Rutgers.eduIn an effort to continually improve Canvas, Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, releases Canvas upgrades every third Saturday of the month along with Release Notes. Pertinent features and upgrades are listed below.
In this Canvas release, All SMS notification types are deprecated except Announcements and Grading notification types. Users should transition to the Canvas mobile apps.
Feature Options
- The Confetti for Valid Links feature option displays confetti for instructors who run the link validator on a course and no issues are found. Instructors can choose to disable celebrations in User Settings.
Monthly Release Notes also include API updates. This announcement lists pertinent updates that affect instructors and students and omits features that are not applicable for Rutgers Canvas. You may view the full Release Notes (May 16), and its accompanying screencast. The next release will be on June 20, 2020.
Updated Features
Course Settings
Link Validator Celebration
Canvas generates a virtual celebration when instructors run the link validator and no issues are found. This change provides validation to instructors after they’ve verified and resolved course links.
Celebrations take place in Canvas when the Link Validator finds no errors.
If instructors prefer to not have Canvas display celebrations, they can choose to hide all celebration animations in the User Settings page. Please see Canvas Release: Link Validator Celebration for image.
Note: This User Settings feature option is included for all users and defaults to off. Instructors only need to adjust this feature option if they are seeing celebrations in the link validator page and they want to opt-out of the animations.
Notifications
SMS Notification Types Deprecation
On 2 May, all SMS notification types are deprecated except Announcements and Grading notification types. Remaining notification types can be enabled through other communication channels. This change provides a better communication experience for all user roles. Other notification types are more consistent and reliable for Canvas users. The timing for this change is affected by COVID-19. Resources regarding other communication channels can be found in the Upcoming Canvas Changes Feature Clarifications page.
When users open their Notification Preferences page, all SMS options are disabled except announcements and grading notification types.
- Announcements notifications include new announcements in a course
- Grading notifications include assignment graded and submission grade changed
Any unsupported notification type includes a tooltip that notifies users appropriately.
Users can set up other communication channels according to their preference and also use the Canvas mobile apps. Please see Canvas Release: SMS Notification Types Deprecation for image.
Canvas Deploys
Canvas deploys contain code changes that are intended to fix bugs, improve performance, and prepare for new features, but they do not affect customer workflows. These deploys take place every two weeks and intended changes in workflow are noted in the Canvas Release Notes published monthly.
Deploy notes include notable fixed bugs and additional updates that do not affect existing user functionality. View full Deploy Notes for:
Ready Releases
Beginning 2020-03-28, Canvas teams began modifying the release process to include additional updates on a weekly basis. Features included in these additional releases are designed to provide immediate solutions to institutions and are all opt-in via feature options. Please see the Ready Release Features page for additional details.
Ready Releases are a temporary process until further notice and will be in addition to regular monthly Canvas releases. Additionally, during this unprecedented time, features introduced as part of a regular release date will be opt-in feature options until July 2020 if supported—some Canvas features do not support feature option functionality. On 18 July 2020, all previously introduced features will become default for all institutions, unless otherwise indicated.
View full Ready Release Notes for: