The following bugs were reported to Blackboard Support over the past several months and then were referred to the Blackboard Development staff. FYI, the case number, description and latest response from Blackboard support is listed below.
#479817 - Answers not saving during quiz/test.
Case Description: Students are taking an online quiz/test and when clicking the "Save Answer" button the question is not saved. This appears to be a random event as sometimes the answers are saved and other times the server is slow or does not save the answer. Students taking a timed test are not able to complete the test/quiz in the allotted time due to this issue.
Support Response: Our developers have deemed this to be a bug within the software. The fix for this issue is tentatively scheduled for Vista 8.0 SP1. If changes are made to the schedule, I will update the case.
JCCC Note: I have requested information on when Vista 8 SP1 will be released. We’re on Campus Edition 6.2.2 which is equal to Vista 4.2, so I’m not sure how their numbering system for future releases works.
#406008 - Course Tools Menu Automatically Collapses to Just Icons
Case Description: Based on release notes, the Course Tools menu bar should not collapse to just icons when opening the Mail tool or Learning Modules tool, but that’s not the case. The menu collapses when using the Mail, My Files, Grade Book, and File Manager tools.
Support Response: After reviewing the CR which was submitted for this issue, I noticed DEV actually rejected the Change Request. They have stated this issue will be addressed possibly in a future release. Which also can mean, it may get lost in obscurity. Let me know how you would like to proceed with this case.
#476514 - Calendar Changes After Upgrade to CE 6.2.1
Case Description: 1. It’s common for our faculty to copy a course from a previous course shell and then want to move the calendar entries to new dates in the new course. When you change the date for a Calendar entry (by simply modifying the date), the screen refreshes and brings you back to "today's date" (such as the 14th if today's the 14th of August) but in the month from which you came (e.g. the month in which the original date entry occurred before you edited it), but not on the specific date of the original entry you edited. So, if you’ve got three items on January 18th and you want to move them to August 16th (and today is August 14th), each time you change the date of an item on January 18th Blackboard “leaves“ you back on January 14, rather than on the 18th. If you’re moving an item from February 20 to September 25th, after the change you’ll end up on February 14th (if today is August 14th). This is a change in behavior since CE 6.1.1.2. New Calendar entries default to today’s date no matter what you do. If you move to a date in November and try to add a Calendar entry on November 2nd, the default date will be today’s date, not the date you selected in November. You can change it each time, but there’s no sense in navigating to the new month and date, since you’ll need to set the date each time you add an entry.3. If you try to set a time for an event (entry in calendar or assignment or assessment due date) after 10:59 PM on November 4, Blackboard changes the time to an hour earlier. This is the date that Daylight Savings time ends in the Fall of 2007. If you type in a time (like 11:00 PM) or use the drop down menu to choose a time, it may appear correct until you save it, then the time is set back without warning to 10:00 PM. This anomaly only occurs on November 4. If you don’t expect this, you can be frustrated and waste a lot of time trying to figure it out.
Support Response: Our developers have stated the calendar is functioning as designed. When adding a new entry, the start date will show the current day's date. You would have to change the date to required date for the event.
#478596 - Get Files on Mac Cannot Upload Multiple Files & Overwrite Existing Files
Case Description: When using the Get Files button to upload multiple files AND overwrite existing files already in the Class Files area, Blackboard does not give the option to "Replace Existing" files. Instead the filename appears as "Null" and Blackboard offers only these options: "Select another location," "Rename," and "Skip."
Support Response: This is issue is tentatively scheduled for resolution with the release of Vista 8.0 SP1. If any changes occur from our side, I will update the case.
JCCC Note: Subsequently we reported that this same problem happens with Windows users.
#478109 - Inconsistent Discussions Tool New Activity Icon Behavior
Case Description: New Activity icon appears when no postings occur and when a new topic is added (with a description of two words or more or when a period is added to the end of one word descriptions) even when the topic has no postings. This makes it very difficult for instructors and students to use the Discussions topic New Activity icon as an alert that new postings are present for the student to read.
Support Response: No updates have been posted by our developers. Once I receive feedback, I will update the case.
#479657 - No Web Folder option for Firefox
Case Description: When using Firefox 2 you no longer get the “Open as Web Folder” option from the File Manager ActionLink. See attached screen capture.
Support Response: As of right now, DEV has not provided any updates on this issue. Once I receive an additional information I will update the case notes.
Showing posts with label upload. Show all posts
Showing posts with label upload. Show all posts
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The Uploading Multiple Files Bug
Faculty members have reported a bug that does not enable the Get Files button (in the File Manager) to upload and overwrite multiple files in one action. The radio button that normally would appear to enable you to “replace the existing file” is not displayed and a “Null” option appears instead.
Blackboard Support have indicated that “This is a known issue. Our developers are working on a fix for this issue, which will be due out sometime in November possibly.”
In the meantime, you can still upload and overwrite files, but must do so one file at a time.
Blackboard Support have indicated that “This is a known issue. Our developers are working on a fix for this issue, which will be due out sometime in November possibly.”
In the meantime, you can still upload and overwrite files, but must do so one file at a time.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Consider File Size!
Are your students complaining about slow download times when accessing PowerPoint slideshows in your Blackboard CE course? If so, you need to first understand file sizes. If you want to see a chart of equivalencies, e.g. how many kilobytes (KB) in a megabyte (MB), and so on, check out http://www.t1shopper.com/tools/calculate/.
The basics are obvious: it takes longer for a 5 MB file to download than a 1MB file and it takes longer for a 500 KB file to download than a 1 MB file. So smaller is better.
