Known issues, troubleshooting tips, and workarounds related to the various links in found beneath the File Manager tool, which appears on the Designer Toolbar.
Also included on this list will be known issues related to using, uploading, or working with specific types of files (HTML, PDF, Office 2007 Word, PowerPoint, Excel files, etc.)
Key: fixed | awaiting feedback from Bb | to be fixed in a future release
| Issue | Reported by | Notes or workarounds | Attachments/ instructions |
Report Date | Status |
| Files created on a Mac are not being automatically recognized and opened on a PC, in the appropriate application (i.e., Word, PowerPoint, Acrobat Reader) | T. Krutt |
When saving a file in Microsoft Office for Mac 2008, the box in front of “Append file extension” must be checked for the file extension (i.e., .doc, .pdf, etc.) to be added at the end of the filename (i.e., syllabus.doc). The file extension must be present for the documents to open successfully on a PC. |
4/20/11 | see notes to fix the problem. | |
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With the update to Bb 8.0.4, a new warning message has been placed in the File Manager for instructors as shown below.
Warning: Files in File Manager can be accessed by any user in the course even if there are no direct links to them. If you need to keep files private, save them in My Files.
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As the Warning Message implies, any file that is in the section files area is considered “public”. Instructor Files are only considered “private” if they reside in the My Files area.
However, the only way a student can access the “public” course files that have no links to them within the course is through WebDav with excessive manipulation to the url. Our WebDav functionality has been defunct since the time we went to Luminis (myCommNet) Single Sign-on.
So this warning message does not apply to our Bb system.
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9/7/10 | |||
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Error messages when trying to upload larger files, such as .ppt and .bak files. Message on PC says "Socket Error". Message on Mac says "Broken Pipe".
Happens in Get Files (faculty and admin) and in Restoring Backups (admin). |
Blackboard support said, "Being that you are on a cluster, there is potential that it's the load balancer, could be it's not handling sessions properly and tossing sessions back and forth between nodes."
In all instances, the files have been successfully uploaded at a later time, perhaps when there's less people/events on the system. |
10-24-08 | |||
| After copying a section from one semester to another, some of the HTML files were not editable and were marked as "subscriptions". | To break the subscription, go to the File Manager, click on the action link for that file and choose "Unsubscribe". | See attachment on how to "Unsubscribe". | See notes for fix. | ||
| Unable to use Web Folders in File Manager because of username/password prompt. | several | With the upgrade to Bb Vista 8.1, users reported that they now were prompted for a username/password when trying to use the Web Folders functionality. Since myCommNet scrambles passwords, we can no longer use this in an integrated environment. |
Alternative is to zip and upload folders and then extract them into File Manager. Check the videos and docs on the 60 Second Vista website for specific instructions. |
mid-August '08 | No fix available; |
| Users who are using the Internet Explorer web browser are kicked out of Bb Vista course sections and back to My Blackboard when trying to open Office 2007 (and sometimes other) files. | several | Users can change a setting in IE to permanently prevent this problem, or use a keyboard shortcut to temporarily bypass the issue when opening an Office 2007 (or other) document. |
Instructions for Fix to change IE settings.
Alternatively, users can simply hold down the CTRL key when clicking on a Word, Powerpoint, Excel or other document. This bypasses the information bar and enables users to simply open or save the document.
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unknown fix status | |
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