Batch Editing a Module

[FOREMANSHANNON]

Hello, 

I am an instructor with a question about batch editing possibilities for modules. I would like to be able to batch rename all the pages inside the module without having to drill down one by one and edit each title. Is that possible? Thanks!

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@James ... do any of your "Canvancements" have the capability to do what @FOREMANSHANNON is asking about?  I thought I recalled seeing one of your videos a long time ago where you were able to update a page name via a Google Spreadsheet, but maybe I'm not remembering correctly.  I looked through Kona's list on the "Canvancements" page, and nothing jumped out at me.  Thanks in advance.

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@James ... do any of your "Canvancements" have the capability to do what @FOREMANSHANNON is asking about?  I thought I recalled seeing one of your videos a long time ago where you were able to update a page name via a Google Spreadsheet, but maybe I'm not remembering correctly.  I looked through Kona's list on the "Canvancements" page, and nothing jumped out at me.  Thanks in advance.

[jerry_nguyen]

@Chris_Hofer @FOREMANSHANNON 

James's spreadsheet can bulk only change Assessment's name/due date (FYI https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Higher-Ed-Users/Adjust-All-Assignment-Dates-on-One-Page/ba-p/2631...)

Page name changes can be done via API which means his spreadsheet's code can be changed to modify page names.

[James]

Chris ( @Chris_Hofer ),

The closest would be the Bulk Publish / Delete Pages, but it doesn't allow renaming. That was a conscious decision when I wrote it. Pages use the name of the page as the identifier. That meant that if I renamed the page, it would have no way of associating it with the previous page. I also didn't want to figure out the code that determined how titles were sanitized to create URLs.

There is a separate ID, but that would mean adding an extra column that would be meaningless to most people and I was trying to keep it clean.

As Jerry ( @jerry_nguyen ) mentioned, the adjust due dates only works with assignments. They are not tied to the name of the assignment, the ID is required there.

[jerry_nguyen]

@FOREMANSHANNON 

You can still bulk change page names. However, as @James mentioned, pages use the page's name as the identifier (rather than an ID), thus any changes to the page name will break the link (if you embedded the page's link within a page using WYSIWYG editor). 

The link will still work if you only added the link to the page under "Module" as the link to the page is referred by its ID. Let me know if this fit your purpose then I can modify James's spreadsheet for you.

[FOREMANSHANNON]

Thanks to everyone who replied here. I was really hoping for an easy way to rename all pages within a module, but that doesn't sound like it exists. Thanks anyway. 

[FOREMANSHANNON]

Basically, as a follow-up, the use case I was hoping to use this for  was so that if I worked on a module where each page indicated in the title what week of the class it belongs to, if I needed to move that module around to a different week, I wanted a way to simply batch rename the pages in a module rather than having to drill down on each one. That was the use case I wanted. I actually have a disability where too much time at a computer becomes incredibly physically painful, so I'm always looking for anything where time and "arm work" of having to edit something individually could be slimmed down by a batch edit feature. 

[jerry_nguyen · Accepted solution]

@FOREMANSHANNON 

I have modified James's Spreadsheet to change page names

You can access it here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Eqp2RHZHiji_CImwYAKrHpK55SiAYgIa5UUqSVrPQ3Y/edit?usp=sharing

You can follow the instructions to set it up https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Higher-Ed-Canvas-Users/Adjust-All-Assignment-Dates-on-One-Page/ba...

However, please consider the points we discussed in previous posts

[smulvihi]

I'd love to use your Page Name Changes spreadsheet, but it seems to have copying functions disabled. Is there any way you might change that? James' original spreadsheet to change assignment dates works like a charm. 

[jerry_nguyen]

@smulvihi 

I just changed the setting, please try again and let me know.

[smulvihi]

It works perfectly! Thank you so much for this. I will remember your considerations about breaking links within Canvas, though. I had to renumber all my modules this semester and was not looking forward to hand-renumbering Every. Single. One. 

[FOREMANSHANNON]

Hi Jerry,

I appreciate the effort, but this really doesn't help me. My goal is to minimize key strokes, mouse clicks and typing as much as possible. I use dictation a lot, but that doesn't help with other computer tasks that require "arm energy." The process you're describing above seems to require just as much of that work as just click on each page in a module individually. I really wish Canvas had more awareness of the need for simple batch editing for instructors with disabilities. 

[FOREMANSHANNON]

Thank you anyway, I appreciate the effort.