Also effecting the download time is the type of internet connection (ISDN, DSL, Cable, Dial-up and so on). You can determine your connection speed (it’ll be different in your office, on a laptop at Starbucks, or at home) by going to http://promos.mcafee.com/speedometer/test_0600.asp. Keep in mind that the access speed may vary each time you take the test (depending on factors such as time of day and network traffic). If you and/or your students are experiencing slow access, take the test several times (at different times when you might normally access the Internet) to get a sense of the connection speed at which you can expect to access online materials. You can also see the optimal speed for various types of connections by visiting http://support.primus.ca/en/dsl/speedtest.php (review the chart on the right side of the web page).
Your connection’s “optimal” speed is based on average network traffic between your computer and the server; obviously heavy network traffic or outages between your home/office and the Blackboard server (or any server on the Internet for that matter) can reduce the download speed (upload speed too).
Another factor is whether media is non-streaming (e.g. PowerPoint slideshows) or streaming (e.g. MP3 and Flash files). Streaming files start playing before the entire file is downloaded (so it appears to download faster) while non-streaming media must be completely downloaded before playing.
So, in a perfect world without heavy network traffic, without considering Blackboard or browser problems or any network disruptions, you can calculate the best possible download time for a file traveling from one location on a network to another by using the calculator at http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/accessibility/webaccessibility/download_tool.html.
The calculator asks you to enter kilobytes, so remember that a one megabyte (MB) file is 1024 kilobytes (KB) and a 25 MB file is 25,600 KB. As an example, if you have a 25 MB PowerPoint slideshow (e.g. 25600 KB) and were using a DSL or T1 connection, it would optimally take 2000 seconds (or over 33 minutes) to download that single file. On the other hand, if the file were reduced in size to 1 MB (e.g. 1024 KB) using the same connection, it would take 80 seconds to download the file. Obviously slower Internet connections (ISDN, dial-up) would take significantly longer.
We’ve seen PowerPoint slideshows within Blackboard courses that range from 25 to 70 MB. In tomorrow’s tip, we’ll tell you how to reduce a PowerPoint slideshow file by 60-95%. Imagine how that will increase download times and reduce frustration!
The basics are obvious: it takes longer for a 5 MB file to download than a 1MB file and it takes longer for a 500 KB file to download than a 1 MB file. So smaller is better.
Also effecting the download time is the type of internet connection (ISDN, DSL, Cable, Dial-up and so on). You can determine your connection speed (it’ll be different in your office, on a laptop at Starbucks, or at home) by going to http://promos.mcafee.com/speedometer/test_0600.asp. Keep in mind that the access speed may vary each time you take the test (depending on factors such as time of day and network traffic). If you and/or your students are experiencing slow access, take the test several times (at different times when you might normally access the Internet) to get a sense of the connection speed at which you can expect to access online materials. You can also see the optimal speed for various types of connections by visiting http://support.primus.ca/en/dsl/speedtest.php (review the chart on the right side of the web page).
Your connection’s “optimal” speed is based on average network traffic between your computer and the server; obviously heavy network traffic or outages between your home/office and the Blackboard server (or any server on the Internet for that matter) can reduce the download speed (upload speed too).
Another factor is whether media is non-streaming (e.g. PowerPoint slideshows) or streaming (e.g. MP3 and Flash files). Streaming files start playing before the entire file is downloaded (so it appears to download faster) while non-streaming media must be completely downloaded before playing.
So, in a perfect world without heavy network traffic, without considering Blackboard or browser problems or any network disruptions, you can calculate the best possible download time for a file traveling from one location on a network to another by using the calculator at http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/accessibility/webaccessibility/download_tool.html.
The calculator asks you to enter kilobytes, so remember that a one megabyte (MB) file is 1024 kilobytes (KB) and a 25 MB file is 25,600 KB. As an example, if you have a 25 MB PowerPoint slideshow (e.g. 25600 KB) and were using a DSL or T1 connection, it would optimally take 2000 seconds (or over 33 minutes) to download that single file. On the other hand, if the file were reduced in size to 1 MB (e.g. 1024 KB) using the same connection, it would take 80 seconds to download the file. Obviously slower Internet connections (ISDN, dial-up) would take significantly longer.
We’ve seen PowerPoint slideshows within Blackboard courses that range from 25 to 70 MB. In tomorrow’s tip, we’ll tell you how to reduce a PowerPoint slideshow file by 60-95%. Imagine how that will increase download times and reduce frustration!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Always Use Lowercase for Filenames
Blackboard CE 6.1.1 has a nasty habit of renaming files that you upload or import using all lowercase. Further, there’s a known bug that if you have two filenames that are identical (except for the case, the course will generate a general exception error when trying to copy it into a new course shell). So the morale of the story is name all your files using only lowercase letters. Due to Blackboard CE 6.1.1’s renaming of an imported or uploaded file:
WICKED.PDF becomes wicked.pdf
Wicked.pdf becomes wicked.pdf
and
Wicked.PDF also becomes wicked.pdf
Then you’ve potentially got multiple files with the same filename and your course is headed for trouble…if it already has a file created under a previous version of CE that includes upper and lowercase letters in the filename.
WICKED.PDF becomes wicked.pdf
Wicked.pdf becomes wicked.pdf
and
Wicked.PDF also becomes wicked.pdf
Then you’ve potentially got multiple files with the same filename and your course is headed for trouble…if it already has a file created under a previous version of CE that includes upper and lowercase letters in the filename.
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