Ability to expand/collapse all replies

[leward]

Hello.  We are very excited about the plans for the redesigned Discussions tool.  Many of the features listed are ones that our faculty have needed for a long time, so THANK YOU.  Today, I am writing with some feedback on the Beta Release of the redesign.  Thus far,  the users with whom we have shared the redesign have been mostly positive about the changes.  However, there is one change that was not well-received.  It is no longer possible to expose all replies with a single click.  Collapsing the replies under a link is a great new feature, but users are accustomed to and may prefer to see all replies when reading or catching up on a topic.  It would be very helpful if there were a widget that allowed a user to expand or collapse all replies.  

[Katrina-Hess · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone, we are considering the expand all feature and will keep you all posted.

Thanks, Katrina

[Nancy_Webb_CCSF · Accepted solution]

Yes @cmuir, you can now expand all threads inline in the redesign.  You'll find the various options in this document: How do I view and sort discussion replies in Discussion Redesign - Instructure Community - 469513 (c....  There is an Expand Threads button on the toolbar.  There are other documents in the discussion redesign section about using this new tool.  I am liking it!

[cheryltice · Accepted solution]

One of my instructors said this to me recently: Students often go to the first post in the list and don't click into the replies to see what is happening. Too many clicks! They are busy enough. The default should be original posts in chronological order and visible replies under each post with the option to collapse. 

[sylvia_sotomayo]

Yes. I like that replies are collapsible, but I dislike that replies default to collapsed. It seems to me it would make more sense for replies to initially be shown. With unread replies collapsed and unseen, I feel like they may be missed by someone casually scanning.

[Jeff_F]

I would like a button that expands all.  i.e. one click vs. having to click each to expand one at a time.

[lshulman]

<I would like a button that expands all.  i.e. one click vs. having to click each to expand one at a time.>

I  prefer when we get options on the user end. Thus the current set up with old discussions works well: the USER can CHOOSE to expand or collapse all replies in a given discussion or only the replies in a given thread (related to a single "parent" post). I'd vote to keep both options available to the user.

[AllisonPittler]

Thanks for your feedback @leward @sylvia_sotomayo @Jeff_F ! We will soon release a new approach to interacting with replies. This new flow will modernize the experience and optimize page performance. Stay tuned!

[leward]

@AllisonPittler , good to hear changes are coming.  What I didn't hear you say, though, was that the changes will include the ability to expand all replies.  Will that be part of the new UX?

[lshulman]

If you are talking about an option to expand and collapse ALL posts, be sure that will also collapses INITIAL posts.

As noted elsewhere, these can sometimes be quite long and make for tedious work to scroll down to find what we may be looking for and well as push a discussion to. Second page, which can often be missed. No reason to have to see the content of posts we have already seen. We should be able to collapse posts we have already worked with, both individually as well as collapse ALL so as to only have open the one(s) we may be working with.

[Nancy_Webb_CCSF]

I agree, expand/collapse all replies will be helpful to many users' workflows.  I like having them collapsed by default as long as the show unread messages works.

[lshulman]

Collapse not just "all replies" but also initial posts (something the redesign has not, to this point, been doing).

[Katrina-Hess · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone, we are considering the expand all feature and will keep you all posted.

Thanks, Katrina

[victore]

Now we need to be able to make this the default for all of the reasons discussed here.

[dspiel]

How is this marked as solved when Instructure is only "considering" the expand all? It is still a much needed and standard feature that should already be configured in the system.

[jcrozier2]

Yes - expand all and keep it expanded - I have to expand each time I log in.  Extra steps.  Hard pass.

[manish_tripathi]

Below is another reason from a student that Instructure should consider the expand all feature.

Is there an update on the integration of this feature?

I was wondering if there was some setting I could click to open all the replies to the discussion posts? This would make it easier to copy-and-paste the discussions into Word (for using Immersive Reader to read the posts).

I've tried printing as PDF, but that does not show the replies; it is only by clicking the "x replies" under a post that I am able to see the replies to just one post at a time.

