[ARCHIVED] Why are my embedded links not working in the Canvas app?

[ljohnson18]

I recently created a virtual classroom in Google Slides which I embedded as my Canvas homepage for my course. Everything works beautifully via computer / Chrombook. However, the links do not work on the Canvas App. What can I do?#virtual classroom links# embedded google slides#links don't work in ap

[KristinL · Accepted solution]

Hi Lisa ~

What you describe sounds amazing! Would you be willing to share a screenshot of your homepage from a desktop so I can try to recreate the behavior? (I won't be recreating your classroom, but rather just the Google Slides embedding the same way so I can verify the way the Canvas Student app handles the links...)

[KristinL · Accepted solution]

Hi Lisa ~

What you describe sounds amazing! Would you be willing to share a screenshot of your homepage from a desktop so I can try to recreate the behavior? (I won't be recreating your classroom, but rather just the Google Slides embedding the same way so I can verify the way the Canvas Student app handles the links...)

[ljohnson18]

Lisa Johnson <ljohnson@boonevilleschools.org>	8:33 PM (1 minute ago)
to instructure

https://docs.google.com/document/d/171e7hW1KQnZL3UChcU9rqXSv2pZmS3CThpwOTFFcmG0/copy

From Google Slides, I clicked "Publish to the web" and embedded it into a page on Canvas using the HTML editor. Everything works on a desktop, but not from Canvas Teacher or Canvas Student apps. It's very frustrating since having a homepage in Canvas was the whole purpose for all the work. My students and I can use it, but only from our desktops and chromebooks. I am concerned that when students return, lots of parents with the apps will be wondering why they can't access the links on their phones. 

[KristinL]

Hi Lisa -

Thanks so much for allowing me to make a copy of your home page and give it a spin! I published it to the web, embedded it on my home page (adjusted the with to 100% and the height to 1000), and then accessed the page from Canvas Student for Android and Canvas Student for iOS. I was able to click the official school calendar, and I was successfully rerouted to the PDF hosted on your school's home page.

I did notice that with the smaller screen on my phone, I had to scroll right to view the entire embedded document, but it did work. Likely the observers would be using the Assignments and other features of Canvas Parent to stay connected, so I wouldn't classify it as a deal-breaker.

Have you considered recreating this directly on the home page itself rather than embedding the Google Doc? It would be a little work to set it up, but the overall layout would be more responsive to all sorts of screens. You'd also be able to maintain archives (duplicate a page and then edit week-to-week, resetting the "front page" weekly) as well. The archives could be helpful for students who miss extended periods of school, too.

[ljohnson18]

I’m not sure how to recreate it on the home page itself. I am not that

tech savvy to begin with and just followed the steps laid out in a tutorial

for a virtual classroom. As far as the link to my assignments page, it will

be updated each week with previous weeks remaining on the page. I have a

weekly template that I duplicate and attach to that google doc. If it isn’t

too extensive, I would welcome advice on how to set it up on the home page

in Canvas. Thanks for your help!

On Fri, Jul 10, 2020 at 3:22 PM kristin.lundstrum@delasalle.com <

[KristinL]

Hi Lisa -

I think you have a lot of the know-how already! The tools are just a little different with the Rich Content Editor. You can create tables, change the text color, add images, etc.

How do I insert a table using the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?‌
How do I insert course images into the Rich Content Editor using the Content Selector as an instruct...‌

How do I embed images from Canvas into the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?‌

As your course progresses, you may find that your "archive" may cause a lot of scrolling, especially on small devices. I think you could do the same Google Doc approach, but make a link underneath your table/week view for the archive. That way, only the current week is presented, and then families and students know where to go if they have to look to past weeks.

Have you explored Canvas Commons for home page ideas? You may be surprised what's available for import! You can always customize or adjust what's shared for what you need.

[desmaraisja]

I am having the same issue. I Embed it correctly, however the links do not work. If I am in edit mode, they work just fine. Please help me? 

[JDeaver51]

I'm having the same issue. I have to right-click them to open them when I'm in student view. How do I get them to where students can just click and be taken there?

Thanks!

[kscovel]

I am having the same problem.  I stayed up all night trying to get my links to work and to problem-solve this issue. Scouring the internet for a solution. I am usually not one to give up on a tech problem and I was super disappointed it was not ready for my students today (and I'm tired, lol) .  I watched countless tutorials on how to embed your virtual classroom in a canvas page and did everything right (repeatedly) and the links still do not work.  

It seems as if canvas is adding an obscene amount of additional letters/numbers to the url on the link, which is making it go nowhere.  I don't understand why it would do this. For me anyway, it does not work on the computer either, and I tried chrome and safari. As another user said, the links work fine in edit mode.

Help, please!

[bwood1 · Accepted solution]

So- students CAN open links from a Google Slide within the Canvas App. They have to hold down on the link for a second (basically a right click), then- without lifting their finger- slide to the side. This opens the link in the browser. I have to note that I CAN open within the app on my android app - NOT iOS app. 

My issue is a lot of my links are to locations within my Canvas course (not always external content). So- how to I instruct a link to open WITHIN the Canvas app if it is to a Canvas page? 

[HANNAHNICHOLS]

All of my links on my homepage are to Canvas, not external sites. It still happens. We tried the hold the link and slide to open in another window and after logging in to Canvas, it still gave the same error.

[SusanNiemeyer]

Hi Hannah,

I would recommend going into your Course Settings and then clicking on "Validate Links in Content" to verify that all of your links are working well. Sometimes, the links get messed up when importing or copying content. Also, if you edit the name of an item, the link will be broken. The best way to find these broken links is to "validate" them in your Course Settings.

[Johnsky]

Many sites do not like to be embedded into another site. If you are using an iframe, for example, to embed a page that lives on another server into a Canvas page, and the links are not working, here's the fix: add "target=_blank" into the code of the original page's links.

For example: if the code on the original embedded page has:

<a href="https://html.com/">HTML Tutorials</a>

change it to:

<a href="https://html.com/" target="_blank">HTML Tutorials</a>

Now the link will function when the page is viewed in Canvas.

Also, remember that if you are embedding a page into Canvas by using an iframe, make sure you link to the secure version of the page.

For example: if your iframe code says:

<iframe src="http://duh.com/" width="100%" height="1000"></iframe>

change it to:

<iframe src="https://duh.com/" width="100%" height="1000"></iframe>