Change default notification settings using code.

Question

Hello,

Has anyone successfully changed the default student notification settings in Canvas at the account level?

I asked our CSM and he said it's not on the horizon for Canvas as whole but suggested some have had success using code.  This is the article he provided. Notification Preferences - Canvas LMS REST API Documentation

I'm a novice when it comes to code but am not afraid to try if you have any suggestions.

Thank you so much,

unknown · Answer

Hi  @esapienza ,

I thought I would check in and see if  @ben_hudson 's suggestion had helped you out? Are there any other follow up questions we can help you out with for this?

Cheers,
Stuart

unknown · Answer

Howdy  @esapienza ,

Indeed it is possible with the API, I have not done it myself specifically, but the resource  @ben_hudson  has linked you to should be a great start.

A couple of things I would suggest when starting out with the API.

* Always use your beta environment for everything when you are starting out, no matter what you do, you get a weekly refresh.
* In the initial stages, I usually recommend that you create an access token only in the beta environment. You do have to re-create it on a weekly basis, but it ensures you can't accidentally and inadvertently connect to your main environment with live-students in there.
* Email notifications obviously wont fire from Beta, however it gives you a chance to get your code right and play around before unleashing it on one or two test users. 
* Once you have played around it never hurts to post the logic you are trying to program (almost the workflow of steps). That is something we can always look over to make sure the logic of what you are attempting with each API call is sound and should work.

Getting into the API's is an awesomely fun journey, and there are many smart cookies here that can provide advice and guidance too!

Hope that helps.

Stuart

ben_hudson · Answer

Hi  @esapienza ,

My district looked into doing this when we added parents to our Canvas environment, but ultimately decided we weren't going to pursue anything. However I had done some reading on this, there are a few Discussions covering this topic already, I think this one might be able to help you: Setting Default User Notification Preferences via API or at least give you a good starting point.

Thanks,

Ben