The Export Button and Copyright Theft

[DDFletch]

We use Canvas to service hundreds of jr. highs and high schools across the US, and have spent millions of dollars developing our IP.  Not having an option to turn off the export button for teachers and TAs creates massive issues for our legal team.  Although we want to trust teachers and users to respect the copyright, it's pretty naive to just expect them to stay honest when we put a button right on the UI with the word, "EXPORT" on it.  This could actually be used as a legal defense - "Why did you put an export button on there if you didn't want people to download your courses?"  It won't do to reply, "cause Canvas doesn't give me a choice."

This should have a checkbox in the settings so people can put minimum protections in place to keep users from taking everything they have with the click of a button.

[Chris_Hofer]

Hello @DDFletch ...

I can understand the need/want for a feature like this in Canvas.  I'm not sure if this is possible [thought it seems that it is looking at this thread: Granular Course Import/Export Permissions - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)], but have you considered hiding the "Export" button using CSS/JavaScript.  I'm not much of a coder, so others here in the Community would have to chime in with how to do this.  This could, I assume, would be added by your school's local Canvas administrator via the global CSS/JavaScript files.  And, it would apply to all courses in the account.  So, if you hide it via this method, it's hidden from everyone.

I also tried searching the Feature Ideas area of the Community for any other Feature Ideas (the above one that I linked to was the only one that I could find that was somewhat related).  So, if that one doesn't meet your needs, then you might want to consider creating a new Feature Idea:

• 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?

I hope these resources will be of some help to you.  Take care...be well.

[DDFletch]

If this can be done via CSS then I'm fine with that solution.  Unfortunately I don't have a local Canvas administrator.  I could probably get it to work if someone were to walk me through it.

[Chris_Hofer]

@DDFletch ...

Are you using a paid Canvas environment from a school?  Or, are you using the Free For Teachers version of Canvas (URL would look like this: https://canvas.instructure.com)?  Since the FFT version of Canvas does not have any administrator privileges, I'm not sure if custom CSS/JS would be an option.  Again, someone with more experience with this would need to chime in.

[DDFletch]

We're definitely using a paid for version, but not from a school.  https://sneakonthelot.instructure.com/. 

[Chris_Hofer]

@DDFletch ...

ok... yeah, if there is a way you can somehow find out who your Canvas administrator is, that would be a good first step.  There are lots of people who know more about coding and CSS/JS than I do, so I'm hoping that others will see this thread and be able to help you out.

(By the way, your Canvas login page is one of the coolest I've seen!)

[DDFletch]

Thank you so much!  This really helps.

[Chris_Hofer]

No worries, @DDFletch!  Glad I could help!  In addition, here are the admin Guides on how to access the Canvas themes and how to edit the global CSS and JS:

• How do I manage themes for an account?
• How do I create a theme for an account using the Theme Editor?
• How do I upload custom JavaScript and CSS files to an account?

Hope this helps, too!

[DDFletch]

I've already customized our theme quite a bit so it shouldn't be a big deal.  I just don't know how to call the export button and turn it off.  I could plug the code in simple enough... I just don't know the code to paste in.

[Chris_Hofer]

@DDFletch ...

Ah...so you are the "local" Canvas administrator then.  That's what I meant by having someone with admin access to the back-end of Canvas.  It's good to know that you are able to access the "Themes" area and can upload CSS/JS files.  Again, hopefully someone with some coding experience will be able to help you with hiding that button.

Good luck!!!

[nwilson7 · Accepted solution]

@DDFletch and @Chris_Hofer  I am sure the button can be turned off directly in the settings area but I don't know enough JavaScript to do it in that area.  I was able to figure out how to prevent it though on the screen after that.  Essentially this script disables the form that is presented that allows the user to pick "course" or "quiz" and then export.  I also added a line so you can put any information you would like to share.

{document.getElementById("exporter_form").style.display = "none";}


$('#export_files').after(
"<p><b>Please contact insert office for information on course exports</p>"
);

If you add this to your theme it will remove it.  I will say it removes it for everyone including admins.  I have never been able to get role based JavaScipt to work although I am sure other members of the community could share what to add so admins would still have this ability.

This hopefully will get you started.

-Nick 

[DDFletch]

This looks like it should go in the javascript upload section of the theme, correct?  Also, does it work on the mobile or no?

[nwilson7]

Sorry, I should have stated both of those.  Yes, it is for the JavaScript and no it would not work on mobile (mobile does not use JavaScript) although not sure how well the export works on mobile anyway. 

I did do some more thinking this weekend and while my original goal was to remove the export button from the Settings, removing the form like this script does might be better anyway.  Ultimately the export button is just linking to the page URL for exporting so if someone was smart enough to find out that all you need to do is append "content_exports" to their course URL, they would still be able to export their course.  This option make that not work, which is your goal.

-Nick

[lings]

I added the code to the .js file, but the Export button is still visible.  Anyone have an update?