Hi @jorr2 - Your confusion is understandable as many people are dealing with lots of new things to do in Canvas during these difficult times. Hopefully I can assist in clearing up some things here.
The main point is that points always matter for Canvas, as they form the basis for how things are ultimately to be weighted, whether it be for an entire course or within assignment groups. (More on that later.) There's a reason that points are a required field for graded assignments for this very reason.
In your specific case, you will have to use weighted assignment groups, and that process is outlined here: How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups? I cannot emphasize enough how important that online lesson is. So, all 14 of your quizzes must be placed within an assignment group that is worth 45% of the grades. Here's the important bit: the points still matter, but now only within that assignment group. If quiz 1 is worth 5 points and quiz 2 is worth 10 points, quiz 2 will, therefore, be worth twice as much as quiz 1 when calculating that 45% of the grade. So, you will be creating the following assignment groups on your ASSIGNMENTS page: Quizzes, Class Activity, and Final Exam. You will then move all assignments into their proper assignment groups and then weight them. (Yes, an assignment can indeed contain simply one thing, as in the case of your final exam.)
Also, I'm not sure how you are using percentages within assignments--and perhaps you are not--but if you selected a grading type of percentage when creating/editing your assignments, that simply means that if you input 100% for quiz 1 (using the example above), Canvas will treat that as the student receiving 5 points for that quiz. It is simply used for how the grade is displayed. 100% of a 5 point assignment will still display like 100% of a 500 point assignment, but those will make a BIG difference towards the final grade!
Since it sounds like you are doing this on a "live" class, I really encourage you try things out on the same class on your institution's Beta server or Test server. This way, you can change things around without your students seeing it. (And panicking, perhaps!) Bear in mind neither may be as up to date as your current course (Beta is refereshed every weekend; Test whenever there is a Canvas release....so essentially once a month) but think of it as your "playground" where you can try things out without it affecting a real class.
I hope this helps a bit, Jondea! Stay safe and stay healthy!
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