Course outline - subsection hiding function not working properly

[jmakowski1123]

On the Redwood test branch, when I configure a subsection to "hide content after due date", I expect to see the notice "subsection is hidden after due date" and that the content will not be visible to learners after the due date.

Expected:

However, when I click the dial to "hide content after due date", instead I see the notice that the "subsection is hidden after course end date", and thus the content is still visible to learners even if the due date has passed.

[mariajgrimaldi]

FYI @arbrandes @brian-smith-tcril @openedx/teaching-and-learning, please tag anyone who can help.

[brian-smith-tcril]

This appears to be working as expected on the redwood testing sandbox

https://apps.redwood.demo.edly.io/course-authoring/course/course-v1:Test+test8675309+test8675309

[brian-smith-tcril]

@jmakowski1123 ^

[brian-smith-tcril]

I did a bit more digging and I think I have a bit more context on this now.

https://github.com/openedx/frontend-app-course-authoring/blob/a585a13e97df9272f862de1392a2463fb74f93c3/src/course-outline/xblock-status/HideAfterDueMessage.jsx#L17-L19

It seems the message shows "hidden after course end date" if the course is self-paced, but the Subsection settings -> Visibility -> Subsection visibility option always shows "Hide content after due date"

[mariajgrimaldi]

Thank you, @brian-smith-tcril. I also tested in the Quince Sandbox with Legacy Studio. First, I configured the hide after the due date, and I can see the hidden after the due date. Then, I changed the course from instructor-paced to self-paced. Unlike in the Redwood sandbox, now I can see the hidden after the course end date instead of the due date:

Screencast.from.02-06-24.10.29.02.webm

[mariajgrimaldi]

@jmakowski1123: this was labeled as a blocker, but while discussing it in the latest BTR meeting, we wondered whether this was related only to the notice message or the functionality. Could we remove the release blocker label if the report refers only to the notice?

[crathbun428]

@mariajgrimaldi - I'm going to spend some time testing this to see if this is just a messaging issue or if the issue is deeper and report back. However, even if this is just a messaging issue, I'd say this would be a release blocker (depending the effort needed to fix it...). Stay tuned.

[crathbun428]

@mariajgrimaldi - Hey Maria - Just a head's up - after chatting with Jenna, we decided to remove the release blocker label from this ticket given the comments above.

[crathbun428]

@mariajgrimaldi @jmakowski1123 @brian-smith-tcril - Confirming what Maria said - the course outline in studio only shows the "hidden after course end date" for self-paced courses. Not sure if this is a bug other than maybe the option to hide the assessment after the due date text should maybe be tweaked for self paced courses to reflect that it will only be hidden after course end date (and in that case... is this even an option that course teams need for self-paced courses)?? Might no longer be high priority to fix?

Message for instructor-paced courses

Message for self-paced courses

[mariajgrimaldi]

@crathbun428: That's what I think! The message might be a bit confusing, but does it affect the behavior in any way? We should update the message so it's less misleading, but not as a priority fix.

[mariajgrimaldi]

Hello @brian-smith-tcril, do you have an update on this issue? Let us know, thanks!

[crathbun428]

@jmakowski1123 - it looks like this bug discovered during Redwood testing only appears for self-paced courses - is it expected that for self-paced courses that the restriction would be for when the course ends? Or should this actually be hidden after some "due date"? Trying to decide if this a real bug or just a messaging issue.

See screenshots below:
Message for instructor-paced courses

Message for self-paced courses

[mariajgrimaldi]

@crathbun428, in case it helps, here's the documentation for the Visibility Settings in self-paced courses:
https://edx.readthedocs.io/projects/open-edx-building-and-running-a-course/en/latest/developing_course/course_subsections.html#hide-a-subsection-from-students

[pdpinch]

I'm not sure, but I think the issue in this case is that when a course is self-paced, the instructor cannot set the due date. So a setting that "hides after due date" isn't meaningful. However, hiding after the end date for the course can make sense, if the instructor wants to obscure solutions once the course has ended.

In other words, the course end date is functionally the due date for all assignments in a self-paced course.

If this needs to be fixed, my recommendation would be to change the label for the setting when the course is self-paced: "Hide content after due date" → "Hide content after end date"

It may make sense to change the help text as well:

After the subsection's due date has passed, learners can no longer access its content. The subsection is not included in grade calculations.

After the course's end date has passed, learners can no longer access its content. The subsection is not included in grade calculations.

TC_AUTHOR_21

[crathbun428]

@pdpinch - Thank you for this - updating the labeling and adding help text makes sense as the only fixes we should make here.