Support

LMS Known Issues

LMS Issue 032: Inserting HTML with Text Editor off

Some browsers are now encoding HTML content when entered with the Text Editor switched off. This results in the HTML appearing as code instead of the desired styling.

Workaround: Use the HTML mode with the Text Editor on (the '<>' symbol) to maintain hand-coded styling.

LMS Issue 031: Adding a SlideShare presentation

The SlideShare mash up tool is currently not returning results from searches. Existing SlideShare links are functional.

Workaround: Use the web interface to SlideShare to find a presentation and add a direct link to the presentation using Build Content -> URL.

LMS Issue 030: Group assignments

If a group assignment is still available within the subject when staff start marking, students will be able to open the assignment again and see their grades and feedback, even if this column has been hidden from students in the Grade Centre.

Workaround: Edit the group assignment and make it unavailable to students once assignments have been submitted and before marking takes place.

LMS Issue 029: Permissions on group wikis (blogs and podcasts)

RESOLVED: 1 January 2013

If a student is a member of more than one group and they are the first member of their group to write in a group wiki, the permissions on the wiki are set to the first of that student's groups alphabetically. This blocks other students in that group from accessing the wiki unless they are also in the first student's first alphabetical group.

Example: Sally is a student in two groups - 'Project A' and 'Ballarat field trip'. Tom is a student in two groups - 'Project A' (with Sally) and 'Shepparton field trip'. All the project groups are using a wiki, and Sally is the first student in the 'Project A' group to click the group wiki. This action should set the permissions to 'Project A' so both Sally and Tom can access the wiki. Instead, permissions are set to 'Ballarat Field Trip' because 'B' comes before 'P' alphabetically. Sally is able to access the wiki since she is also a member of the 'Ballarat Field Trip' group, but Tom is not a member of the 'Ballarat Field Trip' group so he receives an 'Access Denied' error, preventing him from accessing the group wiki.

Workaround: After the first student in the group accesses the wiki, instructors can modify the permissions (see guide). It is not possible to modify the permissions prior to the first student accessing each group wiki.

LMS ISSUE 028 : Self enrol group sets

When a staff member manually edits a self-enrol group (e.g. to remove or add a student), then all staff will be unable to see that group when Edit Mode is OFF.

Workaround: Check that self-enrol groups are appearing correctly for students by logging in with your student view account.

LMS ISSUE 027 : Adding external links

When adding an external link to the subject menu and pasting a web address into the URL field by right-clicking the mouse, the 'submit' button is not available.

Workaround: After pasting the URL edit the text slightly (add and remove a space, for example) and the 'submit' button will appear. Alternately, use a keyboard shortcut to paste (Ctrl+v).

LMS ISSUE 026 : Guest access not working

Guest access to LMS subjects is not currently working. When guests try to access a subject they can get in initially, but are presented with a login screen or an error upon clicking elsewhere.

Workaround: No known workaround at this stage. Technical teams are investigating.

LMS ISSUE 025 : Grade Centre fails to load and shows a spinning icon

RESOLVED: 1 January 2013

The LMS maintenance on 12 Dec 2011 involved installation of an upgraded version of the LMS. To take advantage of these new features, it is necessary to clear the browser cache or stale information will be presented in the browser, causing the Grade Centre to not load.

Workaround: Clear the cache in the browser and login again.

LMS ISSUE 024 : Login fails due to redirect error

Some browsers display a warning that "the page isn't redirecting properly" or similar when users try to login to the LMS. This can be caused by stale information in the browser not being cleared effectively between sessions.

Workaround: Clear both the cache and the cookies in the browser and login again. Note that active sessions in other web sites may be impacted.

LMS ISSUE 023 : Grade Centre column statistics ignore H1 letter grades

RESOLVED: 12 December 2011

When the primary display for a Grade Centre column is set to "Letter", the column statistics do not include the number of H1 grades in the distribution. Blackboard engineers are aware of this issue and it will be fixed in a future update.

Workaround: Use an alternate primary grade format for the Grade Centre column.

LMS ISSUE 022 : Selecting 'Needs Grading' in the Control Panel presents an error message

When staff click Control Panel >> Grade Centre >> Needs Grading, an error message is presented instead of the expected list of assessment tasks. This occurs when one or more Grade Centre columns have not been assigned a category. Blackboard engineers are aware of this issue and it will be fixed in a future update.

Workaround: In the Grade Centre, click Manage >> Column Organisation to quickly see which columns require a category. For any column assigned No Category, select the checkbox and click the Change Category To... button. Select a category from the list, then click Submit. When all columns have a category, the Needs Grading tool will work as expected.
Follow a walkthrough of this process

LMS ISSUE 021 : Error when downloading assignments using IE

RESOLVED: 12 December 2011

When downloading an assignment file from the Grade Centre using Internet Explorer, the resulting .ZIP file is invalid. Blackboard engineers are aware of this issue and it will be fixed in a future update.

