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 may include notable fixed bugs, bugs included in the Canvas Known Issues list, and additional updates that do not affect user functionality.
- Interface Updates
- Account Settings
- Feature Options Display
- Modules
- Collapse/Expand Modules Button
- Direct Share Modules
- New Rich Content Editor
- Icon Group Placement
- External Tool Favorites
- External Tool Media Option
- YouTube Video Links
- Fixed Bugs
- Accessibility
- Alerts
- Gradebook
- MasteryPaths
- New Rich Content Editor
- SpeedGrader
- Files
- Course Import and Files System
- Modules
- MasteryPaths Locked Messages
- New Rich Content Editor
- Course Media and Files Display
- Media File Links
- Skype Protocol
- Pages
- Long Page Names and Front Page Home Page
- People
- Sections Column and Admin Roles
- Syllabus
- Tables and Maximum Area Width
- Source Code Summary
Account Settings
Feature Options Display
Summary
The Feature Options page no longer displays options that have been enforced to On.
Change Benefit
This change simplifies the Feature Options page for admins and minimizes confusion about visible feature options that cannot be managed.
Affected User Roles
Admins
The Feature Options page no longer displays options that have been enforced to On for all institutions. Admins will only view feature options that are able to be managed for their account and courses, respectively.
Any feature options allowed at the account level still cascade to the course level. However, any features that are turned On at the account level do not display at the course level.
Modules
Collapse/Expand Modules Button
Related Idea Conversation: Collapse or Expand All Modules with One Click
Summary
In the Modules page, all modules can be collapsed and expanded, respectively.
Change Benefit
This change allows users to expand or collapse all modules within the page as needed.
Affected User Roles
All Users
The Modules page displays a Collapse All button, which collapses all modules in the page. When all modules are collapsed, the button changes to an Expand All button, and allows all modules to be expanded.
Student and Instructor Views of Collapse All and Expand All buttons in the Modules Page
The button displays as Collapse All if at least one module is expanded in the page.
If a user chooses to collapse or expand one or multiple modules, the Modules page retains the state of each module indefinitely until it is changed by the user.
Direct Share Modules
Related Idea Conversation: Direct Share of Modules
Summary
Entire modules and individual module items can be copied to another course and shared with another user.
Change Benefit
This change completes the Direct Share functionality and adds copy and sharing functionality to Modules.
Affected User Roles
Instructors
Instructors can copy and share an entire module from the Modules page. All content within the module will be included.
Individual module items can also be copied and shared from the Modules page. However, only assignments, discussions, pages, and New Quizzes are supported. Non-supported module items do not include the Copy to or Share To options.
Copy to and Share to Options in the Modules page
New Rich Content Editor
Icon Group Placement
Summary
Various icon groups have been rearranged in the toolbar and are grouped as styles, formatting, content, apps, alignment, and miscellaneous.
Change Benefit
These changes ensure improved user access to frequently used functionality in the toolbar. This specific placement shortens icon groups and prominently displays frequently used icons when the Rich Content Editor toolbar is displayed within smaller screens.
Affected User Roles
All Users
Various icon groups have been rearranged or removed within the New Rich Content Editor toolbar.
The group of Content icons (links, images, media, and documents) have been moved to the left of the Alignment icon group, while the External App icon is within its own menu.
Old and New Placement comparisons in the New Rich Content Editor
Additionally, the Directional (Right-to-Left) icon has been removed from the Alignment group and placed in the Format section of the menu bar.
External Tool Favorites
Related Idea Conversation: Ability to Reorder External Apps Icons in Rich Content Editor
Summary
The account-level App Configuration page displays an LTI favorites column, which allows admins to enable up to two external tools directly in the New Rich Content Editor toolbar. Additionally, when external tools are used frequently by an individual user, the icon displays a menu of the last five accessed tools.
Change Benefit
These changes help users find and access frequently used apps more readily available in the New Rich Content Editor.
Affected User Roles
Admins
When the RCE Enhancements feature option is On for the entire account, the account-level App Configuration page displays an Add to RCE Toolbar column. Any available apps that are configurable to the New Rich Content Editor display as a button in the column. Up to two apps can be added to the toolbar at any time.
Note: This page does not display the Add to RCE Toolbar column if the feature option is set to Allow.
External Apps page with Add to RCE Toolbar column
If the page includes more than two apps that can be configured for the New Rich Content Editor, all available buttons are grayed out once the maximum of two apps have been enabled.
External Apps page with grayed out Add to RCE toolbar icon
All Users
If external tools have been identified as a favorite by a Canvas admin, the apps display directly in the toolbar next to the External Apps icon.
External Apps directly in the toolbar
Additionally, users can set the External Apps icon to display recently used apps. To display the menu, a user must click the External App icon [1] and select an external app from the window. When the user returns to the New Rich Content Editor, the icon displays a carat, indicating an included menu that can be expanded and displays the last recently accessed app [2].
External Tool menu with up to five frequently used tools
This menu displays up to five recently used apps, in the order of frequency. If a user is using more than five external apps, additional apps can be accessed by clicking the View All button. The menu will continue to update dynamically with the five recently used apps.
