Canvas Catalog Login URL

[bettermjcohen]

Hey Dev Ops, we have a suggestion or question.

In Canvas Catalog, the Login link at the top is not editable, and it appears the Custom CSS/JS scripts won't allow any code that changes that Login link to point to another URL.

As the default, the Catalog Login link points to the priority one authorization in the connected Canvas instance, which in our case is SSO. 99% of our users will use the SSO link to login to Canvas and complete courses. About 1% will use the /login/canvas local login for Catalog. We expect our Professional Development users to not have SSO-enabled accounts.

It would be great if our Catalog Login link could point to /login/canvas instead of the priority one authentication option for our Canvas instance (in this case, SSO).

The three solutions we have been told by our CSM/PC team are below:

1. Custom CSS/JS to update the link (which I have tried with little success).

2. Discovery URL/Landing Page (which is not a viable option for us because we do not host websites and would be a step backward for 99% of our community who are using the seamless login option).

3. Spin up a separate Canvas instance for our Catalog users.

We are speaking internally about the third option, but we are concerned about the con that our internal SSO users would have to create a new account with a separate password to log in to the Catalog instance and then not be able to connect their achievements/progress with their University account.

Our main frustration is that if we have to setup this landing page/discovery URL, the majority of our users are sacrificing their seamless logins for the few users that will actually use the Catalog system. It doesn't make sense to us why it has to be this way.

Thanks for taking the time to read and reflect.

[bettermjcohen]

This is the JS code we applied:

// Custom Code for to force catalog users to authenticate via Canvas local login
var userNav = document.getElementById('user-nav')
if (userNav) {
    var userLink = userNav.querySelector('a');
    var userButton = userNav.querySelector('button');
    //If the user isn't sign in then there is only an A tag inside user-nav div.
    //IF the user is logged in then there are several A tags and a button. 
    //We only want to modify the A tag if the user hasn't logged in yet. 
    if (userLink && userButton === null) { 
        // Modify href
        userLink.href = 'https://(instance).beta.instructure.com/login/canvas';
    }
}

This works to have users who go to https://(instance).beta.instructure.com to log in with their SSO and for users who go to https://(instance).beta.pdx.catalog.canvaslms.com/ to login via the local login option. However, after the person logs in to Catalog using the local login link, it takes them to the Beta Canvas and does not bring them back to Catalog, forming an infinite login loop.