We use a default-term, self-enrolled course shell as a "Program Commons" so that students in all program courses can participate in open (non-graded) discussions, and for centralized document management… or at least that was the intent.
I needed to make a revision to the student handbook, so I made a copy of the original and renamed the copy to indicate that it was a depreciated version.
I then dragged and dropped the updated version into Canvas files. The updated version used the exact same file name, so when prompted:
"A file named "machiningProgramHandbook.pdf" already exists in this location. Do you want to replace the existing file?"
I selected "Replace" because I did indeed want to replace the file, to maintain the file path for all references, but that isn't what actually happened. The old file path was destroyed and a new path created. I now have to re-link the student handbook for every course in the program.
This is still better than having to manage actual file versions across all those courses, but this really isn't the expected/normal behavior of a file system.
This one is a pretty light lift relative to some other documents… we have an assignment type that reoccurs weekly, for the entire program, which includes a link to a specific document/form. If that one is revised, I'll have to re-link it in something like 72 assignments across 18 courses.
Is there a more robust way I should approach central file management across multiple courses?
