[Announcements] Fix Unexpected Behavior: Un-Delay Announcement announcements don't appear in correct order

[venitk]

When we delay announcements (say, if we have some left over from the previous offering of the course that we want to reuse but aren't sure when the course starts when it will run so we aren't ready to schedule it for real), we delay the announcement for several months. Then, when we are ready to have the announcement run, we uncheck the Delay Announcement box. This causes the announcement to be sent out over email, for students and faculty who have signed up for that notification, but the announcement doesn't appear in the correct place in the announcement list (ie, at the top of the list, where one would expect it to appear), nor does it appear in the recent announcements widget on the home page.

This is not expected behavior, as there is no information on the Announcements page that tells instructors that the page is sorted based on original creation date (and I think when the course is copied forward, the original creation date for every undated announcement is the same?) nor does the page tell instructors what the creation date is when the course is copied forward. When unchecking the "delay announcement" box, I would expect the announcement to behave just as a freshly composed announcement behaves--sent to the top of the announcement list and appearing at the top of the recent announcements list.

Suggestions for solution:
-When unchecking the box, make the announcement behave as expected (as a freshly composed announcement would behave)
-Add a button that says "post now" so that the instructor has that option to automatically set the post date and time
-add a tool tip warning the instructor that unchecking the delay posting box will not necessarily make it appear at the top of the recent announcements widget.

[Stef_retired]

 @venitk , I believe that if no scheduled post date is set on an announcement, it will default to the date on which it was originally created when the Delay posting checkbox is unchecked. Does the announcement appear in the correct spot when the instructor enters today's date and clicks Save?

Also, have you asked Canvas Support to have a look to verify that this is the behavior as designed?

[venitk]

I just heard from Tier 1 and that support person said this is intended behavior. They said it defaults to the creation date when the check is removed from the delay posting checkbox. 

This is not what an instructor would expect to happen when that delay posting checkbox is removed. Without the box checked, the announcement looks like an announcement that was never delayed posting, which auto posts to the top of the list. I understand this happens because of when the post was created, but that's not something that an instructor would intuit.  When a post was created is not as important as when the post is published.

I think even adding a tool tip or a note to the page would increase satisfaction with the tool. Just being open and honest with instructors and telling them, "hey, unchecking this box will not automatically make it appear at the top of the list," would be helpful. Adding a "post now" button would be even more helpful. Either of these would be pretty easy fixes, I would think. 

This behavior is also not noted on the Canvas Guides for some strange reason. The guide on delaying posting doesn't point out that unchecking the box won't make the announcement appear at the top of the list. 

[Stef_retired]

Thanks for confirming that behavior with support,  @venitk ‌. The idea is now open for voting.

[hendryxj]

Katie,

I love your idea of a "Post Now" button that could automatically override the delay setting and post with the date and time stamp based on when the button was clicked.

[hansonav]

I think one workaround to this would be to use the "Delay Posting" option, but set it for the current date and time to push the announcement to the correct spot. I don't think that would be very intuitive for many since the option is called "delay posting", but could be another option. I like the idea of "Post Now" because that would make a lot more sense to users!