FOLDERS in pages!

[jlanoue6487]

I requested a change in the "view all pages" area for students. I want to be able to have folders so that, similar to modules, we could group pages together, by unit or theme. This way, if students need to look ahead, they wouldn't be confused by older pages that are being saved for a specific reason. I first asked for this change in 2021, I have noticed others have asked this too and am wondering why Canvas is so unresponsive to the idea.

[Gabriel33 · Accepted solution]

Seems like this has been requested since at least 2016.

In 2021 Instructure replied, saying other things were a priority on the short term, such as having search, sorting and filtering options in the Pages index (since then, they've implemented sorting).

There is a Chrome extension to add folders, and perhaps a tampermonkey script for that too (though I couldn't find it now), but those require every user to install them (and to use a Chromium based browser), so it might not be convenient (or in case of the extension, FERPA compliant?).

But for your use case, why not organize the pages within modules, or pages themselves? It is more work when making new pages, but it also gives more flexibility than a folder structure would give.

Also, "older pages" that are not currently being used can be unpublished, if you want to hide them from students.

[Gabriel33 · Accepted solution]

Seems like this has been requested since at least 2016.

In 2021 Instructure replied, saying other things were a priority on the short term, such as having search, sorting and filtering options in the Pages index (since then, they've implemented sorting).

There is a Chrome extension to add folders, and perhaps a tampermonkey script for that too (though I couldn't find it now), but those require every user to install them (and to use a Chromium based browser), so it might not be convenient (or in case of the extension, FERPA compliant?).

But for your use case, why not organize the pages within modules, or pages themselves? It is more work when making new pages, but it also gives more flexibility than a folder structure would give.

Also, "older pages" that are not currently being used can be unpublished, if you want to hide them from students.

[jlanoue6487]

It it was first requested in 2016, and then again in 2021- seems like they have had a lot of time. I want to be able to give my students access to my pages (and I realize they see the published only, and that I can add them to modules) but I want to be able to basically have "in progress" pages in a different location etc. or pages I only use sometimes kept separate. 

[Gabriel33]

I completely understand why one would want to have folders in pages, even with the available workarounds.

But to get the folders in pages implemented natively in Canvas, you are in the wrong place. For that, you should go into the ideas section which, as you have noticed, is somewhat of a slow process.

[Hildi_Pardo]

Hi @jlanoue6487 

I can understand how folders could be helpful with organization.  Since that's not currently a feature, I was going to suggest the same as Gabriel -- using Modules to organize content and adding the relevant Pages to the specific Modules.

In my district we actually require hiding the Pages link from students in the course menu to prevent confusion and keep navigation simple. If you're interested, check out my blog post:  Bring Clarity to your Canvas Course Part 1:  Course Navigation

Another strategy I use is naming my Pages in a way that helps me with organization, such as:  Unit 1: Intro, Unit 1: Summary.  It makes finding and reusing Pages much easier.

If you’r interested, here’s another blog post I wrote about using Modules:  Bring Clarity to your Canvas Course Part 2: Modules

Hope this helps!

[jlanoue6487]

I understand I can do this by putting pages into modules but I moreso want it for my own organization, like one year I might use it but not another. OR, having the option to have folders like "updated," "Needs update" etc would be helpful. It seems like an easy fix, not sure why Canvas is so hesitant about it.

[Hildi_Pardo · Accepted solution]

Yeah, I understand.

Within the limitations, this has been my strategy:   I Unpublish all my Pages, then go through my Modules, make any updates, and Publish them when they are ready.       That helps me.      (And also my naming convention).   

Who knows?  Maybe one day they will have the feature you want.     But for now, these are my strategies.