[callinger]

Hello! Unrelated to this request (which I do support as well), I just wanted to mention that you could share with your student the possibility of using Microsoft Immersive Reader browser extension (available for Chrome or Edge browsers). Many of my students appreciate the browser extension as it allows them to use the Reader in all areas of Canvas (including reading discussion posts).

Again, I still think an Expand All feature would be helpful for many reasons. I just wanted to share this tool as an option to help your student in the meantime (it would likely be easier than copy and pasting into Word even when Expand All becomes available).

[manish_tripathi]

Thanks! I'll pass it along. I think they were using Immersive Reader for Word, but I'm not sure if they knew about Immersive Reader for Chrome and MS Edge. Thanks again.

[william_simkule]

This should be the default.  Students WILL NOT press an extra button to see more things to read.  Do not make students jump through hoops.

[cheryltice · Accepted solution]

One of my instructors said this to me recently: Students often go to the first post in the list and don't click into the replies to see what is happening. Too many clicks! They are busy enough. The default should be original posts in chronological order and visible replies under each post with the option to collapse. 

[WaelHassinan · Accepted solution]

Why don't you give the option to instructors to use the most efficient system to them? 

[cheryltice]

They decided against enforcement with New Quizzes due to issues with functionality and it has been great not having to force people to move to a tool that was not ready before attempting to roll it out. They stopped the enforcement date because of the pushback related to the New Quizzes issues at the time.

The new discussions interface wasn't rolled out with an extended period of time before the enforcement date. We found out in mid-March about the enforcement date. That led to forcing educators into a tool that hasn't been fully tested with students to identify and fix problems so it fully supports the intricacies of academic discussions. The students need a simpler interface. The legacy version, from the student perspective, is still the better interface because there is no need to reveal replies with extra clicks. They just had to scroll. It was easier to differentiate posts from replies. The order of posts remained constant. The accessibility for students who have disabilities was better in the legacy version because nothing was hidden and everything was on the same page.

This new interface and the brief window we were given before enforcement was not helpful and has negatively affected the depth of conversations in my course. Other instructors have had similar experiences.

[jb67]

Just adding that I, too, think it's important to have an option to expand all replies. 

[byron_newberry]

I turned off the beta redesign because not having the ability to expand all replies was doubling or tripling the time it takes me to monitor and interact with class discussions. For example, if I want to quickly scan to see all the replies by a particular student, previously I could search for that person's name in my browser and could instantly jump from post to post. Now I have to manually open the replies to every post one by one trying to find the ones I'm looking for. Also, with the list expanded in line (as opposed to the unwieldy flyout on the side) I can read the entire discussion thread using just the scroll wheel on the mouse and one finger with no other movement. Now, seeing the entire thread takes literally scores, if not hundreds, of clicks and lots of dragging the cursor around from side to side on the screen. I feel like I'm running on an obstacle course rather than on a straight and clear track.

[Jeff_F]

@byron_newberry  - I used the redesign for five weeks and today opted to revert back for many of the reasons you have stated.  And a few more. 

Thanks for being brave and for participating in this beta.  It is via such experimentation that we explore new ideas to find that better mouse trap.  😉

[cmuir]

Echoing the earlier comments.  I turned the new interface off within a day of starting using it for the first time, because the structure was making it impossible for me to reasonably follow the full threads in discussions.

[canvas_admin]

I'll second (or third) the comments here. We are not using the re-design because of the slide-out and the way it creates more work to find posts. I would say that is our main hindrance keeping us from adopting it because we like the tagging feature and the newest to oldest post feature. The slide-out is clunky and I've not seen any other discussion forum operate this way. I'm not sure who thought this would be a good idea, but sometimes an idea doesn't have to be implemented just because it was thought up.

[JamesFisher39]

I'm late to this thread, but have encournter the same problem with respect to the visibility of student replies. In reviewing the comments it seems like Instructure personnel have suggested that a fix is contemplated. I don't see any. Have I missed it? I disabled the new feature. What was the thinking behind hiding replies?

[dspiel]

We were making the move to the new layout, but as soon as we saw you can't expand we switched it off.

