Messaging in Canvas

Before addressing questions about email in Canvas, it is important to note that Canvas uses the term conversations when referring to messages in the inbox area. We will use that term below when discussing Canvas messages.

I’m not getting emails in my Clemson email when I send conversations in Canvas.

Unlike Blackboard, conversation and announcement notifications do not go to the original sender by default. If you wish to receive confirmation of the messages you send, navigate to Account →  Notifications and ensure that “Announcement Created by You” and “Conversations Created by Me” are set with the checkmark to be notified right away.

My students are not getting emails in their Clemson email when I send conversations in Canvas.

There are two potential reasons for conversations not appearing in Clemson email if a student is using the default notification settings:

1. Course is not published. Conversations and announcements will only be sent to students after a course is published. If you wish to send a message to students prior to giving them access to the course, you can use one of the options below:
   
   One section:
   Use the email option in iRoar to contact students via Clemson email in a single section.
   
   Multiple sections:
   Go to your course shell in Canvas and navigate to Settings. Under Course Details, enter a start date for the course (e.g. the beginning of the semester).
   
   After entering a date, check the box that states “Restrict students from viewing course before start date”. Click Save.
   
   Now, even if you publish the course, your students will not be able to access the content until the designated start date, however, they will receive email messages when you send a conversation or announcement based on the default notification settings in Canvas.
    
   
   
2. Email may be unconfirmed. We are receiving limited reports of emails having a communication warning indicating the Clemson email is unconfirmed. To confirm your email, navigate to Account → Notifications and look for any communication warnings. For more information on this process visit the following Canvas guide: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2281.
   
   Note: if you need a section listserv to communicate with your students, submit a request to ITHELP@clemson.edu.

I sent a conversation in Canvas to a regular email

Canvas conversations can successfully deliver a message to any user in your course in Canvas and by default the user will receive an email notification as well, provided the course is published (see above). Messages will be delivered to Clemson email addresses (@clemson.edu) and automatically forwarded to student emails (@g.clemson.edu).

If you manually enter an email address in the “To:” field in Canvas, instead of using the course and user dropdowns, you will receive an error stating “Invalid recipient name.” Please make sure that you are using the process outlined in the Canvas user guides.