Quick reference documentation
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Blackboard Vista 8 is seen as a development of previous versions rather than a radical revision; users of the upgraded King's e-Learning Service will therefore recognise many of the concepts in Blackboard Vista 8 from Blackboard (WebCT) Vista 3.
This page provides documentation for those existing users of the King's e-Learning Service who need to get up to speed on the new version. The documentation highlights the differences and similarities between versions, rather than providing detailed instructions. (This documentation is an interim measure until the Manuals section is updated). The documents available are as follows:
Additionally, when you access Build mode for your section you will be able to view default Blackboard Vista tutorials on 'Exploring the Interface' and ' Design Basics'. You can also view these online directly without accessing Blackboard Vista from the following URLs:
http://tutorials.webct.com/exploring/interface.htm
http://tutorials.webct.com/exploring/design.htm
If you would like to start using the King's e-Learning Service for the first time, you will need to attend an introductory seminar - please see the
training pagefor available dates.
This page provides documentation for those existing users of the King's e-Learning Service who need to get up to speed on the new version. The documentation highlights the differences and similarities between versions, rather than providing detailed instructions. (This documentation is an interim measure until the Manuals section is updated). The documents available are as follows:
- Differences between Vista 3 and Vista 8 QuickGuide.pdf - see attachment at end of page
- Illustrated guide to changes in Vista 8.ppt - see attachment at end of page
- Section designers - troubleshooting section content post-upgrade issues - see section below
Additionally, when you access Build mode for your section you will be able to view default Blackboard Vista tutorials on 'Exploring the Interface' and ' Design Basics'. You can also view these online directly without accessing Blackboard Vista from the following URLs:
http://tutorials.webct.com/exploring/interface.htm
http://tutorials.webct.com/exploring/design.htm
If you would like to start using the King's e-Learning Service for the first time, you will need to attend an introductory seminar - please see the
training pagefor available dates.
Section designers - troubleshooting section content post-upgrade issues
The following advice is intended for section designers and covers some known issues. You are advised to look at the contents of your section to make sure all is behaving as expected. If this is not feasible then the following list may help to troubleshoot any problems that may be reported by students:
Icons and link text are too far apart
In Vista 8 there is now more control possible over the positioning of icons and the accompanying text links that you see on the home page and in folders. One unexpected knock-on effect from this is that since the upgrade the default that is applied to all such content is to centre-align icons and links. While this is not too noticeable in most instances, on home pages or folders where there are only one or two links, there is a very noticeable space between icon and text link. If you find this is adversely affecting the presentation of your section materials you can set it back to how it would have looked in Vista 3 by doing the following:
1) In Build mode click on the 'Page Options' button (situated to the top-left of the screen) and select 'Customise Page Display'
2) In the 'Layout Preview' column change the 'Alignment' dropdown option from 'Centered' to 'Left'
3) If you want all of your folders to have the same alignment setting then tick the checkbox next to the 'Change all existing folders to these settings' option
4) Click on the 'Apply' button to finish.
Content files known to display OK in Vista 3 are not displaying as part of Learning Modules in Vista 8
There appears to be a specific problem related to materials that have been designed and are delivered using Framesets. Although these displayed correctly in Vista 3 it appears that in some instances they will not display in Vista 8 - instead, only blank pages show.
This issues has now been resolved since our upgrade to Service Pack 2 during Easter 2009.
'Get Files' content browser, My Computer and Java
A problem has been reported with the 'My Computer' Java applet when uploading files: in Build mode, clicking the 'Add file' button, then 'Browse for Files' opens the 'Get Files' content browser and within that the 'My Computer' icon should display. Some users have reported seeing a red 'X' button instead of 'My Computer'. The causes of this are under investigation.
In Blackboard (WebCT) Vista 3 the 'Upload Files' button was available as a non-Java alternative.
In Blackboard Vista 8, to use a non-Java alternative, it is necessary to change the Settings, in order to turn off the 'My Computer' Java applet and load a basic version:
In the basic 'My Computer', up to 10 files at a time can be uploaded by selecting using 'Ctrl' or 'Shift'
Web folders (WebDAV)
In Blackboard (WebCT) Vista 3 this had to be set up manually. It is built in to Blackboard Vista 8, however when used in Internet Explorer, the web folder opens and remains open, but the user is immediately logged out of the Blackboard Vista session. This is under investigation.
Custom 'hard coded' web links/URLs may break following upgrade and need to be fixed
Please be aware that you may need to check any web links that you have included in your section(s) that point specifically to an existing Bb/WebCT Vista 3 component. It is impossible to say with certainty until the upgrade is complete, but there is a possibility due to the changed nature of the Vista 8 database that underlies the whole system that these unique addresses may change and consequently fail after the upgrade. Designers will need to check instances of such web links following the upgrade and change the link with a reference to the new location if need be.
Examples of where such behaviour might happen are where you created a specific image map that links to Bb Vista components such as organizer folders and the like.
