Blackboard Quick Tips
Add and Manage Content
Use the Content Collection
Instructors can store, share, and publish content within personal user folders, course folders, and
institution folders in the Content Collection throughout courses in Blackboard Learn. Files and portfolios
can be linked in different areas in a course and items from a course can be added to a folder in the
Content Collection.
The My Content area of the Content Collection allows users to load, update and share content. A user
folder (labeled with your username) is created the first time a user enters the Content Collection. The
My Content area can be organized according to an individual's needs. Folders can be created for
storing both course and personal content. Faculty can also link their content from the Content Collection
to their classes in Blackboard.
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The Content Collection contains the following header areas:
1. My Content - is used to store folders and files (referred to as items) for each user. You can
access the personal files that you have added to the Content Collection.
2. Course Content - is used to store folders and files for each course. A folder appears for each
course you have access to. Instructors see folders for the courses they are teaching. Instructors
must grant permissions to students before course folders are available to them.
3. Organization Content - is used to store folders and files for organization groups. A folder
appears for each organization you have access to. The organization leader manages
organization enrollments. You may self enroll if that option has been enabled. Contact the
organization leader about enrollment. After you are enrolled, only the leader or an administrator
can unenroll you.
4. Institution Content - is used to store folders and files for educational and administrative
services not directly related to a course. The Institution Content area also includes a separate
area dedicated to the library. The school library may use this area to post e-Reserves, electronic
manuscripts, and other resources. With the ability to share folders and files across the Content
Collection, this is a powerful and intuitive way to share and distribute library materials.
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Upload Content
Instructors can upload any documents, photos, folders, and work to the Content Collection. You can use
My Content for your personal use to store files that you work on or want to submit or attach to any
coursework. Files stored in the Content Collection can be linked to in your courses or stored for projects
you may be working on.
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Files can be uploaded to any content area where you have permission to do so. The Upload button will
appear in the action bar with the options to Upload Files or Upload Package. Packages are ZIP files
that will be unpackaged into the folder you selected.
• Access the Content Collection where you want to upload files.
• On the Action Bar, point to Upload and select Upload Files.
• If you are uploading multiple files, use the Multiple Files and Folders option available from the
top right of the page. Uploading multiple files and folders requires the Java plugin, version 1.5 or
later. If the plugin is not available, use the Single File option to add files one at a time. You can
Browse for files or drag and drop files from folders on your desktop.
• After selecting the file(s), you can edit the options: to Lock File, to Share Comments, to
Enable Versioning, and to Enable Tracking.
• Click Submit.
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Organize Content
Before adding any content to the Content Collection, you should plan out how you will manage their
content. This will allow you to organize content in a way which best meets your individual needs. In the
Content Collection, you can manage content by organizing it in folders. Organized content makes it
easier to manage permissions for that content, because you can grant permissions to users based on
folders rather than individual files.
Files in the Content Collection are organized in a tree structure of nested folders up to, and including,
the content area level. This means that each folder may contain other subfolders and files. The term
"items" refers to files and folders.
A folder stores both files and other folders. Folders are automatically available to you if you added the
folder, but folders must be shared if other users are to view the folder and its contents. It is important to
remember that all folders are contained within other folders up to the root folder. Root folders are folders
in which all other folders are placed. Content areas, such as Users, Courses, Institution, and Library,
are simply folders stored under the root folder.
The system does not allow subfolders with the same name in a single parent folder. For example, two
folders named Group Projects may not be created in the top-level of the username folder. The system
also does not allow files with the same name to exist in a folder.
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Edit Settings
After an item has been created, its settings can be changed from the Edit Settings page. For example,
if an item is initially created with a lock on it, the lock can be removed from this page. The Edit Settings
page is also the place to look for detailed information about the item, such as who created the item and
when the item was created and last edited.
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Navigate to the folder that contains the item to be edited.
Access the item's contextual menu and select Edit Settings.
Complete the options as appropriate.
Click Submit.
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Link to Content
One of the advantages of the Content Collection is the fact that files can be reused many times without
the need for duplication. This reusability can significantly save space if the same file is to be used
several times. The file will only have to be saved in one place in the Content Collection, and then you
can link to that file from as many courses as you need.
To Link Items that Reside in the Content Collection to your Course:
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Access the course where you would like to link the item.
Select a content area.
Under Build Content, select Create Item.
In the Create Item page, give the item a name.
Under 2. Attachments, click on the Browse Content Collection button.
Select the item you would like to link to.
Click Submit.
Note: When an item from the Content Collection is added to a course, all students in the course will be
automatically granted read access to the item. Once you have created a link to an item in the Content
Collection from your Blackboard course, you can no longer rename that file in the Content Collection. If
you do that, the link will be broken and your students will not be able to access the item. If this happens,
you need to re-create the link. To keep track of the items which file names should not be modified, you
may want to place these items in a Shared folder in the Content Collection.
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Share Content with Users and Groups inside SJU
Once content is added to the Content Collection, permissions must be granted to make the content
accessible to users and groups of users. Managing permissions on files and folders may be
complicated since permissions behave both alone on single items and in combination with other
permissions on folders. Users and user lists may be given different types of permissions to individual
files and folders, ranging from read only access, to editing, managing and removing content.
