Canvas Issues for the Conversion of Moodle Quiz Modules
Stat 109 Trial, Spring Semester 2016
Issue #7
Pop-up Messages Occur in Separate Window when Saving Quiz Modules
Hello Tim,
December 30th, Wed. 2:30pm
Thank you for contacting Canvas Support, we are happy to assist you.
This is a follow-up of our phone conversation today, you indicated that you were attempting to make changes to a
quiz, but that every attempt to save resulted in a constant loading that never resolved and when you then
refreshed the page your changes had been lost. When I reviewed the quiz and attempted to save it gave me an
alert that the due dates were stopping the save from occurring as they were set to a date prior to the course
start. I recommended editing those dates to a point after Dec. 17 to see if it will then save. I may also recommend
that you try using an alternate browser such as Firefox.
Please let us know if you have any further questions.
Kind Regards,
Katie Bishop, L1 Support
Hi Katie,
December 30th, Wed. 3pm
Thank you. That did work.
But Could I ask you a question?
Why aren't instructors who use Canvas given the same alert that you had regarding the quiz dates were set prior
to the course start? I had no feedback as to why I was losing work after each “Save” was made.
If I saw an alert telling me this was an issue I could have fixed it. Is this a feature that Canvas could include in the
future? Especially for first time users of canvas?
Tim
Hello Tim,
December 30th, Wednesday, 5pm
Case #01174299
The notifications alerting you of a quiz due / availability dates should appear for you - I'll attach an example screenshot of
how it would appear. If you don't see these alerts, I'd recommend ensuring your browser is fully up to date, as well as
clearing your cache / cookies. I'd also advise trying an alternative browser to see if they pop in for you. If you continue
to not see these warning alerts, it would help us to investigate further to have a screencast / screenshot(s) from your end
if at all feasible. You can use Jing if needed to record images/videos of your screen.
As well, if you do feel a feature could be improved or functionality added to Canvas, we welcome suggestions through
our community site by the way of Feature Ideas - https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1330
Thank you, Canvas Support
Andrew Cole
Hi Andrew,
The problem is still persisting.
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Canvas Issues for the Conversion of Moodle Quiz Modules
Stat 109 Trial, Spring Semester 2016
Issue #7
Pop-up Messages Occur in Separate Window when Saving Quiz Modules
If I save edits to a Quiz module with open and due dates
that are outside of the Course dates Canvas will lock onto
a Perpetual "Saving...." mode.
Here is a screen capture of the unchanging image:
I cannot show you a screen shot of a pop-up that is not appearing.
I have cleared all cookies from the two browsers I use of both Google Chrome and FireFox.
I still am not getting any pop-up messages about the quiz dates being outside of the set course dates.
My Concern is that if there are going to be future warnings from Canvas I will not see them.
I can make a mental note to update the due dates for future Quizzes before editing the problem sets, but I would like to
see any future pop-ups to prevent the loss of work that resulted from this last effort.
Thanks, Tim
Hi Tim,
Thursday 6:19pm December 31st.
Thanks for getting back to us on this. I'm sorry to hear that the red pop-ups you're expecting (as seen in this screenshot)
aren't showing up. I definitely understand your concern over missing other such similar pop-ups in Canvas in the future.
From looking at your account, it appears that you're consistently using Chrome version 47, is that right? I've tested this
on my end and properly got those pop-ups to show up (also using Chrome 47), so we'll probably want to direct our
troubleshooting locally for you (the machine, the browser, the network, etc).
Since I wasn't able to see any other browsers in your page view history, I would recommend trying this process in a
different browser as a testing step. If it works properly in Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari, then we'll know to focus our
troubleshooting on Chrome.
I notice that you've also tried clearing your cache and cookies. Another thing we could try specifically with Chrome would
be to log into Canvas from a page in Incognito Mode (You can open one by holding Control+Shift+N in Chrome). This
mode is famous for not saving browsing history, but it also has the feature of loading pages without any addons. The
reason I would like to try this is that some add-ons (we unfortunately don't have a list of these as there are so many) can
cause problems with certain functions in Canvas.
Hopefully this helps; if not, or if you have any additional questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to let us know.
Thanks!
All the best,
Adam Broom | L1 Canvas Support
support@instructure.com
Hi Adam,
Friday, 8:11am January 1st 2016
Still no result on getting a "red" pop-up message to appear when saving a quiz module that has its open and
close dates outside of the course open and close dates. All I see is the perpetual button of "Saving..." after I
press "Save". Which is of course the signal that one's work is lost and that one will have to close that window
and start over again.
Also your Screen Capture of said pop-up was not attached, nor was it visible in your last email.
I have tried the following browsers:
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Canvas Issues for the Conversion of Moodle Quiz Modules
Stat 109 Trial, Spring Semester 2016
Issue #7
Pop-up Messages Occur in Separate Window when Saving Quiz Modules
Google Chrome
Google Chrome, Incognito mode
Firefox
Internet Explorer
I have cleared all cookies and browser cache.
I have tried this on other campus computers and the same glitch persists.
In short the pop-up messages warning of some potential problem are not getting through to humboldt state
computers.
Tim
PS are you able to see this attachment of the perpetual "Saving..." button?
I was unable to see to see your attachment of the screen capture showing the "red" pop-up message.
