Keyboard shortcut for editing Canvas pages

[ManajitC]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum. I have been using Canvas for a while now to create and deliver lectures for a module. I extensively use Canvas pages to create new content. However, I have seen when the pages are long (say over 2-3000 words), I have to scroll up to the top of the page to enter into 'Edit' mode by clicking the Edit button and then scroll down to the particular section in the page I want to edit. 

I was wondering if anyone was aware of any keyboard shortcut (Windows) to open the current page in edit mode without having to scroll incessantly?

Thanks a bunch!

[jnine98]

As far as I know there is none.  The current shortcuts I know about are here.  Why make such long pages in Canvas??  If you're annoyed having to scroll to the top, imagine how your students feel.  Chunk your info into multiple pages or tabbed pages.  Research shows many students only read what fits on the screen, and they don't scroll.  I teach middle school, so I don't know what level you teach, but every long page I make, I chunk it into a tabbed page.  Good luck!

[ManajitC]

Thanks @jnine98 for your comment. I understand where you are coming from. I teach at university level and all of them are issued with laptops. Often, I do break substantial topics into multiple pages when discussing sub-topics but each page is like a tutorial where I show them multiple examples of coding snippets in Python. So even though the word length might seem quite substantial, the amount of free text is considerably small.

And also from my previous experience I have seen that students often miss content in tabbed pages format especially due to the lack of attention span. 

[ManajitC]

Also, I forgot to mention that I provide anchor links for them to jump to certain sections without scrolling but unfortunately I do not have that luxury while typing. 😞

[gnoack]

Hi @ManajitC 

I've had similar issues. I've just gotten into the habit of clicking edit when the page opens, then reviewing the content.  I just assume I'm going to want to tweak a sentence or two. 

@jnine98 

Personally, I stay away from Tabbed Pages.  It is a design user interface unlike anything else in Canvas, so I think students will miss the tabs and not read those pages.  Also, Canvas controls its HTML editor and only allows some things. I worry that someday Canvas will make a change and all those tabbed pages won't work anymore.  And maybe more importantly, I think there are accessibility issues.  If I want to shorten a page, I just a make a new page!

[DrNufer]

Those tabbed interactions are definitely on borrowed time.  

[Chris_Hofer]

@ManajitC ...

I agree with both @jnine98 and @gnoack.

First, those sound like really long pages.  While those pages may look fine on a PC or laptop, consider also that your students may be using mobile devices like an iPhone or an iPad.  So much scrolling!  If you are using Google Chrome as your web browser, there is a way to see how your pages might look on mobile devices.  Check out this article from 2021 that I found: How to View Mobile Websites on Your Computer in Chrome (howtogeek.com)

Also, regarding the tabs... I agree with Greg on this because Instructure (the folks that make Canvas) may take away this ability to use those code snippets at any time.  Also, you'd want to test this out in the Canvas mobile apps, but I'm about 95% certain that the code snippets for tabs do not display properly compared to viewing tabs on a PC or laptop.

All this is to say...if you can find other ways to design the layouts of your pages, I think it will be a win/win for everyone.

[gnoack]

I forgot about the issue with mobile, I have tested this and it works, but not well.

[DrNufer]

I've found it hit and miss on mobile.  I do encourage my students to use the mobile app and not the browser, but tabs don't always render well on the app.

[ManajitC · Accepted solution]

Thanks @Chris_Hofer, as I mentioned in my reply to @jnine98, undergrads at our institute are provided with (high-end) laptops. So, I would not expect them to scroll on their phones for teaching material. As I mentioned earlier, there is a particular reason for the pages I create to be long-ish since I prefer to teach by example and if you have ever put programming snippets in your page, you'll see how quickly they take up space. 

I suppose there is no shortcut at this point, which is what I wanted to verify, but thank you for your help. 🙂