Link Validator and Delayed Announcements

[murphy_1527]

Hi all,

To create an AU22 course, used the import tool to copy an AU21 course AND adjust dates. When I did this, Canvas, of course, copied over all announcements.

Before I  set them to delay dates that work for AU22's semester schedule, I want to make sure that any hyperlinks in Announcements (either to external websites or content in the course) are working.

My question

Does the Validate Links tool "review" the links in these delayed Announcements?  Or is it just Pages, and Assignments in a Canvas course?

Thanks.

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hi @murphy_1527 ...

Yes, the link validator does check announcements...even if they are delayed.

How do I validate links in a course? 

You'll see that this Guide refers to checking course content...which I assume means "all the things"...including announcements.

To test this (and you can do the same), I created an announcement, and then delayed it until tomorrow evening.  I included a link to an external website that I knew would not work.  The link validator caught it.

Here's the deal, though.  You'll note that my "Bacon!" announcement displays as a "DISCUSSION".  It's still an announcement...though it is displayed as a "DISCUSSION".  (If you were to open up the announcement, you'd see this as part of the URL at the top of your screen: "discussion_topics".)

So...I hope this will help a bit to answer your question.  Sing out if you have any other questions about this...thanks!

[murphy_1527]

@Chris_Hofer I have learned not to "assume" anything with Canvas 😉 but I appreciate you testing it out. The image you showed me (with the arrow pointing to "Bacon!" has the description of the object as "Discussion" and not "Announcement." and has the discussion icon rather than the announcement icon, so I appreciate you offering to test it out but not sure this image supports the answer you provided.

[Chris_Hofer]

@murphy_1527 ...

I understand.  However, as I mentioned in my initial response, if you take a look at the URL for any announcement that you post, it would look something like this:

https://SchoolName.instructure.com/courses/12345/discussion_topics/56789

It seems to me that announcements are designed very similar to discussions...in that it is possible to allow replies to announcements...just like discussions.  So, I agree that the labeling of "DISCUSSION" on the link validator is a bit deceptive, in a way it makes sense that it is labeled as such on this screen.  There's always room for improvement, right?  And that is where you could certainly make a suggestion for Instructure to change this:

• How do idea conversations work in the Instructure Community?
• What is the feature development process for Instructure products?
• How do I create a new idea conversation in the Instructure Community?

More than happy to test some things out for you!  That's what Community members are here for.  If you want to do any testing like I did, you could try the following:

• Create an announcement in your own course that is delayed and has a bad link.  Then run the link validator.
• Do you have a sandbox course that only you have access to?  You could do all your testing in there...as to ensure you are not disturbing any content in your actual course(s) where students are enrolled.
• Have you used your school's Canvas "test" environment?  This is a separate environment from the normal "production" environment you typically log in to on a daily basis.  It's for testing out things.  Here are a couple Guides:
  • What is the Canvas test environment?
  • How do I access the Canvas test environment as an instructor?

Hope this information will help!

[murphy_1527]

So sorry! I read the initial reply on my phone and did not see the text at the bottom, *explaining* why it was showing as a DIscusison. Thank you for your help!!!!!!!