Frequently Asked Questions
last updated October 19, 2006
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Getting Rid of Old Announcements Creating an Announcement Animated Tutorial
Q: Is there any way to change the order in which the announcements appear? A: Announcements appear in the order they were entered, with the most recent entry on top. "Permanent" announcements trump this and always appear on top. The display order of non-permanent announcements is based on their start-display-date, with the most recent at top (but below permanent announcements). When you modify an announcement you will notice that it has "Start display on ..." set. If you modify that date/time, you can control the order of announcements. Or simply clear the checkmark, which means the start-display-date will default to the current date and time, and hence the announcement will be considered the newest one.
Getting Rid of Old Announcements Q: In the My Announcements module on the My Blackboard page, there are several announcements from past semesters. How can I get rid of them? A:These "old announcements" are announcements that the instructors designated as "permanent" when they posted them. If you wish to get rid of old "Permanent Announcements" from your My Announcements module, you now can, but it will mean that no announcements your instructors post as Permanent will never show up in the module (we are trying to convince Blackboard, Inc. to change that!). Click the pencil icon in the upper right corner of the header, check No next to Show Permanent Announcements, and click Submit. appear in the order they were entered, with the most recent entry on top. "Permanent" announcements trump this and always appear on top.
Q: How can I put images on the Announcements page of my Blackboard site? A: That depends on the way you'd like the image(s) to display. Blackboard has a built-in feature that allows you to easily upload a banner, an image that will appear on the Announcements page above the tabs that allow you to select which announcements you want to view. You can also integrate images directly in the announcements you post, though this requires a bit of HTML. Each method is explained below: Posting a banner on the Announcements page Note: To post a custom banner on the Announcements page of your site, you first must create the desired image file (.gif or .jpg format; recommended dimensions 450x90 pixels) and store it on your computer. (There are commercial sites dedicated to banner creation. A couple that are easy to use: FlamingText and CoolArchive.) 1) Go to Control Panel > Course Options/ Organization Options > Settings > Course Design/ Organization Design > Course Banner/ Organization Banner. 2) Select Browse. 3) Selecting Browse will spawn a window to allow you to navigate to the file on your hard drive. Depending on browser, you may have to change the Files of Type default at the bottom of this window from "HTML files" to all files. Once you locate the image you wish to upload as a banner (for example, top20.jpg) click on it and select Open (or just double-click it). 4) When you select the image file, the path to its name will appear in the white box next to the Browse button; press Submit. The new banner will appear on the Announcements page of your site. Posting Announcements with Images in Them First you will need to opt-in to the Visual Tex Box Editor. To opt-in to the VTBE , under the My Blackboard tab, on the left column, select Personal Information from the module labeled Tools. The VTBE is compatible with the following browsers on Windows Operating Systems: Now, go to your course / organization control panel, select Announcements under Course Tools or Organization Tools, click Add Announcement, type in a subject, click the image icon
Q: I see this tool called Voice Announcements. What is that? A: With Horizon-Wimba Voice Announcements, you can create audio announcements rather than, or in addition to, text announcements. This might be a useful tool for language class or complicated instructions. Click the Voice Announcement Link found in the Tools section of your site's control panel, type in a subject, a message if you wish,record your announcement, and click Submit. For further information, see the Voice Tools section of this FAQ.
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Disclaimer: Some information in this archive may have changed due to feature upgrades to the Blackboard software and/or new discoveries about the capabilities of Blackboard.
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in the VTBE tool bar, browse to the image on your hard drive, indicate your options, and Submit. 