Blackboard Student FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Contents
Accessing Blackboard: Username / Password / Internet issues
- What is a username?
- I subscribed today and received an iSolutions username and password. However I cannot log into Blackboard. Why?
- Can I access Blackboard from outside of the University?
- What if I forget my password? There used to be a link for resetting a forgotten password on Blackboard, this has disappeared. What should I do?
- I get a "No authentication credentials were provided with the request" error when I enter my username and password. What should I do?
- When I log on I get a "challenge token null" error and then have to log on for a second time. Why is this?
- Sometimes when I am using Blackboard Internet Explorer asks me if I want to display secure and non-secure items. What does this mean and how can I get rid of the error message?
- I use AOL (America On Line) at home and I am having problems accessing Blackboard.
- Since I added Service Pack 2 to Microsoft XP I receive notices that a "Pop-Up" has been blocked when I try to launch the Virtual Classroom or Lightweight Chat (collaboration).
- Whenever I go to a page in Blackboard that contains a text box I am asked to insert a Microsoft Office CD-Rom. Why is this? What should I do?
- When I log into Blackboard the My Courses box states "Please wait while module information is loaded..."
Course Access Issues
- I used the online enrolment at http://www.enrol.soton.ac.uk/ and have enrolled onto my courses. However when I look in Blackboard I cannot find them. What can I do?
- I've logged into Blackboard but I don't know how to enrol onto my courses.
- I have accidentally self-enrolled myself onto the wrong course through Blackboard (not through University student enrolment), is there any way that I can remove myself?
Using Blackboard
- Sometimes when I am using Blackboard, a page takes a while to appear on my computer and then a Java Warning box appears. What should I do?
- When I try to upload a file to a Blackboard assignment I get an error message stating "Please select a valid file". How do I get my file uploaded?
- I set Blackboard into another language, but now I’m not sure how to set it back to English.
- I tried to enter some text in a textbox, but when I submit the text it dissappears! What's going on?
- How can I tidy the My University of Southampton screen so that I only see the announcements and courses I want to see?
- When I try to access a Discussion Board I receive an error message stating that my web browser does not support I-FRAMES. How do I fix this so that I can use a Blackboard Discussion Board?
- I'm having problems printing and saving files from Blackboard. What can I do?
- When trying to read documents on Blackboard I get a message saying Server error message 403: forbidden, having clicked on OK I receive another error An API exited abnormally. I have OpenOffice installed on my computer and do not use Microsoft Office.
- The text is too small on Blackboard how can I make it larger?
- The Blackboard course I use has a lot of Word, PowerPoint and / or Adobe Acrobat files. I would like to view these at home but do not have software that can view them. What can I do?
- I need to access a group page in Blackboard, how do I do this?
- I need to use a blog that is in my Blackboard course. What should I do?
- I need to use a wiki that is in my Blackboard course. What should I do?
- I’m meant to be marking certain documents as “reviewed”. How do I do this?
- I have been asked to take a test in Blackboard. I'm not familiar with the this, is there a guide?
- I have been asked to post a message to a Blackboard discussion board, but I don't know how. How does it work?
- I have been asked to submit an assessment (such as an essay) through Blackboard. How do I do this?
- Does Blackboard have a manual I can read?
- I have another question about Blackboard not answered here, who can I ask?
Username / Password Issues
What is a username?
If you are unsure of what a username is please read this page:
I subscribed today and received an iSolutions username and password. However I cannot log into Blackboard. Why?
Blackboard accounts are created within 24 hours of your initial subscription to iSolutions services. Please wait 24 hours after you have subscribed before attempting to access Blackboard.
Can I access Blackboard from outside of the University?
Yes, you can access Blackboard using a web browser and an internet connection from wherever you are, for example at home, at an internet café, at a library etc.
What if I forget my password? There used to be a link for resetting a forgotten password on Blackboard, this has disappeared. What should I do?Remember: Blackboard uses your iSolutions username and password. So if you forget your account details you can reset your password by answering the security questions that you set when you created your iSolutions account. You can do this from the Subscribe website.
I get a "No authentication credentials were provided with the request" error when I enter my username and password. What should I do?
