Canvas LMS Instructor Guide

How do I delay posting a discussion until a specified date in a course?

You can delay posting a discussion topic until a specific date by setting future availability dates. A discussion whose availability start date is in the future is locked to students until the discussion becomes available.

00:07: How do I delay posting a discussion until a specified date in a

00:11: course?

00:12: In Course Navigation, click the Discussions link.

00:17: To create a new discussion, click the Add Discussion button.

00:21: Create the discussion and go to the Assign Access section.

00:26: To make your discussion available in the future, on a specific date, or during a

00:30: specific date range, enter the dates and times in the Available from and

00:34: Until fields, or click the calendar icons to select dates. To

00:38: delay the posting of your discussion, select a future date for the Available from

00:42: field. You are not required to enter dates in

00:46: both of these fields, so if you want to delay your posting but do want your

00:50: post to appear indefinitely, you can leave the Until field blank.

00:55: If you are ready to publish your discussion, click the Save and Publish button.

01:01: If you want to create a draft of your discussion and publish it later, click the

01:05: Save button.

01:07: Assignment details display in the Discussion topic.

01:11: On the Discussions Index page, a message indicates that a delayed discussion

01:15: is "not available until" the availability start date.

01:19: Students can open published discussions, but they do not have access to them until

01:24: the availability dates. If they open a delayed discussion, a

01:28: message indicates that the "not available until" the availability start date.

01:33: This guide covered how to delay posting a discussion until a specified date

01:37: in a course.

Open Discussions

In Course Navigation, click the Discussions link.

Add Discussion

To create a new discussion, click the Add Discussion button.

Create Discussion

Create the discussion and go to the Assign Access section.

Add Availability Dates

To make your discussion available in the future, on a specific date, or during a specific date range, enter the dates and times in the Available from [1]and Until fields [2], or click the calendar icons to select dates. To delay the posting of your discussion, select a future date for the Available from field.

Notes:

You are not required to enter dates in both of these fields, so if you want to delay your posting but do want your post to appear indefinitely, you can leave the Until field blank.
If the discussion is graded, you can also assign a Due Date. Learn more the differences between due dates and availability dates.

Save and Publish

If you are ready to publish your discussion, click the Save and Publish button [1]. If you want to create a draft of your discussion and publish it later, click the Save button [2].

View Discussion

Assignment details display.

View Discussions Index Page

In the Discussions Index page, a message indicates that a delayed discussion is not available until the availability start date.

Student View

Students can open published discussions, but they do not have access to them until the availability dates. If they open a delayed discussion, a message indicates that the discussion is not available until the availability start date.

Canvas LMS Instructor Guide

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