Adding Content > Adding a Course Link or URL

Blackboard 6 now allows you to add External Links to websites - in addition, you can add links to content areas anywhere in your site.

TO ADD A COURSE LINK
To add a link to content that you have uploaded elsewhere in your Blackboard site click on the "Control Panel" button and browse to the content area of your site where you'd like to place the link.

Click on the button lableled "Add Course Link":

Specify a name and description for the link to the content that you are about to create and then scroll down to the section labeled "Course Link Attachments" and click the "Browse" button. This will open up a course map.

Browse to the specific area of your course site that you'd like to link to. Click the + button to open folders and drill down to the content level. After finding the content you wish to link to place a check in the radio button next to the item. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click submit.

TO ADD AN EXTERNAL LINK
To add a link to an external website click on the "Control Panel" button and browse to the content area of your site where you'd like to place the link.

Click on the button lableled "Add URL":

Provide a name and description for the URL and then type in the actual URL that you'd like your students to browse to. Adjust the availability settings accordingly and then click submit.

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Related FAQ's

Q: Can I add a Word document?

Yes. Please keep in mind that any file type that you add to your Blackboard site will require that your student have that underlying program in order to open it. If you post primarily Microsoft Office documents students will need the MS Office Suite to open them.

Q: How can students print my Powerpoint slides?

If you are posting Powerpoint slides it is always a good idea to post a "printable version". A great way to do this is to convert them to PDF. For more information on creating documents with PDF and posting Powerpoint files please refer to the "Adding Content" pages.

Q: I am receiving an error message when uploading content from home?

This is a common problem among home broadband users. If they have a home network, their router may be misconfigured, or they may need a firmware update. Both appear to be common problems with Linksys routers. In order to upgrade their firmware they can log in to the website of their router manufacturer and download the most recent drivers for the router and operating system in question. There are several bug fixes on manufacturer's websites that correct DHCP problems and provide general enhancements to their hardware.

After updating the firmware on the unit the user should access the configuration utility and find the fields labeled "Host" and "Domain". The user should contact their internet provider and get the exact information that they should be inputting in these fields. If these fields are blank, or if they have incorrect information the equipment can behave unpredictably and generate the error messages your students are reporting.

If your students are Windows users with DSL internet access Blackboard can often have problems with some incompatible network settings in Windows and some DSL implementations (especially with routers, but some PPOE clients may be affected as well.) MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) settings are too high, resulting in fragmented packets that never arrive at the server due to some extra bytes that are added during transmission. To remedy the problem the user can log in to the router configuration utility and set the MTU to 1362. This seems to fix the problem in most cases.

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