[ARCHIVED] Change Observer Role Capabilities

[natsmy]

In a Canvas Community it states:

"Each instructor can customize the links in the Course Navigation and limit the number of features that students and observers can see. Observers may or may not see links to certain features."

I was unable to find anything in the Course Navigation section that allowed me to do this - could someone please direct me to the specific spot?

Thanks!

[nwilson7 · Accepted solution]

@natsmy  I believe what is being referred to here is the fact you can arrange the Course Navigation menu as well as determine what is available to students and observers.

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-manage-Course-Navigation-links/ta-p/102...

There is also a fun app that can be added to Canvas through the "Apps" area of Canvas (unless your institution blocks the app) called "Redirect" that will allow you to add custom URLs to your Course Navigation menu.  

If you want to use the redirect tool, find it in the App area and then you can give the link a name, paste in the URL (remember Canvas uses unique URLs so anything in Canvas can be directly linked to) and check the box for "Show in Course Navigation".  We use this tool a lot to link to both outside stuff or just resources we post within the course that we want students to be able to quickly access.

Hope this helps!

-Nick

[nwilson7 · Accepted solution]

@natsmy  I believe what is being referred to here is the fact you can arrange the Course Navigation menu as well as determine what is available to students and observers.

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-manage-Course-Navigation-links/ta-p/102...

There is also a fun app that can be added to Canvas through the "Apps" area of Canvas (unless your institution blocks the app) called "Redirect" that will allow you to add custom URLs to your Course Navigation menu.  

If you want to use the redirect tool, find it in the App area and then you can give the link a name, paste in the URL (remember Canvas uses unique URLs so anything in Canvas can be directly linked to) and check the box for "Show in Course Navigation".  We use this tool a lot to link to both outside stuff or just resources we post within the course that we want students to be able to quickly access.

Hope this helps!

-Nick

[natsmy]

I understand this, and I know how to do this, but this doesn't change observer role capabilities, at least from what I can see.  I read through the article but it didn't mention observers. 

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hello there, @natsmy ...

The capabilities that someone with an Observer role in Canvas has are set via permissions by your school's local Canvas administrator.  I assume that you are an instructor?  If so, then I don't believe there are really any major permissions that you can configure on your end for an Observer role.  You would need to talk with someone in your school's Online Learning department or someone who is a local Canvas admin at your school to discuss these permission settings.  Here is an admin Guide about course-level roles like this.  How do I add a course-level role in the Permission... - Canvas Community

I hope this helps to clarify things a bit.  Let us know if you have any other questions about this...thanks!