[Modules] Stop Canvas Modules from Auto-Publishing All Content Inside a Module When a Module is Published

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

My university is finding the fact that publishing a module auto-publishes all the content in it quite annoying.

 

I would like to be able to just publish a module and then choose what features of it that I wish to publish.

 

I know that I can set a limiter on when a student can actually see and interact with materials-but if a professor is uncertain about publishing certain content all at once, they have no options.

 

This has been asked about several times in the community-I snagged two of the best examples below.

 

Thank you all for your time and your vote! Smiley Happy

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95 Comments
swells3
Community Explorer

Agreed--PLEASE!!  When I publish a new module, which usually has 30-40 things in it, I have to race to quickly unpublished all the exams, quizzes, etc that I do not want students to see until the day I want them to!  I never know whether they may be able to cache something if they happen to be on Canvas at the right moment before I can unpublish every single link.  WHY is this designed this way?  Please fix this bug!

LJMoore
Community Member

WHY can't we have a choice...this is so inefficient. Some want it to auto publish, many of us want to set up and choose the items we publish within the Module. This can be done "If then else"... the programers know what to do...let them make this happen. PLEASE. 

ajw13
Community Participant

I find it tedious and annoying that when I publish a module all items in that module are published.  As a result, I need to go to each individual item and unpublish the items I do not want published.  My modules might contain my lecture notes for the semester - say 10 to 15 files - that I do not want students to see until after lecture.  Or the module might contain quizzes that I do want students to see, yet when published they are notified then I 'hide them' and they ask about the quiz that was recently assigned but not found. 

Since I often teach the same course or courses, I copy a course from one semester to the next.  A simple fix would be to allow users the option to publish "all" or "none" of the items in a module.  By having "none" I can then publish as needed the items I want students to see.

acopper
Community Member

When we publish a module right now, everything within that module is also published. We would like to be able to publish a module without having all of the items publish automatically.

bsanchez
Community Member

Please add an option to "publish all" or "none" of the subcontent when publishing a module.  It is so time-consuming to unpublish content that I want to wait to use with my learners.  

TammyGooden
Community Member

Is there any way we can publish a module without every item publishing in it?  I build my entire unit beforehand and when I am ready to publish the module, every item in it publishes and I have to go back through and unpublish everything right away.

UCMTTran
Community Member

+1
This thread has been open for 2 years.. when does it get put up for voting?

 

James
Community Champion

@UCMTTran 

Up/down voting was the way the old community software worked. With the new software, it is star system for indicating how important you think the idea is. You will find the stars at the top under the title and can provide your level of support for this idea.

dbeeson
Community Explorer

Publish a Module WITHOUT automatically publishing everything in that Module!

This topic has been requested from Instructure for many years yet they continue to ignore this likely simple option.

I am unsure what us end-users must do for them take this poor design decision seriously and make it a simple option to... Publish a Module WITHOUT automatically publishing everything in that Module!

ibphysicsteach
Community Explorer

I don't know how to vote for this idea, but I fully support it!  At the start of the course, I want to publish all of the modules, but none of the content in the modules.  That way the overall structure of the course is apparent, and I can publish things as they become relevant, without having to remember to publish the module as well as the individual items when I decide to publish them.