Canvas Release Notes (2020-05-16)

[#1]

Upcoming Canvas Changes
Feature Enforcements
During this unprecedented time, features introduced as part of a regular release date will be opt-in feature options until July 2020 if supported—some Canvas features do not support feature option functionality. On 18 July 2020, all previously introduced features will become default for all institutions, unless otherwise indicated.
2020-06-20
End-of-Life functionality related to Enrollments API (see Canvas Platform Breaking Changes)
End-of-Life functionality related to TLS Protocols
   
   
For more information, please see Upcoming Canvas Changes
                             

In this Canvas release (May 16), All SMS notification types are deprecated except Announcements and Grading notification types. Users should transition to the Canvas mobile apps. This change will be enabled on Saturday, May 2.

Feature Options

• The Confetti for Valid Links feature option displays confetti for instructors who run the link validator on a course and no issues are found. If enabled for their institution, instructors can choose to disable celebrations in User Settings.

Release notes describe upcoming Canvas functionality and are subject to change.

• Follow the Canvas release notes space to be notified of updates
• For all release changes to this document, view the Release Notes Change Log
• If you notice any contrary functionality compared to the outlined behavior in these notes, please file a Canvas support case according to your institution's support protocol
• Deprecations and end-of-life announcements related to Canvas Platform Services (APIs, GraphQL, Canvas Data) are located in the Canvas Platform Breaking Changes page.
• Other questions? View the Canvas Release Notes FAQ

• Updated Features
• Course Settings
• Link Validator Celebration
• Notifications
• SMS Notification TypesDeprecation

Release Notes Change Log

Updated Features

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Course Settings

Link Validator Celebration

This feature can be enabled in Canvas through a feature option in Account Settings. Please view the content below for additional details. For more information about feature options, please see the Canvas Release Notes FAQ.
                        

Configuration Details	Confetti for Valid Links Feature Options doc
Affected Canvas Areas	Settings
Affects User Interface	Yes
Affected User Roles	Instructors
Feature Enhancement Ideas	View existing Course Settings feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	Course settings
Community Idea Contributions	https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/16613-celebration-animation-for-0-errors-in-link-validator
Feature Video

Summary

Canvas generates a virtual celebration when instructors run the link validator and no issues are found.

Change Benefit

This change provides validation to instructors after they’ve verified and resolved course links.

Affected User Roles

Instructors

Celebrations take place in Canvas when the Link Validator finds no errors.

If instructors prefer to not have Canvas display celebrations, they can choose to hide all celebration animations in the User Settings page.

Note: This User Settings feature option is included for all users and defaults to off. Instructors only need to adjust this feature option if they are seeing celebrations in the link validator page and they want to opt-out of the animations.

Notifications

SMS Notification Types Deprecation

Feature Availability	2020-05-02
Affected Canvas Areas	Notifications
Beta/Test Environment Support	Not supported
Affects User Interface	Yes
Affected User Roles	All Users
Feature Enhancement Ideas	View existing Notifications feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	notifications
Feature Video

Summary

On 2 May, all SMS notification types are deprecated except Announcements and Grading notification types. Remaining notification types can be enabled through other communication channels.

Change Benefit

This change provides a better communication experience for all user roles. Other notification types are more consistent and reliable for Canvas users. The timing for this change is affected by COVID-19. Resources regarding other communication channels can be found in the Upcoming Canvas Changes Feature Clarifications page.

Affected User Roles

All Users

When users open their Notification Preferences page, all SMS options are disabled except announcements and grading notification types. 

• Announcements notifications include new announcements in a course
• Grading notifications include assignment graded and submission grade changed

Any unsupported notification type includes a tooltip that notifies users appropriately.

Users can set up other communication channels according to their preference and also use the Canvas mobile apps.

Release Notes Change Log

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Date
2020-04-27	Added New Feature Video links
2020-04-20	Release Notes Published