[Notifications] Make inbox rights a user level setting

Status: Added to Theme Submitted by on ‎03-01-2017 12:04 PM

It would be nice if Canvas administrators had access to a user setting that would disable the users ability to post new inbox messages or respond to messages they receive.

Added to Theme

Make account configuration more flexible through new account settings Theme Status: Identified

15 Comments
audra_agnelly
Community Champion
‎05-11-2021 01:01 PM

More granular admin controls of the inbox are desperately needed for K12 districts. We have no recourse to turn off the inbox when individual students are using it inappropriately and we have school-wide course where all students have the ability to message one another with 0 ways to control this (segregating those courses to a different account isn't an option due to our SIS feed and school-level admin roles).

The latest request from a school, I receive similar questions weekly it seems:

"We have students who have created Inbox chains within the Student Resource Course that have become difficult to control. We have issues with students who are replying all, ignoring requests of other students to be left off the Inbox chains, and both students and parents have become upset about the lack of control or ability to make it stop. We realize the need for the Inbox- but is there no way to provide oversight, or limit access to the Inbox at least in the Student Resource Course? "

AkikoFillinger
Community Novice
‎10-10-2021 05:45 PM

I think that instructors should have an option to get rid of "Inbox". I rather want my students to send me emails directly.

harris
Community Member
‎10-14-2022 06:55 AM

In my context I really need a way to get rid of "inbox" because even though I can forward those to my email, there is no provision of the thread of the conversation. The lack of conversation thread causes more work and time for me because I have 500 or 750 students, so I need the thread to be able to know the context of the conversation. I tell students not to use Canvas messaging, but to no avail. 

KristinL
Community Team
Community Team
‎02-03-2023 02:27 PM
Status changed to: Added to Theme
 
dspiel
Community Participant
‎02-21-2023 10:35 AM
Problem statement:

We have a student that has been sending what the college administration considers harassing and has told the student to only communicate via the college email system at this point. We were asked to see if there could be a means to not allow the student to messages within the inbox to the instructor until a determination has been made if they should be removed from the course. This would also be a good feature to have if there was ever a restraining order in place to know legally we did what could be done to make sure another student could never message that particular person. Similar to Facebook's block... we should be able to block from the Administrator level within Canvas.

Proposed solution:

I would propose that at the Canvas Administrator level, one could have the ability to go to the settings and block that user regardless of role from seeing another user at all. Even if it was the teacher within a course. This can be done by adding that user to the other user's block list and would be nice to have a can not use the inbox as a means to communicate within Canvas for users as well. Maybe the only person they could message is the admin within Canvas?

User role(s):

admin