Research

Internet Explorer 7 and Blackboard

Issue: The Visual Text Box Editor may not function properly when using the IE 7 browser.
Symptom: The formatting and content controls will appear, but the text box itself will appear broken. This in turn may cause problems with certain functions that utilize the Text Box Editor, such as Content items, Discussion Board postings, Quizzes, etc.

Option 2:

Add Blackboard to your list of "Trusted Sites" in Internet Explorer 7
(If you do want to use the Visual Text Box Editor)
  1. Login to Blackboard.
  2. Navigate to a page that uses the Visual Text Box Editor.
  3. Determine if the Blackboard server is in the list of Trusted Sites:
    • When accessing Blackboard, a green check mark will appear in the Status Bar with the label "Trusted Sites". Your browser is configured properly; no need to continue.
    • If Restricted Sites (a red circle icon) or Internet (a globe icon) appears instead, the Blackboard server must be added to the list of Trusted Sites. Continue to Step 4.
  4. Double-click the Status Bar where the Restricted Sites or the Internet icon appears. The Internet Security Properties box will open.
  5. Click on the Trusted Sites icon under the Select a zone to view or change security settings heading. Click Sites to open the Trusted Sites box.
  6. The URL for the Blackboard server should appear in the Add this website to the zone text box. If not, enter the URL that is used to access Blackboard in the text box (see Step 6).
  7. Enter http://blackboard.ship.edu
  8. Click Add.
  9. Click Close.
  10. Click OK on the Internet Security Properties box.
  11. Refresh the page.
  12. A message may appear in the Internet Explorer Information Bar:
    "This website wants to run the following add-on: 'Microsoft (R) Dynamic HTML Editing Control' from 'Microsoft Corporation'. If you trust the website and the add-on and want to allow it to run, click here..."
  13. Click the message and select Run ActiveX Control from the context menu.
  14. Click Run in the Security Warning box.
  15. The Visual Text Box Editor is now configured to operate correctly within this browser.
Java Plug-in in Blackboard 7.1

Blackboard recommends that version 1.5 of the Java 2 Runtime Environment is used when working with the Collaboration Tools and the Visual Text box Editor in Blackboard 7.0. Currently, version JRE 1.6 is not supported by Blackboard. For more information click here.

Blackboard Issues under Windows Vista

Currently, Blackboard has not certified Windows Vista. For more information, click here.