Block Editor Open Beta Announcement

[ZoeLubitz1]

We're excited to announce the new Block Editor will be going live to open beta on December 16th. This new feature is a simplified content creation tool that allows educators to build high quality Canvas pages without needing to leverage HTML. 

This initial release, though still under active development, will be available in all beta environments. We're eager to have you explore this reimagined content creation experience in Canvas and share your valuable feedback. While we have exciting plans for further enhancements before its official production launch, your input during this beta period will help shape its future and ensure an exceptional user experience. The Production release will be ready once we finalize key features and improvements. 

How do I try the new Block Editor?

Beginning December 16th, CSMs can turn the feature option on in beta for any customers who request access. Please reach out to your CSM directly. Once Block Editor is enabled in your beta instance, head over to a course to start building a new page.  Additional information on how to use Block Editor along with updated resources can be found in the Block Editor feature user group.

How do I join the Block Editor feature user group?

Once your CSM grants your beta access to the Block Editor, they will send you a form with which you can request to join the Block Editor Feature User Group. This is the place to find the latest updates and resources for the Block Editor, and to share your insights, feedback, and ideas.  We recommend subscribing to updates in the group to stay up to date, as development will be ongoing. 

Which Block Editor features are available now? 

Sections and Blocks for Content Creation:

Blocks are individual objects that can be added to a template, or used to build a page from scratch. Block types include: Rich Content Editor, Button, Icon, Media, Tabs, and Dividers.

Sections are pre-made, but fully customizable elements, like a navigation bar, or Hero section with a course image. You can also add a “Knowledge Check” and use select New Quizzes questions to check for students’ understanding, right from your course page. Question types you can use include True/False, Multiple Choice, and Matching.

Additional Features:

• Preview on all screen sizes
• Context-specific toolbars for each block or section type
• Color Picker Contrast Checker: Instantly identifies whether the selected colors meet accessibility contrast standards, showing a clear pass/fail status.
• Dynamic Text Contrast Adjustment: Automatically selects and applies the most accessible text color for optimal readability against the chosen background.

What’s Coming Next?

Planned for the Production Release (early 2025):

• Dark mode support
• New block types including LTI block, carousel, flip cards, accordion
• Accessibility Checker
• Additional templates
• Enhanced accessibility, including more seamless screen reader compatibility 
• Full documentation and guides

These, and any other new features will be released on a rolling basis.

If you have additional questions, please see this FAQ document. We can’t wait to hear what you think of the Block Editor.

[TrinaAltman]

Thanks for the update, @ZoeLubitz1 . When this is released to production systems in early 2025, what will the default release state be? Specifically which of these Feature Option states will be the default in production systems:

• Disabled (with no lock/unlock option)
• Enabled (with no lock/unlock option)
• Disabled/unlocked
• Disabled/locked (this one is unlikely, I know, but I am listing it just to be thorough in the four possible options)

We handle each release state differently, so need to know specifically how it will be set when it is released for our planning.

Also, your update indicates the production release will be "early 2025" and the Block Editor FAQ page says, "Please check back for updates on when Block Editor will be release to Production." but the older Update on the Block Editor page still indicates "We plan to go into production on January 18 as a Feature Preview". It would be good if a noticeable edit could be added to that page for folks that are/were still checking that one for updates, like myself. (A shout out to @dbrace for letting us know about your new page!)

Thank you.

[ZoeLubitz1]

Hi Trina, Thanks for your comment!

Updating my reply on Friday 12/13: The feature state will be "Disabled, unlocked." But importantly, you'll see in Beta that the Block Editor is still optional even if the feature is enabled. There's a screen that asks you whether you want to use Block Editor or the Rich Content Editor. Screenshot below.

Regarding the date for the production release, this is also TBD. I'll try to clean up the various blog posts so we don't confuse anybody. Thanks for calling that out 🙂

[paul_fynn]

Watching with anticipation as this develops and really interested to see how this pans out in practice (and an example of where we'd prefer to issue a central template):-

How does the knowledge check work in Block Editor?

As you build a knowledge check, you will be prompted to select an existing New Quiz from your Canvas course, then select one of the supported question types from that quiz. That question will be added to the Block Editor Page for students to use as a self-check for comprehension.

The million dollar (or million participations) question for us is whether we will see knowledge check attempts reflected as student participations in New Analytics ?

A secondary question is whether we would be able to run knowledge check as a graded summative activity, or if that still needs to run through New Quizzes ?