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, resolved fixes in Known Issues, and other updates that do not affect user functionality.
- Interface Updates
- Reports
- SIS Submission Report and Course Scores
- Gradebook
- Gradebook History Artifact Terminology
- New Rich Content Editor
- Group Images, Media, and Documents
- Media Rendering Placeholder
- Permissions
- Outcomes Proficiencies
- Other Updates
- InstUI Update
- Instructor View Add Group Window
- Notifications
- Registration Email Updates
- Platform/Integration
- Plagiarism Framework Update
- Fixed Bugs
- Accessibility
- Files
- People
- User Settings
- Blueprint Courses
- Assignment Sync and Deleted Assignment Groups
- Grades
- Anonymous Grading and Hidden and Excused Labels
- Moderated Grading, Set Default Grade, and Curve Grades
- New Rich Content Editor
- Pages and URL Encoded Characters
- Notifications
- Email Address Capitalization
- Source Code Summary
Reports
SIS Submission Report and Course Scores
Summary
The SIS Submission Report can be configured to include course scores.
Change Benefit
This change allows users to save time in compiling information about both SIS submissions and course scores.
Affected User Roles
Admins
When an admin configures the SIS Submission Report, the report can include course scores. When configured, the report includes the current and final score per course.
Report Configuration and Include Course Scores Checkbox
Gradebook
Gradebook History Artifact Terminology
Summary
In the Gradebook history, mentions of Assignment have been replaced with Artifact.
Change Benefit
This change clarifies terminology in that items in a course associated with the Gradebook are not always assignments.
Affected User Roles
Instructors
When an instructor views the Gradebook History for a course, headers in the search form and search results have been changed from Assignment to Artifact.
Gradebook History Artifact Header
New Rich Content Editor
Group Images, Media, and Documents
Summary
In Groups, the menu bar includes group links for images, media, and documents.
Change Benefit
This change allows users in a group to access all file types.
Affected User Roles
Students
Students in a group can open the New Rich Content Editor, select the any content item menu, and select the Group option. This functionality allows students to link to group content. Previously only Links supported group functionality.
Group Images Link
Media Rendering Placeholder
Summary
The New Rich Content Editor displays an indicator showing when content is still rendering.
Change Benefit
This change helps indicate when media is still being uploaded and rendered in the New Rich Content Editor.
Affected User Roles
All Users
When media content is created or uploaded in the New Rich Content Editor, the content displays an indicator when the content has not yet uploaded and rendered in the editor.
Media Placeholder
Permissions
Outcomes Proficiencies
Summary
The Permissions page includes the Outcome Proficiency Calculations and Outcome Proficiency Scales account- and course-level permissions.
Change Benefit
These changes allow admins to manage permissions for outcomes proficiencies in a future release.
Affected User Roles
Admins
The account- and course-level user roles include the Outcome Proficiency Calculations and Outcome Proficiency Scales permissions. These permissions are only available to teachers and designers but disabled by default.
InstUI Update
Instructor View Add Group Window
The Add Group window for instructors has been updated to use the icon style used in InstUI. No functionality has been affected.
Notifications
Registration Email Updates
In course registration emails, the email footer does not include the course URL or the Notification Preferences link. These links display in emails after a user has completed the registration process.
Additionally, for new user registration emails, the email does not include a link to the institution’s Canvas URL.
Related Idea Conversation: Fix the Canvas Course Invitation Email for New Students
Platform/Integration
Plagiarism Framework Update
Historically, vendors utilizing the Canvas Plagiarism Framework have experienced issues where Canvas users removed and replaced tool configurations in Canvas, severing the connection between their tool and the Canvas submission webhooks. These subscriptions will no longer be managed at each assignment, but instead will be created for the tool. Canvas will look for all assignments where the tool is enabled to send the submission notifications, which will solve the behavior of Canvas no longer returning reports and scores on submitted work.
After the October 7 deploy, Canvas will send submission messages for both the new tool subscription plus the old assignment subscription until engineers can verify the behavior is functioning as expected, at which point existing assignment subscriptions will be removed. Canvas will also be running a metered job post deployment to resend submission notifications where assignment submission events were not originally sent due to a tool removal and replaced scenario.
Accessibility
Files
When a file is uploaded to an assignment, the file name is announced to screen readers.
People
In the Add People window, the placeholder content has been moved into the content area and also includes a label for screen readers.
User Settings
When the Disable Keyboard Shortcuts feature option is enabled in User Settings, the feature option disables keyboard shortcuts in SpeedGrader and the Gradebook.
Blueprint Courses
Assignment Sync and Deleted Assignment Groups
Synced assignments from Blueprint Courses are not synced into deleted assignment groups.
Explanation: When a course was a Blueprint Course, assignments synced to associated courses were able to be added to deleted assignment groups. Canvas code has been updated to not sync new assignments into deleted groups.
Grades
Anonymous Grading and Hidden and Excused Labels
The Grade Details Tray does not include labels for assignments that have enabled Anonymous Grading.
Explanation: When Anonymous Grading was enabled for an assignment, the Hidden label was included in the Grade Detail Tray for students that had been graded. Additionally, the Excused label was included if the student had been excused. However, no labels were displayed for students who had not been graded, which could break anonymity. Canvas code has been updated to not include labels in the Grade Detail Tray for assignments that had enabled Anonymous Grading.
Moderated Grading, Set Default Grade, and Curve Grades
When Moderated Grading is enabled for an assignment, the Set Default Grade and Curve Grades options are not available before grades are released.
Explanation: When Moderated Grading was enabled for an assignment, and the Set Default Grade and Curve Grades options were both available for the assignment. If one of the options were selected, the Gradebook generated an error. Canvas code has been updated to disable the Set Default Grade and Curve Grade options for Moderated Assignments that do not yet have grades released.
New Rich Content Editor
Pages and URL Encoded Characters
The New Rich Content Editor loads when the page includes a URL encoded (percent-escaped) non-utf8 character .
Explanation: When the New Rich Content Editor was enabled in a page, and a link was inserted that contained a URL encoded (percent-escaped) non-utf8 character in the domain as the first item (e.g. https://exam%ple.com), the editor was not able to load. Canvas code has been updated to load the editor and display the link.
Notifications
Email Address Capitalization
Email addresses can be changed from uppercase to lowercase, or vice versa.
Explanation: When a user’s email address was added to Canvas in upper case, attempting to edit the email to all lower case via the User Details page did not change the email address. Canvas code has been updated to allow update email casing without affecting the user’s information.
To view a summary of all code included in the deploy, please see the Deploy Source Code Summary (2020-10-07) reference sheet.
| Date | |
|---|---|
| 2020-10-05 |
Other Updates—Added Platform/Integrations (Plagiarism Update) |
| 2020-09-25 | Deploy Notes Published |
