[Admin Tools] Leave Admin Account Items in Sidebar

[awilliams]

So in my daily duties as Canvas admin I have to search for courses and users over and over again from different locations within Canvas. It would be quite convenient if the 'Find a Course,' 'Find a User,' 'Add a New Course,' 'Add a New User,' and 'View Analytics' items that appear in the sidebar when you select an account were visible to admins in the sidebar at all times. Included is an image of the items I'm referring to. At minimum the first two "Find a ..." should be included but I see no reason not to just leave all 5 items visible in sidebar for admins.

[SethBattis]

Certainly having find-a-course and find-a-user always accessible would be keen.

[canvas_admin]

Oh my goodness YES!    I get tired of having to repeat the same series of clicks whenever I need to search for a user or course.  Of course, this happens throughout the day as you mention.  Even when I am searching for a series of users or courses, I have to click back or click off on the left nav menu rather than just being able to type and search from where I am. This is a fantastic idea awilliams​

[KAilsa_Rowan]

Perhaps we could have the option to turn an Admin sidebar on or off easily from the Canvas menu. I would certainly enjoy having it when I am in "admin" mode, but as I also teach, when I'm teaching I would like it to turn off so I can reserve my screen real estate for discussion or grading.

[hesspe]

It would also be nice if you could find a course and "filter by term" in one step.  Should this be a separate feature request?

[awilliams]

Yes to both. I agree it should definitely work like that and it would need to be a separate feature request.

[awilliams]

Since this has moved in to the Gathering Info stage I feel I should mention the relevant feedback I have passed along in the Canvas Focus Group: New UI​. I offered a possible alternative since the new UI contains an admin section in the navigation bar. Here is the link to that suggestion: Move admin items out of sidebar and into navigation bar

[csalazar]

I love this idea. I talked to one of our designers about this workflow and we are still considering a few different ways this could be shown in the UI (right sidebar, in the sidebar for the new navigation, etc.). Give me a couple weeks to work through a few options, and I will give an update when we have a propsed path forward.

[csalazar]

I have good news. We have engineers working on updating the interface for the course and users search right now. This feature will roll out to beta in the next release or two, and I would love to get your thoughts on the new design and whether this meets your needs in the newly designed state.

[kona]

YES, YES, YES!!!! Would love to help!

[KristinL]

 @emily_beckman ​ and I would be available to help!! (We'd provide a perspective from K-12.)