Canvas Deploy Notes (2019-09-25)
Canvas deploys contain code changes that are intended to fix bugs, improve performance, and prepare for new features, but they do not affect customer workflows. These deploys take place every two weeks. Intended changes in workflow are noted in the Canvas Release Notes published monthly.
Deploy notes include notable fixed bugs and additional updates that do not affect user functionality.
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- Interface Updates
- Account Settings
- Courses Page Menu Width
- Quiz LTI Plugin Feature Option Removal
- Browsers
- Unsupported Browser Warning Banner Update
- Fixed Bugs
- Accessibility
- Assignments
- Gradebook
- Accounts
- User Search Results
- Announcements
- Assignment Group Weights and Announcement Creation
- Assignments
- SpeedGrader Student Group Filter and External Assignments
- Courses
- Course Analytics Sorting
- Dashboard
- Student To Do List Titles
- Gradebook
- Grade Change API and Admin Tools Changes
- New Gradebook
- Comments and Student Visibility
- Missing Submissions and Posted Grades
- Muted Assignments and Learning Mastery
- SIS
- Assignment Due Dates and Differentiated Sections
Interface Updates |
Account Settings
Courses Page Menu Width
Summary
The Terms and Course menus have been upgraded to the most recent select component in InstUI, Instructure’s custom component library.
Change Benefit
This change ensures the menus in the Courses page are up-to-date in functionality with selection menus used elsewhere in Canvas, such as in the People page.
Affected User Roles
Admins
The Terms and Courses menus have been upgraded to align with similar selection menus. However, width for these menus is as wide as the menu heading. Long items within the menu are wrapped to display the full content.
Engineers may occasionally upgrade other areas that may affect the Canvas interface. Maintaining components ensure consistency throughout Canvas and outdated elements must be upgraded individually. After each element has been upgraded, all elements can be associated together and updated as needed at the same time in all locations for that element.
Quiz LTI Plugin Feature Option Removal
Summary
The Quiz LTI Plugin feature option has been removed from Canvas.
Change Benefit
This change avoids confusion with the process for enabling New Quizzes.
Affected User Roles
Admins
Admins who want to enable New Quizzes should enable the New Quizzes course-level feature option.
Browsers
Unsupported Browser Warning Banner Update
Summary
The unsupported browser warning banner has been updated to reflect the last two versions of Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. The warning banner affects any browser version, including extended support release (ESR) versions of Chrome and Firefox.
Change Benefit
This change reminds all users about maintaining current browsers to ensure the best user experience with Canvas.
Affected User Roles
All Users
Any users accessing Canvas through an unsupported browser will view the warning banner once per session.
Fixed Bugs |
Accessibility
Assignments
Assignment types can be read by screen readers.
Gradebook
The SIS Sync Grades window includes all required ARIA attributes. Additionally, closing the window retains focus on the top of the page.
Accounts
User Search Results
Account user search displays one result per user.
Explanation: When a user contained multiple logins, the search results for the user displayed more than once. Canvas code has been updated to display only one result regardless of the number of logins for a user.
Announcements
Assignment Group Weights and Announcement Creation
Instructors can create an announcement without having to view the Assignments Index Page.
Explanation: When a course included assignment group weighting and the course was reset, an announcement could not be created unless the Assignment Index Page was accessed previous to creating the announcement. Canvas code has been updated to allow announcements to be created in a course without having to view the Assignments Index Page.
Assignments
SpeedGrader Student Group Filter and External Assignments
External Tools include the SpeedGrader Group Filter functionality option.
Explanation: When the Launch SpeedGrader Filtered by Student Group setting was enabled in a course, and an instructor opened an external tool assignment, the option to select a group was not available in the assignments page. Canvas code has been updated to display the SpeedGrader Group filter in external tool assignments.
Courses
Course Analytics Sorting
Course Analytics headings can be clicked and the page displays the selected content.
Explanation: When a user clicked an option to sort course analytics headings by ascending or descending order, the data was not updated and remained in the order where it was originally loaded. Canvas code has been updated to allow course analytics to sort correctly.
Dashboard
Student To Do List Titles
To Do items with long titles wrap for students.
Explanation: When an item in a student’s To Do list had a long title, the text displayed off the edge of the page instead of wrapping. Canvas code has been updated to wrap long text as it does for instructors.
Gradebook
Grade Change API and Admin Tools Changes
The Grade Change API and Admin Tools Grade Change Activity Log display grade changes when grades are assigned.
Explanation: When a muted assignment was graded and later unmuted without any additional grade changes, the Gradebook Change API and Admin Tools Grade Change Activity Log report showed two instances of the same user giving a grade: one when the assignment was graded and one when the assignment was unmuted. Canvas code has been updated to not display redundant grade changes.
New Gradebook
Comments and Student Visibility
Students can see submission comments left by their instructors in assignments with an automatic posting policy.
Explanation: When an instructor entered a submission comment for a student for an assignment that had not yet received a grade, and the assignment included an automatic posting policy, the student was not able to view the comment unless the submission was manually hidden and then posted. Canvas code has been updated to allow comments to be displayed to students from users with instructor roles in automatic posting policy assignments.
Missing Submissions and Posted Grades
For assignments with an automatic posting policy, manually marking a submission as missing automatically posts the grade for the submission.
Explanation: When an assignment was set to automatically post grades, manually marking a submission as missing would not automatically post the grade for the assignment. Canvas code has been updated to automatically post the grade for the assignment submission.
Muted Assignments and Learning Mastery
Students can view learning mastery scores for assignments regardless of the course Gradebook.
Explanation: When an assignment was muted in the Old Gradebook prior to the New Gradebook being enabled, students were unable to view learning mastery scores associated with the assignment. Canvas code has been updated to allow students to view learning mastery scores.
SIS
Assignment Due Dates and Differentiated Sections
Differentiated sections are retained in SIS-synced assignments that require a due date.
Explanation: When an account with an SIS integration requires a due date to be included for syncing assignments, editing the assignment set to be synced caused any individual section overrides to be removed from the assignment. Canvas code has been updated to retain existing differentiated sections.
