Announcements
You can create an announcement to share important information with all users within your course and with users in sections of a course. In your notification preferences, you can choose to receive notifications for announcements created by you as well as replies to announcements you've created.
Notes:
- Your course must be published for students to receive announcement notifications.
- If you import course content from another Canvas course, you must manually enable notifications to receive notifications for imported announcements.
Create Announcement
1. In Course Navigation, click the Announcements link.
2. On the right-hand side, click the Add (+) Announcement button.
3. Type a title for the announcement in the topic title field and add content in the Rich Content Editor.
Note: The Rich Content Editor includes a word count display below the bottom right corner of the text box.
Select Sections
4. By default, Canvas will send your announcement to all sections within your course. To select specific sections for your announcement, click the Post to drop-down menu and select sections from the list provided.
Note: If your course does not have sections, Canvas will still show the All Sections option, and all course users can view the announcement.
Select Options
5. You can add an attachment to your announcement by clicking the Choose File button [1].
In the Options section, you can select various options for your announcement. You can delay the posting of your announcement [2], which allows you to schedule the announcement for a future date.
Additionally, you can allow users to comment on the announcement [3] and require students to reply to a post before seeing other replies [4].
You can also enable an announcement podcast feed [5] and allow students to like announcement replies [6].
Notes:
- By default, comments are not allowed in announcements unless the Allow users to comment checkbox is selected.
- The Allow users to comment option is persistent, meaning the option you select when creating or editing an announcement will carry over when you create a new announcement in the course. However, the Users must post before seeing replies option is not persistent.
- Comment options may not be available to you if announcement comments are disabled in your course. Check your Course Settings if you cannot view these checkboxes.
6. Click the Save button.
Note: Unless you are using the delay posting option in Announcements, once you click Save, your announcement will immediately be posted in your course.
You can view the annoucment by going to the Annoucements Index page (a.k.a Annoucements course menu button found in step 1.)
You can view all replies in an announcement by scrolling or searching content. Announcement replies are hierarchical, collapsible, and expandable.
Note: Not all announcements may allow replies. Additionally, announcement replies may be disabled in Course Settings or at the account level.
1. In Course Navigation, click the Announcements link.
2. Click the name/title of an announcement.
View Annoucements
3. In an announcement, you have several options to view and sort announcements. Use the search field [1] to search for replies or specific authors. To filter by unread replies, click the Unread button [2]. To show or hide deleted replies, click the Show button [3]. You can also collapse and expand [4] all announcement replies.
To edit the announcement, click the Edit button [5].
To manage the announcement, click the Options icon [6]. Announcement Options allow you to mark all existing posts (replies) as read, delete the announcement, and close the announcement for comments.
You can view the number of unread and total replies in the thread [7]. The number on the left indicates unread replies, while the number on the right indicates the total number of replies.
View Replies
4. Announcement replies are shown in order of post date. New and unread replies are indicated by a solid dot [1]. Read replies are indicated by an empty dot [2]. When you navigate away from the Announcement or refresh the page, the sold dots will change to empty dots indicating the replies are read.
Expand and Collapse Replies
5. When viewing announcement replies, you can collapse and expand individual announcement replies by hovering over the top of the box containing the entire reply and clicking the collapse icon [1]. When an announcement reply is collapsed, you can view the reply indicators showing the number of unread and total replies [2].
View Reply Options
6. Each announcement reply has its own options icon.
In original announcement replies, you can return to the main announcement topic by clicking the Go to Topic link [1].
If you are viewing a reply within a reply, return to the original reply by clicking the Go to Parent link [2].
To edit or delete the reply, click the Edit or Delete links [3].
Reply to an Announcement
7. To reply to an announcement, reply to the announcement by clicking the Reply button [1]. You can reply to any other reply in the announcement by clicking the Reply button [2].
View Liked Discussions
8. If you allow students to like replies in an announcement, a Like icon appears next to each reply in the announcement. Highlighted icons indicate replies that you've liked. The number of total likes also appears next to the icon.
If you set up the announcement to sort automatically according to the number of likes, original replies will always sort first, and any associated replies will be reordered beginning with the highest-liked reply.
1. In Course Navigation, click the Announcements link.
2. To delete an announcement from the index page, locate the announcement. Click the Options icon [1] and click the Delete link [2].
To delete multiple announcements at a time, click the checkbox next to the announcements you want to delete [3] and click the Delete button [4].
Delete an Individual Announcement
1. To delete an announcement individually, click the title of the announcement.
2. Click the Options icon [1], then click the Delete link [2].
3. Click the OK button.
As an instructor, you can copy individual announcements in one course directly into another course in which you are enrolled. You can also send announcements to other instructors at your institution.
When you copy an announcement, any assets within that announcement (images, files, etc.) will be included in the announcement copy. Announcement settings, including delay posting dates, are also included in the announcement copy.
Notes:
- The option to select a module displays when copying an announcement, but is not functional. You cannot place a copied announcement in a module.
- To share course content, you must have the Course Content - add / edit / delete permission enabled.
- Shared content does not count against course or user quotas.
- If you copy the same announcement to the same course more than once, the announcement you previously copied will be overwritten with the newly copied announcement.
1. In Course Navigation, click the Announcements link.
2. Click the name/title of the announcement you want to copy.
3. Click the Options icon [1] and select the Copy To... option [2].
4. Type the course name or course code in the Select a Course field [1]. Then select the course into which you want to copy the announcement [2].
5. Click the Copy button.
Note: The Select a Module field displays when copying an announcement, but will not place the announcement in a module.
6. Canvas displays a notification when an announcement copies successfully [1].
When finished, click the Close icon [2] or the Close button [3].
Copied announcements display on the Announcements Index Page (same as step 1) for the course into which it copied. Announcement posting dates are not included in announcement copies.
As an instructor, you can share individual announcements in your course with other instructors at your institution. You can also copy an individual announcement into another course.
When you share an announcement, any assets within that announcement (images, files, etc.) will be included in the shared file. Announcement settings, including delay posting dates, are also included in the shared announcement.
Notes:
- To share course content, you must have the Course Content - add / edit / delete permission enabled.
- Shared content does not count against course or user quotas.
1. In Course Navigation, click the Announcements link.
2. Click the name/title of the announcement you want to copy.
3. Click the Options icon [1] and select the Send To... option [2].
4. To send your announcement to another instructor, click or type in the Send to field. Then click the name of the instructor to receive your announcement.
Note: You can send the announcement to multiple instructors at one time.
You can view all selected recipients in the Send to field [1]. To remove a recipient, click the Remove icon [2].
5. Click the Send button [3].
Canvas displays a notification when content sends successfully.
View Shared Content
When an instructor receives shared content, a badge displays on the users' Account icon [1] and in the Shared Content link [2].
Learn how to manage received content.
