[Discussions] Show threading of posts in discussions

[cmuir]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas LMS

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Problem statement:

In the "legacy" discussions format, each individual post showed in it's own box, and the posts in a thread displayed with boxes connected. In the "new" format, there's nothing to visually separate posts or connect posts in a thread. This makes it difficult for some users to follow discussion threads; showing threaded responses only by indent is an accessibility problem, especially when paired with decrease in font size.

Proposed solution:

The "new" discussions needs a way to do both of the following: (1) show some kind of divider between individual posts in a thread and (2) show a connection between threaded posts. This would provide the visual cues some users rely on to follow threaded discussions.

User role(s):

instructor,student

[KristinL]

  Comments from Instructure

This feature is available in Beta. For more information, please read through the Canvas Deploy Notes (2024-08-14) 

How do I access the Canvas beta environment as an instructor?

[cmuir]

I see that "Line Separation Between Posts" is in beta.  What about a way to show connection between threaded posts? 

[cmuir]

The dividers (line separations) between posts are an improvement, which I appreciate. 

But visual cues for threading—showing the connections as was done in the legacy discussions, not just indents or smaller fonts—is still very much needed.

[KristinL]

Comments from Instructure

For more information, please read through the Canvas Deploy Notes (2024-08-14) 

[cmuir]

Coming back to this a few deploys later, since there are still no visual cues for threading such as I described—which also means there's still no clear division between threads, despite the (welcomed) addition of dividers between posts.