bCourses Threaded Discussions Inadvertently Unthreaded - Bulk Fix Option Available September 16

TLDR: If you use Discussions in bCourses and have not intentionally disabled threading, then you may need to re-enable threading on all Discussions.

What is the issue?

Discussions in bCourses are threaded by default. Threaded discussions include layers of response nesting, allowing commenters to continue responding on a single nested thread. However, due to a vendor (Canvas) error in course Discussions, the “Disallow Threaded Replies” option was inadvertently applied to some Discussions that were set to be threaded. This means that the Discussion setting was changed to only allow for two levels of nesting (unthreaded) — the original post and subsequent replies (rather than infinite replies).

If you are an instructor who uses threaded Discussions in bCourses, read below for how to check if this issue applies to your Discussions and how you can quickly fix this issue across all your course Discussion assignments.

Default Discussions options in bCourses (threaded discussions): 

Who is affected?

Instructors who use threaded Discussions in bCourses may be affected. Starting September 16, 2024, if any of your threaded Discussions in bCourses are actively affected by this issue, you will see an alert notification and temporary button on your Discussions Index page (the landing page when you click “Discussions” in the left navigation menu). If you do not see an alert notification, then your course has not been affected. 

What do affected instructors need to do?

Starting September 16, 2024, affected instructors can use the temporary “self-service” button to bulk-enable threaded replies in ALL discussions in their course. The vendor is making this option available through the end of October 2024. Follow the instructions below to update ALL course Discussions or update INDIVIDUAL course Discussions, depending on your course preferences.

Temporary “self-service” button to make all Discussions threaded:

Update ALL Course Discussions - Use the bulk-enable option (available September 16)

If you do not have any intentionally unthreaded Discussions in your course, follow these instructions to bulk-enable threaded Discussions across your entire course:

1. Log into your bCourses site.

2. In the left navigation menu, select “Discussions.”

3. Determine if the course has been affected by this issue:

   1. If the course’s Discussions have been affected by the issue, you will see a notification at the top of the page with a button that says “Make All Discussions Threaded” (see screenshot above).

   2. If the course’s Discussions have NOT been affected by the issue, you will not see this notification and there is no further action for you to take.

4. If you would like to change ALL of the course Discussions to threaded replies, select the “Make All Discussions Threaded” button. If you have intentionally unthreaded Discussions in your course, do not proceed with this bulk-enable option (see the instructions below to update individual course Discussions).

   1. IMPORTANT NOTE: Selecting the “Make All Discussions Threaded” button will apply to all Discussions in the course, not just those affected by the error. This means that ALL of the course discussions will become threaded (even those that you previously had set to be unthreaded). You can change individual Discussions back to unthreaded replies if you need to.

5. Select the confirmation button on the pop-up window.

6. When the fix has successfully been processed, you will see a green notification at the top of the page that says, “All discussions have successfully been updated to threaded.” 
7. Repeat this process for each bCourse that you manage, especially for courses that you intend to use for bCourse copies in the future.

The temporary “self-service” button will be available in bCourses until the end of October 2024, so please take action before then if you wish to use the bulk-enable option. 

Update INDIVIDUAL Course Discussions

If you have Discussions in your course that are intentionally unthreaded, do not use the bulk-enable option. Instead, follow these instructions to check and update only the Discussions that you want to be threaded:

1. Log into your bCourses site.
2. In the left navigation menu, select “Discussions.”
3. Determine if the course has been affected by this issue:
   1. If the course’s Discussions have been affected by the issue, you will see a notification at the top of the page with a button that says “Make All Discussions Threaded” (see screenshot above).
   2. If the course’s Discussions have NOT been affected by the issue, you will not see this notification and there is no further action for you to take.

4. Navigate to the Discussion entry that you would like to be a threaded discussion and select it.

5. On the Discussion page, select the 3-dot menu on the right side of the screen, then select “Edit.”

6. Under the “Options” section, view the “Disallow threaded replies” checkbox. If it has been checked, uncheck it in order to change the setting to threaded replies for this Discussion assignment. If it is NOT checked, then no further action is needed for this Discussion assignment. 
7. If you made changes, scroll to the bottom of the page and select “Save.” 
8. Repeat this process for all Discussion assignments in the course that you would like to be threaded. 
9. Repeat this process for each bCourse that you manage, especially for courses that you intend to use for bCourse copies in the future. 

What if instructors have questions or encounter issues?

Please refer to the Canvas Blog Post: Temporary button to uncheck the Disallow Threaded Replies option in all Discussions for more information. Instructors can contact bCoursesHelp@berkeley.edu or schedule a 1:1 bCourses consultation.