Occasionally, we have reports of issues involving Blackboard's interoperability with assorted browsers and various operating systems. Blackboard has acknowledged these issues and, in most instances, is working on developing fixes for them. At the same time, ITS is diligently collaborating with Blackboard and system administrators to work toward timely resolutions of these issues. The statuses of the issues listed below will be updated as we receive notification from Blackboard. If you encounter issues that are not listed on this page, please contact us so that we can notify Blackboard and begin developing solutions and/or workarounds. Thank you for your assistance as we strive to provide the best system functionality.
These problems should no longer be occurring in Blackboard. Please contact ITS at ftc_help@siue.edu or 618-650-5500 if you are still experiencing them.
Problem: Discussion boards with “Display After” dates set to a future date can be seen by students (with an indication that they are currently unavailable), and more importantly can be accessed for actual posting of threads prior to the Display After date.
Bb Features Impacted: This problem appears to be isolated only to those Discussion Boards where students are permitted to create new threads.
Workaround 1: Faculty can make the Discussion Board Forum itself “Unavailable” by clicking that radio button above the “Display After” date field. If the forum is unavailable, students clicking on the link for it will receive a warning message that they are unauthorized to enter that portion of the course.
Workaround 2: Depending upon the instructional goals for the forum, faculty may consider setting the forum up to not allow students to create new threads. In that case, faculty must create the initial thread themselves or students will not be able to participate in the forum in any way at any time.
Please contact ITS at ftc_help@siue.edu or 618-650-5500 if you need additional assistance with this issue.
Problem: The latest versions of Microsoft Office 2007 and 2010 as well as Mac Office 2008 create file extensions (.docx, .pptx, .xlsx) that are not backward compatible with older versions of Microsoft Office.
Bb Features Impacted: Any course content area linking to a Microsoft Office 2007 or Mac Office 2008 document, assignments submitted via the Assignment tool or the Digital Dropbox, and attachments submitted within Discussion Boards.
In order to make certain that everyone can open and work with Microsoft Office 2007 or Mac Office 2008 files, one or both of the workarounds must be used:
Workaround 1: Those using Microsoft Office 2007 or Mac Office 2008 must use Save as type: and select Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc), Excel 97-2003 Workbook (*.xls), or PowerPoint 97-2003 Presentation (*.ppt) when saving their files.
Workaround 2: Those receiving Microsoft Office 2007 or Mac Office 2008 documents can download and install the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack which will allow them to open and work with the Office 2007 or Mac Office 2008 files.
Note: Blackboard Service Pack 10, released December 2012, should have addressed this Microsoft Word compatibility issue. ITS will monitor user response over the semester to ensure the problem is resolved before it is moved to "resolved".
Please contact ITS at ftc_help@siue.edu or 618-650-5500 if you need additional assistance with this issue.
Problem: Users receive a “Navigation to the web page canceled” error when clicking on a link to an external web page using the Internet Explorer browser when users select "Yes" when prompted to respond to the question "Do you want to view only the webpage content that was delivered securely?"
Bb Features Impacted: Any external web page link that was set to open within the Blackboard content frame. This issue only occurs when Bb is viewed with Internet Explorer and users specified that they only want to view the content that was delivered securely.
Workaround 1: Use Firefox as your browser.
Workaround 2: Right-click the link and select the “Open in New Window” option. The web page will open properly in a new window.
Workaround 3: Log out of Blackboard. Delete all of the browsing history in Internet Explorer (Tools > Internet Options > Browsing history > Delete). Check all of the boxes except "Preserve Favorites website data" and then click Delete. Log back into Blackboard. Click on the link and when prompted to respond to the question "Do you want to view only the webpage content that was delivered securely?," click the "No" button.
Workaround 4 (for faculty): Modify the external link in Bb. Check the box “Open in a new window.”
Please contact ITS at ftc_help@siue.edu or 618-650-5500 if you need additional assistance with this issue.
Problem: Faculty report being unable to create or access an existing Turnitin Assignment (error 423).
Bb Features Impacted: Turnitin Assignments within Blackboard.
Resolution: The only way to resolve this issue is to submit a ticket to Turnitin. Users can submit a ticket on their own or request that ITS submit one on their behalf. In either case, it is essential to clearly outline in the ticket the faculty's correct email address, the incorrect email address being reported in the 423 error screen, and the course ID. Turnitin requests 24-48 hours to resolve this issue.
Please contact ITS at ftc_help@siue.edu or 618-650-5500 if you need additional assistance with this issue.
Problem: Individuals with whom a portfolio has been shared can see the portfolio, but links to items in the portfolio owner's Content Collection appear as plain text, rather than links, making them inaccessible for viewing.
Bb Features Impacted: Shared portfolios created within Blackboard.
Solution: Follow these steps to fix the problem:
ITS submitted a ticket to Blackboard in January, 2013. Blackboard is aware of the problem and is working to resolve this issue in a future update.
If you would like to report a problem that you believe is a compatibility issue, please contact Information Technology Services at ftc_help@siue.edu or 618-650-5500.
