Canvas Portfolio is Now in Feature Preview!

Dalma_Schnell · ‎07-31-2025

Canvas (1).png

Today’s the day — enhanced Canvas Portfolio is officially open to all institutions for testing through Feature Preview!

Whether you're an educator looking to guide learners through structured, competency-based portfolios or a student building a personal showcase of your academic journey, you can now join the experience and collaborate with others exploring Canvas Portfolio.

✅ Available for any institution using Canvas
✅ Admins can enable the tool at the root or sub-account level
✅ Supports both Evaluation (institution-led) and Showcase (learner-driven) portfolios

For more information, please refer to the 2025-07-19 Canvas Release Notes.

To support your setup, explore the following configuration guides:

Start testing, share feedback, and see how others are using Portfolio to power reflection, evidence collection, and competency recognition.

Jeff_F · ‎08-01-2025

Hello @Dalma_Schnell - I was able to set it up on one of our test domains very easily and I've created an initial portfolio. Bravo to you and the team! This tool is looking very nice.

My only question is about the permissions and placements. I am sure for many admins the text description of the permissions is clear in meaning but I admit that I am unsure of several of these. That is, what is the implication of having the item checked or unchecked. I am asking for more details. Also, I am clear on the location of global navigation and course navigation, but can account and user navigation placements be defined? I believe 'account navigation' is where you select account at the top left. But 'user navigation'? I am thinking this is within Account > Settings. That is, the navigation within the user settings.

The images below were snipped from the LTI registration process...

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suzanne_pathki1 · ‎08-04-2025

Hi @Dalma_Schnell , does it need to be installed on prod or can it be installed in the test-instance of Canvas?

Dalma_Schnell · ‎08-06-2025

Hi @Jeff_F

Thank you for the kind words! I’m so glad to hear you were able to set it up smoothly and create a portfolio! Appreciate the thoughtful feedback.

Here’s a helpful link that outlines what each placement means. Also it's a great callout, I’ll make sure to include this link in the configuration guide as well.

To clarify:

If a placement is unchecked, the tool will not appear in that navigation area.
User Navigation refers to the menu accessible from the 'Account' option in the top-right corner, where individual users see profile-specific navigation options.
Account Navigation appears at the root account level and is typically visible to admins.

I hope this helps clarify things! Let me know if any other questions come up.

Dalma_Schnell · ‎08-06-2025

Hi @suzanne_pathki1,

You can absolutely configure it in your test instance!

That said, we do support sub-account setup in production as well. If you’d like to try it out with a smaller group, you can install it at a sub-account level and make it accessible to just a few faculty members or a specific cohort.

Let me know if you run into any issues with the setup!

olguin · ‎08-06-2025

Hi @Dalma_Schnell ,

I had a similar question that @Jeff_F did. Can you please advise us about the best permissions under Client Settings. Should we leave all the permission enabled that are enabled as a default? If we disable some, will that impact the tool? What are the necessary permissions for the tool to work?

Also, I don't want to turn on course or global navigation menu placement because it's there for all, but I want instructors to be able to test this. I turned off the placements, but when I go to the course there's no option in the Navigation tab under Course settings. So, it's on or off completely?

The only way for instructors to test without having it in the course navigation menu for all courses is to add it to a subaccount?

Thanks for the clarification on these two issues.

Debbie

Dalma_Schnell · ‎08-14-2025

Hi @olguin,

Thanks for all the great questions, I’m really glad you’re about to start exploring the tool!

Leaving all placements enabled will make the tool visible everywhere it’s listed - namely in Global Navigation, User Navigation, Course Navigation, and Account Navigation. It really depends on what you want to achieve.

Disabling any placement won’t impact the tool’s functionality, it just gives you the option to limit exposure to users while you’re testing.

If you enable it at the root account level and only turn on Course Navigation, then every course will have it in the side navigation once you open that course. If you’d like to limit this to specific courses or cohorts, I recommend enabling it at the subaccount level with a course navigation placement and using that specific subaccount for testing.

If you run into any trouble as you explore, we’re happy to look into it with you Debbie!

kschneider25 · ‎08-21-2025

Hello @Dalma_Schnell,

This feature preview arrived at an ideal time. One of our colleges was transitioning from a third-party product and planned to use Canvas ePortfolios. Canvas Portfolios will enable them to start fresh and offer valuable insights and use cases for everyone.

We have Canvas Portfolios set up in all placements at the root account level for all of our Colleges and students! My main request is to allow course navigation, but with the option to have it hidden by default. Since we already have course navigation bloat, this would help us introduce the feature preview alongside training and support.

Keep up the great work!
Kori

Jeff_F · ‎09-02-2025

@kschneider25 - I had the same idea (install so the course nav is hidden by default) and a colleague reminded me of this capability. See here:

Default Hide Course Navigation Placement for LTIs/... - Instructure Community - 611924

I am hoping this will work here for this tool.

Dalma_Schnell

Hi @kschneider25 ,

I’m so glad to hear that the new tool is coming at a perfect time and that it’s already proving valuable for your colleges! That’s really exciting.

Course navigation support is also available for the product and can be managed in the settings at the app placement by your admins. We’ll be publishing a new update to the LTI next Monday that will have the keys set as inherited developer keys, and we’ll make sure the course placement stays off by default.

I just want to confirm from both you and @Jeff_F , does this align with your goal, or are you looking to control the course placement individually for each course?

Thanks again for the kind words, and I’m looking forward to seeing how your colleges use Portfolios!

Jeff_F

Hello @Dalma_Schnell - we chose to install the LTI to our root account with only the course placement enabled but hidden from the course navigation by default. That way everyone can transition when they are ready, and we won't have students confused by seeing three Portfolio tools in the user settings.

We also developed a Canvas API solution that enables us to filter by subaccount and by term - using the API calls we enable the tool onto the course navigation exactly where we want it.

Once the tool is fully released, we will then enable the placement for the user settings as well. We will not be using the global navigation placement. At least I don't think we will be.

Thanks for touching base!! This is getting exciting.

Dalma_Schnell

Hi @Jeff_F

That sounds like a great setup! I’m happy it’s configured in a way that lets your team self-serve and enable the tool exactly how you want to use it.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any help along the way or if you have feedback on the product, I’d love to hear how it’s working for you as you roll it out.

AHauerwas

@Dalma_Schnell, please edit this article to remove the old installation instructions and point to the new instructions at https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Portfolio/NEW-Guide-How-to-Install-the-Enhanced-Portfolio-...

The comments on this article may prove valuable to some -- but because the installation has changed, I wouldn't want anyone following out-of-date instructions.

And thanks!