Area

Issue

Resolution/Work Around

General

Microsoft Office 2007
If you are running Microsoft Office 2007, please be aware that the default file formats (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx, .accdb) are incompatible with Microsoft Office 2003 and earlier versions.

This is not a problem with Blackboard, but will make it difficult for anyone opening files retrieved out of Blackboard who do not have Office 2007. If you do not have Microsoft Office 2007 installed on your computer in order to open, save, and edit those files you will need to install the Compatibility Pack. Please be aware that although you can open Office Word 2007 files in previous versions of Word, you may not be able to change some items that were created by using the new or enhanced features in Office Word 2007

If you do not know which version of Office the recipient of your file may be using, choose Save As... and "97-2003 file" instead of Save when saving documents. Otherwise, users of earlier versions of Office may not be permitted access or may have difficulty editing your Office 2007 file.

Compatibility Pack for Windows

Compatibility Pack for Mac

General

Opening PowerPoint Files directly from Blackboard results in blank page.

Users of PowerPoint 2007 have been experiencing some difficulty when opening older versions of PowerPoint files (particularly files with the .ppt extension). When the users opens the file directly from a website the program opens up the document and is only able to view a blank page. This is not an issue with the document or Blackboard, it is a known issue with PowerPoint 2007 and has been corrected in the "2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)" update, which can be downloaded from Microsoft's website*.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Browse.aspx?displaylang=en&categoryid=9

For users who are unable to download this update there is a work around. You can choose to download the document instead of directly opening the file. To download, right click on the document and chose "save as" to download the document to your computer. You are then able to open the .ppt file without a problem.

General

Windows Vista
Please be aware that if you are running Windows Vista there may be some compatibility issues with the Collaboration Tools in Blackboard.

To avoid potential problems it is suggested that you use Java version 5.0. Download Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 5.0 Update 12. You will also need to uninstall all other instances of Java.

**At this time, Windows Vista is NOT a campus standard**

General

At this time, there are several reported compatibility issues with Internet Explorer and the Visual Text Box Editor in Blackboard. Copying and pasting from MS Word may be especially problematic. In addition, the controls may not function correctly in the Discussion Board or other areas of Blackboard that use this feature.

Users should download and use the latest version of Firefox. If using Firefox does not resolve the issue, users should turn off the Visual Text Editor in their personal preferences on their My Blackboard page. Click on the Personal Information in the Tools Module > Set Visual Text Box Option > Unavailable > OK. Users may also avoid this issue by copying and pasting as text only or clearing all the formatting in the MS Word document before copying and pasting.

General

The use of special characters (i.e. “#”, “+”. “!”), can potentially cause problems in Blackboard. This includes using these characters as part of a filename as well as when naming Assignments when they are created by the Instructor.

Users should not include special characters in the filenames of documents they are uploading to Blackboard through the Assignment Manager, Digital Drop Box or as attachments to the Discussion Board. In addition, when Instructors are creating Assignments they should not use special characters when naming them.

Blackboard recommends the following general guidelines for filenames: Characters a-z (upper or lower case), 0-9, period “.” and underscore “_” are acceptable filenames. All spaces will be converted to underscores in the name of the uploaded file.

Discussion Board

The Search Function is not working correctly

Please do not use.

Discussion Board

The Reply button may randomly disappear on the Discussion Board.

To resolve this issue select Modify and then Submit.

Discussion Board

The Unread Posts count is inconsistent from one area to the next. Top level counts for forums may differ from counts listed within forums, for each thread.

Indications so far are that the top level number is accurate, and the number listed for each thread may be incorrect. This may not be the case for every user or every forum, thread, posts, etc.

Discussion Board

The user cannot see a Draft once it is saved.

When saving a thread as a Draft the user will have to select Display and Show All to return to the Draft.

Discussion Board

Some users while on the Discussion Board may get a message that says, "Click Here to view alternate content for browsers that do not support IFRAMES".

