You can link documents from your user files in Canvas in the Rich Content Editor. Several features in Canvas support the Rich Content Editor, including Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, Pages, and Quizzes.
By default, linked document links display an icon that allows users to preview the document in the Rich Content Editor. You can disable the in-line preview or open the in-line preview automatically.
Note: If you set a file as not visible to students in Course Files and link to that file in the Rich Content Editor, students will be able to view that file using the link in the Rich Content Editor.
Open Rich Content Editor
Open the Rich Content Editor when creating or editing an announcement, assignment, discussion, page, quiz, or syllabus.
Note: The Rich Content Editor supports keyboard shortcuts. To view the Keyboard Shortcuts menu, click the Keyboard icon or press ALT+F8 (PC keyboard) or Option+F8 (Mac keyboard).
Select Link Location
To insert a link displaying the name of the file, click to place your cursor in the location in the Rich Content Editor where you want the link to appear [1].
To insert a hyperlink to a course content item, select the text for your hyperlink [2].
Insert Documents from Toolbar
Alternatively, you can insert documents from the toolbar. Click the Documents icon [1]. To view your user documents, click the User Documents option [2].
Note: To view the Documents icon, you may have to click the Options icon [3].
Insert Documents from Menubar
To insert a document from the menubar, click the Insert link [1]. Navigate to view the Document options [2], then select the User Documents option [3]. If you are accessing the Rich Content Editor from a group, you can also view group documents by selecting the Group Documents option [4].
View and Sort Files
By default, the Add menu displays all files in your selected file source [1].
To sort the displayed files by image, document, or media file type, click the Type drop-down menu [2].
To sort the displayed files by date added or alphabetically, click the Sort by drop-down menu [3]. To search for a document, enter the file name in the Search field [4]. You must enter at least three characters for search results to display.
Select File
Click the name of the file you want to link in the Rich Content Editor.
Note: The text will flash before turning into the hyperlink.
View Link
View the link displaying the name of the file [1] or the hyperlinked text [2].
To manage options for the link, click the link title [3] and click the Link Options link [4].
View Link Options
You can edit the link text in the Text field [1] or link URL in the Link field [2].
To disable users from seeing a file preview, select Disable Preview option [3].
You can choose to display a file preview in a pop-up window or in-line preview when the link is clicked. You can also choose to expand an in-line preview by default.
To allow users to view a file preview in a pop-up window when the link is clicked, select the Preview in overlay option [4].
To allow users to view an in-line preview when the link is clicked, click the Preview inline option [5]. To expand the in-line preview by default, click the Expand preview by Default checkbox [6].
To save link options, click the Done button [7].
Notes:
- Inline preview is not supported in the Canvas beta environment.
- Inline preview is not supported in Edit mode.
Save Changes
Click the Save button.
Note: When using the Rich Content Editor in Discussions, the Save button may appear as the Reply button.
View Content
View the content.
To preview the file, click the file link [1]. Links to external URLs display an Open icon [2].
To download the linked file, click the Download icon [3].
