Blackboard Issues

Status History

If you are experiencing any other difficulties than those listed below or wish to receive assistance with the known issues below, please contact the helpdesk at 360-650-3333 or webhelp by email.

New Issues | Resolved Issues | General Issues | Browser Issues

Current Issues

"SMTP Empty" error when sending email from Blackboard. This is NOT happening to all users. If this happens to you please type in http://courses.wwu.edu/which.html into the browser address bar while still logged into Blackboard and let us know the message it gives you. Email this message to webhelp@wwu.edu

Announcement Emails not working. Blackboard is working on this issue.

Recently Resolved Issues

See more details on resolved issues.

White Screen
Firefox 3 and Assignment Uploads
Discussion Forum Search
File Upload Problem
Assignment Names / File Names Problem
- IN GENERAL it's still a good idea: Any files that will be uploaded in Blackboard should have short, simple names such as homework1 or test3 and must not include any character beyond letters, numbers, spaces and underscore. Likewise Assignment Names should be brief and alphanumeric - use the description field for more creativity

Issues You May Encounter

General Issues (see Browser Issues below)

Deleting Items

Attempting to delete an item that has attachments may fail with no error reported. Please delete the attachments first, then the item if this is a problem.

Apparent Bug when Sending Email From Blackboard - error is wrong; email works

When sending email from Blackboard you will sometimes get an error "Unable to Send Email". This is a false error. If you get your copy in your inbox, your students probably got their copies as well. Blackboard knows about this issue but has not provided a fix.

Firefox Extensions block and hang

If you attempt to upload a file in Blackboard, on windows, using Firefox, and you have the Adblock Plus extension installed, Firefox will hang. The Noscript extension also blocks some Blackboard features. Either run Firefox in safe mode or use Internet Explorer or see more information on Firefox Extensions.

Clarification on using Test Timers

If you use timed tests in Blackboard, sometimes your students may report that their the timer didn't work. Usually this is due to a setting in their browser that prevents the status bar from showing. To enable the status bar and allow timed tests, do the following:

IE7: Tools button> Internet Options> Security tab> Internet or Restricted sites> Custom level button>”Allow status bar updates via script” should be enabled
Firefox 2.0 PC: Tools > Options > Content > Enable Javascript:Advanced> "Change status bar text" should be enabled
Firefox 2.0 Mac: Preferences > Options > Content > Enable Javascript:Advanced> "Change status bar text" should be enabled

Digital Drop Box - PLEASE USE ASSIGNMENTS MANAGER INSTEAD!

The Assignment Manager is recommended over the Digital Drop Box. There are fewer incidents of lost assignments. Please see Assignments vs. Digital Drop Box for more information from Blackboard about this.

Unable to Add Item after Journal installed

If you are using the new Journal Building Block and find that you cannot Add Item, go to Control Panel > Manage Tools > Content Type Availability and select the item you want to add from the list.

Grade Threads - Please do NOT use the "Grade Threads" button from within a course discussion thread. It has been reported by other users that this can bring down the servers. It is reported that the instructor can successfully grade the thread through the Control Panel --> Gradebook.

Discussion Forum and Archiving Threads - Blackboard has replaced "Archive Discussion" with "Hide Discussion". This allows you to mark a discussion so that it's "out of the way" and not normally seen. Those wanting to find it can look through the hidden threads and still see it. Their new terminology:

Locked Thread	A thread that is visible for reading but cannot be modified. Users may not post to a locked thread.
Unavailable Thread	A thread that is hidden and inaccessible to all users except forum Managers.
Hidden Thread (was "Archived")	A Thread that is locked and not visible by default. Users may view hidden threads by enabling the Display Hidden Threads feature.

Need more info? See Blackboard's Quick Tutorial on Discussion Boards. Also see More Information on Discussion Forums

Browser Issues

See Browser Compatibility Chart.

Note that the Learning Objects add-ons (Journal, Teams, Expo, Search) have special browser limitations, see Browser Compatibility Chart.

Firefox - cutting and pasting in WYSIWYG text windows. This is a firefox issue for security purposes. Find out how to apply the fix / workaround here. Or use IE (Windows machines) or Safari (Macs).

Safari bug - Using Safari will cause you to post blank messages in the Discussion Forums. There is not yet a fix for this from Blackboard so we recommend Mac users use Firefox.

Safari editing - if you do not have the latest Java plug-in installed in your browser (it may prompt you to install this) you will have problems updating material on Blackboard. Make sure you have the latest browser and plug-ins.

IE Browsers - "click to activate and use this control": This affects Flash, Adobe Reader, QuickTime, Windows Media and Sun Java Virtual (i.e. Blackboard) machine controls within a web page. Read more and download the fix.