How to Create a Central Course Blog
As well as any number of group or personal blogs, each Blackboard course may have a single central course blog. This can be set so that only instructors may post entries, or allow for entries by both instructors and students.
Edit Mode
1. Access your Blackboard course and check that Edit Mode is turned ON. This can be switched by clicking ON or OFF.
Course Tools
2. Using the Control Panel, click on the Course Tools section, and then on Configure Campus Pack Blog Tool.
Options
3. Enter the following options according to your preferences:
Do you want to allow students to create blog entries?
Choose No if only instructor/s will post entries. Chose Yes if students can post as well. Note that you can allow students to post comments further down.
Do you want to allow users to view posts by other users?
Choose Yes if students should see posts created by other students. Choose No if students should only see their own posts.
Do you want to enable a public (unauthenticated) RSS feed?
Choose Yes to enable a public RSS feed for this blog. Choose No to disable RSS. If RSS is enabled, you will find an orange RSS button with the URL in the bottom right corner of the blog.
Be sure that you do not turn this feature on if there is sensitive information in the blog since RSS feeds are open to any internet user who knows the URL... If you don't know exactly what this option means, then leave the option turned off.
Do you want to allow students to permanently delete blog entries?
Choose Yes if students are allowed to permanently delete their own entries from the blog.
Do you want to allow students to export the blog?
Select this option if you wish to allow students to export the blog so that they can save it as a zip file.
Do you want to allow students to view comments on blog entries?
Do you want to allow students to add comments to blog entries?
Select whether students may view and / or add comments to the blog. For example in the context of a course wide blog you may prefer that only instructors can post entries, but that everyone in the course i.e. instructors and students can add comments to those entries if they wish.
Date Restrictions?
5. Choose whether editing and / or displaying the blog should be restricted by the time and date.
More Options
6. How shall public references to students be displayed?
Select Person Name so that the student's name will appear beside their entries or comments.
7. Choose Primary Text Direction:
If you are building your course blog in a language that is read right-to-left, such as Arabic, you can set the primary text direction. If no option is selected, all text in the blog will be displayed left-to-right by default.
8. Click on OK.
Add Tool Link
9. Next we will add a link in your Blackboard course’s menu to take users to the Central Course Blog. To do this, click on the + button near the top left of the course menu (this will only appear if you still have Edit Mode turned ON). From the pop up menu, click on Create Tool Link.
Add Tool Link
10. From the drop down menu, select Campus Pack Blog Tool. If this does not appear in your list, please consult the next slide and then return to this step. You will also need to enter a name for the menu item, and make sure that you tick the box to make this Available to users. Once you have done this, click on Submit.
Tool Availability
11. In the previous slide if you could not see Campus Pack Blog Tool in your drop down list, then you will need to undertake a simple additional step. Click on Customisation in the Control Panel, and then click on Tool Availability. Now click on Submit. You should now find that you can complete the previous step in the slideshow, so go back to it if needed.
Course Menu
12. You will be taken back to the main view of the course. Your Course Blog is listed as the final item on the course menu. You may change the order in which the Course Blog appears in the menu by dragging and dropping the menu item.
13. Your course blog is now available from your Blackboard course's menu.
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