This error is caused by an incorrect security setting on your computer. In order to function, Blackboard needs to be able to execute scripts on your computer. To activate scripts in Internet Explorer, go to the Tools menu -> select Internet Options -> and click on the Security Tab. Now, click on the "Internet" zone icon (the globe) at the top of the screen. Next, click on the Custom Level button at the bottom of the screen. Scroll down the page until you find the Scripting section and be sure Active Scripting is enabled. Blackboard requires scripting to be turned on in order to work correctly, however if you are concerned about this setting you can change it back to the previous setting when you finish using Blackboard.
When I log on I get a "challenge token null" error and then have to log on for a second time. Why is this?
This is usually caused if you use a bookmark or favourite to access Blackboard and the login screen (where you enter your username and password) is bookmarked instead of the front page. If you use a bookmark to access Blackboard make sure it goes to https://blackboard.soton.ac.uk/ and no other page.
Sometimes when I am using Blackboard Internet Explorer asks me if I want to display secure and non- secure items. What does this mean and how can I get rid of the error message?
The University of Southampton Blackboard site is secured with an SSL certificate. This means that sensitive information such as your username and password is encrypted when it travels over the internet. However to make sure you receive the fastest response possible only sensitive parts of the site are encrypted. To stop these messages appearing you can make Blackboard a trusted site by following these instructions:
- In Internet Explorer go the Tools menu at the top middle of the window and select Internet Options.
- Click on the Security tab and select Internet. Click on Custom Level.
- Scroll down to Display mixed content and select Enable.
- Click on OK and and answer Yes to the question "Are you sure you want to change the security settings for this zone?".
- Do the same again for Trusted sites:
- Click on the Security tab and select Trusted Sites. Click on Custom Level.
- Scroll down to Display mixed content and select Enable.
- Click on OK and and answer Yes to the question "Are you sure you want to change the security settings for this zone?".
- Click on the Security tab and then select Trusted sites and click on the Sites button.
- Uncheck 'Require server verification'
- In the Add this Web site to the zone box, type in http://blackboard.soton.ac.uk/ and click on Add.
- Click on OK and then OK again.
- If you are using Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 then under Trusted Sites > Custom Level, make sure that web sites in less privileged web content zone is set to Enable.
I use AOL (America On Line) at home and I am having problems accessing Blackboard.
The web browser built into AOL is not always able to use Blackboard properly. If you use AOL as your Internet Service Provider and experience difficulties accessing Blackboard try following these instructions.
When you wish to access Blackboard, using AOL:
- Activate your dialup or broadband connection with AOL.
- Minimise your AOL window once it has connected.
- Open Microsoft Internet Explorer (there should be a blue E icon for this perhaps on your desktop or quick launch bar).
- Type in to the address bar (i.e. do NOT use a bookmark) the address https://blackboard.soton.ac.uk/ and press Enter.
Since I added Service Pack 2 to Microsoft XP I receive notices that a "Pop-Up" has been blocked when I try to launch the Virtual Classroom or Lightweight Chat (collaboration).
Just below the address bar you should see a line that states "Pop-Up blocked. To see this pop up or additional options click here..." Click on this and select Always allow Pop-Ups from this site.
Whenever I go to a page in Blackboard that contains a text box I am asked to insert a Microsoft Office CD-Rom. Why is this? What should I do?
This issue is typically related to the options selected when Microsoft Office was installed on your computer. When you perform a typical installation of Office 2000, the HTML Source Editing feature is set to Install on First Use. If you browse to a Web page that uses the DHTML Edit control, such as the What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) text editor in Blackboard, the Windows Installer starts to install the HTML Source Editing feature.
Microsoft has published the following article detailing this issue and the resolution: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en- us;304107.
This is not a Blackboard specific issue and further information on this problem may be found on Microsoft's website.
When I log into Blackboard the My Courses box states "Please wait while module information is loaded..."
Follow these instructions to clear your web browser cache http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser's-Cache. When you have done so restart your browser and try again.
Course Access Issues
I used the online enrolment at http://www.enrol.soton.ac.uk/ and have enrolled onto my courses. However when I look in Blackboard I cannot find them. What can I do?
