Quick Tips IMPROVE Series, Part 7: Editor Tips and Tricks
We’ve made it! The semester is coming to a close, and so is this semester-long Quick Tip IMPROVE series.
By now, you’ve learned all about how to leverage Canvas Modules, Pages, and the Rich Content Editor (RCE) to improve how course materials are presented and how students view and interact with the content.
In this final installment, we are taking a look at the letter E in our IMPROVE acronym, which stands for Editor Tips and Tricks. We know that working with any online text editor can present some challenges, so we’d like to share the team’s favorite tips and tricks for working with the Rich Content Editor (RCE) more efficiently.
Utilize keyboard shortcuts
This may be review for a lot of folks, but these keyboard shortcuts can really expedite your workflow. Note: For Mac users, replace Control with Command (⌘).
| Task | Keystrokes | What it does in Canvas |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z | Undoes the last change you made while editing content in the RCE. If you make a mistake while typing, accidentally delete content, or mess up your formatting, Undo can fix it quickly. |
| Cut | Ctrl+X | Copies selected content to your clipboard while removing the original |
| Copy | Ctrl+C | Copies selected content to your clipboard while leaving the original in place |
| Paste | Ctrl+V | Inserts cut or copied content from your clipboard into the RCE |
| Select All | Ctrl+A | Selects all content within the RCE |
Be careful when copying/pasting between multiple courses
Often, you will find yourself re-using content from another course, a Word document, or elsewhere. When you copy and paste content in the Canvas RCE, make sure to keep these tips in mind.
Copying and pasting content within a single Canvas course is generally safe to do. However, take care when copying and pasting from one Canvas course into another -- some types of content cannot be copied and pasted between courses.
The following are SAFE to copy and paste from one course to another:
- Text-based content (including lists, headings, etc.)
- External web links (links to content outside Canvas)
The following are NOT SAFE to copy and paste from one course to another:
- Document links (links to files that have been uploaded to a Canvas course)
- Course links (links to specific pages or tools in a Canvas course)
- Images (linked or embedded image files that have been uploaded to a Canvas course)
Leverage formatting tricks
Formatting your content to look just the way you want in the Canvas RCE can be difficult, but these tricks can help.
Remove formatting - When you copy and paste text into the RCE from another source, sometimes the formatting doesn’t translate properly. When this happens, select the text (or use CTRL+A to select all) and click on the Clear Formatting button in the toolbar. This will strip out any text size, emphasis, bullets or numbering, alignment, etc., giving you plain text that you can now re-format as desired within the RCE.
- Line breaks (hard vs. soft return) - When typing in the RCE, pressing Enter on your keyboard will insert a hard return, which ends the current paragraph and begins the next (leaving a small space between paragraphs). Sometimes, you might need to add a line break but keep the preceding paragraph or list intact; when that happens, use Shift+Enter to insert a soft return.
Remove links - Any time you need to remove a link from the RCE, follow these steps: Edit the page, click on the link, then click the Remove Link button. This will ensure that you are removing all of the coding associated with that link, so that no fragments are left behind.
View Page History
If you are working with a Canvas Page specifically, you can view previous versions of that page by opening up the Page History.
In the top right corner of the Page, click the kebab (three dots) button, then click View Page History from the drop-down menu.
The Revision History panel will pop up on the right. Click on any previous save point to view that version of the page. You can also opt to restore a previous version.
And that’s it! Hopefully you’ve found this series helpful and can take some time between semesters to apply the strategies we’ve discussed in your own Canvas courses. We know this has been a lengthy series, and we want to extend a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read these all the way through.
Please feel free to reach out to the RCID team for course support, consultation, or questions at any time.