Canvas: How do I manage "Disallow Threaded Replies" settings in Discussions?

Canvas Discussions update for Fall 2024: A temporary fix is available to restore threaded replies functionality, which may have been disabled in some courses due to an August 2024 update. Instructions for implementing the fix using a new course-level button are provided.

This article outlines a feature change in Canvas Discussions that may impact Canvas sites during the Fall 2024 term.

What are Discussions?

Canvas Discussions is an integrated tool for interactive communication in courses. Features include creating graded or ungraded discussions, threaded or focused formats, group discussions, delayed posting, and multimedia integration. Discussions can be used for assignments, topic exploration, or ongoing conversation. The tool offers flexibility in organizing and structuring discussions to suit different educational needs and can be seamlessly integrated with the Canvas Gradebook for assessment purposes.

See this Canvas guide to learn more: What are Discussions?

Threaded Replies

Threaded discussions in Canvas allow for unlimited nested responses, facilitating in-depth exploration and refinement of complex ideas through hierarchical, long-lasting conversations that can span an entire course.

Managing Threaded Discussion Settings

In August 2024, Instructure rolled out an update to Discussions that changed some course discussions settings. In some cases the Disallow Threaded Replies setting was set as the default when it should not have been. If you see this problem in your course, beginning September 16, 2024 Instructure announced a temporary course level fix to bulk update all discussion settings in course back to Allow Threaded Replies.

See this Instructure post for full details: Temporary button to uncheck the Disallow Threaded Replies option in all Discussions.

"Make all Discussions Threaded" Course-level Button

The button to resolve the threaded replies issues is available in the Discussions page in courses that contain at least one discussion. An alert describing the button is available starting September 16, 2024 through the end of October.

• Once the button is used and the update process is successfully completed, the course level notification will no longer appear.
• If you dismiss the alert but later decide to proceed with the update, you can either clear your browser cache or access Canvas from a different browser or device to view this option.
• See the Instructure post Temporary button to uncheck the Disallow Threaded Replies option in all Discussions for a video walk through.