We document known issues and solutions/workarounds to assist the community with common problems. ISS continuously works to maximize the online experience. Our goal is to resolve any technical difficulty as quickly as possible. ISS appreciates the information provided by end-users as a means to collect data that will aid in quick resolution in the online environment. Please contact the Helpdesk for assistance if any technical difficulties occur in the online environment at helpdesk@twu.edu or 940-898-3971. If necessary, the Helpdesk will escalate calls requiring technical diagnostics/assistance. For common
Our recommended browser for Windows is Internet Explorer 8. For those running Mac OSX, we recommend Safari.
| Subject Area | Description | Recommendation/Further Information | Date Posted |
| Assignments - group assignment error message | When submitting a group assignment, a student may see an error message that states something similar to the following: "Another user may already be working on this submission. Last recorded activity: ..." followed by the name of another student. The other named student may or may not be in the course. | The error message may be safely ignored, and the student should submit the assignment as usual. | 2/24/2012 |
| Campus Pack wiki links in Groups | Attempting to access a Group Wiki results in an Unknown Content Item error message. | If the link between a group and its wiki is interrupted the first time the wiki is generated, the link will permanent be broken and result in an Unknown Content Item error. However, students are still able to access their group's wiki through the Campus Pack Collaboration Space. To do so, select Tools in the Course Menu and click on Campus Pack Collaboration Space on the tools page. Students will be able to view any Campus Pack item which they have been given permission to see. | 10/17/2011 |
| Grade Center - cannot delete a column | After copying a course, instructors cannot delete a Grade Center column even though it is not tied to a graded discussion board, assignment, or test nor is it set to be the external grade. | This issue is a result of having copied a Grade Center column which continues to point to a graded discussion board, assignment, or test in the course from which it was copied, making the column undeletable.
For the time being, we recommend creating a "Not in Use" grading period by clicking on Manage in the Grade Center and selecting Grading Periods. On the Grading Period page, you will be able to Create Grading Period. After doing so, click on the action link in the column header and select Edit Column Information. On the resulting page, make the following edits:
Click Submit to save these changes. To hide the column from your Grade Center view as well, click on the action link in the column header once again and select Hide Column, or hide multiple columns by clicking on Manage then Column Organization. On the Column Organization page, you can select multiple columns at once then opting to Hide Selected Columns on the Show/Hide button. |
10/24/2011 |
| Grade Center - cannot hide a column | When instructors attempt to hide columns from their Grade Center view using the Hide Column action link dropdown, the column remains visible. | Grade Center columns can also be hidden from the Grade Center view using the Column Organization tool. To do so, click on the Manage button in the Grade Center and select Column Organization. Select the columns you would like to hide by clicking in the checkbox to the left of their row, and then click on the Show/Hide button and select Hide Selected Columns. To finalize changes, click on the Submit button. | 1/19/2012 |
| Grade Center Grading Attempts | When selecting the option to Grade Attempts in a column, instructors are only allowed to grade a portion of students rather than all students. | Click on the First Name column title in the Grade Center so that students are ordered by their first name before Grading Attempts. Since the Grade Attempts ordering is based on First Name, this will allow you to grade all students. | 10/17/2011 |
| Grade Center sorting | The Grade Center only sorts by last name, not last name then first name. | For a temporary resolution, clicking on the First Name column header then clicking on the Last Name column header will have the column sort correctly until the user exits the course and re-enters the course. | edited 10/24/2011 |
| Grading TurnItIn assignments | Attempting to grade TurnItIn assignments through the Grade Center results in a Java null error. | Access these assignments through the Control Panel. To do so, click on Course Tools in the Control Panel and select TurnItIn Assignments. Click on View to see a listing of student submissions for an assignment and to be able to grade them. | 10/17/2011 |
| PDF files do not open | Students are unable to view PDF files when they are not set to Open in New Window | PDF files that are linked to using Build Content>>File should be created with the Open in New Window option enabled.
To change the setting for a file link that has already been created, click on the action link next to the file's name in its content area and select Edit. On the resulting page, select the option to Open in New Window and click on Submit. |
1/31/2012 |
| PDF files do not open for Mac OSX users. | Students are unable to view PDF files using Firefox or Safari in Mac OSX. | For Safari users: Adobe has a solution description at http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/333/333545.html
For Firefox users: Macworld magazine has a solution description at http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20110622163401497 Instructors who want to avoid this issue can also attach files using Build Content>>Item so that Mac OSX users can command-click and save the files to their computer so that they may open the file outside their browser. |
edited 9/8/2011 |
| Microsoft Office links in Blackboard | Clicking on a link to a Microsoft Office document in Blackboard results in an Access to this web server is disabled... pop-up message. |
Save the document locally to your computer, and open it from the local copy. To do so, right-click on the document link and select the option to Save Target As...
Microsoft has a fix for this issue located at |
edited 10/24/2011 |
| Microsoft Office links in Campus Pack | Clicking on a link to a Microsoft Office document in Campus Pack results in a Campus Pack login page. | Save the document locally to your computer, and open it from the local copy. To do so, right-click on the document link and select the option to Save Target As...
Microsoft has a fix for this issue located at |
edited 10/24/2011 |
| Self-Enroll Group Sets | Attempting to edit a Self-Enroll Group Set results in a Cannot convert....of type class java.lang.String to class blackboard.base.FormattedText error message. | There is no recommendation at this time for self-enroll group sets which have already been created with a group set description. For the time being, we recommend not adding descriptions to Self-Enroll group sets. Description can instead be added to the individual groups in a group set. | 10/17/2011 |
| Students unable to see course | When courses have a course duration set, students are unable to see the course in their course list and cannot access it even when the course is made available. | Set the course duration to continuous and control the course availability by turning availability on and off. To access these properties, click on Customization in the Control Panel and select Properties. | 1/17/2012 |
page last updated 2/29/2012 3:38 PM