Learning Modules – 'Table Of Contents' displayed by default
It appears that in all instances the Table Of Contents (TOC) for a Learning Modules is displayed by default following the upgrade. In many instances this will not be an issue since the TOC is switched on (this is the advice particularly for CourseGenie generated materials that has been given, e.g. in the ISS CourseGenie training session). However, there are some instances where the TOC has been switched off and where its use is largely redundant. You may need to check any learning modules in your section to see if this menu adversely affects the on-screen presentation and switch it off if required.
Content files - lack of margin spacing
Because of the default behaviour that Vista 8 employs, when new content files are created (or existing ones created using the HTML editor) there is no spacing at the page margins, with the result that text is displayed right up to the edge when viewed in student view - this may affect readability and the general perception of look and feel to students. Since Vista 3 added some padding by default this would not have been viewed as a problem previously, but users may now see the difference following the upgrade and want to know how it can be fixed.
A simple way to fix this problem is to edit a content file in the default HTML mode (i.e. don’t turn on the HTML Creator functionality) and add some HTML code to introduce some padding to the margins.
Depending on how you created your content file originally, the instructions on how to include vary slightly;
1) If you originally used the HTML Creator to design the page;
Open the edit interface for the page you want to add margin spacing to. DO NOT turn on the HTML Creator functionality. If there is already a tag displayed which says <body> then replace it with the following;
<body style="margin: 3%; width: 94%;">
Make sure the 'Use HTML' checkbox is checked then save the file.
When next previewed you should see padding around the edges. You can adjust the values accordingly - but just make sure the total value adds up to 100% - i.e. since you have a left and right margin to take into account, the above example is worked out as 3+94+3. i.e. if you wanted much larger margins spacing you might use;
<body style="margin: 5%; width: 90%;">
2) If you did NOT use the HTML Creator (or are unsure of what was used)
Open the edit interface for the page you want to add margin spacing to. Click the HTML Creator button. After this interface has successfully opened (you may need to click OK on a java warning to allow this to run OK) click save - this will tidy up the HTML code into a valid format so you can edit it safely in the next step.
Next, edit the file again but this time DO NOT switch on the HTML Creator button. Look now for the tag displayed which says <body> then replace it with the following;
<body style="margin: 3%; width: 94%;">
Make sure the 'Use HTML' checkbox is checked then save the file.
When next previewed you should see padding around the edges. You can adjust the values accordingly - see the previous example for how to do this.
In both of the above instances you should now be able to edit the page using the HTML Creator functionality in future and the margin spacing will be retained.
3) Other solutions to this problem can include using a Cascading Style Sheet in order to style the look and feel of pages. ISS offer a training session on improving the look and feel of your e-learning materials which covers this topic, however it will not be repeated again now until the autumn term. In the interim you can find out more of this possible solution by e-mailing ian.calder@kcl.ac.uk
File linkage to templates
When a section is created as a 'rollover', and the option is selected to copy content from the previous instance of the section, the rolled over section is linked to a 'template', which is in effect a copy of the original section content. In order to edit files in the rolled over section it is first necessary to break links to the template:
In Blackboard (WebCT) Vista 3, files linked to templates were shown in italics in File Manager.
Breaking links was achieved using the 'Break Link' button in File Manager.
In Blackboard Vista 8, linked files are no longer italicised, they are indicated by a small green icon to the right of the file name, next to the actionlink.
In Vista 8 terminology, breaking links is now known as 'unsubscribing' and this is done using the 'unsubscribe' option from the actionlink in File Manager.
Icons and link text are too far apart
In Vista 8 there is now more control possible over the positioning of icons and the accompanying text links that you see on the home page and in folders. One unexpected knock-on effect from this is that since the upgrade the default that is applied to all such content is to centre-align icons and links. While this is not too noticeable in most instances, on home pages or folders where there are only one or two links, there is a very noticeable space between icon and text link. If you find this is adversely affecting the presentation of your section materials you can set it back to how it would have looked in Vista 3 by doing the following:
1) In Build mode click on the 'Page Options' button (situated to the top-left of the screen) and select 'Customise Page Display'
2) In the 'Layout Preview' column change the 'Alignment' dropdown option from 'Centered' to 'Left'
3) If you want all of your folders to have the same alignment setting then tick the checkbox next to the 'Change all existing folders to these settings' option
4) Click on the 'Apply' button to finish.
Content files known to display OK in Vista 3 are not displaying as part of Learning Modules in Vista 8
There appears to be a specific problem related to materials that have been designed and are delivered using Framesets. Although these displayed correctly in Vista 3 it appears that in some instances they will not display in Vista 8 - instead, only blank pages show.
This issues has now been resolved since our upgrade to Service Pack 2 during Easter 2009.
'Get Files' content browser, My Computer and Java
A problem has been reported with the 'My Computer' Java applet when uploading files: in Build mode, clicking the 'Add file' button, then 'Browse for Files' opens the 'Get Files' content browser and within that the 'My Computer' icon should display. Some users have reported seeing a red 'X' button instead of 'My Computer'. The causes of this are under investigation.
In Blackboard (WebCT) Vista 3 the 'Upload Files' button was available as a non-Java alternative.
