Feature request: file replacement

If an object in a module is a file—or even perhaps an attachment to something—then it would be far more convenient to be able to replace the file, say from the context menu.

At the moment, I believe one has to delete the object, and then recreate it, and I think it ends up leaving an old copy of the file behind.

Find more posts tagged with

Accepted answers

All comments

DavidIStewart

Note that uploading the file into the file space to replace it breaks the links—or at least it used to.

Also, req #2: when adding a file to a module directly, there ought to be a field to specify the title. Currently one needs to create the file and then edit the module object to give it a proper title (instead of the filename).

Chris_Hofer

Hi there, @DavidIStewart …

Thanks for submitting these ideas. However, as you may have noticed, the entire Canvas Community website has gotten a facelift using a new platform. Also, with this update, the Community team is also working on a new way for us to submit requests like yours for new features to be added to the core Canvas product. That process hasn't been announced quite yet, and I'm not exactly sure when that will happen. But, I do know the Community team is actively working on a new process to submit and vote on ideas. The best resource I can currently point you to is:

Your Community, Refreshed - Instructure Community

Within this blog post, you'll find a section on "Your Voice, Your Community". The last paragraph in this section provides a bit more detail on the idea process. In the past, the Community team has asked that folks submit one idea per posting. It looks like you've got a couple ideas going here (the second one in your reply listed as "req #2"). I'm guessing they will still ask to keep ideas separated, but I'm not 100% sure on this.

Also, I believe that you can reach out to your school's assigned Customer Success Manager (CSM). If you are not a Canvas administrator at your school, you can talk to the person who is, and then that person can reach out to the CSM at Instructure to let them know of your request. I believe this would be a temporary way to get your ideas submitted while a new process here in the Community is developed.

Anyway, I hope this information will be of some help to you. Good luck!

dbrace

Hi @DavidIStewart,

Earlier today, after seeing your post, I did the following in our Canvas beta environment:

created a new Microsoft Word document with the text "This is version 1 of my document" and saved it as "my document.docx".
went into the "Files" area of the course and drag-and-dropped the file (https://community.instructure.com/en/kb/articles/662853)
went into the "Modules" area, created a module, clicked on the "+" symbol for the module, selected the file that I just uploaded (https://community.instructure.com/en/kb/articles/660903)
went into the "Pages" area, created a new page (https://community.instructure.com/en/kb/articles/660947), used the "Rich Content Editor" to create a link to the same document (https://community.instructure.com/en/kb/articles/662927), and published the page
on my computer, I reopened the original Microsoft Word document that I created and added a new line of text that said "This is version 2 of my document" and save the file (I did not rename the file)
as documented in the "Replace Duplicate File" section of https://community.instructure.com/en/kb/articles/662853 , I used the "Replace" option when I dragged-and-dropped the file into the "Files" area again
after replacing the file, from the "Files" area I verified that the new version of the file was visible from within Canvas
after replacing the file, from the "Modules" area I verified that the new version of the file was visible from within Canvas
after replacing the file, from the "Pages" area I opened the page that I previously created that contained a link to the file and observed…
1. that clicking on the link to the file caused a "Failed getting file to preview" error to appear
2. that clicking on the download icon to the right of the link to the file (after a few seconds) downloaded the new version of the file to my computer
3. for both observation "#9a" and observation "#9b" and comparing them to what (correctly) appeared for "#7" and "#8", when looking in the lower-left corner of my web browser window or the link/URL of my web browser, I noticed that "#9a" and "#9b" were showing a lower file ID number value (presumably the original file ID, https://CANVAS_DOMAIN/course/COURSE_NUMBER/files/4561020) and a higher file ID number (an "updated" file idea number since the original was replaced, https://CANVAS_DOMAIN/course/COURSE_NUMBER/files/4561021)
I recorded the experience that I had and reported it to Canvas Support so that they can look into the situation and they have escalated the ticket to level 2

I will do my best to update this ticket as I find out more.

-Doug

Unanswered Questions

Dropped Scores
I have Canvas set to drop the lowest quiz score, however, my students can only barely tell that the grade text is slightly grey when dropped. Can it have a tag like the "missing" and "exempt" ones in the student gradebook?
Batch edit assignment due dates by section
My Canvas shell has three different sections that all meet at different times throughout the week. I need to be able to batch edit assignment due dates by section, but right now Canvas can't filter by section for batch edit. My only option is now to manually (tediously) edit due dates for each assignment individually.
Change Group Assignments to NOT save if no groups are selected
Morning! One of the more frustrating aspects of Canvas are groups and the issues that show up when copying courses that have them. But now we have yet another issue. Most recently we have had instances where people mark an assignment/discussion as a group assignment but then do not link the discussion or assignment to any…
Has anyone experienced the "Empty Course" page for Speedgrader, when there actually are students assigned and active on the assignment?
So, we have encountered a few assignments where the Speedgrader presents the teacher with the "Empty Course" page, even though the course is not empty. I have discovered two New Quizzes in the same course where this has occurred, despite multiple students being assigned (at Module level, which passes the permission down to…
Problems with grading since update
A teacher has expressed concerns with the recent update. Exact concern is as follows: "My Canvas has been acting glitchy since the last "update." For instance, when I grade essays the highlight and cursor tools do not always work. I have to try highlighting several times,or come back later to finish. It's told me I "ran…