There could be several explanations for this:
- When you look at the My Courses box, only courses which are “available” to students are accessible, courses which are "unavailable" are listed in black, with the word "unavailable" next to them. When courses are created on Blackboard they are set to be “unavailable” to students. This allows the course instructors to prepare the course and then make it “available” to students when they are ready for students to use the course. The most common reason that students cannot see a course is that the instructor has not set the course to be “available” to students. If no one else on your course is able see the Blackboard course either, then this is the most likely explanation. This can also explain why the list of courses shown in Blackboard does not match the list of courses shown in the SUSSED Portal. Information for instructors on how to make a Blackboard course available to students is on our web pages.
- Blackboard synchronises information with the Banner Student Information System which holds your enrolment details every day. You should wait until the next day before expecting to see the course in Blackboard. The process may also be delayed because some Schools do not action enrolments queries immediately after requests are made to their School Office, for example changes of course or programme.
- It is possible that the course is not active in Blackboard and therefore unavailable to students because the instructors have not set up a Blackboard course for that unit. You may check this yourself by clicking on the courses tab, under your Course List you will see courses which you are enrolled on but which are not available to your for this reason - they will have (unavailable) beside the course. There may be other web-based materials on a different system. The course instructor will be able to check this for you.
- There may be an “arbitrary” course that covers the subject. There is no mechanism to automatically enrol students onto these courses and they require users to self-enrol onto the course using Blackboard. Instructions are available online. If this is the case your course instructor should have provided you with the required joining details.
iSolutions can investigate any missing courses for you. Please email the ServiceLine, stating which specific course is missing from your list. It is very helpful if you can provide the course code for the course concerned.
I've logged into Blackboard but I don't know how to enrol onto my courses.
General instructions on enroling onto a course in Blackboard are available in the Getting Started Guide for Students. You should be enrolled automatically in most of your courses but you may have to self-enrol on some courses. Note that to self enrol you will need to know the name of your course and possibly an access code to join it. Your tutor can provide you with these details.
I have accidentally self-enrolled myself onto the wrong Blackboard course, is there any way that I can remove myself?
There is no way that a student may remove themselves from a course, however if you send an email to ServiceLine@soton.ac.uk, stating what has happened and which course is concerned, the Blackboard Administrator will then be able to remove you from the course.
Using Blackboard
Sometimes when I am using Blackboard, a page takes a while to appear on my computer and then a Java Warning box appears. What should I do?
The Java warning will most likely look like this:
The reason this appears is to do with the text box Blackboard uses. It uses the Java programming language to create the text box. The first time you encounter one of these text boxes in a Blackboard session the warning appears. Do not be concerned about this. Simply make sure that Always trust content from this publisher is ticked and click on Run.
When I try to upload a file to a Blackboard assignment I get an error message stating "Please select a valid file". How do I get my file uploaded?
This is a known issue with the Firefox 3+ web browser. There is a workaround listed here: http://www.shsu.edu/~ucs_www/webdev/blackboard/blog/2008/07/blackboard-and-firefox-3-assignment.html Alternatively using Firefox 2, IE6, IE7 on Windows, or Safari on Mac should work fine.
If you are using Internet Explorer 8 then you will need to put it into compatibility mode:
- Launch IE8
- Select Tools
- Select Compatibility View Settings
- Type blackboard.soton.ac.uk in the Add this website text box
- Click Add
- Click Close
- Restart IE8, Blackboard will now always use Compatibility Mode.
I set Blackboard into another language, but now I’m not sure how to set it back to English.
- Click on the Logout button – it remains at the same place at the top right of the page. The icon looks like a door.
- You will be taken back to Blackboard’s front page.
- Along the bottom of the page are a list of available languages – click on English.
- Click on Login, enter your username and password, Blackboard will now appear in English.
I tried to enter some text in a textbox, but when I submit the text it dissappears! What's going on?
The easiest way to resolve this problem is to turn off the Visual Text Box Editor:
- Log into Blackboard.
- At the My University of Southampton screen look to the top left for the Tools box
- Click on Edit Personal Information.
- Click on Set Visual Text Box Editor Options.
- Select Unavailable.
- Click on Submit.
This will turn off the Visual Text Box Editor and should completely resolve the issue.
This issue particularly occurs if you are using an Apple Mac with the Safari Web Browser. Blackboard recommend using the Firefox web browser if you wish to keep using the Visual Text Box Editor.
