[Assignments] assignment ordering: "sort chronologically" button in settings

on the assignment page next to the group title there is a gear icon representing settings.  on that drag down menu bar it would be wonderful to have an option to sort assignments chronologically. 

 

thanks

28 Comments
Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

Hello,  @scott_navitsky  Welcome to the Canvas Community! To clarify, you wish the automatic chronological sort in the gear icon to respect due dates (i.e. an option to sort assignments automatically by due date)?

And, have you explored using the Syllabus page as the course home page and hiding the Assignments tab from students? The Syllabus page includes a course summary at the bottom that displays graded activities and events by due date/event date. Please refer to https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10084-415255577?sr=search&searchId=ceeaa3a3-ee0d-4b38-a0cf-...

We're looking forward to hearing your feedback.

Anna_Shaver
Community Participant

I do hide the Assignments page from students, but I would like an option to sort assignments, mostly because it would help the order in the Gradebook make more sense. A chronological option and an alphabetical option would be great.

chris_leeder
Community Novice

Yes, the ability to sort assignments by due date would be very helpful. I created them in order, but for some reason they don't appear that way. I had to manually click and drag them to get them in the right order. I checked with the help desk and there is no sort function on the assignments page. This would be very helpful.

fisherj1
Community Member

Please this!  This would streamline building and making changes to courses so much!

ChandlWM
Community Contributor

I think it would be best if when on the assignments screen, you could: 

Make assignments sortable by alphabetical or by due date or by any other sortable thing on that screen like whether or not it is published or syncing to SIS. 

It would be really easy if you thought of the assignments screen like a TABLE in EXCEL.  Just click on the header and it sorts it by that column's info.  Hey canvas already does it in the grades screen.  I can click on any assignment in the grades screen and it sorts by their grade for that column.

This would also make it easier to find out which assignments are not syncing to my district PowerSchool grades.  

chris_martin
Community Novice

Hello I would also like this feature. Two general principles of usability are (1) make defaults sensible and (2) prevent errors automatically. I feel like the default order that makes the most sense for instructors is chronological and, given chronological order, I'm unlikely to make the mistake of thinking that the next assignment due is the next assignment in the visible sequence, which is what I often assume. I'm not sure the current ordering (of ordering by date the instructor created the assignment) is useful to instructors, although I could be wrong. 

Alphabetical ordering as a second option might be nice, but it's easy to use a browser's search feature to find any assignment name (to me).

Thanks for all the work that you folks do.

Anna_Shaver
Community Participant

I agree. I would happily settle for the only option being chronological by due date with no manual sort.

dnewman
Community Novice

I am the tech support for my school and I get many teachers that want to do this.  Most of the time they come to me and think it's disappeared on the assignment page.  If they could simply re-order everything by due date or alphabetical, I wouldn't be the one always searching for the assignment for them and showing them that it's actually there.  

ChandlWM
Community Contributor

Use ctr-f. And then look for the highlighted item

On Thu, Apr 2, 2020 at 1:12 PM dnewman@jerichschools.org <

tgenest
Community Member

Yes! Do this soon. 

Some developers have created tools to adjust all Due Dates of assignments. A similar tool would be highly useful for course organization / navigation. 

Obviously, something built inside Canvas would be better than using an external tool to sort.