Formatting Inconsistencies across various typed fields

[mmoon14]

In a recent update, some auto-formatting changes were made to the Comments for assignments. When someone clicks <enter>, the system automatically adds an extra line space as though it is starting a new paragraph. This now matches the formatting of "Announcements" and "Assignments" but is not consistent with "Emails."

Is there a reason why this formatting is not consistent across these major fields or areas of typed content? From an end-user standpoint, it is a little frustrating to remember how to type within each field and due to the lack of consistency (imo). In Emails (and it used to do so in Comments), I click double <enter> to create a new paragraph. Now, when I click double <enter> in Comments, a huge double space is created that appears unprofessional if not caught before clicking submit.

[JamesSekcienski · Accepted solution]

@mmoon14 

The inconsistency you are experiencing sounds like the result of text entry areas that are plain text entry versus Rich Content Editor (RCE) text entry.  Instructure recently released a lite version of the RCE to the comments area in SpeedGrader, which formats text as a paragraph by default, so you don't need to click double enter any longer.  The Announcements and Assignments areas already use the full Rich Content Editor.  There is also an Idea submitted for the Canvas Inbox to also get the Rich Content Editor ([Inbox] Add rich-content editor to Conversations).  This will hopefully be prioritized for development in the future and then it will be another step towards consistency in the text-entry areas of Canvas.