Setting the Schedule in which Canvas emails Daily and Weekly Notifications

[debbie]

We all have different schedules and preferences when it comes to checking our emails, so why do we not have an option to select the time of the day and the day of the week in which to receive our notifications.

For example, I prefer to make my schedule in the beginning to the day before I get pulled ten different ways from my staff members. Unfortunately, when I check my emails to make my schedule I often miss my Canvas notification emails because they came in the previous night and by the next morning my inbox is so full that I can't find them. If I could tell Canvas to send me my Daily notifications at a specific time then I could have the emails at the top of inbox, thus finding them quickly.

The same principle goes for the Weekly. If I would only get notification once a week I don't want my them to come to me on Saturday but rather on a work day.

It comes down to making the notifications dynamic enough to work for the dynamic clientele that is Education.

Comments from Instructure

We don't plan on allowing users to set custom notification schedules because we don't have any way of guaranteeing we can stick to those schedules. (If 10,000 people schedule their notifications to arrive at 8am in the same time zone, we don't have any ability to send potentially hundreds of thousands of emails at the same time, even with our relatively robust notifications infrastructure.)

If a single institution (as the voting records appear to indicate) is wanting this real, super-duper, extra, extra bad, our Professional Services team is always happy to talk about custom features.

[jordan]

This is a great idea  @debbie ​ and it will go up for voting on June 3rd. Thank for the submission!

[canvas_admin]

YES!    I would love to get the daily digest while I am working so I can respond more quickly rather than receiving it after-hours when I am focused on my family.

[debbie]

Thanks for the great comment, Mark!  That is a perfect example of the benefits that can come from this idea being implemented. We encourage our faculty and staff to leave work at work and enjoy their off time. We have even gone so far as to schedule time before and after school for them to complete tasks so that they can leave work at work. But currently these notifications tend to encourage our faculty and staff to work from home.

Debbie

[schappell]

Great idea!

[abaine]

This would be an awesome feature.

[amy_barlow]

We are in the UK and would really benefit from setting the time as we are increasingly moving towards using Canvas for communications. As our lecturers use their mobile devices to have a daily summary delivered at the end of the working day - rather than the middle of the night would be great. Canvas needs to adapt for the different time zones it is now working in !!

[jon_audain]

Yes, I would thoroughly agree with these comment entirely. As someone new to Canvas and in the UK it seems unusual not to be able to set this at a global level. It means that I would able to read the daily digest at the end of my working day and not into the next one. Please, PLEASE make this a feature quickly so Canvas reflects the international nation of the product and not US-centric.  @amy_barlow ​

[peytoncraighill]

We don't plan on allowing users to set custom notification schedules because we don't have any way of guaranteeing we can stick to those schedules. (If 10,000 people schedule their notifications to arrive at 8am in the same time zone, we don't have any ability to send potentially hundreds of thousands of emails at the same time, even with our relatively robust notifications infrastructure.)

If a single institution (as the voting records appear to indicate) is wanting this real, super-duper, extra, extra bad, our Professional Services team is always happy to talk about custom features.

[Renee_Carney]

  Idea is currently in Product Radar Learn more about this stage...

[ctocaimazahatch]

If you can send all weekly notifications on Saturday morning, then you should be able to do the same during a day during the work week (Monday to Friday) not on the weekend (Saturday and Sunday).

[SamuelWeinstein]

Don't send weekly Canvas updates on Saturday evening between 5 and 7 p.m. No one is thinking about school or work at that time. Send it on Monday morning.

[ethomp78]

This would be really helpful, especially for faculty who want to see what all happened in their courses at a specific time in the day so that they know where to target their efforts.