Issues with Internet Explorer 8 and Blackboard

Using Internet Explorer 8 with Blackboard will cause problems for students attempting to submit tests or use the file upload feature. To avoid these issues it is suggested to use Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-older.html) or change to the “compatibility mode” in IE8 (Tools > compatibility mode” in IE8 (Tools > Compatibility View Settings > Check ‘Display all websites in Compatibility View’ > Close. You will need to close IE8 and reopen the browser before the change takes effect.)

When users login to Blackboard the system content displays in a language other than English.

The system default language may be unintentionally changed from English if a user clicks on an Available language other than English, located above the login. To switch the default language back to English the user needs to click on the English (United States) link and login again.

Instructors may lose the ability to access the drop down menu located next to the title of Content Items.

In order to be able to access the items on the drop down menu located next to the title of Content Items, click on the small white box to the far right of the screen.

This issue is caused when using the "Copy Item" feature. This feature is not working properly and is causing numerous problems. When copying items from one course to another, the files from the originating course are not copying over to the destination course.  They are just creating a link back to the originating course files area.  Because students in the destination course do not have access to the originating course they receive an error and the file cannot be downloaded or accessed. If you are having this problem, please contact tiltsupport@csufresno.edu.

WORKAROUND FOR INSTRUCTORS: If you would like to copy a single item from one course to another it is suggested that you download the file and then upload it into the desired course.

Instructors using a non-English language set may not be able to create a new Announcement and receive an error message when setting dates.

Make sure your Start and End dates are correct.

Repositionable bar in Announcements page do not work properly.

The Repositionable bar in the Announcements page is one of new features of Blackboard 9.1 Service Pack 3. Any announcements above the bar will always appear first in the list. [Students do not see the bar.] This also means new announcements appear directly below a repositionable bar, and thus also appear below the priority announcements.

• Announcements do not stay in the order as they suppose to be.
  

• After removing announcements, the line disappears and the menu items in the Course Menu and Control Panel do not work.

To avoid these issues it is suggested to:

• Drag and drop the repositionable bar instead of dragging each announcement item to reposition it around the bar.
  

• When the menu items in the Course Menu and Control Panel do not work, create a new announcement. Then you will be able to click on the menu items.

The option to send an email of an Announcement by selecting the Override User Notifications Settings should not be used at this time.

This is a known Blackboard issue.

WORKAROUND for INSTRUCTORS:

The Override User Notification Setting is currently unstable and it is not suggested that it is used. If instructors want to send an email of the Announcements they will need to copy and paste the contents into the body of an email using the email tools built into Blackboard.

YouTube Mashup is not working

When trying to add a video on YouTube using the mashup tool in both the text editor and the Build Content area, an error message appears when you click submit.

This is a known Blackboard issue.

WORKAROUND for INSTRUCTORS:

1. Go to a YouTube and find the video you want to place in your course.

2. Copy the URL and paste it into the Content area you want students to access.

Embedding a YouTube video directly in the Text Editor:

1. Access the YouTube video you wish to embed.

2. Copy the Embed Code found underneath the video and select the box Use old embed code. You must select Use old embed code in order to avoid visual display problems in your course.

3. Go to Blackboard and select Build Content > Create Item.

4. Type in the name of the video and click the HTML source mode "<>" in the text editor.

5. Paste in the embed code and click submit.

Index Panel on Student Journals is missing preventing students from viewing their older posts. This does not occur for instructors or for group journals.

This is a known Blackboard issue. WORKAROUND for INSTRUCTORS: create a Group for each student OR select the "Permit Course Users to View Journal" option. Please be aware that all students will be able to view all journals if this is selected.

Copying a content item or folder

An issue with copying a content item or folder from one course to another has been identified.

To avoid the issue, do not use the Copy menu from the drop-down menu of each content item or folder.

