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blackboard support
Frequently Asked Questions about BlackboardBelow are the most common questions asked about getting started with and using Blackboard for Students. If you are an Instructor, please visit the Blackboard for Instructors web page. Use this page as a resource for getting started with Blackboard, and for some of the most common problems accessing and using it. If you are still having problems after reading everything in this page, contact the Help Desk to report the problem. The Basics: What is Blackboard ?Accounts:
I have no Blackboard account. Where do I get one ?
I have multiple accounts in Blackboard. Which is in which class?
How do I Login ?
It never lets me login the first time: I have to do it twice.
I get an error message about SSL not being licensed.
How do I find the course I am supposed to enroll in?
I get an Access Denied error when enrolling in a course.
The course has no Enroll button next to it.
When I try to enroll, it asks me for an Access Code.
I enrolled in the wrong course by mistake. How do I fix that ?
Courses from last term are on the My Courses list. How do I remove them?
CURRENT ISSSUE: I get an error message when trying to open a PDF file.
I can't use the Discussion Board editing box and/or other editing boxes in Internet Explorer.
That didn't work, OR I am using the new Internet Explorer in Microsoft VISTA.
What is Blackboard ?Blackboard is courseware - web based software that is an on-line extension of the classroom. It can contain syllabi, readings, assignments, links and other information that your Professors may post to it. Blackboard is optional; it may or may not be used in a course. Your Professors will tell you if they use Blackboard for a particular course and what method they have set for you to enroll in the course. To use Blackboard, you must first create an account in it. You only need to create an account once, then you can join courses using that account.
Where is Blackboard ?Use a web browser and go to the URL http://blackboard.ups.edu You do not have to be on campus to use Blackboard; it can be reached from anywhere on the web. Browser settings to use Blackboard
I have no Blackboard account. Where do I get one ?Go to the Blackboard site and click on the button that says Create Account.
I have multiple accounts in Blackboard. Which is in which class?You should have only one account in Blackboard, with the same Username as your UPS network login id.
Do not create a new account if you can't remember your password, see forgot my password below.
If you have more than account, this will confuse you and your Instructors, since you will not be sure of which account is enrolled in which course, and your
Instructors will not know which account to email, give grades to, and my may enroll any one of your user names in a class and not others.
Contact the Blackboard Administrator via the Help Desk to have this cleared up.
How do I Login ?You only need to create an account once, the first time. After that you will always use the Login button when you want to access Blackboard:
which will take you to the Login box where you enter your username and password (see picture below.)
What should my password be ?Another password !? Yes, another password. But you can use this one from anywhere on the Internet to login to Blackboard, not just on the UPS network; that's why there's a separate password.
I forgot my password !On the login page below the Username: and Password: form boxes, click the link that says
Forgot password?.
How do I change my password ?To change your password, click the Personal Information link on Tools box on the upper left side on the main My Blackboard screen.
Then choose the Change Password option. Remember that this password is separate from and is not coordinated with
your network password. It can be anything you want and does not expire.
It never lets me login the first time: I have to do it twice.This happens when you have set a Favorite in Internet Explorer to the Blackboard Login page instead of the first Blackboard portal page. Blackboard and IE disagree about cookie security, so it makes you do it twice. Delete that favorite and make one to the first portal page instead, the page you start at when you go to
blackboard.ups.edu. (Yes, this is annoying since you have to click the Login button on this portal page just to get to the real login screen, but it's better than retyping your name and password every time.)
I get an error message about SSL not being licensed.If you get an error message when you try to login that "SSL is not licensed," it will look like this:
How do I find the course I am supposed to enroll in?Your Instructor will give you the Course ID and Title of the course in class. These are not always the same as the official registrar ID and title of the course. Double check them when searching. >> Important Reminder: Blackboard course account and course enrollment are not connected in any way to the
Registrar's official enrollment in a class. You must be officially registered in a course before enrolling in it in Blackboard. "Enrolling" in a class in Blackboard does not mean you are actually enrolled in the course itself, just that you are using Blackboard for that course.
I see an “Access Denied” error when I click on the title of the course I want to enroll in.
If you see that message, you clicked on the wrong thing. Do not click on the course link to enroll in a course, instead click the Enroll button on the far right side of the course name when enrolling in a new course.
The course has no Enroll button next to it.If you find the course on the list, but it has no Enroll button way out on the right hand side it means the Instructor has not turned on Self Enrollment for students, but instead has Instructor enrollment. Only the Instructor can enroll you in the course, so contact your Instructor. However, if the Instructor says the course is set to Self Enrollment but no Enroll button shows up, then ask the Instructor to check the Enrollment dates on the course to make sure they are correct. Check to see that other students can enroll as well.
When I try to enroll, it asks me for an Access Code.Access Codes are optional and may have been set by your Instructor for this course; if so, your Instructor will have given you this Access Code during class, and you will need it to enroll in Blackboard. Contact them if you don't have it.
The Access Code is used to help prevent enrolling in the wrong class by mistake. If your Instructor did not mention an Access Code for this course, then check that you are enrolling in the correct one: double-check the course id, name and the Instructor.
I enrolled in the wrong course by mistake. How do I fix that ?You cannot remove yourself from a course. Contact the Instructor for the course you enrolled in by mistake and ask them to remove you from the course list.
Courses from last term are on the My Courses list. How do I remove them?You cannot remove them permanently, but you can at least stop them from showing up. Click the little pencil icon on the right hand of the 'My Courses' box. This will lead you to a screen where you can check or uncheck the items you want listed.
Out of courtesy, you should contact the Instructor for that course and inform them that the course is still available in Blackboard, even though the course is over. Instructors should make courses unavailable at the end of each term, so they do not show up on the student's My Courses menu or the Course list.
I get an error message when trying to open a PDF fileYou might see this message when you try to open a PDF through Blackboard: The file is damaged and could not be repaired. Don’t worry, the file you are trying to open is not actually damaged. This error message is misleading. The HelpDesk is aware of the problem and is working to fix it. It is caused by a conflict with Microsoft updates that effects the way browsers open PDF files. The workaround to this is to SAVE the file to your computer instead of trying to open it inside the browser. Do this:
The error message appears on some computers and not on others — it has nothing to do with the file itself. It tends to happen on larger files.
I can't use the Discussion Board editing box and/or other editing boxes in Internet Explorer.If you are having problems with certain editing boxes, such as Discussion Boards, Dropboxes, etc., showing up in Blackboard when using Internet Explorer as your browser, this is because of the security settings that your browser has set. This problem will sometimes occur in places where Blackboard sends Internet Explorer a special version of an edit box, using Internet Explorer's proprietary method called Active-X. (There is unfortunately no way to turn this off in Blackboard itself). This problem will not occur with Firefox, Safari, Opera or other browsers. Firefox on both Mac and Windows is officially supported by OIS, so if you are having lots of issues with IE, considering installing Firefox as your browser. How to fix this:You need to add the UPS web sites to your trusted sites list. 1. In your browser's menu, choose Tools > Internet Options > and click the Security tab, then click the Sites button:
2. You are now at the Trusted Sites list. Enter in *.ups.edu as the site name, then click the Add button. You should see it now show up on the list in the white box. 3. Then UNCHECK the green check mark in the little checkbox in the lower left that says "Require server verification..." (It will not work without this, so be sure to un check it.)
4. When done, click Ok twice. That's it.
That didn't work, OR I am using the the new Internet Explorer in Microsoft VISTA.If the above does not work, or if you are using Internet Explorer on the new Microsoft VISTA (which is not yet supported by Blackboard), you will need to turn off the special editing boxes altogether and use the basic editing boxes, as follows:
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