Order Discussion Posts from Newest to Oldest

Currently, the discussion posts are ordered from oldest to newest.  A student/professor has to scroll or go to the last page and then scroll to get to the latest post.

 

Canvas REALLY needs to re-order this so that newest discussion posts appear at the top of the first page so that it is easy to find current conversations.

 

This topic had 100+ likes in the old community and I was really surprised not to see it on here already (I searched for this using several different search terms).   I sure hope we don't have to go through and re-idea every single feature request that had at least 30 likes and was years old with no action or response from Instructure.

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

For more information, please read through the  Canvas Release Notes (2021-06-19).

140 Comments
James
Community Champion

 @jeffrey_weimer ​,

While I agree with some of your comments, there is the ability to "view only unread comments". Right below the discussion question and before the replies, there is a line that looks like this:

167402_pastedImage_0.png

The Unread button is a toggle.

jeffrey_weimer
Community Contributor

Oh. How could I have missed this one!   :smileyblush:

Thank you!

jeffrey_weimer
Community Contributor

This works. However, we cannot see the Unread message and respond to it directly in this way. To respond, the message has to be "re-expanded" back in the full view.

It is a bit messier than it could be.

canvas_admin
Community Champion

I use the unread button all of the time, however, that does not necessarily translate to most recent post (although in most cases it does). That notwithstanding, i still think it's more common practice today for discussion forums of any type to have the newest at the top. 

Plus it would make it easier for students to interact with other current students rather than tending to interact with students who are no longer in the course (we're on rolling enrollment).

cgiraud
Community Novice

Canvas. Please hear us on this. You should be masters of best practice. The scroll is the enemy of efficiency. Add to this annoying discussions feature, the fact that teachers can't decide best order for module except with an annoying drag and drop each time we create one.

I say fix this order issue in discussion posts AND in modules.

Vote for the modules option for ordering here:

kona
Community Champion

Actually you can move the Modules without using Drag and Drop. I rarely use drag and drop and instead use the "Move to" tool for Modules. To access this tool click on the gear icon for a Module and select "Move to." This is further discussed in the following guide (it's towards the bottom) - How do I reorder Modules?

MoveTo.png

cgiraud
Community Novice

Thanks, Kona. That solution is better than the drag and drop method.

canvas_admin
Community Champion

 @peytoncraighill ​ or  @scottdennis ​,  could we get an update on this since it's been around a year since any word from Instructure people about this project?

cgiraud
Community Novice

Agree with @Mark James on this. What's happening with the idea of putting new replies at the top in a discussion. Now I am a experiencing this same frustration as a student in a graduate class at USF. Please reorder discussions so newest posts are at the top!  @scottdennis ​  @biray ​.

esommer
Community Novice

?I am waiting for a change in the ordering of posts as well. This is common sense and so simple that I cannot believe Canvas has not made this programming change. And it should be optional anyway: Sort by date, ascending or descending.

Why is this item archived? Someone should just start a new suggestion.

-Ellie

Eleanor K. Sommer, M.Sc., Adjunct Lecturer

Center for Arts in Medicine

College of the Arts

Gainesville FL 32641

352.376.3114