[mmontoya1]

I would much rather have the old version of discussions--these upgrades actually make managing discussion boards more difficult, rather than easier. I also had a hard time figuring out how to reply to a specific comment--the best I could figure is that you have to click on "Quote," but I don't know that students will be able to figure that out.

[victore]

Students seem to be able to navigate social media when it's fun, but class-related posts don't inspire them to "show replies," and the screen does not refresh in real-time as social media does. This would be useful for real-time/in-class discussions.

"Expand all" would be a great feature, but I need an "expand all by default" checkbox when building the assignment.

Also, it is quite annoying that this feature was marked as completed when it has not been completed. This topic should remain unanswered and uncompleted until the feature is implemented or Canvas ceases to exist. Even a vote now to ignore the feature request should not foreclose future campaigns to make this feature available.

[lshulman]

My institution recently required use of the Redesign. I had not been using it as getting used to new things bugs me. 

Inability to collapse INITIAL posts as well as replies is problematic, especially when posts are long. I would like "collapse all" to also collapse initial posts, so we can only see the headers (with name of poster) along with first line of post. This will make it easier to scan down all initial posts to see who has posted and what might be new (unread). Will also make the page shorter so that ALL initial posts appear on ONE page. 

[NAshcraft]

I agree that "collapse all" should also collapse initial posts.  I am one of those instructors who reads every post in the discussion forum in order to assign grades.  Some of my students post long posts, as well as multiple images, which makes for a lot of scrolling just to check who has posted.  I just want to see their name and how many posts are in their thread so that I can see which threads need my attention.  Also, the fact that the posts are constantly reordered, depending on which thread has been added to most recently, makes it difficult for me to keep track of which threads I've read and which I haven't.  (And yes, I do use the "mark as read"/"mark as unread" buttons, but due to all the scrolling involved, the yellow dots are easy to overlook.)

[cmuir]

Has the ability to expand all inline been implemented?  I'm still using the old structure, but know that option will be going away during our summer session—not sure what to be prepared for, and I can't find clear updates.  Thanks!

[Nancy_Webb_CCSF · Accepted solution]

Yes @cmuir, you can now expand all threads inline in the redesign.  You'll find the various options in this document: How do I view and sort discussion replies in Discussion Redesign - Instructure Community - 469513 (c....  There is an Expand Threads button on the toolbar.  There are other documents in the discussion redesign section about using this new tool.  I am liking it!

[lshulman]

Except cannot collapse initial posts (which could be done in old discussion format). I would like the option to collapse initial posts as well as replies. That would make for a shorter page for quicker scrolling to find new or specific posts we want to read and/or reply to. Less clutter when all we need to scan through is poster names, time stamps and first lines (which I ask students to use as a subject line).

[smithr2]

But because students don't have to, it means they're more likely not to expand all. I feel like if the instructor could set this look for the class, it would be a better instruction tool, because they know how the boards are to be used. By leaving it to the students, it's just easier for some to skip replies to posts and minimizes more meaningful discussion. I really hope they give us the option to keep the previous display for discussions. 

[william_simkule]

This needs to be the DEFAULT.

Read Thaler & Sunstein's work on Nudging.

https://www.amazon.com/Nudge-Improving-Decisions-Health-Happiness/dp/0300122233

Here's a short article by Sunstein with a public PDF:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268872290_Nudging_A_Very_Short_Guide

[cmuir]

I'm glad it's working for you @Nancy_Webb_CCSF, but I'm finding the new structure is still making it seriously difficult to follow threads, and I'm not finding the documentation at all helpful.  You're right, though, that it is now possible to collapse/expand all threads (but apparently not individual threads?), so this does indeed answer the question I asked—and sincere thanks for that.  (I'm frustrated with Canvas/Instructure, not with you.)

[WaelHassinan]

This new design is painful and not helpful and makes navigations difficult, it feels like a punishment for instructors instead of being helpful to us.  Why you don't give the option to instructors to decide or not to use this system. 

[mmontoya1]

I completely agree. Why not just keep the old system, since it is much better? Why put all this work into a redesign that makes things harder to use?