This deploy was previously scheduled for 2020-03-25 and delayed to align with temporary deploy adjustments as announced in COVID-19 Updates to Canvas Releases and Deploys
Canvas deploys contain code changes that are intended to fix bugs, improve performance, and prepare for new features, but they do not affect customer workflows. These deploys take place every two weeks and can be tested in the beta environment before the production deploy date indicated in the title of this document. Intended changes in workflow are noted in the Canvas Release Notes published monthly.
Deploy notes include notable fixed bugs and additional updates that do not affect existing user functionality.
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- Interface Updates
- Blueprint Courses
- Sidebar Design Alignment
- Conversations
- Concluded Course Messaging
- Unpublished Course Messaging
- Course Navigation
- People Navigation Link Visibility
- Courses
- New Instructor Tutorials Content Update
- Fixed Bugs
- Accessibility
- New Rich Content Editor
- Quizzes
- Conversations
- Concluded Course Filter
- Dashboard
- Course Card Image Gifs
- Course Card Indicators and Removed Content
- Gradebook
- Repeating Decimal Scores and Late Policies
- Grading
- Grading Period Term List Width
- Modules
- New Quizzes and MasteryPaths Link
- New Quizzes
- Direct Share
- Regraded Quiz Question Failure and Zero Grade
- New Rich Content Editor
- Content Link Protocols and Course Pages
- SIS
- Blueprint Association Consistency
- SyncScheduling andDaylight SavingTime
Interface Updates |
Blueprint Courses
Sidebar Design Alignment
Summary
The Blueprint sidebar elements and pages have been updated to align with components from InstUI, Instructure’s component library.
Change Benefit
This change helps align consistency with components in other Canvas areas. Functionality has not been affected.
Affected User Roles
Admins
Admins who access the sidebar for a Blueprint Course may notice some subtle component adjustments, such as slight spacing adjustments between menus in the Associations page. However, no functionality has been affected.
Conversations
Concluded Course Messaging
Summary
Instructors and TAs can respond to existing conversations after a course has concluded.
Change Benefit
This change allows supported user roles to continue existing conversations that may have started during the course.
Affected User Roles
Instructors, TAs
Instructors and TAs are not able to start new conversations in concluded courses with students. However, if a student previously began a conversation, or if the instructor or TA previously began a conversation, the instructor or TA can reply to the existing conversation regardless of the course status.
Unpublished Course Messaging
Summary
Instructors, TAs, and Designers can send messages in unpublished courses to other users with the same roles.
Change Benefit
This change allows users to send messages to other users with supported roles in a course that has not yet been published, such as an instructor messaging another instructor in the same course.
Affected User Roles
Instructors, TAs, Designers
Supported roles can send messages in unpublished courses to other users with the same roles. Users cannot send messages to students in unpublished courses. When a user is composing a new message, the unpublished course displays in either the Favorite Courses filter or the More Courses filter, depending on if the course has been favorited by the user. Courses are not designated as published or unpublished in the Conversations Inbox.
Course Navigation
People Navigation Link Visibility
Summary
The People page can be hidden in Course Navigation and redirects users with the link to the Course Home Page.
Change Benefit
This change allows the URL for the People page to be hidden like the majority of the Course Navigation links.
Affected User Roles
Instructors
Instructors can hide Course Navigation links in Course Settings. Hiding the People page disables the page, and any student who happens to visit the page URL will be redirected to the Course Home Page. Previously the page could not be disabled, only hidden.
Courses
New Instructor Tutorials Content Update
This feature is used in conjunction with the New User Tutorial account-level feature option. Please view the content below for additional details. For more information about feature options, please see the Canvas Release Notes FAQ.
Summary
New Instructor Canvas tutorials have been updated with revised content and links.
Change Benefit
This change assists instructors using Canvas for the first time and helps them become familiar with Canvas.
Affected User Roles
Instructors
When enabled for an account, New Instructor Tutorials display for instructors in newly created courses. These tutorials can be accessed by an icon at the top of the page and explain the purpose of the page and what to do next.
The course setup tutorial is shown to new Canvas instructors in new courses. New instructors are defined as users with instructor roles created in an account after the new tutorial feature has been enabled. The course setup tutorial can be collapsed from view and is persistent across Canvas pages, so if the tutorial is collapsed in one page, it will stay collapsed until expanded again.
Note: When the New Instructor Tutorials feature option is turned on, it replaces the traditional Course Setup Checklist.
Instructors can end the tutorial series in any page using the Don’t Show Again button. However, ending the tutorial in one course applies to all other courses. Instructors can view the tutorial in new courses again at any time by accessing their User Settings page and enabling the Course Setup Tutorial user feature option.
