Atomic Search

Atomic Search

Making Course Content Easier to Find

What is Atomic Search?

Atomic Search is a search tool that allows users to quickly locate content within courses and course materials. It can be accessed directly in Canvas and searches items such as pages, assignments, discussions, files, and announcements.

Who is it For?

Faculty can quickly locate materials they have created or used in a course. Students can easily find course content without navigating through multiple modules or pages.

Why Use it?

• Saves time by locating content instantly.
• Reduces the need to manually browse through modules or course navigation.
• Improves access to key course materials and resources.
• Helps users find information even when they are unsure where it was originally posted.

before getting started

Let's determine, "How Organized Is Your Course?"

Search can quickly locate content across your course. But, the usefulness of search results depends on how clearly your materials are organized and labeled.

Remember:

Great search starts with clear organization.

Lets Check

1. Open your course and enable Search.
2. Try searching key terms: Answers, Exam, Syllabus
3. Check results in Student View: Run the same search in Student View to determine what students will see.

Students see restricted content

prepare your course before enabling search for students

Clean up your course using tools such as:

• TidyUP for file and content cleanup
• Course organization best practices

Need help learning these tools?Take our asynchronous course cleanup training. Or submit a support request, and our team can assist with cleaning your course.

Students see restricted content

Before turning search on for students

Do not enable search for students until your course cleanup is complete.

After cleaning your course:

1. Run test searches again.
2. Check results in Student View.
3. Confirm that no unwanted or outdated content appears in search results.

Before Activating search for students

Enabling Search allows students to quickly locate content across your course.BEFORE turning search on for students:

• Review search results to confirm that only appropriate content appears.
• Check results in Student View to understand what students will see.
• Ensure your course materials are organized and up to date.

When search is enabled, instructors are responsible for ensuring that all searchable course content is appropriate for student access.

Click the Accept Button Below to Continue

Have you reviewed your course and confirmed that it is ready for students to use Search?

I Accept Responsibility

Results as expected

Using and Managing Search in Your Course

We’ll review:

• how to access Search in a course
• settings that control student access
• common issues that may affect search results

This will help you ensure search works effectively, while maintaining control over what students can access.

Results as expected

Accessing Search

Search is available within your Canvas course navigation menu. To access Search:

1. Open your Canvas course.
2. Locate Search in the course navigation menu.
3. Click Search to open the search interface.
4. Enter keywords to begin searching, use filters to refine your results.

Results as expected

Managing Student Search access

Instructors control whether Search is available to students in their course.To manage student access:

1. Open Search on the course navigation menu.
2. Select Settings within the Search interface.
3. Toggle the option to enable or disable search for students.

Results as expected

search Analytics

Search provides data that shows how search is being used within a course. From your Canvas course:

1. Select Search from the course navigation menu.
2. Within Search, click the Analytics tab.
3. Review the dashboard to see common search terms, search frequency, and usage trends within your course.

Results as expected

Reindexing a course

If search results appear incomplete, you can reindex your course to refresh the search database.To reindex your course:

1. Select Search from the course navigation menu.
2. Click Settings within the Search interface.
3. Select Reindex Course.

Reindexing updates the search index so new and recently updated content appear in search results.

Canvas Course Cleanup

Prepare your course for effective search

An organized course helps students find content quickly and ensures search results are accurate and relevant. This short, asynchronous course covers practical strategies to clean up and streamline your Canvas course content.Learn how to apply TidyUP to remove unused or outdated files and use Canvas file management tools to organize course materials.

This course will help you:

• Remove outdated or unused content
• Use TidyUP for file cleanup
• Organize course materials effectively
• Check content from a student view

Course Available Soon

Locating Search Settings

From the Search page in your canvas course:

How to Enable Search

Managing Course Navigation Links

1. Open your Canvas course.
2. Click Settings in the course navigation menu.
3. Select the Navigation tab at the top of the screen.
4. To show a link, click the three dots and select Enable.
5. To hide a link, click the three dots and select Disable.
6. Click Save to apply your changes.

How to Locate Search

Search is located in the left side course menu. If you do not see 'Search' in the course menu, go to the course settings and add it to the course navigation.

Reindexing the Course

From the search page in your canvas course:

Use TidyUP to identify and remove unused or outdated files. Scan for duplicates and large files to keep your course streamlined and up to date. TidyUP can be enabled through your course navigation settings in Canvas.

Tidy Up

Use Canvas file management tools to organize and maintain your course files. Create folders, rename files, and review content to remove outdated or unnecessary materials that should not appear in search results.

Manage Files