Workaround: Assignment ZIP files can be downloaded using a different browser, such as Firefox, Chrome or Safari.

LMS ISSUE 020 : Unable to create test in the LMS

RESOLVED: 12 December 2011

Users are sometimes unable to create a test in the LMS:

  1. In a subject, go to a content area
  2. Click CREATE ASSESSMENT >> TEST
  3. Click CREATE

This is usually successful but sometimes results in an error message.

Workaround: Repeated attempts may bring success.
This issue is acknowledged by BlackBoard and is scheduled to be fixed in a future update.

LMS ISSUE 019 : Notification emails displays error when not logged in

RESOLVED: 12 December 2011

If not logged in, clicking links in Notification Email's throw the following error message rather than being directed to the log in screen:
"Access Denied
Either you are not logged in or you do not have the appropriate privileges to perform this action. You may have access to other parts of the course.
"

No workaround is currently available: This issue is acknowledged by BlackBoard and is scheduled to be fixed in a future update.

LMS ISSUE 018 : Cannot access Turnitin with Internet Explorer 7

It is not possible to submit an assignment to Turnitin when using Internet Explorer 7. Although IE7 is listed as a supported browser for both the LMS and Turnitin, IE7 users trying to access Turnitin see an error message - Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage. Turnitin engineers are investigating the issue.

Workaround: Turnitin can still be accessed using a different browser such as IE8, IE9, Firefox, Chrome or Safari.

LMS ISSUE 017 : Submission date for Group Assignment incorrectly shows date the document was saved

RESOLVED: 12 December 2011

When a Group Assignment is saved as a draft before submission, the submission date reported in "View Group Attempt" and "Needs Grading" incorrectly shows the date the document was saved, not submitted. Blackboard engineers are aware of this issue and it will be fixed in a future update.

Workaround: In the Grade Centre, mouse over the assignment submission for any student in the group, and from the pull-down menu, select "View Grade Details". The date shown on this page is the accurate submission timestamp.

LMS ISSUE 016 : Changing names of Groups creates duplicate wikis/blogs/journals/podcast feeds

Once you have created groups and made blogs, wikis, journals or podcast feeds based on those groups, revising any group names causes the creation of duplicate blog, wiki, journal or podcast feeds. Enrolled group members may have
1) access to multiple versions of their group’s activities, or
2) be restricted to the latest version and unable to access previous posts, or
3) be unable to access any of the group blogs/wikis/journals/podcast feeds.
This is a technical issue currently under investigation through consultation with the software provider.

Workaround: Don’t change the group names once they have been created. If you have encountered any of these issues in your subject, please contact the LMS Academic Support team.

LMS ISSUE 015 : External user tool creates multiple accounts for same person

RESOLVED: 15 August 2011

The External User Management tool should create one account for one person, regardless of how many subjects they’re participating in, by recognising the email address from a previous account creation. This is not occurring, so multiple accounts are being created for external users in more than one subject/community (eg: ex.user & ex.user1). This is obviously inconvenient for affected users and ITS are working to resolve the issue.

Workaround: Affected external users should contact the LMS Academic Support team for manual manipulation of external user accounts into appropriate subjects.

LMS ISSUE 014 : "My Calendar" module displays incorrect date format

RESOLVED: 12 December 2011

The "My Calendar" module should display the event in the format <start time> - <end time> on <date>. It is actually display in the format <start time> - <end time> on <start time>. Blackboard engineers are aware of this issue and it will be fixed in a future update.

Workaround: Include the event date on the first line of the description field.

LMS ISSUE 013 : Links to named anchors in the same page

RESOLVED: 12 December 2011

Links created inside a content area that go to targets in the same page (e.g.: <a href="#top">Back to top</a> ) do not work.

Workaround: This issue will be resolved in the next update of the LMS (due in October).
In the meantime there are suggested workarounds.

LMS ISSUE 012 : Cohort subjects' redirect link.

RESOLVED: 12 December 2011

In some subjects, a student may view a message stating the subject contents are being delivered in a different subject, and a redirect link is provided to that subject.  Upon clicking the redirect link, the student is presented with an error message: "Error: Document not found. Check to make sure that you entered the URL correctly.".  This is due to the LMS upgrade changing how subject redirect links work.  ITS are working to resolve this issue.

Workaround:  Students can click the "Subjects" or "My Home" tab inside the LMS, then select the subject they’re attempting to access.

LMS ISSUE 011 : Calendar shows date offset by one day

When viewing the calendar to set dates for content availability, the days of the week are offset by one day, and there are no dates in the Sunday column. This only affects Internet Explorer when 'Compatibility View' is turned on. It is a calendar display issue only, and the content will be released based on the selected date, not the day.

Workaround:  Turn 'Compatibility View' off, or use a different browser.

