New Rich Content Editor (RCE) – Being switched over January 2021

Get ready for a new improved editor in Canvas!

Canvas has updated the rich content editor (RCE) so it is more accessible and user friendly on mobile devices. It’s coming into all courses in January. 

If you want to turn it on in your course now to see how it looks, the RCE can be enabled by teachers (it is currently off by default). It looks similar to the existing RCE but includes some improved functionality. It will replace the current RCE in January, 2021 so you are encouraged to begin using it now.

To enable the new RCE:

  • Open your Canvas course
  • Click Settings from the navigation menu
  • Click Feature Options. Find “RCE Enhancements” on the page and move the slider to the “ON” position. 
  • Click the Save Changes button. 
  • If you have a teaching team on the course, please let them know beforehand as this feature will be turned on for the whole course.

Rich Content Editor – new features:

  • Expands to the full width of the browser
  • The toolbar includes a condensed, more intuitive look
  • Toolbar menus are grouped by common icons and interactions
  • The content selector only displays when linking to other parts of your module, accessing Canvas files, or accessing uploaded media
  • Image and media additions include drag and drop, content auto-scaling etc
  • Search for high quality images from within Canvas from Unsplash
  • The Keyboard shortcut, Accessibility Checker, and HTML Editor icons have moved to the bottom of the editor next to the word count. Additionally, the RCE window can be resized using the Move handle below the window.

More info can be found in the Canvas Guide.

Watch the below tutorial on layout and how to find your way around. . . and look out for the handy horizontal line now added in! 

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