ARCHIVED: About the Canvas New Rich Content Editor

• Overview
• Click More... for more tools
• Content selector options
• Tool consolidation and icon updates

Overview

Instructure has replaced the classic Rich Content Editor (RCE) in Canvas with an updated version, which features a simplified set of toolbars containing related functions (styles, formatting, alignment, etc.). The classic editor has been permanently disabled in Canvas.

The new editor includes almost all of the capabilities of the classic editor, but the user experience has changed significantly. To help you navigate the new editor, a summary of these changes is provided below.

For more, see What is the Rich Content Editor?

Click More... for more tools

Depending on the width of your browser window, some tools may not be visible in the toolbar of the new editor. To see all available tools, click the More... symbol (⋮) at the right end of the toolbar. The toolbar will wrap to a second line.

Content selector options

All of the options in the content selector (the classic editor sidebar that facilitates embedding and linking to course content and files) have been incorporated into drop-down menus in the toolbar of the new editor:

1. To access the options formerly located under the Links tab of the content selector, in the new Rich Content Editor, open the Links drop-down menu and select Course Links. A slide-out menu will appear, allowing you to select the content type and item.

   

2. To access the options formerly located under the Files tab of the content selector, in the new Rich Content Editor, open the Documents drop-down menu. Select Upload Document to upload and select a new file, Course Documents to select a file from the Files tool in the current course, or User Documents to select from your personal Files tool. To locate a file by navigating your folder hierarchy, use the drop-down menu to change the file type from Documents to All.

   

3. To access the options formerly located under the Images tab of the content selector, in the new Rich Content Editor, open the Images drop-down menu. Select Upload Image to upload and select a new file, Course Images to select a file from the Files tool in the current course, or User Images to select from your personal Files tool. To locate an image by navigating your folder hierarchy, use the drop-down menu to change the file type from Documents to All.

   

Tool consolidation and icon updates

In the new editor, instead of displaying a separate icon for every feature, related features have been consolidated into drop-down menus. Also, the icons themselves have been updated. Many are similar to their counterparts in the classic editor, but some may not be easily recognized. The table below gives the old and new icons, tool tips, and ARIA labels for icons that have changed significantly and/or been moved to an option in a drop-down menu.

Classic editor		New editor
Tooltip/ARIA label	Icon	Tooltip/ARIA label	Icon
Clear formatting		Clear formatting
Align left, Align center, or Align right		Align, and then Align left, Align center, or Align right
Superscript or Subscript		Superscript, and then Subscript
Decrease indent or Increase indent		Increase indent, and then Decrease indent (The drop-down with the Decrease indent option is only visible when text is indented.)
Bullet list or Numbered list		Ordered and Unordered Lists
Insert/edit media or Record/Upload Media		Record/Upload Media, and then Upload/Record Media, Course Media, or User Media
		To insert media with an embed code, use the Embed icon.
Link to URL or Remove link		Links, and then External Links or Course Links, or (if a link is selected) Edit Link or Remove Link
Embed image		Images, and then Upload Image, Course Images, or User Images (Choose the Upload Image option to upload an image file, search for an image file in Unsplash, or enter the URL for an image.)
Embed Kaltura Media, Macmillan Higher Education Editor Button, or More External Tools		Apps; this icon opens a searchable list of the available external tools
Left to right or Right to left		directionality, and then left to right or right to left