LMS ISSUE 010 : Links and permissions

RESOLVED: 12 December 2011

If your subject is copied from last year/semester, the files linked to items may not be viewable by the current cohort of students.  The alternative is to manually edit the permissions for all linked files.

Workaround: You should edit permissions in the Content Collection directly, by clicking the permissions icon for any file/folder. A guide for setting correct permissions.

If you need urgent assistance to check, please contact the LMS Academic Support team via the Helpdesk form, supplying full details of the subject ID and name, and any known problematic files.

LMS ISSUE 009 : 'Check Subject Links' tool is currently not available

RESOLVED: 1 January 2013

The 'Check Subject Links' tool in the Control Panel is not available in the upgraded LMS.

LMS ISSUE 008 : Grade Centre doesn't show grades in past subject

RESOLVED: 22 August 2011

Attempting to view a subject Grade Centre last viewed before the upgrade may show an error message (errorParsingDataMsg ... TypeError: Objects doesn't support this action) instead of the expected rows and columns. This is due to a mismatch between the increased security settings on the new LMS Grade Centre, and your browser presenting a pre-upgrade cached version of the Grade Centre.

Workaround: Log out of the LMS, clear your browser's cache and cookies, close and re-open your browser, then log into the LMS again.

LMS ISSUE 007 : Dragging announcements

RESOLVED: 12 December 2011

The grey bar on the Announcements page stating 'New announcements appear below this line' may disappear if dragged below the last announcement on the page.

Workaround: Create a new announcement and the positioning bar will reappear.

LMS ISSUE 006 : In unavailable subjects, menu items are falsely marked as 'hidden from students'

RESOLVED: 21 July 2011

When a subject is unavailable, and Edit Mode is ON, staff see menu items incorrectly marked as 'This link is hidden from students'. When Edit Mode is OFF, the menu items are hidden. This affects unavailable subjects only but can cause confusion during subject construction. When the subject is made available to students, the menu items are correctly shown. Blackboard engineers are aware of this issue and it will be fixed in a future update.

Workaround: It is possible to briefly make a subject available to confirm specific menu items will be shown to students, by clicking CONTROL PANEL >> CUSTOMISATION >> PROPERTIES >> SUBJECT AVAILABILITY.
Note that this will allow students to view the subject so care should be taken to make the subject unavailable again once the behaviour of the menu items have been confirmed.

LMS ISSUE 005 : Designers cannot access unavailable subjects.

RESOLVED: 15 July 2011

Blackboard engineers are aware of this problem and it will be fixed in a future update.

Workaround 1: Subject coordinators can use the Staff Role Management tool in the subject Control Panel to enrol a username as a Tutor instead of Designer. Note: This gives permission to access the Grade Centre.

Workaround 2: Faculty support staff enrolled as Designers in numerous subjects should contact the LMS Academic Support team for assistance.

LMS ISSUE 004 : HTML files as subject content need to be displayed in an iframe

RESOLVED: 1 January 2013

Using an 'external link' in a subject menu item will obscure the subject menu and control panel after the upgrade.
If the subject entry page is an 'external link' access to both the subject menu and the control panel will immediately be obscured.

Cause: LMS version 8 displayed content in 3 frames, top, left and main. LMS version 9 displays content in 2, top and main.

Workaround: Replace any 'external link' subject menu items with a new content type 'Create Blank Page', inwhich an HTML iframe element is embedded. The original HTML file is displayed inside the iframe.

A guide explaining how to perform this task is available here.

LMS ISSUE 003 : Students with the same last name are not sorted correctly in Grade Centre

RESOLVED: 12 December 2011

Students with the same last name are not sorted in the correct alphabetical order in the Grade Centre.  They appear sorted by last name, but when you look at the corresponding first names, they are actually not sorted.

Workaround: When entering grades into the Grade Centre, staff should always thoroughly check the identity of students who have the same last name to ensure grades are appropriately allocated.  Student numbers are unique and will help you distinguish between students with the same last name.
Blackboard engineers are aware of this issue and it will be fixed in a future update.

LMS ISSUE 002 : Copy forward subjects don't include staff profile images

RESOLVED: 1 January 2013

When a subject is nominated using the 'copy forward' method based on a subject created prior to the mid-2011 LMS upgrade, images on the Staff Information page will not be successfully copied, and broken image icons will appear instead.

Workaround: Download the staff profile images from the original subject to your computer, then upload them to the new subject using Staff Information >> Edit.

LMS ISSUE 001 : Copy forward subjects don't include subject banners

RESOLVED: 1 January 2013

When a subject is nominated using the 'copy forward' method based on a subject created prior to the mid-2011 LMS upgrade, the banner image will not be successfully copied, and a broken image icon will appear instead.

Workaround 1: Download the subject banner from the original subject to your computer, then upload it to the new subject using Control Panel >> Customisation >> Style.

Workaround 2: Create a new banner using the updated range of images in the LMS Banner Creation tool which have been designed to better suit the new LMS layout.