August 21, 2021 Release + Known Issues

[Katrina-Hess]

Hi everyone, here is a list of what to expect for the August 21, 2021 release, as well as, a list of Known Issues.

If you do not see an issue that you are experiencing, please note it in the comments section.

Best, Katrina

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August 21, 2021 Release Summary

Official notes for the user group are posted in Discussions/Announcements Redesign: Release Change Log

Discussions

• • added Role Pills -- you will see role labels on Discussion topics and replies for TA roles, Teacher/Instructor roles, and discussion Authors
  • added Previous/Next buttons on Module Discussions
  • added alert for "Users must post before seeing replies"
  • added Edited by timestamp in Discussion topic
  • added Multiple Due Dates for Discussion topics -- you can create multiple due dates for different sections or individuals
  • added ability to see individual student names in Multiple Due Dates instead of a roll up “5 students” 
  • added links to Group Discussions
  • added ability to assign Peer Reviews
  • added ability to add discussion topic to Student To-Do
  • removed persistence of Toolbar -- the sticky toolbar causes a11y issues in many mobile devices so we are no longer going to support that behavior
  • removed "This is a Graded Discussion" label -- for graded Discussions, "This is a Graded Discussion" line has been removed before the number of points possible
  • removed author details for imported Discussions
  • fixed issue: cannot Edit Discussion topics

Announcements

• added alert for future Announcement -- Announcements with post dates in the future are indicated above the announcement as an alert.
• added Edited by timestamp in Announcement
• fixed issue: videos are stripped from Announcements

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Known Issues

• Discovery = we are exploring a new workflow pattern and will share designs when they are ready
• Reported = issue is identified with a path forward, design or development has not begun
• In Progress = this is currently in design or development

Known Issue	Status
[BUG] Unread badge does not appear on parent reply if a child reply is unread	In Progress
[BUG] Unread badge for child replies not included in total unread count	In Progress
[BUG] some replies are not appearing	In Progress
[BUG] smaller device sizes not responding well	In Progress
[BUG] students are seeing the classic Discussion view in Groups	In Progress
[MISSING] cannot Mark All as Unread	In Progress
[MISSING] Cannot add Rubric to Discussion	In Progress
[MISSING] Expand/Collapse All is no longer available	Discovery
[MISSING] Support for custom CSS and JS	Reported

[chriscas]

When i'm checking things out in production Canvas right now, I notice that the sort order of a discussion reverts to newest to oldest every time i reload/refresh the discussion page.  Is that expected behavior?  It's incredibly frustrating for me, as I prefer old to new.  I know a lot of people want the new to old option, but if the sort order is changed I think the change should be remembered the next time that user opens the discussion.

-Chris

[contracosta_las]

I noticed that in the new Announcements & Discussions that when a YouTube video is included using the "Embed -> Return Link" option, it only shows the link now, and not the small preview. Is this known issue that will be resolved? I make a lot of use of the previews in announcements and discussions where both I and my students share video resources. When there's over a dozen videos on the same page, the preview link is much faster on older computers than embedding the full video in an iframe, and without the preview, students have to open each video in a new tab.

Classic Discussions:

New Discussions:

[khargrove]

2 things we noted in Test:

1. HTML-created tabs do not work: New Discussions using HTML-generated tabs break the tab format. The content on the page simply displays in a single continuous sequence, a la how HTML-tabbed pages show on the Canvas Mobile App.
2. Nested responses format (requires more click time): New Discussions nests responses, so users have to click to open the cascade of responses from other students. Can these be set to expanded by default? Reducing click time is key for fluid course navigation and retaining users.

Thanks,
Southwestern College Online Learning Center

[cheryltice]

Settings and preferences:

The buttons at the top to change settings do not preserve users' preferences and can be confusing. Users cannot set and maintain preferred settings, leading to settings being reset to default upon refreshing or navigating away from the page, which can happen frequently for a variety of reasons.

Suggestions: Clear labels on settings buttons (such as Switch to <setting>) and the ability to save user settings preferences to improve the user experience. 

Tracking and sorting replies:

The lack of formatting (extra indentation, background color, borders, etc.) makes it challenging to differentiate original posts and levels of threaded replies. Sorting options are limited, making it difficult to find unread replies and track original posts in chronological order. After a certain number of replies, the discussion is arranged on multiple pages, making it harder to scan for inappropriate posts or find specific replies. The changes to the way posts/replies are displayed have resulted in a lag time when loading discussions with a large number of replies. This was not an issue before.

Suggestions: Additional formatting to help users quickly identify and differentiate posts from replies with background colors and borders. The ability to sort and track original posts chronologically. 

Marking posts as read/unread:

The blue indicators for read/unread posts/replies are not clickable, requiring extra clicks to mark items as read/unread, which can be time-consuming in longer discussions. Our instructors used the boxes to mark items read/unread frequently in the legacy version to help them return to posts to respond quickly.

Suggestion: Restore the ability to click a checkbox to mark posts/replies read/unread.

SpeedGrader integration:

Clicking a link associated with a reply in SpeedGrader takes the user to the top of the discussion instead of directly to the corresponding reply, making it difficult to view the reply in context.

Suggestion: Links from posts/replies listed for each student should lead to each post/reply in the context of the discussion.

Editing and deleting replies:

Separate checkboxes for allowing or preventing students from editing and deleting replies would be beneficial. When students delete a reply, there is no record of the deletion (except for the initial notification email, if enabled). When instructors delete a reply, a placeholder with the instructor's name and date of deletion remains, which instructors indicated they would prefer not to show.

Suggestions: Provide two checkboxes—one for allowing students to edit and one for deleting posts/replies. Allow instructors to receive alerts as students edit/delete posts and replies, and ensure consistency in how deleted items are noted in the discussion.

Miscellaneous issues:

Some instructors have reported duplicate replies that disappear upon refreshing or navigating away from the page. Replying to discussions from Outlook notification emails attaches the entire email thread to the discussion formatted in the same way as the original notification email. The "Go to Reply" feature is inconsistent and can be confusing when it appears.

Thank you!

Cheryl Tice
Instructional Technology Strategist

[Jeff_F]

@cheryltice  ... and for the win, we see Cheryl offering a solution that will help us avoid pandemonium. What a terrific suggestion!   We need to post this to the ideas list.

"The ability to sort and track original posts chronologically. "

Being able to see the initial replies sorted by the post date would be very useful. I write this with confidence as I've just read the survey results from the faculty who started using the redesign last month. They do not care for the sort functionality which sorts all posts, regardless of levels.