Information Services has completed the upgrade of the Blackboard servers half a day early, and the system is now available.  Please report questions, concerns, or issues to blackboard@richmond.edu .

[UPDATE:  The upgrade has been completed and UR Blackboard is now available at http://blackboard.richmond.edu ]

The UR Blackboard system is currently unavailable for upgrades to the system.  The procedure is scheduled for August 10-12

In part, the maintenance will upgrade Blackboard from version 8 to version 9.1, giving it a different look and adding features. For example, instructors will no longer need the course control panel to manage their classes, and there will be new features available such as course blogs and wikis. The university community is encouraged to visit the Blackboard Resources Page for training materials and support information. Updates of the Blackboard upgrade and system availability will be posted to this UR Blackboard news site.

Play-by-play: (Aug 12, noon) The go-ahead has been given and IS is in the process of bringing the new server onto the network. (Aug 12, 9:30) Testing has completed earlier than scheduled and the upgrade team is being solicited for a go/no-go status on going live almost a day early! (Aug 11, 11am) Testing is continuing on schedule! (Aug 10, 6:30pm) The Blackboard application has been upgraded and the testing is now beginning. (Aug 10, 3pm) the new servers have received the content from the old system and the Blackboard software is now being upgraded.  The upgrade is actually a multi-step process as the application needs to “pass through” a number of minor version upgrades (including testing) before arriving at the final version, 9.1 Service Pack 1. After that is completed, there will be customization of new features and then we will begin intensive testing of the application from both the roles of instructors and students. (aug 10, 7am) the Blackboard servers have been fully backed up and the content is being transferred to the new physical servers that had been prepared and tested before the upgrade began. Once that has completed, the Blackboard software will then be upgraded.

The VTBE, or Visual Text Box Editor, is enabled in Blackboard 9.1. What does this mean? The VTBE is a WYSIWYG, or What You See Is What You Get, editor (I promise, that’s the last of the alphabet soup.) that lets you post formatted text and images to discussion boards, blogs, wikis, etc.

But there is one caveat.

If an instructor uses the Content Attachments (section 2) to attach files to a posting, students will get an error message saying they do not have permission to access the content. And when students use the VTBE, the instructor can’t access the attachment. But if instructors use the VTBE and students use Content Attachments to attach files, all files can be accessed and downloaded by all users in a course.

Blackboard has targeted a fix for this in a future release, but for now, instructors will need to use the VTBE to attach content to discussion board postings, and students will need to use Content Attachments. If you’re using the discussion board in your class, be sure to let your students know this important step if they’re attaching files to their posts.

The VTBE is enabled by default, but to verify this, on the main screen of Blackboard, go to: Tools > Personal Information > Set Visual Text Box Editor Options.

NOTE: The VTBE is not supported in Google’s Chrome browser unless you install the IEtab.net extension. Chrome is not a supported browser with Blackboard, though. Use Firefox on the PC or Mac for best results.

One-page handout: Visual Text Box Editor issues and workarounds [.PDF]

As always, contact blackboard AT richmond DOT edu with your questions.