In Blackboard Vista 8, to use a non-Java alternative, it is necessary to change the Settings, in order to turn off the 'My Computer' Java applet and load a basic version:
- Log in to e-learning and go in to the section
- In Build mode, in the 'Designer Tools' menu, click on ‘Manage Course’
- Click on ‘Settings’
- Click on ‘My Computer Applet’ (in the middle column, ‘Tools’)
- In the ‘Enable My Computer Applet’ line change the setting from ‘True’ to ‘False’
- Click the ‘Save values’ button to complete the task and exit
In the basic 'My Computer', up to 10 files at a time can be uploaded by selecting using 'Ctrl' or 'Shift'
Web folders (WebDAV)
In Blackboard (WebCT) Vista 3 this had to be set up manually. It is built in to Blackboard Vista 8, however when used in Internet Explorer, the web folder opens and remains open, but the user is immediately logged out of the Blackboard Vista session. This is under investigation.
Custom 'hard coded' web links/URLs may break following upgrade and need to be fixed
Please be aware that you may need to check any web links that you have included in your section(s) that point specifically to an existing Bb/WebCT Vista 3 component. It is impossible to say with certainty until the upgrade is complete, but there is a possibility due to the changed nature of the Vista 8 database that underlies the whole system that these unique addresses may change and consequently fail after the upgrade. Designers will need to check instances of such web links following the upgrade and change the link with a reference to the new location if need be.
Examples of where such behaviour might happen are where you created a specific image map that links to Bb Vista components such as organizer folders and the like.
Learning Modules – 'Table Of Contents' displayed by default
It appears that in all instances the Table Of Contents (TOC) for a Learning Modules is displayed by default following the upgrade. In many instances this will not be an issue since the TOC is switched on (this is the advice particularly for CourseGenie generated materials that has been given, e.g. in the ISS CourseGenie training session). However, there are some instances where the TOC has been switched off and where its use is largely redundant. You may need to check any learning modules in your section to see if this menu adversely affects the on-screen presentation and switch it off if required.
Content files - lack of margin spacing
Because of the default behaviour that Vista 8 employs, when new content files are created (or existing ones created using the HTML editor) there is no spacing at the page margins, with the result that text is displayed right up to the edge when viewed in student view - this may affect readability and the general perception of look and feel to students. Since Vista 3 added some padding by default this would not have been viewed as a problem previously, but users may now see the difference following the upgrade and want to know how it can be fixed.
A simple way to fix this problem is to edit a content file in the default HTML mode (i.e. don’t turn on the HTML Creator functionality) and add some HTML code to introduce some padding to the margins.
Depending on how you created your content file originally, the instructions on how to include vary slightly;
1) If you originally used the HTML Creator to design the page;
Open the edit interface for the page you want to add margin spacing to. DO NOT turn on the HTML Creator functionality. If there is already a tag displayed which says <body> then replace it with the following;
<body style="margin: 3%; width: 94%;">
Make sure the 'Use HTML' checkbox is checked then save the file.
When next previewed you should see padding around the edges. You can adjust the values accordingly - but just make sure the total value adds up to 100% - i.e. since you have a left and right margin to take into account, the above example is worked out as 3+94+3. i.e. if you wanted much larger margins spacing you might use;
<body style="margin: 5%; width: 90%;">
2) If you did NOT use the HTML Creator (or are unsure of what was used)
Open the edit interface for the page you want to add margin spacing to. Click the HTML Creator button. After this interface has successfully opened (you may need to click OK on a java warning to allow this to run OK) click save - this will tidy up the HTML code into a valid format so you can edit it safely in the next step.
Next, edit the file again but this time DO NOT switch on the HTML Creator button. Look now for the tag displayed which says <body> then replace it with the following;
<body style="margin: 3%; width: 94%;">
Make sure the 'Use HTML' checkbox is checked then save the file.
When next previewed you should see padding around the edges. You can adjust the values accordingly - see the previous example for how to do this.
In both of the above instances you should now be able to edit the page using the HTML Creator functionality in future and the margin spacing will be retained.
3) Other solutions to this problem can include using a Cascading Style Sheet in order to style the look and feel of pages. ISS offer a training session on improving the look and feel of your e-learning materials which covers this topic, however it will not be repeated again now until the autumn term. In the interim you can find out more of this possible solution by e-mailing ian.calder@kcl.ac.uk
File linkage to templates
When a section is created as a 'rollover', and the option is selected to copy content from the previous instance of the section, the rolled over section is linked to a 'template', which is in effect a copy of the original section content. In order to edit files in the rolled over section it is first necessary to break links to the template:
In Blackboard (WebCT) Vista 3, files linked to templates were shown in italics in File Manager.
Breaking links was achieved using the 'Break Link' button in File Manager.
In Blackboard Vista 8, linked files are no longer italicised, they are indicated by a small green icon to the right of the file name, next to the actionlink.
In Vista 8 terminology, breaking links is now known as 'unsubscribing' and this is done using the 'unsubscribe' option from the actionlink in File Manager.
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