Known Issues

Below are a list of known issues with Canvas. Click on the item below to view more details regarding the issue and suggested fixes/workarounds:

Discussions

Discussions with Differentiated Due Dates Closed to Comments

Issue: When reopening a discussion for an individual student with an additional availability/due date, the individual student is unable to reply to the discussion because they are seeing a message saying that it is closed for comments. Canvas is not recognizing the new availability/due dates set for the individual student. 
Status: Canvas engineers are investigating the issue.
Workaround:

  1. Click on the title of the Discussion.
  2. Click on the three dots to the right of the discussion.
  3. Select Edit.
    Screenshot of Edit option for discussions
  4. Scroll to the bottom of settings. In the Assignment Settings section, make a note of the due and availability dates set for Everyone Else as you will be adding this back in steps 7-11. Remove the Everyone Else Assign to criteria by clicking on the trash can icon to the right.
    Screenshot of Everyone Else discussion settings
     
  5. Click Save.
  6. Click Continue on the warning box.
  7. Click on the Assign To button in the upper right.
    Screenshot of Assign To button
     
  8. Click on +Add.
  9. Click on the assign to box and select Everyone Else.
  10. Add back the original due and availability dates.
  11. Click Save.
     

Discussion Settings: Deleted Assignment Groups displayed in Assignment Group selection drop down.

Issue: Graded discussion not appearing in Grades or Assignments tab or Assignment group showing up multiple times in the assignment group selection drop down list. This is due to deleted assignment groups still appearing in the Assignment group selection drop down list in the discussion settings. If the graded discussion does not appear in grades or the assignment tab, the Assignment Group it was assigned to no longer exists in the course.
Workaround: If your graded discussion is not appearing in the Assignments area, edit the discussion and select a different Assignment Group in the list. Note: You may see the same assignment group name listed multiple times in the list.

Discussions: Discussion not available for students until due date.

Issue: Removing the available from or until date does not clear it from the discussion and students may not be able to reply to discussions because it is closed.
Workaround: 

  1. Click on the discussion and click on the Assign To button in the upper right. 
  2. Enter an Available From and Until date set to the future. 
  3. Click Save. 
  4. Click on Assign To again.
  5. Click Clear next to the availability dates.
  6. Click Save.

Students are not able to attach files in discussion boards

Issue 1: Student are not seeing the "Attach" icon when responding to discussion posts. By default, students do not have permission to attach files in discussions. 
Fix: The "Attach files to discussions" setting will need to be enabled by following these instructions.

Issue 2: With the Attachment icon enabled, students are still unable to attach or embed files into discussions. This can be caused if your My Files section has exceeded the limit. 
Fix: Access your My Files and free up space by deleting any old files in the conversation attachments or in Files. You also have the option to download those files prior to deleting them.

General Issues

Images not appearing in Canvas or LockDown Browser iPad App

Browser/App Impacted: Safari and LockDown Browser iPad App 
Issue: Images not are not appearing in Safari or the LockDown Browser iPad App. (Note if you see a lock icon instead of the image, that is a permission setting issue - please contact the IT Help Desk to report the issue.) 
Suggested Workarounds: Modify the cross-site tracking setting in Safari or mobile apps. See instructions below:

On a Mac:

  1. Open Safari and from the Safari menu, click on Preferences.
  2. Click on Privacy
  3. Uncheck "Prevent cross-site tracking"
  4. Quit and reopen Safari

Note: If this does not resolve this issue, use a different browser such as Firefox or Chrome.

On your iPad or iPhone:

For Safari, the Canvas Student and Teacher Apps:

  1. Click on Settings (gear icon) on your iPad or iPhone
  2. Scroll down the list of headings on the left and choose Safari, Student (for the Canvas Student App), Canvas (for the Canvas Teacher App)
  3. Disable "Prevent Cross-site Tracking"

For the LockDown Browser iPad App:

  1. Open iOS Settings (gear icon)
  2. Scroll down until you see the LockDown Browser app (labeled "LockDown")
  3. Change the slider to enable "Allow Cross-Website Tracking" (Note: If this setting is not visible, you will need to update your LockDown Browser app from your App store.)

Various Issues - Chromebooks

Browser Impacted: Chrome 
Issue: Users are experiencing issues accessing Canvas and/or accessing content files using the Google Chrome browser 
Suggested Workaround: Download Firefox from the Google Play Store 
 

Students do not have permission to view files shared through Google Drive

Issue: Students are given a "You Need Permission" error when trying to access Google Drive documents shared by their instructor. 
Description: We have two separated Google domains, Rebelmail (@unlv.nevada.edu) and UNLVMail (@unlv.edu). By sharing with "Anyone at UNLV with the link," it will only share within UNLVMail and it will not be available to Rebelmail users. 
Fix: Change sharing settings to "Anyone with the link."

LockDown Browser

Student unable to begin a quiz that requires LockDown Browser and a Webcam

Browser impacted: LockDown Browser 
Issue: For a course that contains an exam that requires LockDown Browser and a Webcam, when students click to begin an exam they encounter the following error: Unable to Continue - Exam title indicates a webcam must be used, but the course is unknown to our system. Solution(s): Ask your instructor to go to the "LockDown Browser Dashboard" for this course and check the setting for this exam. 
Fix: The error is often caused if the course is a copy of another course, and the instructor has not yet opened the LockDown Browser Dashboard in the new course. It can also be caused if the quiz you are trying to take has been migrated into your course from an older one. Once the instructor clicks on the LockDown Browser link from their course menu, the problem will typically be resolved.

 

Images not appearing in LockDown Browser iPad App

Browser/App Impacted: LockDown Browser iPad App 
Issue: Images not are not appearing in LockDown Browser iPad App. (Note if you see a lock icon instead of the image, that is a permission setting issue - please contact the IT Help Desk to report that issue.) 
Fix: Modify the cross-site tracking setting for the LockDown Browser app:

 

  1. Open iOS Settings (gear icon)
  2. Scroll down until you see the LockDown Browser app (labeled "LockDown")
  3. Change the slider to enable "Allow Cross-Website Tracking" (Note: If this setting is not visible, you will need to update your LockDown Browser app from your App store.)

Content

Insecure content: Multiple browsers - "You are trying to launch insecure content from within a secure site (Canvas). Some internet browsers may prevent this content from loading."

Browser Impacted: Chrome, Firefox 
Issue: Page will not load content as expected 
Fix: Disable protection and enable Flash 

On Firefox: 

  1. Click the Show Site Information Icon on the upper left URL bar next to the Lock.
  2. Click the arrow to the right of Secure Connection(this should display in green)
  3. Select the Disable Protection for Now button.
  4. Click the Folder icon on the upper left URL bar next to the Lock
  5. Select Allow to run Adobe Flash

On Chrome: 

  1. Click the Shield icon in the upper right URL bar next to the Star
  2. Select the Load Scripts button
  3. In the upper left URL bar, you'll see "Not secure"
  4. Click on this and next to Flash select Allow from the drop menu

Dashboard

Canvas dashboard is blank & navigational menu items are not displaying

Browser Impacted: Safari (versions older than supported versions
Issue: Course cards are not displaying on the dashboard and there are no navigational menu icons on the left 
Fix: Upgrade browser to a newer version or use another browser. A list of supported browsers can be found here: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/doc-10720