| Common Question or Comment | Response |
| Why can't I send emails in HTML format? | While sending HTML formatted emails is not currently possible, we are working hard to complete the next upgrade to Blackboard, at which point, you will be able to send emails in HTML format. |
| Why can't I send emails with custom subject headings (i.e. without CMS course number as the prefix)? | Blackboard uses the Course ID in the subject line of every message, and appends the user's subject after a ":". This feature is not configurable on Blackboard but does help distinguish emails that are course related. Most email clients can be configured to scan for specific text and move emails to folders based on content. This feature would allow users to create email folders for each class. |
| How can I send emails to select groups of students? | Instructors and TAs in a course site can create groups and use
those groups to email students. Once a group is created, you can select
"Email a Group" from the email section of the course site. To send an email to the group, follow these steps: Send Email > Single Select Groups |
| When I send an email using Blackboard, I receive multiple copies of that message. | When sending an email to large courses, CMS/Blackboard creates several copies of the message and sends them separately so that the email servers don't get overloaded or falsely identify the message as SPAM. The result is that the sender gets a copy of each one of those batches. This will be fixed in future releases of the Blackboard system. |
| Adding users without an NU email address is tricky. | CMS/Blackboard is secure because it is based on the NU NetID. NetIDs are generally associated with NU email addresses and if not, can always have a Northwestern alias setup to forward emails to an off-campus address. For more information about email and NetIDs please contact NUIT at 847.491.4357. |
| How can I issue grades to my students by groups (i.e. in a large lecture with many sections graded by individual TAs)? | If this is an issue for your course, please contact CMS Support at 847.491.4044. There are some manual solutions related to combined courses that we can dicuss. |
| How can I copy tests and quizzes to a new course site? | You can follow these steps to copy tests, quizzes, content, or settings to your new course site: Copy Course Materials Into a New Course > Check "Tests, Surveys, and Pools" |
| I would like to copy a site with all features closed until I make them available. | When a course is copied, the availability of items are reset. By default, everything is available. Therefore, our recommendation is to break the content down using the course menu. For example, by week or by unit. That way you can turn off the entire weeks content via "Manage Course Menu". Please see this page for more detail. |
| Why do I have to upload files one at a time to my CMS course site? I would like to upload a whole folder at once. | In order to upload an entire folder to your CMS site, you will
need to compress the folder by saving it as a .zip file and then upload
it. The following steps will upload
all content in a folder at once. To compress the folder: Select the desired folder > Right Click > Send to > Compressed (zipped) Folder To upload a .zip file: Go to the Control Panel > Select the desired content area > Use pull-down in the upper right corner to select "Document Package" > Click "Go" > Upload .zip file |
| I would like to download assignments from the Digital Dropbox together, rather than one-by-one. | There another feature of CMS/Blackboard that provides this functionality. It is called the Assignment tool. It is available to put into any content area of your course site by selecting it from the drop down menu in the upper right hand corner of the content area page. For more information please see this page. |
| I would like to manage my Digital Dropbox by groups. | The best way to achieve this functionality would be to use
either the file exchange feature in the Groups pages or to create an
Assignment in a content area that is only accessible to certain groups.
To restrict access to a certain content area for a specific group you will need to use Adaptive Release. For more information about how to use Adaptive Release please see this page. |
| I would like to see a student view so I may simulate what a student sees when he uses the course site. | CMS/Blackboard has taken steps to help simulate the student view for instructors. Currently, the instructor has virtually the same view as the student. The only notable difference is the availability of the Control Panel. Students do not see this link, but instructors have it available to alter the content of their site. |
| I would like to add student pictures to CMS site. | Student pictures can be viewed here by the instructor using CAESAR. |
| Some of my students use an email address other than their NU address, so they do not receive emails via CMS. | Any student can use email forwarding to have their NU email sent to any email address they choose. For more information about email forwarding please this page. |
| I would like to see visual tutorials on the CMS Help website. | We are happy to announce that we have begun providing animated,
visual tutorials on the website. So
far, we have provided video tutorials on the following topics: •Making a course site available •Changing the course site name •Changing the way courses are listed at log-in If there are other tasks, or procedures you'd like to see animated please let us know. |
| I would like to see CMS workshops targeted toward specific departments. | We would be happy to work with your department to schedule specific and directed training sessions. Please contact CMS Support at 847.491.4044 to schedule a training session. |
| I have been experiencing problems using Blackboard with Microsoft Vista. | Blackboard has certified future versions of their system to work with Vista. We hope to upgrade later this year to help our Vista users. |
| The last Blackboard upgrade was scheduled for three days after my course's final exam. I would like to see upgrades scheduled at more convenient times. | CMS/Blackboard is now in use by nearly 24,000 users, and around 5,000 active course sites per year. Some of these courses are year long and exams, and intercessions aren't synchronous with other courses or departments. The week after Spring finals has shown to have to least impact to our users. There is no good time to take CMS/Blackboard down for an upgrade, but we do our best to listen to the concerns of our users and plan around them. |