Importing Content overwriting previously imported Quizzes

[jmhigdon5]

I've been using the Settings -> Import Content method to import quizzes and Canvas keeps overwriting some of the quizzes. 

I do a daily quiz in class and since each quiz has the exact same settings I created a Practice Course and created a template for the quiz to make sure I set all of them with the same time and other settings. Well in the beginning this was great but now Canvas keeps overwriting some of the previous quizzes when I try to import it again, but it doesn't do it for every "template", just for some of them and I can't figure out what is going on. It has already seriously screwed up a few assignments that I didn't catch in time. 

Last fall I was able to just copy a quiz from the same course but this semester it was overwriting them, which is why I created the Practice Course, but even that started to mess up. I just want an easy way to create "templates" so I ensure I get the settings identical each day or week depending on how often the assignment is completed. 

[kona · Accepted solution]

 @jmhigdon5 , greetings! Just last week we had a faculty member with the same issue. We contacted Canvas Support and they said you can no longer do this to create a copy of a quiz. Instead, they recommended downloading the quiz and then re-uploading it. 

You would do this first to create a copy of a quiz - How do I export quiz content from a course? 

And then this to get the quiz back into your course - https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-12783-415241324 

This was very frustrating for us - and it lost our faculty member quiz grades for two quizzes - but thankfully this workaround isn't too bad. 

Hope this helps! Kona

[jmhigdon5]

Awesome! Thanks. The work around is still probably less work than creating it all from scratch a million times

[jmhigdon5]

Update to this question/answer. I attempted to import the export zip package again to create new quizzes and it overwrote the the previously imported quizzes again. Not a programmer, but I'd hazard a guess that somewhere there is something that is perpetually keeping the quizzes linked and no method of export/import will work. If it worked more than once for your colleague, then there may be something in my settings when I created, exported, and imported that is keeping them linked.

[Nancy_Webb_CCSF]

@konathanks for your as always clear explanation and links.  I think the link to the document about getting exported quiz content back into a course has changed with the move to the new Community site.  Is this the document you meant to point to?  How-do-I-import-quizzes-from-QTI-packages

I think export to qti and importing that is the only way to be sure you don't overwrite an existing quiz using Copy to or importing from a Canvas Course.  I sure wish it were a choice when using either of those two options.

[ironj]

Can you recover content you've overwritten?? I used the Copy to command on the same course and overwrited the assignment I was attempting to copy (similar to what was originally posted). How do I restore the overwritten assignment? It's not in "undelete". I've tried everything...

[Nancy_Webb_CCSF]

Hi @ironj, I don't know any way to get the original assignment description back, except perhaps going to the BETA version, or TEST version of Canvas.  Beta copies the content from your working Canvas every Saturday, so it depends on when you did this.  Test is copied every few weeks so that's another possibility. Can you log into your beta?  add beta in front of instructure.com, ie school.beta.instructure.com.  Then you can copy the description, being careful with images and any internal links to correct the location from beta.  I am assuming your assignment is not a discussion or quiz.  Quizzes are rather unique.

If you are talking about submissions, were there any submissions?  It's possible those are still there in the assignment.

I've found great success at always copying the copy, never copying the same item more than once.  I hope that will work for you too.  You do have to keep track of the order you make copies.

[cpadavano]

Is there a community question about importing an edited quiz and reimporting into the same new course that had the previous version and the new edits not taking? I have instructors that have a template course for their material and they may first import the entire course material in a new course, make changes in the original course like a quiz, and reimport the quiz again only to find the edits did not take (the original version still stays). I think it has to do with this same issue but in another effect. 

In this case we saw it more with New Quizzes and I have tested this and found it to be true. My institution has already brought it up with Canvas, but I wanted to find a community page on it too.