Can I publish a Module without publishing all items in the module?

[NatalieAdolphi]

My course was recently transitioned from Learn to Canvas.  Each Module has a variety of items (readings, assignments, and solution sets) that I need to publish at different times.  When I am editing a Module, I mark each individual item as to whether I want it to be published or not.  But now I see that when I go to publish the Module itself, Canvas changes all the individual items within to "published."  Is there a setting I can change so that when I publish a Module, Canvas maintains the settings of the individual items?  The current situation forces me to publish and then quickly unpublish things that I don't want the students to see yet.

[SusanNiemeyer · Accepted solution]

No, unfortunately that's not an option. When you publish a module, every item in that module will automatically be published. After you publish the module, you'll have to unpublish the individual items you don't want your students to see.

For assignments, discussions, and quizzes, the best way to prevent students from gaining early access is to carefully set the available dates BEFORE you publish the module. 

[SusanNiemeyer · Accepted solution]

No, unfortunately that's not an option. When you publish a module, every item in that module will automatically be published. After you publish the module, you'll have to unpublish the individual items you don't want your students to see.

For assignments, discussions, and quizzes, the best way to prevent students from gaining early access is to carefully set the available dates BEFORE you publish the module. 

[JONATHANECKSTEI]

That's only a partial solution.  It only works for exams and assignments.

[barb_miltner]

This is very frustrating. As a workaround, create a new module (call it anything - you won't use it), and using the 3 dots on the module that you want to publish, choose Move Contents. Move everything to the temporary module, publish the module you want published, and then move everything back from the temporary module.

Crazy that this hasn't been fixed.

[Chris_Hofer]

Good afternoon, @NatalieAdolphi ...

In addition to the helpful information you received from @SusanNiemeyer, there is an open Feature Idea that you can review:

Stop Canvas Modules from Auto-Publishing All Conte... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

If you feel like this Feature Idea is similar to something you'd like to see implemented in Canvas, I would encourage you to leave a comment on it as to why you'd like to see this capability implemented in Canvas.  You can also give it a star rating.  Your feedback here isn't the only way that Canvas gets feedback on what we'd like to see in the core Canvas product, by the way.

• How do idea conversations work in the Instructure ... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)
• What is the feature development process for Instru... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

I hope this additional information will help in some way.

[KristinL · Accepted solution]

Hi! I have great news to share with everyone who has followed this thread!

The Bulk Publish and Unpublish Module Items option has been added to Canvas. Please read the Canvas Release Notes (2023-06-17) for more information.