External Tool Media Option
Related Idea Conversation: Ability to replace the Media Button in the New RCE, Studio Icon should replace the Native Media RCE Option
Summary
The Account Settings page includes an option to disable uploads to Canvas Media in the New Rich Content Editor. When media is disabled, the Media icon is removed from the New Rich Content Editor toolbar.
Change Benefit
This change allows institutions to remove the native Canvas media icon in the toolbar in favor of using external apps for media hosting.
Affected User Roles
Admins
The Account Settings page includes a checkbox called Disable Uploads to Canvas Media in the Enhanced Rich Content Editor. This option can be selected to disable the Canvas Media button in the New Rich Content Editor for the entire account.
Disable Uploads to Canvas Media in the Enhanced Rich Content Editor option in Account SettingsAll Users
If Canvas Media has been disabled by a Canvas admin, the Media icon is not included in the Content icon group in the toolbar.
Comparison between the Canvas Media button enabled and disabled
Users can access media files using an external tool, which will most likely display directly in the toolbar next to the External Tools icon.
Users who may need to access media created with the default Canvas media tool, such as media submission comments, can locate that content using the Course Media icon.
Note: The Upload option is still displayed in the Insert menu, and Canvas engineers will remove this link in a future release.
YouTube Video Links
Related Idea Conversations: Disable Automatic Inline Previews of YouTube Videos
Summary
YouTube links are no longer embedded by default.
Change Benefit
This change allows users to decide if a YouTube video should be linked or embedded.
Affected User Roles
All Users
YouTube links added via the Link icon in the New Rich Content Editor display as a link. Previously YouTube videos were always embedded, which was not consistent with the functionality of the Link icon.
Users who want to embed a YouTube video can add the embed code within the Record/Upload Media icon (if available). Otherwise, an embed code can be added using the HTML Editor.
Accessibility
Alerts
The Close button for alerts can be read by screen readers.
Gradebook
The Notes column is not automatically placed in edit mode when selected via keyboard navigation.
MasteryPaths
MasteryPath creation error messages include a tooltip explaining the error.
New Rich Content Editor
New Rich Content Editor toolbar groups include updated titles for screen readers.
SpeedGrader
The Student Select menu includes a form label, and the description is read to screen readers.
Using keyboard shortcuts do not affect the student and submission shown in SpeedGrader. Additionally, the Home and End keys are supported. The Home key directs to the first student in the menu, and the End key directs to the last student in the menu.
Files
Course Import and Files System
Files imported using a ZIP file upload correctly into a Canvas course.
Explanation: When files were imported into a course using a ZIP file rather than a course copy or blueprint sync, the files were uploaded to the legacy S3 files system, causing broken images. Canvas code has been updated to correct upload paths for imported files.
Modules
MasteryPaths Locked Messages
Locked messages only display for modules that are locked and include non-deleted content.
Explanation: When assignments were set up to be part of a mastery path in a module, and the assignments were removed from the mastery path, students were able to view a locked message when viewing their modules. Additionally, the Next button would not work if they were in the module item before the locked message in the module. Canvas code has been updated to not display a locked message if associated assignments are not included.
New Rich Content Editor
Course Media and Files Display
The Course Media option displays all course media in the sidebar.
Explanation: When a user tried to embed course media into the New Rich Content Editor, the sidebar would not display the media until the user switched the Media option to the All Content option. Canvas code has been updated to display all course media when the Media option is selected.
Media File Links
Selected content in the New Rich Content Editor displays as a link when linked to images and media.
Explanation: When a media file was added to a course, text was added and selected in the New Rich Content Editor, and the Link option was used to select the media file, the text was replaced with the file and downloaded to the user’s computer. Every view of the page continued to download the file. Canvas code has been updated to correctly create links to images and media when content is selected in the New Rich Content Editor.
Skype Protocol
The Skype HREF attribute is allowed in the HTML Editor.
Explanation: When a Skype prefix was added to the New Rich Content Editor, the Skype HREF attribute was removed from the editor. Canvas code has been updated to allow the Skype HREF attribute as part of the HTML Editor Allowed list.
Pages
Long Page Names and Front Page Home Page
A long page name set as the Front Page is wrapped when the page is also the Home Page.
Explanation: When a page with a long name had a Pages Front Page set as the Home Page, the course name was not truncated or wrapped. Canvas code has been updated to make the course title wrap when displayed as the Home Page.
People
Sections Column and Admin Roles
When the option to Hide Course Sections from Students is enabled in a course, the Sections column is visible to users with admin roles.
Explanation: When the option to Hide Course Sections from Students was enabled in a course, the Sections column was hidden from users with no course enrollments, such as admin roles. Canvas code has been updated to display the Sections column to users with admin roles.
Syllabus
Tables and Maximum Area Width
The Syllabus contains a horizontal scrollbar if a table within the syllabus is wider than the default Syllabus content area.
Explanation: When a table was created using the New Rich Content Editor in the Syllabus, changing the width of the table that exceeded the maximum width of the syllabus overlapped the right sidebar. This overlap also occurred when the syllabus page was set as the Course Home Page. Canvas code has been updated to include a horizontal scrollbar for tables wider than the default width of the Syllabus content area.
To view a summary of all code included in the deploy, please see the Deploy Source Code Summary (2020-08-26) reference sheet.
| Date | |
|---|---|
| 2020-08-14 | Deploy Notes Published |
