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Canvas@Illinois, Discussion Redesign

This article describes how you can enable the Discussion Redesign interface in your Canvas courses to change the appearance of discussions and announcements in your courses and offers and provides a brief comparison between the Discussion Redesign and default discussions.

Overview

The Discussion Redesign feature preview provides a new interface for both discussions and announcements in Canvas course sites. This feature is still in development but is expected to be the default view beginning July 20, 2024. For more information about these changes, see the Discussion Redesign Coming to Canvas LMS on July 2024 product blog post in the Instructure Community.

How to Enable the Discussion Redesign Feature Preview

If you want to use the Discussion Redesign, you need to enable it in each of your course sites following the instructions below.

  1. In your course navigation menu, select Settings.
  2. Select the Feature Options tab.
  3. Locate the "Discussions/Announcements Redesign" feature preview and select the state icon to select Enable. When the feature preview is enabled, it will display with a green circle with a check mark. 

Screenshot of the Discussions/Announcements Redesign feature preview with a red arrow pointing to the green enabled icon.

Feature Comparison

The following table provides information about what's available in both the legacy discussions (current default) and Discussion Redesign interface.

    Discussion Feature Comparison
    Feature Legacy Discussions Discussion Redesign
    Users must post before seeing replies Yes ✅ Yes ✅
    Reply posts can be marked as read or unread Yes  ✅ Yes ✅
    Discussion time stamp edit display Yes ✅ Yes ✅
    Previous/Next buttons for Modules Yes ✅ Yes ✅
    Group Discussions Yes ✅ Yes ✅
    Peer Review Yes ✅ Yes ✅
    Add to Student To-do List Yes ✅ Yes ✅
    View Deleted Posts Yes ✅ Yes ✅
    Rubrics Yes ✅ Yes ✅
    Full and partial anonymity for graded discussions No ❌ Yes ✅
    Improved accessibility No ❌ Yes ✅
    Split view No ❌ Yes ✅
    Reply reporting No ❌ Yes ✅
    Quoting and @ mentions No ❌ Yes ✅
    Searching and filtering Yes ✅ Yes ✅

    Interface Comparison

    Select a panel below to expand the section and learn more about the Discussion Redesign and default discussion interfaces.

    Discussion Redesign View

    Screenshot of the Discussion Redesign interface with letters to highlight important components (described in text below)

    As noted in the screenshot above, the Discussion Redesign view includes the following:

    1. Sort Button: users can sort replies to the discussion by "Newest First" or "Oldest First"
    2. View Split Screen or View Inline: users can customize how they view the discussion thread (either inline or split screen to open a tray on the right side of the screen).
    3. Expand Threads: this expands all threads in the forum and is only available when in inline view.
    4. Due Date: If the discussion forum is graded, the due date will be displayed in the top left of the description.
    5. Points Possible: If the discussion forum is graded, the total points possible will be displayed in the top right of the description.
    6. Role: The forum will include an indicator of the author as well as the user's role in the course.
    7. Reply Button: This button allows users to reply to the main discussion.

    Legacy Discussion View

    Screenshot of default view of discussions with letters highlighting different components (described below)

    As noted in the screenshot above, the legacy discussion view includes the following:

    1. Points Possible: If the discussion forum is graded, the total points possible will be displayed in the top right of the description.
    2. Due Date: If the discussion forum is graded, the due date will be displayed in the top left of the description.
    3. Name: The forum will include an indicator of the author as well as the user's role in the course.
    4. Unread Button: Filters the discussion forum to display only unread replies.
    5. Collapse/Expand Replies Buttons: These buttons will expand or collapse all replies in the discussion forum.
    6. Reply: Selecting this area expands the rich content editor for a user to reply to the initial post.

    Additional Resources

    For more information about the Discussion Redesign, you can refer to the following resources:


    Keywordscanvas, discussion, discussion redesign   Doc ID135526
    OwnerRachel M.GroupUniversity of Illinois Technology Services
    Created2024-02-16 11:50:43Updated2024-03-07 10:42:43
    SitesUniversity of Illinois Technology Services
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