When I am bulk updating dates, where do I put the NEW date?

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@JOSEPHVOKT ...

Thanks for the reply.  Just to be clear, I am not an Instructure (Canvas) employee, and I do not maintain the written/video documentation that is available to all Canvas users here in the Canvas Community website.  I am a fellow Canvas user like yourself.

After reading your latest reply, I guess I am not exactly clear on what your ask is.  Are you wanting to provide a new date in just once place and tell Canvas to use that date for all your assignments?  I think maybe an example from your course might be helpful so that we could troubleshoot this further.  Maybe include a screenshot, too.

Also, I am not sure if you have seen this, but @James Jones has developed what are called "Canvancements" (Canvas Enhancements).  One of those is a way to bulk update assignment due dates via a Google Doc spreadsheet.  He developed this prior to Canvas releasing their own assignment bulk update tool, so the directions will be different.  You can find his write-up and short video tutorials on this specific Canvancement here: Adjust All Assignment Dates on One Page - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com).

Finally, if you feel that any of the information presented in the Guides here in the Community could use some clarification, you can certainly submit those suggestions to the Canvas Documentation Team, and they would review any of your feedback to take into consideration.  For example, in the linked Guide that I shared with you in my initial reply, at the bottom of the page you'll find a blue button to "Leave Feedback".  Fill out the form after clicking on this button, and your message will get sent to the Documentation Team for their review.

I hope this will help a bit.  Looking forward to hearing back from you.  Thanks!

[Chris_Hofer]

Hello there, @JOSEPHVOKT ...

Are you using this Guide to bulk update your assignment dates?

How do I bulk update due dates and availability da... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

Please keep us posted...thanks!

[JOSEPHVOKT]

Thank you for your quick response.

Unfortunately, your bulk update guide did not provide specific detail to answer my basic question. Your representative, Da'Shira Jackson
had to verify that Canvas cannot currently do bulk updates to due dates contrary to what the title states. It seems so obvious that
you would just select "all assignments" for date editing, enter a new date and be done with it. Noooooooo........... I guess that doesn't currently happen (Confirmed by myself, and Da'Shira). Clearly your idea of "bulk" is not the same as most people would assume.

Suggestion:
Try for greater accuracy and specificity on your document titles. This was a huge waste of time for me and my organization.

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@JOSEPHVOKT ...

Thanks for the reply.  Just to be clear, I am not an Instructure (Canvas) employee, and I do not maintain the written/video documentation that is available to all Canvas users here in the Canvas Community website.  I am a fellow Canvas user like yourself.

After reading your latest reply, I guess I am not exactly clear on what your ask is.  Are you wanting to provide a new date in just once place and tell Canvas to use that date for all your assignments?  I think maybe an example from your course might be helpful so that we could troubleshoot this further.  Maybe include a screenshot, too.

Also, I am not sure if you have seen this, but @James Jones has developed what are called "Canvancements" (Canvas Enhancements).  One of those is a way to bulk update assignment due dates via a Google Doc spreadsheet.  He developed this prior to Canvas releasing their own assignment bulk update tool, so the directions will be different.  You can find his write-up and short video tutorials on this specific Canvancement here: Adjust All Assignment Dates on One Page - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com).

Finally, if you feel that any of the information presented in the Guides here in the Community could use some clarification, you can certainly submit those suggestions to the Canvas Documentation Team, and they would review any of your feedback to take into consideration.  For example, in the linked Guide that I shared with you in my initial reply, at the bottom of the page you'll find a blue button to "Leave Feedback".  Fill out the form after clicking on this button, and your message will get sent to the Documentation Team for their review.

I hope this will help a bit.  Looking forward to hearing back from you.  Thanks!

[JOSEPHVOKT · Accepted solution]

The math teacher's work, though admirable is still an add on to Canvas itself. Due to the complexity of the implementation
it appears nobody has even responded to this work in years. As he stated this was more a challenge for him than something that would benefit many people. Having said that my request is very simple. Just "enter a new due date for all assignments." You don't need any examples for this.
Da'Shira (an instructure employee) has already confirmed that this currently cannot be done in Canvas. Maybe if enough people ask they will get it right. [The math teachers's work-- though elegant it is-- would literally take hours of time] Canvas just needs to add this to their interface. Who KNOWS why they haven't it just seem so obvious. I am going to post this as a solution because there is nothing more I can (or want) to add at this point. Please forward my suggestions if you wish.

[Chris_Hofer]

@JOSEPHVOKT ...

The Canvas Community site you and I are using right now does have a dedicated spot to suggest new Feature Ideas for Instructure engineers to consider implementing in Canvas.  However, at this time, the entire Feature Idea process (creating new Feature Ideas, commenting on existing Feature Ideas, and users giving them star ratings) has been temporarily halted while teams from Instructure do some re-configuring and re-vamping of the Feature Idea process.  They hope to re-open this space to everyone at the beginning of February 2023.  You can read more about this at:

Idea Conversations: The Path Forward

I took a few minutes to see if I could find any existing Feature Ideas, and I think I found one that may align with what you are requesting:

Batch Assignment Update Improvements - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

I think the final comment from @stanlts really gets at what you are looking for...choosing a date instead of moving a date forward/back.  If you can hold off for about another month while Instructure works on the Feature Idea process, then you should be able to go to that thread and leave you own feedback as to why this would be important to you.

Hope this helps...

[JOSEPHVOKT]

I have only been using Canvas for a few months. Clearly people with more experience would have the same request I have proposed. It still boggles my mind Canvas not done this yet. It is clear though this request is popular, has merit and the sooner they incorporate they happier users will be.