In this production release (March 10), admins can enable updated account-level Course and People pages, and if profile pictures are enabled, manage whether or not users can add Gravatars. Admins managing SAML authentication can also set the message signing algorithm.

In courses, the Announcements page includes an updated design and several feature enhancements, including announcements by section, that will be distributed for all institutions across a tiered release schedule directly after the release. Additionally, the Outcomes page includes a minor directional change to the Options icon.

Production release notes also include fixed bugs.

Features are subject to change throughout the release based on user feedback and testing. Please follow the release notes for the latest information.

 

 

Updated Features

 

Profile Picture Gravatar Setting

When profile pictures (user avatars) are allowed for an institution, admins can also allow or disallow Gravatars as a profile image option. A Gravatar is a globally recognized avatar associated for a user in any website that supports Gravatars.

 

Admins can manage Gravatars in Account Settings. When the User Avatars checkbox is selected, the Enable Gravatar checkbox is also selected by default.

 

 

When Gravatars are enabled in an account, users can import their Gravatar when selecting a profile picture in their user settings page. Gravatars are associated with the user’s Gravatar email address. When Gravatars are disabled, the From Gravatar tab is not included as an option in the Select Profile Picture window.

 

 

Announcements

Courses Page Design Updates

The Announcements page includes an updated design to improve accessibility for all users. Most functionality has not been affected.

 

The following changes have been made to course announcements:

• The Unread button has been changed to a menu, where users can filter between all announcements and unread announcements.
• External feeds are viewed and managed within a separate sidebar similar to other Canvas features.
• The RSS feed button has been changed to a link within the External Feeds sidebar.
• Announcements are locked by default and no longer display a lock icon. Announcements that allow comments include a Reply link under the announcement. Users can view and reply to the announcement by clicking the announcement title or the Reply link.
• Announcements can be specified for a specific section or all sections. The number of sections is visible to all users who are able to view the announcement.
• Profile pictures display next to each announcement for the user who posted the announcement. If profile pictures are not enabled for an account, the announcement displays a placeholder profile picture.

 

 

For instructors, the following changes apply:

• The Add External Feed link has been moved to a link within the External Feeds sidebar.
• The Announcements page no longer includes excess whitespace.
• Delayed announcements are identified in the Announcements page and include the upcoming post date and time.
• The lock and unlock icon for allowing or disallowing comments has been changed to a Reply arrow icon.

 

 

Note: Currently announcements shown in the home page must be viewed individually and cannot be expanded directly in the page. This functionality will be updated in a future release.

 

Section-Specific Announcements

When creating an announcement, instructors can create section-specific announcements in their courses. When creating an announcement, instructors can select to send the announcement to all sections, one section, or multiple sections.

 

 

Both the individual announcement and the Announcements page displays the section(s) that can view the announcement.

 

Users will view announcements for the sections where they are enrolled. Note that they can also view the specific sections where the announcement was posted.

 

 

Note: Section-specific announcements are not available in groups.

 

 Canvas Community contributions: Tailor Announcements to specific sections or groups 

 

Allow Comments Option

In announcements, comments are disabled by default. This change helps manage expectations for announcements while still allowing users to participate.

 

Instructors can allow users to comment in announcements by selecting the Allow users to Comment checkbox. When selected, instructors can also select the option to allow users to post before seeing other replies.

 

 

 

In the Announcements page, comments can be allowed or disallowed at any time in the Settings menu for the announcement.

 

 

Please note that commenting can be disabled completely in Account Settings or Course Settings. If commenting is disabled, the Allow Users to Comment checkbox is not included as an announcement option. Additionally, comments cannot be managed in the Announcements page.

 

Note: Comments cannot be disabled for announcements within groups.

 

 

 Canvas Community contributions: Announcements should default to closed for comments 

Other Updates

 

Outcomes

Menu Icon Update

The Outcomes menu icon has been changed from a horizontal options icon to a vertical options icon. This change applies to both account and course levels and helps align consistency throughout all Canvas areas and mobile apps.

 

 

 

Fixed Bugs

 

Accessibility

Announcements

The number of announcements for an individual search result is read to screen readers once per search.

 

New Gradebook

To improve accessibility practices, tab navigation does not move between cells. Tab and Shift+Tab will tab into and out of the grid and between items within the active cell or active column header.

The New Gradebook includes an alert recommending that users reference Individual View for improved accessibility.

 

Assignments

Due Date Validation and Availability Dates

Due dates are validated against current availability dates.

 

Explanation: If an assignment included varied due dates, and the due date was changed beyond the previous until date and then also updated the until date, the due date still validated against the original until date and generated an error, saying the date was outside the valid range. Canvas code has been updated to validate due dates against existing availability dates.

