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 (August 15), the Account Navigation Menu includes a link to Global Announcements, where users can view current and recent announcements.
In courses, multiple pages can be deleted at one time in the Pages Index page. The Sections column can be hidden from students in the People page when more than one section exists in the course.
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 (August 15), and its accompanying screencast. The next release will be on September 19, 2020.
Updated Features
Pages
Bulk Page Delete
Multiple pages can be deleted at one time in the Pages Index page. This change allows outdated content to be removed more quickly. Previously pages could only be deleted one at a time. The Pages Index page (View All Pages button) allows for multiple pages to be deleted at one time. Pages can be multi-selected by selecting a checkbox next to the pages.
Note: The delete functionality is disabled for the page designated as the Front Page. To delete the page used as the Front Page, a new Front Page must be set.
Please see Release Notes: Bulk Page Delete for images.
People
Course Section Column Student Visibility
The Section column can be hidden from students in the People page when more than one section exists in the course. This change prevents students from viewing sections for other students when they have access to view the People page.
When a course includes more than one section, the Course Settings Details page includes an option to hide sections on the People page from students. Instructors can select this option for the course. When enabled, the Section column displays to instructors (and admins), as well as other user roles with People permissions.
When the option to hide sections is enabled for the course, students are not able to view the Section column when viewing the People page.
Note: This functionality does not prevent students from identifying section information in other areas of Canvas, such as if students can send messages to all students in a section from their Inbox.
Please see Release Notes: Course Section Column Student Visibility for images.
User Navigation
Global Announcements Page
The User Navigation Menu includes a link to Global Announcements, which displays current and recent announcements for the institution. This change allows users to view announcements that were previously dismissed from the Dashboard.
Global Announcements display as a notification in a user’s Dashboard if the user’s role is included for the announcement. Users can manually close the notification at any time. Closing the announcement displays an alert indicating that the announcement can be viewed again in the user’s Navigation Menu.
The Global Navigation link is located at the end of the User Navigation Menu. The Global Announcements page defaults to the Current Announcements tab, which displays all active announcements for the institution. The Recent tab displays all announcements with an end date within the past four months.
Please see Release Notes: Global Announcements Page for images.
Platform/Integration
Browsers
TLS Protocol Changes
TLS Protocols 1.0 and 1.1 are not supported in Canvas. Institutions must update to TLS 1.2 by 19 September or switch their API URLs to a legacy endpoint. This change ensures all customers are using the highest encryption protocols to protect user interactions with Canvas. TLS 1.0 and 1.1 protocols support usage of ciphers that do not meet modern security standards.
Users who rely on browsers to interact with Canvas must update their TLS protocol to 1.2, as support for TLS 1.0 and 1.1 will no longer be available. Users should ensure they are using the latest version of each supported Canvas browser. Users may be affected if applications are parsing page content or using a script against Canvas APIs. Background regarding these changes can be found in Deprecating TLS 1.0 & 1.1.
Test Environment Support: 15 August 2020
- Institutions can test changes to their TLS protocols using the Beta environment at any time. On 15 August, Canvas engineering will disable support for TLS 1.0 and 1.1 in the Test environment. Institutions that still produce TLS 1.0 and 1.1 data will be contacted by their Customer Success Manager.
Legacy Endpoint Support: July 17, 2021
- Institutions that are not able to transition to TLS 1.2 by 19 September should update their API URL to a legacy endpoint, which is created by adding legacyapi after the institution name (e.g. institution-name.legacyapi.instructure.com). Legacy endpoints will be supported until 17 July 2021.
For questions about this change, please see Customer TLS Protocols FAQ.
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: