This article shows how to customize the discussion that appears when you copy the basic Canvas course.
Read Me!
- Discussions can be gradable or not graded
- You can link a discussion to other parts of your course
- You can add images and links to external websites and video to discussion instructions
- It's highly recommended that you instruct students what to put into the subject line of a discussion
Get Me Started
From within your course, choose Discussions > Introductions > Edit
Or use the detailed steps below.
![](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/001/193/704/original/a7512068-98c3-4b15-b44c-c1dbb5b78b27.png)
![](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/000/983/720/original/2017-09-13_10-19-19.png)
![Go into editing mode](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/001/193/189/original/0c4364d6-b1ca-4698-ba4b-c00b094ae6ef.png)
![Customize the name & Instructions](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/001/193/599/original/2017-09-13_11-53-11.png)
You can give points for participation in any discussion. You can also have ungraded discussions.
Click the link below if you want to add grading to your discussion.
![](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/001/193/597/original/1ec8e0ec-fe96-4a44-9349-ea06128b8716.png)
Students won't see the assignment until you publish it. You can choose whether to publish the assignment when you create it, or to reveal it later.
![](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/001/193/593/original/9ecb1f66-53e4-4cb1-9299-7f13ef4e49c9.png)
You can add images and links to websites or videos to discussion instructions.
- Adding an Image to a Discussion (to be developed)
- Adding links to a Discussion (to be developed)
Melanie Buchleiter
I think there is too much text, particularly on the second text box.