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Portal, modules, and tabs
Course and organization sites
Multi-Language Support
Modifying your Course Design Animated Tutorial
Portal, modules, and tabs
Q:
Why don't all the sites I'm enrolled in show up in the My Courses
(sortable) module?
A:
The default for this module is to display only the current semester's
courses (or in the case of yearlong courses, the current academic
year's courses). To display your course sites from previous semesters
and courses that are not semester-based,
click
on the small circle with the pencil found in the module header,
JPG.jpg)
check
the boxes next to the semesters and the courses within those
semesters you want shown and click Submit. To display
courses that are not semester-based, check the box next to Show
Other Courses and click Submit.
Your
Organizations are listed separately in the My Organizations module,
which is not sortable.
Q:
Why are courses I am no longer enrolled in are still listed
in my Course List under the Courses tab?
A:
This list is designed to give you easy access to all Blackboard
course sites in which you have ever been enrolled at Princeton.
If
the instructor has made a course site unavailable, it will not
display here to those enrolled in it as students. This page
cannot be modified.
Q:
Can I add or remove modules from the My Blackboard page?
A:
You can modify the My Blackboard page by clicking the Content
button in the upper right corner. Add or remove the modules
by checking/unchecking the boxes next to them. Modules that are
checked in red cannot be removed. Remember to click Submit
to lock in changes.
Q:
Can I reorganize the My Blackboard page?
A:
Click the Layout
button to rearrange your modules or the change color schemes. Remember
to click Submit to lock in changes.
Course and organization sites
Q:The
table of contents (menu in the left frame) of my site do not appropriately
reflect the organization of my site. How can I make changes?
A:
From the Manage Course Menu / Manage Organization Menu page,
those with Control Panel access can modify the table of contents
(the menu in the left frame) of the Blackboard site. One can choose
to have links to specific content areas, specific items within content
areas, specific tools or all the tools, and to external Web sites.
On the Manage Course Menu page one can modify the menu content and
names to suit the course or organization.
To
open the Manage Course Menu page:
Select
a course from Courses You are Teaching and open the Control Panel.
Click
Manage Course Menu under Course Options.
You will not see your modifications reflected in your course menu until you click Refresh at the bottom of the menu, as your menu is cached on your computer.
For further modification options, see
Modifying your Menu and Creating
a Template.
Q: I'd like a more detailed course menu, with links to specific content within the site. How can I have that?
A: As of Fall 2005, two views of the Course Menu are available to users: the Quick View (the original menu design) and the Detail View. The Detail View is the full Course Map, letting users expand and collapse the Course Menu, and displays a clickable link to each item in the course. The default setting is Quick View, with Detail View available.
If you make changes to the course menu through the control panel, you will not see your modifications reflected in your course menu until you click Refresh at the bottom of the menu, as your menu is cached on your computer. 
Q:
How
do I add menu items to my Blackboard site's table of contents (the
menu in the left frame)?
A:
With the Blackboard upgrade of the summer of 2003, your options
for table of content items increased dramatically, giving you greater
control over the design/layout of your site. Whereas previously
you were limited to selecting names for the items from a dropdown
list, now you can name them anything you want (up to 18 characters,
including spaces). Also, this upgrade allows you to use as many
or few links as you wish and permits to create links to content
areas, specific content items, specific tools, and external web
pages.
In
the Control Panel under Course Options / Organization Options
select Manage Course Menu / Manage Organization
Menu, then select Content Area, Tool Area, Course
Link, or External link from the Add bar at the
top of the page.
Adding
Content Areas
If
you select Content Area, you will be able to create a link
to a general content area, and the name you assign the link will
appear not only in the site's table of contents, but also in the
Control Panel's Content Areas section (where you will go
to add content to your newly created area). Upon selecting Content
Area, you will be presented with this screen:
If
you select an item from the Area Name dropdown box, it
will automatically place the name in the box below it. Otherwise,
you
should type the name you wish to call the content area in the second
box, and heed
the "Suggested Maximum
18 characters" warning. This limit
includes spaces.
For
the item name to actually appear in the table of content, the Make
available for
Student/Participant users box must be checked. You may
also check Allow guest access and Allow observer access,
at your discretion.
Click
Submit to complete the process.
Adding
Tool Areas If
you select Tool Area you will be able to create a link
to a specific tool, as defined by the list in the dropdown
box. You
will be presented with this screen:
First,
select an Area Type from the dropdown box. Then type
either the default name or the name you wish to call the tool
in the Area
name text box. This box must have a name in it for the link
to appear in the table of contents! Heed the "Suggested
Maximum 18 characters" warning. This
limit includes spaces.
For
the item name to actually appear in the table of content, the Make
available for Student/Participant users box must be checked.
You may
also check Allow guest access and Allow observer access,
at your discretion. (If the area you select is by default not
available to Guests and/or Observers system wide, you will not
be
present with the choices).
Click
Submit to complete the process.
For
the tool you added to the menu to function, it must be enabled.
