LTI External tool user navigation placement

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

 

Problem:

When adding an LTI external tool using XML (according the documentation here: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/file.tools_xml.html), you have the option of adding an placement at "User Navigation" level:

 

    <lticm:options name="user_navigation">

      <lticm:property name="text">Tool Name</lticm:property>

      <lticm:property name="enabled">true</lticm:property>

    </lticm:options>

 

When checking the user navigation (click on "Account" picture/avatar), you get to see a list of links, without seeing the added external LTI tool:

User Navigation 1

But once you click on any of those items (for instance “Profile”), you finally do get to see that External LTI tool (see MyTime Table😞

User Navigation 2

This is quite hidden & unlogic for students, as they need to click first through the "first" user navigation list, in order to reach the "second" user navigation list.

 

Proposal:

Can External LTI Tools, when added to the "User Navigation", also be added at the "first" User Navigation list?

 

external_tools‌

lti placement‌

placements‌

lti configuration‌

lti‌

user navigation‌

 @g_w_f_dekoning ‌

m.vandesteeg

Benelux Canvas Group

 

Comments from Instructure

 

For more information, please read through the Canvas Release Notes (2019-08-17)

 

Because of the current transition in release processes, this change was deployed on 2019-08-14.

7 Comments
christopher_phi
Community Champion

This is a fantastic idea that would be extremely helpful - it is strange that those two menus are not the same. We recently figured out a way to inject a mnu item there that you can see at: 

Custom Javascript to inject a menu into the user navigation (user-navigation) flyout menu.

That thread describes how we setup the Kaltura "My Media" link to show up in that menu. However, given that it is a hack it would be much better to have a standard way of injecting a link there. Just recently Canvas updated some CSS that broke the hack for example. 

For reference, here are some other links I tracked down that also discussed the issue or attempted to provide solutions: 

  1. Questions about External Tool placed in User Navigation area
  2. A hack from  @SethBattis ‌ to insert custom items into the global navigation fly-out menus (not sure if this still works or not?)
  3. A similar Canvas idea from 2016: Make LTIs more accessible to Users

Hopefully this gets some more traction! 

carols
Community Explorer

Here at Sussex University, we would find this fix very useful as well.

tylerweldon
Community Contributor

Hi  @a_kosters ‌ thanks for posting this. This is exactly what I need. I have a new Appointment Manager LTI that I am testing and I am having the same issue with it taking several steps to get to the App. 

matthew_buckett
Community Contributor
erinhmcmillan
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
Comments from Instructure

For more information, please read through the Canvas Release Notes (2019-08-17)

Because of the current transition in release processes, this change was deployed on 2019-08-14.

KristinL
Community Team
Community Team
Status changed to: New
 
KristinL
Community Team
Community Team
Status changed to: Completed