Edit or remove recurring events in calendar

[meshen1]

Can the instructor edit or delete recurring events in the Calendar? I think it is a very important feature to efficiently use calendar.

[Bobby2 · Accepted solution]

Absolutely. The instructor has the 'power' in the calendar. 

Here are some handy guides for you 

• How do I use the Calendar as an instructor?
• How do I filter the Calendar view by course as an instructor?
• How do I add an event to a course calendar?
• How do I add and duplicate an event in the Calendar as an instructor?
• How do I add an event to my calendar as an instructor?
• How do I add an assignment from the Calendar?
• How do I edit an event or assignment in the Calendar?
• How do I set a different event date for each section in a course calendar?

Sing out if you need a hand. 

[wli2]

Hi there, 

I must dissent. The instructor has the ability to create a recurring event. However, there is no current way to edit a recurring event. Only individual instances of the event may be edited. It would be ideal if a recurring event can be edited with all subsequent versions of the event also being edited to reflect the change. 

An example would be that if I created a recurring event to be scheduled in Room A, but after several weeks, the room was no longer available and so the event would then be rescheduled to be in Room B. There is currently no way to edit the recurring event, and therefore all subsequent instances of the event would have to be individually changed to reflect the new room: Room B. 

Can we please get this as a feature? 

Thanks!

[Chris_Hofer]

Good morning, @wli2 ...

If you would like to see additional functionality added to the core Canvas product, you can do that by submitting your idea to the Ideas and Themes space here in the Community.  There are a handful of Guides I'd like to point you toward to use as references as you formulate your idea for others to evaluate:

Instructure Community Guide - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

Review the section called "Ideas and Themes".  Then, once you've done that, go to Canvas Ideas and Themes - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com), and click on the blue "View and Submit Ideas" button.  On the next screen, click on the blue "Submit an Idea" button.  You may find that a similar idea has already been submitted.  If that is the case, it's not necessary to create your own idea...as to avoid duplication of ideas.

I hope this will help you in some way.

[doore_marilyn]

Bobby,

These links did not provide a solution for deleting multiple events or even being able to edit multiple events. That should be a basic calendar function. Do you know if this function will be added soon? OR do you know how to delete and edit multiple calendar events?

Thank you,

Marilyn

[thompsli]

Unless it changed over the summer (I'm just getting back into the swing of things), Canvas handles reoccurring events by creating x number of copies at the time you create the event, and does not keep them linked as a recurrence after that. (It stores them all as completely separate events.) Basically, Canvas's implementation of a recurrence is a macro that copies and pastes the event rather than a structure that contains all recurrences of a multi-part event.

That means, unfortunately, that you have to edit them all individually because Canvas sees them as separate things. (I wish this were different - I'm pretty conservative using recurring events since I've had a few big clean-up tasks due to this.)

[christopher_hen]

The calendar portion of canvas needs an overhaul. 

-Ability to remove recurring events

-Ability to schedule recurrence by day of the week, not total days.

-Ability to edit recurring events by editing the series.

[mskoch]

I second this.  With the Zoom integration now in place at our institution, these shortcomings created yet another challenge. If an instructor creates a recurring Zoom meeting using the Canvas integration, it generates multiple events in the course calendar. If the instructor makes a change to the meeting time, it would not update the existing calendar events but create new events. As a result the instructor must delete each old event individually, which also means multiple notifications would go out to students (if the course is published). Part of this is maybe due to how the Zoom integration works, but the inability to recognize or edit recurring calendar events is certainly a part of the problem. 

[steffanishen]

It's ok if certain functions don't exist on Canvas and we will find a workaround. I'm not sure if Canvas framework is built by for-profit private sectors or an open source community, I guess it's the former. It's certainly short of customer services, short of engineers to solve real problems or lack of incentive to solve problems, but enough PR. After waiting for a whole day in line for a Canvas online chat help starting from the 96th place, and being hanged up for a 10s delay in response, I realize that's not the right place to find help. I've seen many tasks requested 5 years ago, with a reply that promised to build the function in, but still unsolved till today. An example is multipart formula questions. Thanks anyway.

[jwilkinson171]

I agree that Canvas needs to fix this calendar problem.  I'm a high school teacher and I mistakenly put in zoom meetings that have been integrated to my calendar.  I have five a day (zoom meetings) five days a week. That 25 meetings a week until the end of June that I need to delete by hand!  I click delete, the confirm delete, then it deletes.  Can you imagine the hours this will take me!?!?!?  And a HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL who explained this to me!