To verify this or to enable the tool, in the Control Panel
under Course Options / Organization Options select Manage Tools
then either Enable Blackboard Tools, Enable Extension
Tools, or Enable Content Tools. The majority of the
tools will be found under Enable Blackboard Tools, which
are tools native to the system. If you do not find the tool you
are looking
for listed there, try one of the other options, Enable Extension
Tools or Enable Content Tools. Extension Tools and Content
Tools are tools we added to the system, such as the face
book and the dictionary/thesaurus. Once you have located the
tool, make
sure the box under Enabled is checked, and the choices Allow
Guest and Allow Observer match the selection you made
when you added the new tool area. If, instead of a check box
for
the Allow Guest and Allow Observer options, you are
presented with n/a, that means that guests and observers
are not permitted access to that tool system wide.
Adding
Course Links
If
you select Course Link, you will be able to create a link
to a specific item or folder within a content area. The name you
assign the link will appear in the site's table of contents. Upon
selecting Course Link, you will be presented with this screen:
First,
enter the name of the link as you wish it to appear in the table
of content in the text box next to Area name. The name should
probably match the name of the item to which you are going to link.
Heed the "Suggested Maximum 18 characters"
warning. This limit includes spaces.
Now click the Browse button to see a list of content items
to which you can link.
By
clicking Open All at the top of the dialogue box, you
can get a complete list of the items from which you may choose.
Click
on the radio button next to the item you wish to link to, then
click the Submit button at the bottom of the dialogue
box. Now the selected item´s name will appear on your
main screen to the left of the Browse button.
For
the item name to actually appear in the table of content, the Make
available for Student/Participant users box must be checked.
Also, for the item to be viewable, the Yes radio button
must be checked next to Do you want to make the folder
visible?
in the Control
Panel area where
is was created.
Click
Submit to complete the process.
Adding
External Links
If
you select External Link, you will be able to create a link
to a Web page outside your Blackboard site. The name you assign
the link will appear in the site's table of contents and click it
will take the user directly to the external site. Upon selecting
External Link, you will be presented with this screen: First,
enter the name of the link as you wish it to appear in the table
of content in the text box next to Area name. Heed the "Suggested
Maximum 18 characters" warning. This
limit includes spaces.
In
the text box next to target, either type or paste the
URL for the Web site to which you wish to link. For example,
if you
wish to create a link to the Princeton University Library, you
should type or paste
this
in the box: http://libweb.princeton.edu/
Selecting
Launch in a new window will open to page in it's own window,
as opposed to opening it within the frame of your Blackboard site.For
the item name to actually appear in the table of content, the Make
available for Student/Participant users box must be checked.
Click
Submit to complete the process.
Q:
How
can I get rid of links in my Blackboard site that I'm not using?
A:
As it is very frustrating for users to click links that go nowhere,
hiding of links not in use is a good idea. Get rid of links
in your
Blackboard site you are not using, as well as unused tools and
communication features, through the Control Panel under
Course Options / Organization Options. To remove links
select Manage
Course Menu / Manage Organization Menu then
click Remove next to the menu item you wish to delete.
Or, click Modify and uncheck the box next to Make available
for Student / Participant users, then click Submit.
To
remove links to tools found under the Tools link in your table of
contents, select Manage Tools in the Course Options / Organization
Options area of your Control Panel. Next select Enable
Blackboard Tools, deselect the Enabled check boxes next
to any tools you wish to get rid of, then scroll to the bottom of
the page and click Submit.
Note:
The majority of the tools will be found under
Enable Blackboard Tools, which are tools native to the system.
If you do not find the tool you are looking for listed there, try
one of the other options, Enable Extension Tools or Enable
Content Tools.
Enable Extension Tools
or Enable Content Tools. Extension Tools and Content Tools
are tools we added to the system, such as the face book and the
dictionary/thesaurus.
Q:
Can I get rid of the Course Map link?
A:
Yes. Control Panel > Course Options area > Course Design > Manage Tool Panel > Quick View Tool Panel Options. Set
Display Course Map to No, Submit. Now click Detail View Tool Panel Options. Set Display Course Map to No, Submit.
Q:
Can I change the menu names in my Blackboard site?
A:
Yes. Go to Settings in the Control Panel and select
Manage Course / Organization Menu. Click the Modify
button next to the menu item you want to rename. Beside Area
Name either select a name from the dropdown list in the top
box, or type a name in the second text box (maximum of 18 characters,
including spaces). Click Submit.
Q:
Can I change the page my site opens to when users access it,
to display my syllabus first, for example?
A:
Yes. Simply following Settings link in the Control Panel
to Set Course Entry Point / Set Organization Entry Point,
where you will select the entry point from the dropdown box and
click Submit.
Due
to caching, the site may not open to this newly selected point on
your computer until you have logged out and closed your browser
completely.
Q:
How do I get back easily to the student view of my course when
I'm working in the Control Panel?
A:
At the top of the Control Panel window a "bread crumb"
trail can be found (you may have scroll up to see it).
Clicking
on the course name will take you back to the student view.
Clicking
on Control Panel will take you back to the Control Panel
main page. Clicking on COURSES will take you to the Course tab page,
where the catalog is found.
August 20, 2008 |