Attachments - Unable to Open

There are issues for both instructors and students when attaching files to interactive tools (e.g. discussion boards, journals, and blogs) in Blackboard 9.1. In certain cases, instructors may see an error message and be unable to view attachments that have been posted to interactive tools by student users. In certain cases, students may see a strange (encoded) file name and be unable to view attachments that have been posted to interactive tools by the instructor.

WORKAROUND for INSTRUCTORS: The issue is that permissions are not being updated for the student user when the instructor attaches the file. The problem will be fixed when the Read Permissions for All course Users are applied to the file. Once this permission is set up for the file, students will be able to open the file regardless the encoded file name error.

Download the PDF file of Workaround for Attachments - Unable to Open.

WORKAROUND for STUDENTS: The issue is that the Text Editor in the interactive tools areas is not working properly for attaching files. If students attach files using the Browse My Computer feature located underneath the Text Editor and leave the Name of link to file blank, instructors will be able to view attachments.

Download the PDF file of Workaround for Attachments - Unable to Open.

* Blackboard is aware of the problem and working on the issue.

Discussion Board Save Draft option leads to an error and loss of text
 
Clicking the Save Draft button in a Discussion Board thread will result in an error.

Any text placed in the message box will disappear and be permanently lost if the user clicks submit.  

This only occurs in forums that are graded.

Since it may not always be clear which forums are graded, it is best to avoid clicking the Save Draft button.  It is a good idea to compose the thread in a text editor outside of Blackboard, where it can be modified and saved.  When done composing the thread, paste the text into the thread’s message box and then click the Submit button. 

Extra Credit Grade - Not Calculating in the Grade Center

Extra credit grades are not calculating in the Grade Center when using a several extra credit columns with a custom-built Total column.

There are several ways to calculate Extra Credit in the Blackboard Grade Center.

Download the PDF file of Workaround for Extra Credit Grade Issue.

Deleted Assignments or Discussion Forums Cannot Be Removed from Grade Center

Some instructors may experience that they cannot remove/delete grade columns from the Grade Center after they remove associated assignments or discussion forums.

The good news is that you can still make certain grade columns not to be included in the calculation and hide them from the Grade Center.

* Blackboard is aware of the problem and working on the issue.

Scroll bar is missing the in Blackboard Grade Center.

If you are using Firefox on a PC, you may not see the scroll bars in the Blackboard Grade Center. This issue is related to the scroll bar settings in Windows XP and Windows Vista.

To be able to view the scroll bars, you will need to change the scroll bar settings.

Windows XP

1. Go to the Control Panel.

2. Click on Display Properties.

3. Click on the Appearance tab.

4. Select the Advanced button.

5. Select the Scroll Bar from the item drop down list.

6. Change the setting to 19.

7. Submit.

Windows Vista

1. Go to the Control Panel.

2. Click on Personalization.

3. Select the Window Color and Appearance option.

4. Click on the Advanced button.

5. Select the Scroll Bar from the item drop down list.

6. Change the setting to 19.

7. Submit.

Kicked Out of Blackboard When Changing grades through the Grade Details page

When submitting a grade through the Grade Details page using Internet 7 or 8, an instructor will get the ‘Access Denied’ message. Clicking ‘Cancel’ will take him/her back to the previous page. Clicking ‘Log In’ will take him/her to the Log In page.

If an instructor clicks any navigation menu item (Course Menus, Control Panel Menus) on the left while they are making changes in the Grade Details page, he/she will get a message, “There is an uncommitted data change. Save this change?.” Clicking 'OK' will save the grade.

To avoid these issues it is suggested to use Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ie.html).

Students are not able to see a grade for an assignment with a late Submission and some Grades are not calculating correctly.

Instructors have the option to set due dates when creating an assignment.   If a student turns in an assignment late with multiple attempts and the instructor grades only one attempt, the instructor will see the grade in the grade center, but it will not be calculating into the total score for the instructor or the student.  In addition the student will only see the green “!” and not the grade unless they click the green “!” and view the Attempts.

WORKAROUND:  The instructor must either override the grade or grade each attempt for the assignment in the Blackboard Grade Center.  The easiest way to identify which students are missing grades is to download the grade center in Excel.  Every student that has a late submission with multiple attempts will have a blank cell in the Excel spreadsheet.