This user feature option only displays for users enrolled as instructors. For instance, a user enrolled as an admin wouldn’t see the feature option unless the user were enrolled in a course with an instructor enrollment.
User Feature Option & Existing User Access
Once the New User Tutorial feature option is enabled for an account, the Course Setup Tutorial feature option displays in each instructor's User Settings page. Existing instructors can view the tutorials in new courses by enabling this user feature option at any time. User feature options cannot be managed by admins.
Fixed Bugs |
Accessibility
New Rich Content Editor
YouTube video information is read to screen readers.
Quizzes
New Quizzes and Classic Quizzes icons can be differentiated by screen readers.
Conversations
Concluded Course Filter
The Conversations Inbox displays the Concluded Course filter option.
Explanation: When a previous change was made in Canvas to disallow creating new conversations to students in concluded courses, the Concluded Course filter option was inadvertently removed. Canvas code has been updated to replace the Concluded Course option in the filter menu.
Dashboard
Course Card Image Gifs
This change was deployed to the production environment on March 17.
Gifs added as a course card display as animated in the Dashboard.
Explanation: When a Gif was uploaded to a course card, the image appeared static in the Dashboard. Canvas code has been updated to correct the behavior of Gifs in course cards.
Course Card Indicators and Removed Content
Course card indicators for new announcements or discussions are removed from the card if an announcement or discussion is no longer available.
Explanation: When a user accessed the Dashboard after a new announcement or discussion was created for the course, and the new announcement or discussion was unread, the course card indicator would persist if the discussion was changed and no longer available to the user’s section or group. Canvas code has been updated to remove course card indicators for course items that may no longer be available.
Gradebook
Repeating Decimal Scores and Late Policies
Late Policies do not affect scores with a repeating decimal.
Explanation: When a score with many decimal places was entered in the Gradebook, and a Late Policy was applied, scores resulting in a percentage with a repeating decimal were not rounded correctly in Canvas. Canvas code has been updated to ensure late policies do not affect scores with a repeating decimal.
Grading
Grading Period Term List Width
In the grading periods Account Settings page, term lists that exceed 20 terms do not affect the sizing of the terms list.
Explanation: When a term was added to a grading period, the list of terms extended outside the width of the list of choices when the list exceeded 20 terms. Canvas code has been updated to remove the maximum height of the window within the grading periods term display list.
Modules
New Quizzes and MasteryPaths Link
In the quiz menu for a new quiz, selecting the MasteryPaths link directs to the MasteryPaths tab within the quiz edit page.
Explanation: When a user enabled MasteryPaths for a course, added a New Quiz to a Module, and selected the MasteryPaths link, the MasteryPaths link generated an error. Canvas code has been updated to direct the MasteryPaths link to the MasteryPaths tab within the quiz edit page.
New Quizzes
Direct Share
New Quizzes can be used with the Direct Share feature.
Explanation: When a user tried to share a New Quiz directly with another user, the page generated an error message. Canvas code has been updated to allow New Quizzes to be included in the Direct Share feature.
Regraded Quiz Question Failure and Zero Grade
This change was deployed to the production environment on March 17.
A failed regrade in New Quizzes does not update student grades in Canvas.
Explanation: When a question was regraded in New Quizzes and the regrade failed, a zero grade was passed back to Canvas for all students. Canvas code has been updated to not post grades when a quiz regrade fails. Regrades can fail if an updated answer in a quiz is not valid.
New Rich Content Editor
Content Link Protocols and Course Pages
The HTTP protocol is added in external content links by default.
Explanation: When content in the Rich Content Editor was linked to external content, and the URL did not include the HTTP or HTTPS protocol before the domain, the link attempted to link to a course page with the same name. Canvas code has been updated to add the HTTP protocol by default for external links.
SIS
Blueprint Association Consistency
Blueprint associations via SIS are consistent with associations that can be made in the Canvas interface.
Explanation: When a Blueprint course was associated with a subaccount via SIS, the SIS allowed the course to be associated with a higher subaccount. However, the interface allowed courses to be associated if they were within the same subaccount or lower. Canvas code has been updated to match SIS associations with the same functionality in the user interface.
Sync Scheduling and Daylight Saving Time
SIS scheduled jobs are not affected by Daylight Saving Time.
Explanation: When the United States shifted forward one hour from Daylight Saving Time, all scheduled job syncs were shifting forward by one hour. Canvas code has been updated to correct scheduled jobs previously affected.
| Date | |
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| 2020-03-25 | Added—Fixed Bugs
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| 2020-03-24 | Added—Interface Updates
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| 2020-03-17 | Adjusted Deploy date to 2020-03-28 Added—Fixed Bugs
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| 2020-03-13 | Deploy Notes Published |
