Looking to discuss this feature from the 2021-12-15 Deploy Notes? Post a reply and start a conversation!
POSTING GUIDELINES This topic is for feature discussion only—please share use cases, best practices, etc. regarding this feature Please thread replies as much as possible to keep posts organized WHERE SHOULD I POST...? Idea enhancement feedback to product managers should be submitted in ideas.canvaslms.com (though linking to the idea here so others can find it is welcome) Bug reports should be submitted to Canvas Support—bugs will not be triaged in this thread
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This is a lovely update since there have been so many faculty who have overwritten content when they intended to make a duplicate instead. I think it would be significantly improved if the warning only appeared on the screen after the instructor selected a course that had already been used for a previous import, rather than showing the message all of the time. This way faculty would know when their import is completely safe vs. a potentially 'dangerous' import.
How does the import system determine when content is "the same" and will be overridden instead of duplicated?
On my campus, teachers often will import content from previous similar courses and inevitably end up with duplicate assignments, assignment groups, etc. In many cases we would actually prefer it to be overridden instead of duplicated.
Does Canvas only recognize the content as identical when it's, say, a full course package and not individual items like assignments and modules?
Thanks!
Hi @Tasha_Biesinger @joni
The system doesn't distinguish if there is duplicate content or not. It always displays the message, regardless if the package is imported for the first time or the 10th time.
Hope that helps!
Erin
Completely agree with @Tasha_Biesinger & @joni.
It would be nice if there was "intelligence" built in to warn only when there is actual danger of overriding content.But hey, this is a great step in the right direction and maybe someday we will get there! 🐼
I agree this is a nice update, but without having intelligence to only display the warning message when doing a "re-import", I think many users are going to simply ignore the message or get confused at why they are seeing it all of a sudden when it doesn't apply. If anything could be done to add some logic to the warning display, it would turn this update into a total win for all!
-Chris
@joni imports have sort of a tether to their original course. For example, you may have the same assignment in course 123 and in course 456. If you import the assignment from course 123 into course 789, there is data in the background where Canvas recognizes that this new asset came from course 123. If you recopy the assignment from course 123 to course 789, Canvas recognizes this as a reimport and will overwrite. There is no scanning for similarity, so if you import that same assignment from course 456 into course 789, this comes over as a duplicate.
I'm glad to see this finally here, I'm sure you Tier 1 agents will also be glad to see a drop in calls about overwrites. My nitpick here is with clarity in the wording. "Importing the same course content more than once will overwrite any existing content in the course". I think that "any existing content" isn't clear about what's impacted. Copying a single assignment won't impact all existing content in the receiving course, just the existing version of the item(s) being copied. I worry teachers will think that they'll lose everything if they proceed with an import.
Our product team is always happy to consider enhancement ideas for improving the product in the future. (Feel free to create an idea in the idea Conversations space to note that for them.) Without additional research and time it may not be possible to determine whether or not something is being reimported and display the message appropriately, and the team would need to know just how many customers would be looking for that need before they spend that time (when they could be spending the same time doing other things that may also be needed).
The design of this release was simply to portray information. And based on the use of the feature we can definitely discuss adjustments to the wording if warranted by enough feedback.
Thank you!
Can someone explain to me why the course selection drop-down has been eliminated with this feature? I understand if there is a need for a warning, but the drop-down is gone and I am forced to manually type to search for each course. r/mildlyinfuriating
I agree with @OgdenKiesel. I assume for some logistical/programming reason, our district set up each class/period as its own Course in Canvas, rather than one course with multiple sections. As it is, I generally create my content in a sandbox course and then have to "Copy to" each of the 6 classes (and that is after I figured out how to cross-list my courses by period, because at the beginning of the year I was doing this 12 times per piece of content). By forcing me to now also type in the name of the course for every single new thing I create, times 6 courses, what was originally tedious is now also extremely frustrating. PLEASE add the drop down menu back!
Changes to the copy-to workflow were not indicated anywhere in the 12/15 deploy notes, per Erin's comment above "The design of this release was simply to portray information." this has really caught admins off-guard
Hi, all,
If you have access to more than 100 courses, the search page only displays the Course Name field.
If you have fewer than 100 courses and are not able to view the drop-down, please submit a support case as that is not intended functionality.
Thank you,
So, instead of making it easier and simpler to copy things to multiple courses, secondary teachers now are MORE confused and have to do MORE steps for each copying action? Why???
I appreciate your efforts to warn teachers of unintended consequences. However, this warning message is ambiguously worded. I'm a regular poster in the FB Group "Teachers Using Canvas," and this message has created mass confusion. Here is the current message:
"Importing the same course content more than once will overwrite any existing content in the course."
However, what you do mean by "in the course?" Do you mean the "target course" or the "original course?"
For example, let's say, I'm importing content from Fall 2021 into my Spring 2022 course. Does the warning mean:
I assume that the Canvas developers mean that (A) will happen. However, many instructors are now very worried that the copying and importing material will result in (B). And, why wouldn't they since the message says "existing content?"
There is a simple solution. Just add the word "target."
"Importing the same course content more than once will overwrite any existing content in the target course."
This is an adjustment that the Canvas developers can immediately make. It shouldn't take another month of "release" notes or "deploy" notes to do it.
Regarding the wording of the warning message, I received this from a teacher:
"I am trying to copy assignment from my shared sandbox to my course and I got this notification. I am too afraid to proceed. Can you let me know what the warning means and why I am getting it. I never noticed this before and I copy content from course to course regularly."
Per my earlier comment, I still think the phrasing "any existing content" implies broader impact than is the case when teachers are using the Copy To feature to copy single items.
As @audra_agnelly experienced, we have also received a message from a confused academic. I've created an idea conversation as requested by @erinhmcmillan but it would be good if this could be fast tracked as it's simply a change in language of an existing feature likely requiring little development time. Clarify the "Importing the same course content mor... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)
Is there a work around to continue to copy content to a course? It is not letting me copy anything at all after the "Importing" warning. Comes up with that message and stops there. Just want to copy a couple test banks over.
Question for anyone in this thread: Until Canvas fixes this update and makes things more clear/streamlined for copying content, could a potential (albeit inconvenient) solution be to duplicate the content (assignment/page/module) in the original course with a renaming of the item and then proceed with the Copy To to the target course?
This wording, suggested by @fred_bonatto, is the best proposal so far:
"Importing the same course content more than once will overwrite any existing, previously imported content in the target course."
Here's the reason for the warning:
What will happen is this; The edits she made to the "Chap 1 Exam' in Spring 2022 will be lost. The original content in the Fall 2021 will not be affected. The other content in Spring 2022 will not be affected.
@erinhmcmillan Have the Canvas developers had a chance to revisit the wording?
One last note; I like Fred's revision a great deal. However, I'm still not sure about the word "any." Other previously imported content (e.g. the "Chap 2 Exam") will not be affected.
