[ARCHIVED] Blueprint and Exceptions issue

[probinson1]

Hi everyone,

I'm teaching two sections of one course and am again using Blueprint. I've not encountered the issue I'm now having: I go into the blueprint, make changes, add content to the modules, publish the elements in the module, then sync to push the changes out (including checking the box for including course settings).

Then when I go to the sync history I see each item that I've posted a change for listed with "exceptions." Of course, then when I go to the child courses, I see that the changes have not taken effect. I'm super frustrated by this. Again, I've used a blueprint before and had no issues. Now...ugh!

Blueprint:

Child course #1:

Child course #2

[kona]

 @kblack ‌ have you seen anything like this? Any idea what might be going on?

[Boekenoogen]

We have seen this same issue just a few weeks ago too. We were reevaluating the use of Blueprint.

[probinson1]

I've given up and am back to doing things twice. 

[lindalee]

Hi Polly Robinson,

I notice that you have left the items unlocked in the parent Blueprint site. If you change the corresponding element in the child site, that will put the item out of sync and cause the sync exceptions you see. Items in Blueprint courses can be individually locked or unlocked -- locked items stay in sync, but unlocked items won't if you make any changes to them in the child sites. See How do I lock course objects in a blueprint course as an instructor?  for more information.

The good news is that for many item types (files, pages, and the "content" of assignments, quizzes, and discussions), locking the items will bring them back into sync. However, some assignment, discussion, and quiz attributes (submission type, grade display, etc.) won't sync if you change any of the unlocked or unlockable attributes.

I'm happy to help further, but I need a little more information. What changes did you make that aren't syncing? (It looks like possibly publishing the items?) Also, can you share a screen grab of the sync history? (See https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-12927-4152759002 )

One of the most common problems we see with objects not syncing is because the teaching teams forget to lock items after they add them to the template. But it's certainly possible that something else is going on here.

Best,

Linda

[probinson1]

Hi Linda,

I'm not certain what you're seeing as "locked/unlocked" in the parent(blueprint)/child pages. Do you mean "published/unpublished"? The screen caps were to illustrate how items had been set up in the blueprint and how they subsequently appeared in the child courses (with no adjustments from me, the caps are how things appeared (published or unpublished).

I used blueprint for the last three quarters quite successfully and have never encountered the issues that I'm having here. Some of my issues are due to some issues on our end (wrong courses linked, etc...) but some cannot be attributed to that. Because we're now into week 2 of a packed quarter, I've bailed on blueprint and will be doing the changes twice (one for each section).

I've never encountered "exception" issues before, either.

I'm fairly techy and know that if I'm struggling with this at this level, we have instructors here who'll simply throw up their hands and say, "I'm out," and will not revisit blueprints again. So whatever the issue, I hope it's resolved soon. Thanks for trying to clarify things.

Polly

[lindalee]

Hi Polly Robinson,

The locked/unlocked state of objects in a Blueprint site is different from published/unpublished state. Take a look at this screen grab from one of my testing sites:

Blueprint courses have an extra icon right next to the published icon -- it looks like a stack of papers (or "blueprints"). Items that are "locked" have a padlock in the center; items that are unlocked do not. See the examples called out in the screen shot above. Though this is from the Blueprint parent site, these icons are visible in both parent and child sites.

In the screen shots that you shared, everything looks to be unlocked. That is what I was referring when I said that it looks like everything in the Blueprint parent site is unlocked.

And this is important, because it's directly related to the Blueprint sync exceptions that you have seen.

Unlocked items in Blueprint courses can be changed, and those changes will not be overwritten by later changes made to the parent site. When a change is not propagated across the child sites, a sync exception occurs. Canvas assumes that the teacher in the child site changed an unlocked item for a reason, so it lets those changes stand.

When there's content that you don't want to be changed within the child sites, you should make make sure to lock each item. (See How do I lock course objects in a blueprint course as an instructor? for more information.) Unfortunately, the contents of Blueprint courses aren't locked automatically and have to be locked individually -- though there's a feature idea you can vote on (https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/11932-lock-all-content-in-blueprint ). (The locked attributes on Settings > Course Details just specifies which attributes should be locked when an item is designated as "locked.")

So -- if you changed something in the assignments in the child sites (for instance, changed the due dates/times), then this would cause a sync exception because once you change one unlocked or unlockable attribute in a child site, you disrupt the ability to sync any unlocked/unlocked attribute of that object via a course sync.

Depending on what changes you are trying to propagate (changes to the content, for instance), you may be able to just lock the item in the parent site and then sync. Once the item is locked, then the locked attributes (whatever you have designated from among content, points, due dates, and availability dates) in the parent site will override the changes made within the child site.

I hope this helps explain what's going on. Good luck!

[probinson1]

Ah, gotcha.

Well...nope. That's not my problem. At least as far as I know. All I wanted was to have what was published in my Blueprint to publish in my child courses. I hadn't gotten so far as changing dates, etc... I will say, however, that your above info is the clearest instruction I've had on Blueprints, so thank you!

When I have free time (HA!) this quarter, I'm going to rebuild one course from the ground up as a Blueprint master that'll hold for...oh, probably one quarter before change happens again.

Thanks again,

Polly

[lindalee · Accepted solution]

Hi Polly Robinson,

I'm sorry it wasn't that simple! If you think that isn't the cause of the sync exceptions you saw, I have two more suggestions (which I understand likely aren't relevant now, as it sounds like you abandoned Blueprint for this term):

• Take a look at the Sync History (https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-12927-4152759002 ) and look at the Sync Exceptions listed. This should indicate what caused the exception (content change, date change, etc.).
• Open a ticket with Canvas Support for assistance. They should be able to figure what caused the sync exception(s).

Good luck!

-Linda

[lnussdorfer]

Thanks Linda!

Locking the front page fixed my syncing issue.  Hopefully it will continue working.  Appreciate your post.

[lnussdorfer]

So I am in the same exact situation right now.  I am looking at the exceptions in my sync history and there are no details.  I am going to try to lock some items in my #blueprint course and see if I can get it to sync.  Some parts are syncing and some are not.  I am trying to create a new module and it's not syncing.

I submitted 2 tickets but I haven't heard back yet.

[lnussdorfer]

Update.  Although I haven't heard back on my ticket, locking my front page solved the syncs so far.

[mgsmith]

My issue has been when we have the page locked, select publish and then synced. The publish won't sync across.