Discussions/Announcements Redesign
Enabled by default in UNM Canvas May 17th, 2024
Enforced by the vendor July 20th, 2024
Overview
The Discussions/Announcements Redesign seeks to bolster collaboration through updated, flexible discussion features. The Redesign currently provides a cleaner user interface for improved accessibility. It also introduces features like split and inline views, quoting functionality and @ mentions, and new sorting and filtering options. For a quick overview, see Discussions Redesign or watch the video below. There are no functional changes to Announcements, but they are getting a facelift to improve accessibility and provide design consistency.
New Features
The Discussions/Announcements Redesign has parity with legacy Discussion features. New features in the Discussions/Announcements Redesign include:- Multiple Interface Changes
- Redesigned Sort Function - The default sort order has been reversed. The newest replies now display at the top of the first page instead of at the bottom of the last page. Click the Sort button to toggle the sort order between ‘Oldest first’ and ‘Newest first’.
- The toolbar containing Search, Mark as Unread, Collapse replies, and Expand replies has been redesigned. Search and Expand/Collapse Threads now show above the discussion prompt. The separate Expand and Collapse buttons have been consolidated. You can also now toggle between two different views: View Split Screen and View Inline (see Flexible Viewing Options).
- “Publish/Unpublish” and “Subscribe” buttons are now icons in the top right corner of the forum window.
- The “Read/Unread” button was split into separate commands under the More (three dots) menu.
- Redesigned Sort Function - The default sort order has been reversed. The newest replies now display at the top of the first page instead of at the bottom of the last page. Click the Sort button to toggle the sort order between ‘Oldest first’ and ‘Newest first’.
- Flexible viewing options to allow users to choose inline view or split view
- Mentions to notify a user tagged by @
- Role labels to indicate when the instructor leads a discussion
- Quotes to reference a reply
- Reply reporting to ensure appropriate replies
- Anonymous ungraded discussions to allow for honest responses
- Visual improvements on mobile app
- Edit history for instructors to view all student reply versions
- Updated create/edit for interface consistency and improved accessibility
Known Issues/FAQ
Note: This section will be updated as needed.
*Potential issue with Discussion reply settings
For courses that use threaded discussions (i.e., where you and your students can reply to each other on individual posts), the settings option to "Disallow Threaded Replies" may have been enabled by changes Canvas has been making to the Discussion tool. For discussions that should offer threaded replies:
- Click Discussions from the left side menu
- Click the specific discussion that should be set to allow threaded replies
- Click the More menu (the three dots) in the upper right corner of the discussion box
- Click Edit
- Uncheck Disallow Threaded Replies, or confirm that it is not selected
- Click Save
References:
Product Blog - Disallow Threaded Replies option in Discussions
How do I create a discussion as an instructor - set additional options
How do I edit a discussion in a course?
*Where did the Publish and Edit buttons go?
Publish/Unpublish is an icon instead of a button.
Edit is under the More menu.
Canvas Documentation
Discussions Redesign
Instructor Guide
Canvas Teacher App - iOS | Android
Student Guide
Canvas Student App - iOS | Android
Release Notes
