How do I use Discussions Redesign as an instructor?

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If enabled by your institution, you can use Discussions Redesign to provide an enhanced experience for course discussions. When enabled in your course, Discussions Redesign displays for all discussions and all users in your course.

Discussions Redesign is currently a beta feature. Some discussion settings and features in the classic Discussions interface may not function or be available in Discussions Redesign.

Note: If Discussions Redesign is not available in your course, it has not been enabled by your institution.

Enable Feature Preview

In order to use Discussions Redesign in your course, you first need to enable the feature preview from Course Settings. If the feature preview is not available, it has not been enabled by your institution.

Open Feature Options

In Course Navigation, click the Settings link [1]. Then click the Feature Previews tab [2].

Enable Discussions Redesign

Locate the Discussions/Announcements Redesign feature preview [1] and click the State icon so it displays as enabled [2].

Learn more about managing feature previews in your course.

Note: If the feature preview is not available, it has not been enabled by your institution. Contact your Canvas administrator for assistance.

Open Discussion

To view a discussion in the Discussions Redesign interface, click the Discussions link in Course Navigation [1]. Then click the name of the discussion [2].

To create a new discussion, click the Add Discussion button [3].

View Discussion

A discussion displayed in the Discussions Redesign interface includes three sections: the discussion toolbar [1], discussion topic [2], and discussion replies [3]. 

View Discussion Toolbar

To search for replies or specific authors, enter your terms in the search field [1].

To filter replies, click the Filter drop-down menu [2]. You can filter by all replies or unread replies. 

To sort replies by newest or oldest, click the Sort button [3].

View Anonymous Discussion Message

If the anonymous discussion option is enabled for the discussion, a message displays noting that student names and profile pictures are hidden, however your name and profile picture is visible to all course members.

View Discussion Topic

The discussion topic section includes important information about the discussion, including the discussion title [1] and description [2].

You can also view the name of the author [3], the date and time the discussion was published [4], the user role of the author [5], the discussion due date [6], the number of points possible [7], and number of replies [8].

Note: If the anonymous discussion option is enabled for the discussion, student names and profile pictures do not display. However, as an instructor, your name and profile picture is visible to all course members.

View Discussion Multiple Due Dates

To view multiple due dates, click the Show Due Dates link [1].

View the multiple due dates [2].

To close the due dates sidebar, click the Close icon [3].

View Discussion Options

The discussion topic section also includes several tools that allow you to manage your discussion.

To publish or unpublish the discussion, click the Publish icon [1].

To subscribe to or unsubscribe from the discussion, click the Subscribe icon [2].

To open the discussion's Options menu, click the Options icon [3].

To mark all discussion replies as read, click the Mark All as Read link [4].

To edit discussion details, click the Edit link [5].

To delete the discussion, click the Delete link [6].

To close the discussion for comments, click the Close for Comments link [7].

To send the discussion to another instructor, click the Send To... link [8].

To copy the discussion to another course, click the Copy To... link [9].

To open the discussion in SpeedGrader, click the Open in SpeedGrader link [10].

To add a rubric to a graded discussion, click the Add Rubric link [11]. If a rubric has already been added, this link displays as the Show Rubric link.

View Discussion Replies

Discussion replies display below the discussion topic. Learn how to reply to a discussion and view and sort discussion replies.

View Discussion Thread Replies

When viewing discussion thread replies, you can collapse and expand the discussion thread replies sidebar. When a discussion thread reply is collapsed, you can view the reply indicators showing the number of unread and total replies

To expand the discussion thread replies sidebar, click the # of replies link [1].

View the read and unread replies [2].

To view older replies, click the Show older replies link [3].  

To view threaded replies options, click the Options icon [4]. You can mark replies as read/unread, mark threaded replies as read/unread, return to the topic, edit the reply, delete the reply, or open the reply in SpeedGrader.

To collapse the discussion thread replies sidebar, click the Close icon [5].

View Rich Content Editor

When creating or editing discussion topics or replies, you enter and edit your content using the Rich Content Editor. The Rich Content Editor allows you to format text, link text to course or external content, insert media, and attach files. Learn more about using the Rich Content Editor.