If you have McAfee Internet Security running on your computer that is experiencing the IFRAMES issue consider disabling the Privacy Service and Ad Blocking features when you are using the Blackboard Discussion Board.

1. Right-click the McAfee icon in your system tray (on the task bar on the right).

2. Click Privacy Service.

3. Click Disable.

4. A window appears - Enter the Administrator password.

5. Click OK.

6. The McAfee icon turns black in color until you enable Privacy Service again.

7. Now go to your Blackboard course and try to view the Discussion Board posts and see if the IFRAMES message still occurs.

To re-enable McAfee Privacy Service at the end of your Blackboard session, follow the steps outlined below:

1. Right-click the McAfee icon in your system tray (on the task bar on the right).

2. Click Privacy Service.

3. Click Enable.

If you are using Internet Explorer another possible solution is to enable the "Launching Programs and Files in an IFRAME" option in the settings:

1. In Internet Explorer, from the Tools menu at the top of the browser, choose Internet Options.

2. Click the Security tab.

3. Click the Custom Level button.

4. Scroll to the section with the heading Miscellaneous. Scroll to the item that says "Launching Programs and Files in an IFRAME".

5. Select Enable.

6. Click OK to exit out of that window.

7. Click "OK" to exit out of "Internet Options".

8. Now go to your Blackboard course and try to view the Discussion Board posts and see if the IFRAMES message still occurs.

9. If it does still occur, logout of Blackboard, open up "Internet Options" again and remove "Temporary Internet Files" and "Cookies", and close the browser.

10. Clear your Java cache from your Java plugin - from your computer's "Control Panel" (from the "Start" menu), open up "Java" and choose "Delete Temporary Internet Files", and click "OK" to exit out of the Java plugin.

11. Restart your computer, and try the Discussion Board again.

Performance Dashboard

The Average Post Position in the Performance Dashboard in regards to the Discussion Board is incorrect.

Do not rely on this information.

Assessments

Timer in the Status Bar
Some users report that when taking timed assessments the timer does not appear in the status bar located at the bottom of the window.

This is usually due to a setting in the browser that prevents the status bar from showing. To enable the status bar:

IE: Tools > Internet Options> Security> Internet or Restricted sites> Custom level button> enable ”Allow status bar updates via script”

Firefox: PC: Tools> Options> Content> Enable Javascript: Advanced> enable “Change status bar text”

Mac: Preferences> Options> Content> Enable Javascript: Advanced> enable “Change status bar text”

Users should use an external timer and not to depend solely on the timer at the bottom of the page.

Assessments

Pop-up blockers prevent users from taking assessments that are set to open in a new window.

For tests/quizzes, press the CTRL key when clicking Yes to take the assessment.
If this does not work, try manually disabling your pop-up blocker.

Collaboration

Pop-up blockers prevent users from using the Lightweight Chat and/or Virtual Classroom tools.

Users may simultaneously access the Collaboration tools and disable the pop-up blocker by holding  down the CTRL key when clicking the Join button.

Gradebook

Users receive an HTTP Status 404 error message when they attempt to download files that were uploaded to the gradebook using the Assignment Manager (Add Assignment), or posted as attachments to the Discussion Board.

This issue occurs when a user uploads a file to the Assignment Manager or the Discussion Board that includes special characters (i.e., ‘#’, ‘+’ symbols) as part of the filename. For example, if the filename is Paper#1.doc, the instructor may receive the 404 error and be unable to download the document from the gradebook. Users should not include special characters in the filenames of documents they are uploading to Blackboard through the Assignment Manager, Digital Drop Box or as attachments to the Discussion Board.

Blackboard recommends the following general guidelines for filenames: Characters a-z (upper or lower case), 0-9, period ‘.’ and underscore ‘_’ are acceptable filenames. All spaces will be converted to underscores in the name of the uploaded file.

Gradebook

Occasionally, an instructor will get an error when accessing the Gradebook.  The error says to contact the system administrator.

Normally, closing the browser then starting over with a new browser window solves the problem.