Search in Canvas

[JW00]

With a lot of classes, it can be hard to remember where things are in each class.

A search canvas feature would be nice so I can search for a particular book, assignment, wording, or announcement within my class instead of haveing to go through a dozen pages looking for it.

Can such a feature be added?

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi @JW00 ...

There is no built-in search within Canvas at the moment, and I have no idea if anything is being worked on right now that would allow for this.  You could certainly check:

Canvas Product Roadmap - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

I know that there is an existing Feature Idea called:

Comprehensive Course Search Tool (Searching Course Content for a Topic)

Currently, all Feature Ideas are temporarily disabled (including creating new ideas, giving them star ratings, and commenting) until the beginning of February.  You can read more about this at Idea Conversations: The Path Forward.

Finally, I'll also mention that there is a third-party LTI external tool that can be integrated into Canvas called Atomic Search by Atomic Jolt, Inc.  I've not really had a chance to test this third-party tool out myself, but from them video demos I've seen, it looks to be exactly what you are looking for.  Check out these links:

• EduAppCenter: Atomic Search
• Atomic Search for Canvas | Atomic Jolt

Hope this will help a bit!

[SusanNiemeyer]

I agree with you that the addition of a search function would be ideal. There's no doubt about it.

In the meantime, I might suggest that you consider how you name and organize your course's content. In my classes, I strive to be very meticulous about how I label every page, assignment, discussion, and quiz. I also organize all of the course content in weekly modules. Lastly, I have created Assignment Groups with similar items. The more thoroughly you develop a system, the easier it will be to find the content you are searching for.

Again, I agree that a having a search function would be ideal, but you might find other ways to keep your course content in order and easy to access.

[Kayamusic]

Definitely agree a search function would be ideal as Atomic search is $2500 per year plus $500 set up even for a small institution...