Missing the reply button for one student in discussion assignment

[ble]

This is odd.... I have a graded discussion assignment set up, and students must reply to one another. I am trying to also reply, but one student's post has no 'Reply' option at all. I've tried Edit and searched the help topics but cannot find any information.

Is it possible she posted from the mobile app and that is an issue? I've never had this happen with a student before, and I know they use the app!

Thanks!

Barbara

[greydon]

Hello @ble 

Thank you for contacting the Instructure Community. It is odd one student only is missing a reply button - but no, it shouldn't have anything to do with where  they replied from. It is likely your internet browser and we recommend clearing the cache and cookies or trying another browser.

In Chrome
On your computer, open Chrome.
At the top right, click the three dots
Click settings
On the left, choose Privacy and Security
Then, clear browsing data
At the top, choose a time range. To delete everything, select All time. I suggest at least 4 weeks
Next to "Cookies and other site data" and "Cached images and files," check the boxes.
Click Clear data.

If that doesn't work, have you checked on another browser, device, or even network? Very rarely are there technical glitches on Canvas' end but if none of that troubleshooting works, I would contact Canvas Support directly who can investigate further. 

How do I contact Canvas Support? - Instructure Community  

[ble]

Hi Greydon,

I've tried other browsers without success. I'm reluctant to clear out my cache and cookies because I just had to do that a couple weeks ago due to a problem with Canvas suddenly not showing grades for my courses. It would be frustrating to lose that much information on my computer again. Plus, since it was just wiped out, I don't know how the cache and cookies could be a problem already. 

Again, the Reply button is only missing for one student. Very strange.

Thanks,

Barbara

[ble]

Omigoodness, now I have several students with discussion posts that are missing Reply buttons!

[Chris_Hofer]

@ble ...

That seems really odd.  Can you check something for me?  Go to your "Discussions" page in your course.  Then, look for the topic in question.  Which category is the topic in?

• Pinned Discussions
• Discussions
• Closed for Comments

Might that topic be in the "Closed for Comments" category?

How do I move or reorder a discussion in a course? - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

Keep us posted...thanks!

[ble]

No, not under Closed for Comments. It is under Pinned Discussions.

Other students are able to reply - but I cannot on about 40% of posts now. This is driving me crazy. 

I just tried the mobile app, and it looks like I can reply to everyone there. But that is so much typing on a phone, even with the mic. I'm desperate enough at this point to go ahead and do that. But I'd really like to solve this.

Thanks,

Barbara

[Chris_Hofer]

Hello @ble ...

Thanks for letting Community members know that the discussion is in your "Pinned" section.  I think a call to Canvas Support is your next best option.  They may be able to help troubleshoot this more than we can here in the Community.

• How do I get help with Canvas as an instructor?

Please come back to this topic to provide an update once you've (hopefully) found a solution.  Thanks, and good luck!

[ble · Accepted solution]

I probably should have called Canvas first! Apparently this was an issue with the way the course was created and discussion replies were categorized. I didn't create the course and wasn't familiar with that layout.

[Chris_Hofer]

Thank you for coming back to post an update, @ble.  I've marked your response as a "Solution".

[aaron_bahmer]

I just encountered this situation with a student that I support. I don't teach the class, so I'm not always up to speed with how things are set up.

I noted that "student view" of the discussion also could not see the Reply button.

Instructure Tech Support figured out that the discussion is part of a module that has prerequisites. This student hadn't completed all of the requirements of the prereq module. That makes sense, so I told the student to click through all the items in the previous module.

What doesn't make sense is how the student got to the discussion in the first place, especially if it lives within a closed module. Hmmm.