and began a course called "TOOL Portfolio".  Within that course I created a module called "Digital Citizenship" where I began to upload content from the "Introduction to Digital Citizenship" module created by GaVS.  I found it to be a bit slow (I'm waiting for a video to upload now).  

It definitely takes some organization to get the course shell and the module in functioning order.  There are a lot of options as far as where to place assignments, images, files, videos, quizzes, and assignments so finding the most logical order and making sure that the information is clear and easy to follow may take some tweaking.  Other than slow downloads (SO annoying!) it was pretty easy and straightforward.  

What were those steps? 
First I created a new course.  There is then a side bar with information clearly listed (see image).  By clicking on the item I can easily add information to my course and students can navigate easily.

Is it important to follow these steps? 
I would say that it is somewhat important to follow the steps but it's really easy to go back and forth to edit material as well.