My discussion post disappeared when i hit submit, where did it go?

[apb5555]

I was commenting on a discussion post and when I hit submit, my post disappeared.  The discussion post had locked at midnight but I didn't realize my post had a time limit, so when i hit submit it disappeared.  Is it gone forever or is it somewhere on my teachers end?  

[kona · Accepted solution]

 @apb5555 , hello and welcome to the Canvas Community! Unfortunately from what you've explained it sounds like your post was not saved and would not be available for your teacher to see. Whatever is posted on the discussion is what the teacher can see, so if your post isn't there then the teacher can't see it. I know this is super frustrating and I've had it happen to me more than once. What I've started doing and that seems to work pretty well is to either (1) copy & paste what I typed into a word document (or email to myself or something like this) before I click the submit button OR (2) type up my response in Word or some other program and save it and then copy and paste it into the discussion. This way you always have a backup copy of what you typed. Hope this helps!

[AzzyBrown]

I wrote a long discussion post of about 500 words and when I hit submit it the writing didn't post, but my name appears on the discussion post. why cant I see what I wrote? I did not miss any deadlines or anything. 

[SusanNiemeyer]

That's frustrating. I would suggest contacting your professor to see if he/she/they can see it.

In the future, I'd suggest writing your discussion replies and assignments in a Google Doc or Microsoft Word file. Then copy and paste them into Canvas. Then if Canvas logs you out, you'll still have your work. Canvas is not always reliable. Also, if you save your work elsewhere, you'll still have it after your course is over.

[Chris_Hofer]

@AzzyBrown ...

Ugh...that must be frustrating.  I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but you can always check the status of Canvas by visiting:

Instructure Status

Also, there is a link at the top of that page which allows you to input your own school's Canvas URL, so you can see the up-time of Canvas.  Sometimes, when it seems that Canvas stops working, it could be the result of a server somewhere between your own Internet Service Provider and Canvas...a server that neither your ISP or the Canvas folks own.  Hopefully, those kinds of issues, though, are rare.

Hopefully you were able to get your discussion post posted.

[distance_ed1]

For what it's worth, while I don't have a solution to this, an alarming number of students at our institution are having this same problem across multiple browsers, devices, and internet connections. We've submitted a ticket to Canvas about it, and I recommend you also report this to your institution's Canvas team!

All the best,
Danielle Casey
eLearning Program Specialist
Lower Columbia College

[austir1]

Thanks