Manage Dates

About Manage Dates

Use the Manage Dates tool to view, edit and offset the date availability and set the calendar status for course items from one central location. Manage Dates display activities in the order in which an instructor would see them in their respective tools:

• Announcement items
• Assignment folders
• Calendar items
• Checklist items
• Content topics and modules
• Discussion topics and forums
• Grades categories and items
• Quizzes
• Surveys

These course objects display in a grid that you can sort by any of the column headings.  You can also use the Type column to sort the Manage Dates page based on the tool-specific order and use the advanced filter options to work with smaller sets of items. If you filter your course items, any bulk changes you make apply only to the filtered results. This enables you to update multiple availability dates based on specific criteria.
With Calendar items, instructors can edit the start and end dates of events that were manually created and not tied to existing activities or content topics. As a result, instructors can manage all course dates from a single location.

In addition to managing dates, you can open each course item in a new browser tab by clicking on its Name, Due, Start, and End columns to launch the Edit dialog box to make any changes.
Clicking on the Name link launches the object's edit page where you can edit additional properties for that object without leaving the Manage Dates tool (from the original browser tab).

Access the Manage Dates tool

Click the Course Admin on the course navbar, and then click Manage Dates.

View Course Start and End Dates

Display of course start and end date - The course start date and end date appears at the top of the Manage Dates page and acts as a reference for instructors when operating on the dates of the various activities. Instructors can launch a dialog box and then edit the dates.

Filter options in Manage Dates

Filter by Tool

Basic filter options in Manage Dates enable you to narrow your results based on tool.

• Under the ‘Filter by Tool’ section, do one of the following:
  • Select All to view all course items in your course
  • Select Specific Tools, and then select the tool checkbox(es) to view specific course items in the selected tools
• Click Apply Filter.
  Note: To clear a search filter, unselect all checkboxes in the advanced search filter, and then click Apply Filter.

Advanced Filter Options

Advanced filter options enable you to further narrow your results by a course object's name, dates, duration, and Calendar status.

• Click Show Advanced Filter Optionsto access these additional filter options.
• Select filter options (see the table below).
• Click Apply Filter.
  Note: To clear a search filter, unselect all checkboxes in the advanced search filter, and then click Apply Filter.

Editing dates in Manage Dates

You can edit dates for individual course objects or multiple objects. While editing dates, you can also display course object availability in the Calendar tool. If you filter your course objects, any bulk changes you make apply only to those filtered results. This enables you to update multiple objects based on specific criteria.

Edit dates for an item

• Under the Name column, click the drop-down arrow for the course item you want to edit.
• Click Edit Dates.
• Do any of the following:
  • To enter new dates, select or enter different dates for any of the fields.
  • To clear dates, unselect (clear) any of the fields.
• If provided the option, you can select the Display in Calendar checkbox to allow the course item’s date(s) to display in the Calendar tool.
  • The following items automatically display dates (start/end and due) in the Calendar tool by default: Announcements, Assignment folders, Content modules/topics, Checklist items, and Quiz due dates. 
  • The following items allow you the option to display dates in the Calendar: Discussion forums/topics, Grade categories/items, Quiz start/end dates, and Survey start/end dates.
• When you’re ready, click Save.

Bulk edit dates

The Manage Dates tool enables you to bulk edit due dates and availability dates of your course content.

• Navigate to the Manage Dates tool in your course.
• Select the checkbox of the items for which you want to bulk edit dates.
• Click Bulk Edit Dates.
• In the Bulk Edit Dates window, update the due dates and availability dates by doing any of the following:
  • To enter new dates, select or enter different dates for any of the fields.
  • To clear dates, unselect (clear) any of the fields.
• If provided the option, you can select the Display in Calendar checkbox to allow the course item’s date(s) to display in the Calendar tool.
  • The following items automatically display dates (start/end and due) in the Calendar tool: Announcements, Assignment folders, Content modules/topics, Checklist items, and Quiz due dates. 
  • The following items allow you the option to display dates in the Calendar: Discussion forums/topics, Grade categories/items, Quiz start/end dates, and Survey start/end dates.
• When you’re ready, click Save.

Remove dates

To remove a course item’s start, due, and/or end date, click the Remove (x) icon for the corresponding item’s date.  For course items that do not support due dates, the Due Date column lists ‘N/A’.
To remove the course item’s calendar event, unselect (clear) the Calendar column checkbox for the corresponding item.

• The following items automatically display dates (start/end and due) in the Calendar tool: Announcements, Assignment folders, Content modules/topics, Checklist items, and Quiz due dates. 
• The following items allow you the option to display dates in the Calendar: Discussion forums/topics, Grade categories/items, Quiz start/end dates, and Survey start/end dates.

Offsetting dates in Manage Dates

Offset dates for an item

• Under the Name column, click the drop-down arrow for the course item you want to offset dates.
• Click Offset Dates.
• In the Offset Dates window, select the dates to offset (due, start, and/or end date).
• Do one of the following:
  • Select the Offset by direction and range option to specify whether you want to offset the dates forward or backward, and then enter the number of days you want to offset those dates by.
  • Select Calculate range between two dates to quickly generate the number of dates between two relative dates.
    Note: To help ensure the dates you choose do not land on weekends or holidays, enter the current date for the course item as the From date, select a new date for the To date, and then click Calculate.
• When you’re ready, click Save.

Bulk offset dates

Manage Dates enables you to move dates (start/end and due dates) forward or backward by a specified number of days. You can use the offset dates option to move course materials forward for a new semester. 

• Navigate to the Manage Dates tool in your course.
• Select the checkbox of the items for which you want to bulk offset dates.
• Click Bulk Offset Dates.
• In the Bulk Offset Dates window, select the dates to offset (due, start, end, and/or other activity dates).
• Do any of the following:
  • Select the Offset by direction and range option to specify whether you want to offset the dates forward or backward, and then enter the number of days you want to offset those dates by.
  • Select Calculate range between two dates to quickly generate the number of dates between two relative dates.
    Note: To help ensure the dates you choose do not land on weekends or holidays, enter the current date for the course item as the From date, select a new date for the To date, and then click Calculate.
• When you’re ready, click Save.

Other Dates

The ‘Other Dates’ column provides a way for you to manage dates for the following activities:

• Discussion topic unlock dates
• Discussion forum unlock dates
• Quiz submission view names and dates
• Quiz report names and dates
• Survey report names and dates