Threaded Replies Unavailable in Canvas Discussions
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Why aren’t Discussions working as expected?
In Summer 2024, Canvas introduced a redesigned Discussions tool, which includes an option to disallow threaded replies. Threaded replies allow students to respond directly to each other’s discussion responses. They are grouped together visually, and each subsequent reply to a post is indented. When threaded replies are disallowed in a discussion, participants can only post top-level responses to an initial discussion prompt; no one can make direct replies to other discussion threads.
When updating the Discussions tool, Canvas inadvertently applied the disallow threaded replies feature to existing threaded discussions. As a result of this feature change, students may find that they are no longer able to reply directly to discussion responses in some courses.
Learn more about threaded versus non-threaded Canvas discussions.
How can I fix the disallow threaded replies issue so participants can reply to discussion replies?
Option 1: Use the temporary button to make all discussions threaded
This self-service button (1) is only visible in courses that still contain at least one discussion affected by the issue.
Learn more about this temporary button at the Canvas product blog post, Temporary button to uncheck the Disallow Threaded Replies option in all Discussions.
Option 2: Manually update individual discussions
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- Navigate to the relevant Discussion’s Edit page.
- Then, uncheck Disallow Threaded Discussions.
- Select save.
👋Need more help?
Submit a support request through our Faculty Support portal for assistance.
