Can replies in threads be shown by default in Discussions Redesign?

[eric_orton]

I have an instructor who tried the redesigned discussions feature this past semester. She found it to be worse than the "classic" discussions feature for her use for two reasons:

1. She wants students to read replies to other students' posts, but is concerned they won't click the links to do so, making replies collapsed--the only possible default state in redesigned discussions--an undesirable state.
2. She wants her presence in discussions to be easily visible to students, even if she doesn't reply to their individual posts. Again, her concern is that students won't see her replies as they would if replies were expanded by default as in the "classic" feature, because they won't click the links to view replies to others' posts.

Is it possible to make replies expanded for all threads the default state for a discussion? If not now, I would like to propose this as a feature. As it currently stands, some of my faculty will see the redesigned discussions feature as less ideal than the "classic" version and will be disappointed/unhappy if it becomes the only discussion format available in Canvas.

[KristinL · Accepted solution]

This is a great conversation topic for the Discussions/Announcements Redesign group. Since we recently moved a duplicate of this thread there earlier, we'll leave this one in the Question Forum for a few weeks if it helps bring people into the collaborative user group.

Here's the direct link to the active thread:  Make it possible for faculty to have threads/replies expanded by default in Discussions Redesign

With this, I am marking this post as the Solution (I know it is not truly a solution to the issues shared!) and closing comments so that any ideas, feedback, and contributions can happen in a single thread in the user group. That will help our Product Team and Community Members really keep track of the conversation. Thanks!