How do I view and sort discussion replies in Discussions Redesign as an observer?

You can view all replies in a discussion in Discussions Redesign by scrolling or searching content.

Note: This lesson shows how to view and sort discussion replies using Discussions Redesign. If your discussions don’t look the same as what’s shown in this lesson, please view how to view and sort discussion replies using the classic Discussions interface.

Open Discussions

Open Discussions

In Course Navigation, click the Discussions link.

Open Discussion

Click the title of the discussion.

View Discussion

In a discussion, you have several options to view and sort discussions. Use the search field to search for replies or specific authors [1].

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

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

To subscribe to a discussion, click the Subscribe icon [4]. Subscribing to a discussion allows you to follow the discussion and receive notifications as set in your notification settings. If you are subscribed, the icon is filled. To unsubscribe, click the Subscribe icon.

To open options for the discussion, click the Options icon [5]. Options allows you to mark all existing posts (replies) as read.

You can view how many unread and replies are in the discussion [6].

View Graded Discussion

If your student's discussion is a graded discussion, you can view the discussion the same way as regular discussions. However, you can view the number of points the discussion is worth [1], and if there is a due date [2].

View Replies

Discussion replies are shown in order of post date. In discussion replies, the unread icon indicates the reply is new and unread [1]. After you view a discussion reply, the unread icon no longer displays [2]. When you navigate away from the discussion or refresh the page, Canvas automatically marks the replies as read. After Canvas has changed the reply status, you can manually mark discussion replies as read or unread at any time.

You can also change your discussion settings so you can manually mark discussion replies as read.

View Threaded Discussions

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

To expand the threaded 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, or return to the topic.

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

View Liked Discussions

View Liked Discussions

If your student's teacher allows you to like replies in a discussion, a Like icon appears next to each reply in the discussion. Blue icons indicate replies that you've liked. The number of total likes also appears next to the icon.

Search for Reply

To search for a discussion reply, enter any term in the Search field [1]. Search results include matches for user names [2] and reply text [3].

Note: If the discussion is an anonymous discussion, student names and profile pictures do not display. Posts created by the instructor display the instructor's name and profile picture.