How can I tidy the My University of Southampton screen so that I only see the announcements and courses I want to see?"
When you have been using Blackboard for a year or more you may find that you want to tidy the My University of Southampton screen. To find out more please read our guide.
When I try to access a Discussion Board I receive an error message stating that my web browser does not support I-FRAMES. How do I fix this so that I can use a Blackboard Discussion Board?
Using Microsoft Internet Explorer, follow these instructions:
- Click on the Tools menu.
- Click on Internet Options.
- Click on the Security tab.
- Click on Custom Level.
- Scroll down to the Miscellaneous section and find "Launching programs and files in an IFRAME", set this to Enable.
- Click on OK.
- Click on OK once more.
If have concerns about the security of this option you may set it back to Disable when you have finished using Blackboard. Please also check that any third party firewall software you are using is not interfering with Blackboard, several firewall applications have been known to affect the Discussion Board.
If you are using McAfee Security Suite the Advert Blocker can also cause the issue. Disable the Ad Blocker if you experience this issue. Open the privacy services window and under "Block Ads" uncheck the option to block ads.
If you are using any pop-up blocking software, disable this for Blackboard.
I'm having problems printing and saving files from Blackboard. What can I do?
We have a web page with guidance on printing and saving files from Blackboard.
When trying to read documents on Blackboard I get a message saying Server error message 403: forbidden, having clicked on OK I receive another error An API exited abnormally. I have OpenOffice installed on my computer and do not use Microsoft Office.
If you use OpenOffice to view / edit documents instead of Microsoft Office then documents will not appear within the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser when you click on them. Instead you should save them to your computer and then open them in OpenOffice. Information on how to save (download) files from Blackboard is available on our web pages.
The text is too small on Blackboard how can I make it larger?
You can change the text size within Blackboard in the same way as you would with any other web page. In Internet Explorer click on the View menu then move your mouse down to Text Size and finally select Large or Largest from the list. You can set the size back by going through the same process and choosing the normal setting.
You may also wish to check the following in Internet Expolorer : go to Tools, Internet Options, click on the Accessibility button in the General tab and check the box Ignore font sizes specified on web pages. That may fix the issue on an ongoing basis, rather than changing the text size every time you use Blackboard.
The Blackboard course I use has a lot of Word, PowerPoint and / or Adobe Acrobat files. I would like to view these at home but do not have software that can view them. What can I do?
Microsoft provide free software to view Office files such as those produced by Word, Excel and Powerpoint. You can download the viewers from Microsoft's website.
Adobe provide a free reader for PDF files called Adobe Acrobat, you can download it from Adobe's website.
I need to access a group page in Blackboard, how do I do this?
Refer to the online guide for information about Groups.
I need to use a blog that is in my Blackboard course. What should I do?
Refer to the Student Guides to Using Blogs in Blackboard.
I need to use a wiki that is in my Blackboard course. What should I do?
Refer to the Student Guides to Using Wikis in Blackboard.
I’m meant to be marking certain documents as “reviewed”. How do I do this?
Refer to the online guide for information about the “Review Status” feature.
I have been asked to take a test in Blackboard. I'm not familiar with the this, is there a guide?
There is a guide to taking Blackboard tests on our website.
I have been asked to post a message to a Blackboard discussion board, but I don't know how. How does it work?
There is a guide to posting messages on a Blackboard discussion board on our web site.
I have been asked to submit an assessment (such as an essay) through Blackboard. How do I do this?
There are three different methods available for submitting assignments online through Blackboard. Your instructor will be able to tell you which one it is necessary to use.
- If the assignment uses the TurnItIn Plagiarism Detection Service, refer to our online guide.
- If the assignment uses the Blackboard Assignments feature, refer to our online guide.
Does Blackboard have a manual I can read?
Yes, you can read it online on Blackboard's web site.
I have another question about Blackboard not answered here, who can I ask?
Send your question to serviceline@soton.ac.uk making your question as clear as possible. Remember to include useful information such as which course is affected (provide the full course title and unit code if possible), what your iSolutions username is, and whether you are experiencing the problem on a home computer or on an iSolutions Public Workstation. It would also be helpful if you could let us know what Operating System and Internet Web Browser you are using.