Hello Tim,
Friday, 11:20am January 1st 2016
Thank you for getting back to us.
I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing this issue with your quiz.
As I understand you are not seen the "red messages" that let you know that the dates need to be in a certain
format/requirement. You will not be able to view the error message for the dates if you are under the "Questions" tab
of the quiz and you will only see the assignment say, "Saving..." In order to see the red error messages/warnings, you
will need to click on the "Settings" tab instead of the "Question" one. Then when you click save, if there is an issue
with the dates for the assignment it will show you there.
I create a clip that goes over this, which you can access HERE.
Since your course runs from December 27th, 2015 to June , 2016, all of your assignments must fall between those
dates. Also, your "Due Dates" for the assignment must fall between the availability dates, otherwise you will see the
error message.
To conclude:
1. Assignment availability dates and due dates must fall between the course's running date.
2. The assignment's due date must fall between the assignment's availability dates.
3. You can see the red messages when viewing the assignment's "Settings."
Do let me know if you have additional questions; I will be more than happy to help.
Thanks,
Pedro Ordaz | L1 Technician
E: support@instructure.com
Hi Pedro,
Friday, 12:10pm January 1st 2016
Thanks for the detailed description but I there is still a problem regarding the red pop-up
warning messages that you possibly have not considered.
Could I review it with you?
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Canvas Issues for the Conversion of Moodle Quiz Modules
Stat 109 Trial, Spring Semester 2016
Issue #7
Pop-up Messages Occur in Separate Window when Saving Quiz Modules
First in your 3 step conclusion:
1. Assignment availability dates and due dates must fall between the course's running date.
2. The assignment's due date must fall between the assignment's availability dates.
3. You can see the red messages when viewing the assignment's "Settings."
Do let me know if you have additional questions; I will be more than happy to help.
Parts 1 and 2 were clear to me from the beginning. I understand completely that the
mismatched quiz dates and course dates were the source of the problem that caused
the Canvas quiz page to freeze under the "Saving..." mode.
The primary issue is why I could not see the red pop-up warning messages.
My concern was that if I could not see the warning message for this glitch, this time,
might there be instances in the future when pop-up messages for an entirely different
type of error would also make a non-appearance?
If so, then I would be lead once again to make the false conclusion that the page was
frozen and I would close it out and lose future work.
But Pedro, Thank you for pointing out that the pop-up messages were under the
"Settings" tab. This is first I am hearing of this. And I appreciate the explanation. All
previous Canvas techs over the last few days had me trying different computers, three
different browsers, clearing the browsers of cookies, trying "incognito mode" etc... all of
which were false leads and counterproductive.
But my question to you now is why couldn't those pop-up messages occur in the
window that I was working in? At first glance it occurs to the user that the window is
frozen. Doesn't it make sense to alert the user that an error has occurred in the window
in which they are working?
At any rate thanks for the help.
Tim
Hello Tim,
Thank you for that detailed response, those are so helpful! I am sorry we did not inform you from the beginning
about being on the setting page, and all the different steps you were taking to try and resolve this. I do
appreciate your patience and that you pointed this out to us. We are always trying to look for ways to improve.
This is the intended function of Canvas, as it is connected to the dates and on the questions settings the dates
are not there. That being said I can see, as you have pointed out, how useful this would be on the questions
page as well. You could suggest this in our Feature Ideas.
Feature ideas (previously referred to as "Feature Requests" or "Feature Discussions") allow people to suggest
ideas on ways to improve or enhance Canvas' functionality. It is one of many inputs we consider when
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Canvas Issues for the Conversion of Moodle Quiz Modules
Stat 109 Trial, Spring Semester 2016
Issue #7
Pop-up Messages Occur in Separate Window when Saving Quiz Modules
choosing to build new features into our products. After 30 individuals have joined in on your idea, then the
engineers then look into the feasibility of adding that feature. You can make that request here.
As we are always looking for ways to improve Canvas, we are very grateful for your time and great
suggestions.
Please let us know if you have any additional requests, we are always happy to help.
I hope you have a great day and wonderful New Year!
Rebecca Anderson
Hi Tim,
Thank you for getting back to us on this; happy to help. The issue on this case, #01174299, was one where you had
been making edits to your quiz but were unable to save since the dates set on it were outside the course dates.
I also wanted to apologize for any confusion that resulted during the troubleshooting of this case, as usually when the
referenced Red Pop-ups comes up, they're the result of recently-made changes to the assignment dates on the
Settings tab of a Quiz's details page. Our resulting assumption was that you were currently on this page when the
issue arose. However, since it seems that we were mistaken and that you were actually making changes to the
Questions tab, this error wasn't displayed where you could see it. I'm sorry about this. I believe what may have
happened is that the dates were originally set on the Quizzes, following which the dates on the Course were changed
(thus invalidating the previously-set dates on the Quiz(zes)). Then, any time you tried to make a change to the
Quizzes' questions and save them, Canvas became aware of the problem and attempted to notify you, but could not
do so since you weren't on the tab the notification comes from (Settings). I believe this is why Becky recommended a
feature request, to have this addressed.
Hopefully this information helps! If you have any additional questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to let us
know. Thanks!
All the best,
Adam Broom | L1 Canvas Support
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