 

 

Collaborations

Google Docs Course User List

For Google Docs collaborations, the Collaborate With section displays all users within a course.

 

Explanation: When a user created a Google Docs collaboration and tried to invite users, the Collaborate With section only displayed the first 50 users in the course instead of all users. Canvas code has been updated to display all users within a course so users can select up to 50 from the entire list.

 

Course Import

Course Copies and External URL Modifications

External URLs that include the words users or files are not affected in a course copy.

 

Explanation: If an external URL included the word users or files, the URL changed to the local Canvas domain, and the course context was added to the URL during a course copy. This behavior could also occur during a Blueprint Course sync. Canvas code has been updated to not modify external URLs in course copies.

 

Files

Multi-Extension Duplicate File Identifiers

Multi-extension duplicate files include the unique identifier at the end of the file name.

 

Explanation: When duplicate multi-extension files were uploaded as submissions, Canvas automatically added a unique identifier to the duplicate file between the extensions instead of at the end of the full file name (e.g. file.tar-1.gz instead of file-1.tar.gz). Canvas code has been updated to add the identifier to the end of the file name.

 

Gradebook

Gradebook CSV Exports and Trust Accounts

For courses associated with trust accounts, Gradebook CSV exports align muted values with their appropriate assignments in both the current Gradebook and the New Gradebook.

 

Explanation: When a course is associated with a trust account, Gradebook CSV exports include the Root Account column. When a Gradebook CSV file was exported, the Root Account column was not being accounted correctly with muted assignments and caused the muted values to shift to the left for all assignments. Canvas code has been updated to correct muted values and align them with their appropriate assignments in both the current Gradebook and the New Gradebook.

 

New Gradebook Excused Assignments

This change was deployed to the production environment on February 26.

The New Gradebook does not remove Excused labels from an assignment submission.

 

Explanation: When an assignment submission received an Excused label from a user, and the user accessed the same submission cell again, the Excused label was removed from the New Gradebook. Canvas code has been updated to retain Excused labels once assigned to a submission.

 

New Gradebook Late Policy and External Tool Submissions

Late Policies apply to Late External Tool submissions.

 

Explanation: When the New Gradebook enabled a late policy, and the Gradebook included an External Tool submission, the late policy was not deducting points from the External Tool submissions. Canvas code has been updated to apply late policies to all External Tool submissions in the New Gradebook.

 

Groups

Global Navigation Groups Link

Global Navigation only displays the Groups link if users are enrolled in active groups.

 

Explanation: When a user enrolled in no active groups viewed the Global Navigation Menu, the menu still displayed the Groups link. This behavior occurred when users were restricted from viewing courses after the end date. Canvas code has been updated confirm course access to groups when displaying the Groups link.

 

MasteryPaths

Next and Previous Buttons for Instructor and Admin Roles

Instructors and admins can use the Next and Previous buttons in MasteryPaths.

 

Explanation: When an instructor or admin tried to click the Next button in a MasteryPath assignment, the Next button showed that the next item was locked. Canvas code has been updated to disregard module progression for instructors and admins. However, the progression is still upheld for students and when accessed in Student View.

 

Notifications

Graded Quizzes and Observer Roles

Observers receive notifications when a quiz is graded for a student they are observing.

 

Explanation: When observers set notification preferences to receive Grading notifications, observers did not receive notifications about quizzes their observees have taken. Canvas code has been updated to notify observers when a quiz is graded for a student they are observing.

 

 

 

Reports ^New

MGP Report Export Failure

The MGP Report can be exported if a student has no scores in the grading period.

 

Explanation: When the MGP report was exported from an account, the report failed to export if a student existed in the account with no scores in a grading period. Canvas code has been updated to return empty values for students with no scores in the grading period and not affect the report export.

 

Rich Content Editor

Equation Images and Microsoft Edge

Equation images display correctly in Microsoft Edge.

 

Explanation: When a user created an equation through the Rich Content Editor equation tool, the image for the equation did not render until the changes were saved and the image placeholder showed the alt text for the image instead. Canvas code has been updated to display equation images in Microsoft Edge.

 

Rubrics

Hide Scoring Totals and Submission Details page

When a rubric is set to hide the score total for assessment results, students cannot view the total score in the Submission Details page.

 

Explanation: When a rubric was set to hide the score total for assessment results, the total points value was not visible in the Grades page but was visible in the Submission Details page. Canvas code has been updated to hide the score total from students when viewing the rubric in the Submission Details page.

 

 

SpeedGrader

DocViewer Annotations and Graded Discussion Attachments

DocViewer annotations are disabled for graded discussion attachments.

 

Explanation: When an instructor viewed multiple graded discussion attachment in SpeedGrader, some attachments included Docviewer annotations options while other attachments did not. Canvas code has been updated to disable DocViewer annotations in graded discussion attachments.