WORKAROUND: The workaround is to turn the Smart Views off and then on again (if desired). This will allow grades to be added into the Grade Center.

1. Click Full Grade Center
2. Hover over Manage
3. Click Smart Views
4. De-select any smart views that are set as a favorite
5. Click OK
6. Hover over Manage
7. Click Smart Views
8. Select the Smart Views you want as a favorite
9. Click OK

You should also clear your browser's cache.

Invalid HTML Errors

Some instructors may notice Invalid HTML error messages. This error may prevent users from viewing content as expected. The reason for this error is most likely due to copying and pasting from Word which usually has “hidden” code that can cause problems.

WORKAROUND: The good news is that the content is probably there and can be restored.

Download the PDF file of Workaround for Invalid HTML Errors which include detailed description of the workaround and screenshots.

HOW CAN I PREVENT THIS: It is always preferable to type directly in the text editor in Blackboard since copying and pasting from Word causes issues. If you are going to copy and paste make sure and do so from a Plain Text File.

When copying and pasting text from Word into a Blackboard text box (such as in the Announcements area) the formatting changes.

Text pasted directly from Word contains hidden formatting code that may not be compatible with web viewing. This also may cause issues with the Blackboard course environment.

HOW CAN I PREVENT THIS: The text that you paste into the text editor should be as clean as possible. If you want to copy and paste from Word you need to paste the text into Notepad first to get rid of the hidden formatting, and then copy and paste from Notepad into Blackboard. You will then do any formatting within the Blackboard editor.

The student is kicked out of an assessment (quiz or exam).

In many cases, the java session has been terminated due to inactivity so the submission is unsuccessful.

HOW CAN I PREVENT THIS: There are several things you can do to combat this issue.

1. Give the assessment one question at a time. This ensures that the user's java session is continuously updated and the likelihood of the user getting kicked out is reduced.

2. Do not select the "force complete" option. Without this option selected, users are able to re-enter the exam from the last point that they saved an answer if they should get kicked out.

Instructors trying to submit assessment attempts left in progress by students are getting an error message when using the Submit Attempt button from the Grade Attempts and Test Information area. Instructors can Manually Override the grade but students will not be able to see the results of the assessment until the student actually hits the Submit button.

WORKAROUND: Instructors can Manually Override the grade from the Grade Details area. In order for students to see their results the instructor will need to allow the student to re-enter the test and click the Submit button.

If students are taking a test using Internet Explorer they may not be able to save answers or receive an error message upon submission.

HOW CAN I PREVENT THIS: To avoid these issues it is suggested to use Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ie.html).

When a user clicks on a link to a webpage to be displayed in Blackboard, the user sees a frame with a message above it stating 'The content below is outside the Blackboard Learn environment'. The color of the formatting of this message may be alarming to some users.

HOW CAN I PREVENT THIS:To avoid this message, it is recommended that you set external links to 'Open in a New Window' in the 'Options' area when creating or editing the links.

Users may not have the ability to copy and paste text into a chat session.

HOW CAN I PREVENT THIS: By clicking the Compose icon you will have the ability to copy and paste before hitting Send.

To completely avoid this issue you will need to un-install the most recent version of Java and install this version of Java (http://javadl.sun.com/webapps/download/GetFile/1.6.0_19-b04/windows-i586/xpiinstall.exe.)

Following a first attempt, when trying to re-enter a Collaboration session it may appear blank and you will not see other participants or have the ability to chat. However, other course participants can see that you are in the room and view your chat transcript.

HOW CAN I PREVENT THIS: Completely log out of Blackboard and close the browser session. You will then need to log back into Blackboard to access the Collaboration session.

To completely avoid this issue you will need to un-install the most recent version of Java and install this version of Java (http://javadl.sun.com/webapps/download/GetFile/1.6.0_19-b04/windows-i586/xpiinstall.exe.)