Permissions enable users to read and perform actions on items and folders added to the Content
Collection. Users must be granted permission to access content directly from the Content Collection
and also through links in Courses and Portfolios.
User access to an item or folder is controlled through the Manage Permissions page. Users can be
granted permission individually, in groups, or by role.
To Open the Manage Permissions page for an item or folder.
• Navigate to the folder that contains the item to be edited.
• Select Permissions from the item's contextual menu.
• Select the appropriate option from the action bar. Complete the page that follows and click
Submit.
Note: When permissions are granted on a folder, they apply to all sub-folders and items within the
folder.
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Share Content with Individuals outside of SJU
You may send Passes to share content. A Pass is designed to share content with individuals who do
not have access to SJU's Blackboard System.
To Create a Pass:
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Access the item's contextual menu and select Passes (None).
Click on the button Create Pass.
On the Add Pass page, select the lifetime of the pass and the permissions.
Click Submit.
The URL for the pass to the item will be displayed.
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To Email a Pass to an Individual or Group:
• Select the item's checkbox and click on the Email Pass button.
• Enter the email addresses of the individual(s) to receive the pass.
• You may edit the default subject and message displayed, however do not alter the URL for the
pass.
• Click Submit to send the email.
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Search for Shared Content
Search for Shared Content using the Search:
Search allows users to locate all files and folders that have been shared with them. When a search is
performed only those items to which a user has permissions will be returned. If permissions are granted
on a nested folder (and not the top-level folder) the user may search for the folder and bookmark it. The
Find Folder function may not be used on nested folders.
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Search for Shared Content using the Go To Location:
Go to Location allows users to go directly to a specific folder that has been shared with them in the
Content Collection. This time-saver allows users to enter the path to open a folder and Bookmark the
location at the same time.
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Use Versioning
Versioning keeps track of each interaction with a file. When a file is locked from the Manage Versions
page, another version is created. Edits can be made on the newest version.
Once a file is opened, it is automatically locked to other users. Users must use this option to make
changes to the file and save it.
To Turn on Versioning:
• Select Edit Settings from the item's contextual menu.
• Under Options, select Enable Versioning.
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To Manage Versions for an Item:
• Navigate to the folder that contrains the item to be edited
• Select Versions from the item's contextual menu or click the numbern hyperlink that appears in
the Versions column next to the item in its home folder.
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To Create Another Version of your Content:
• Select Lock from the item's contextual menu next to the version number hyperlink on the
Manage Versions page.
• Click the link of the newest version to open the file, make edits and save changes.
If you are collaborating on an item, be sure to Unlock it to allow others to access the item.
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Use Comments
Comments store text from users. Comments are useful for storing opinions or instructions regarding the
contents of an item. The setting for controlling whether or not users can add comments to an item
appears on the Set Private/Shared Comments page.
To Turn on Comments:
• Select Edit Settings from the item's contextual menu.
• Under Options, select Share Comments.
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To Manage Item Comments:
• Navigate to the folder that contains the item.
• Select Comments from the contextual menu for the item.
• To create a comment click on the Create Comment button from the Action Bar. A text box
appears. Type a comment and click Submit.
• To delete a comment select the check box next to the comments to delete then select the
Delete button.
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Use Tracking
The Tracking feature records every instance that a user interacts with the item. Tracking is useful for
verifying that someone has read a required assignment or viewing who made changes to a file most
recently. Tracking must be turned on to view the Tracking Log.
To Turn on Tracking:
• Select Edit Settings from the item's contextual menu.
• Under Options, select Enable Tracking.
If a single user completes the same operation on a file multiple times, the Tracking log will only record
the first operation. For example if a user opens and reads the same document multiple times, only the
first operation will be recorded. If the user clears the browser cookies and reads the file again, a second
operation appears in the Tracking log.
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To View Tracking for an Item:
• Navigate to the folder that contains the item.
• Select Tracking from the item's contextual menu.
To Delete the Tracking Log:
• Select Delete Tracking Log from the Action Bar (will remove all of the actions listed on the
page.) New actions will still be tracked.
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Set up Web Folders or a Shared Location
WebDAV (web folder) or a Shared Location are both ways for users to add, access, and edit content
stored in the Content Collection directly from their computers. When a web folder, or shared location are
set up, the user can can perform actions on the files and folders within it because the folder structure is
visible and can be navigated.
• Manage all the files for their course from their computer.
• Drag in content from multiple drives and folders and organize it as needed.
• Edit a file directly in a web folder or shared location, without downloading it, editing it, and
uploading it again.
When using a Mac, you will set up a shared location rather than a web folder.
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How to Set up a Web Folder for Microsoft Windows©
• In the Content Collection, click Set Up Web Folder on the action bar of the top-level folder.
Starting from this location ensures WebDAV access to all folders contained in the Content
Collection. You can select any folder inside the Content Collection, but the web folder path must
be less than 240 characters. Each folder selected has a different address.
• On the Using Web Folders page, right-click and copy the URL that appears for Current Web
address. You will paste the address in later steps.
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• Open Start > Computer.
• In the empty area at the bottom of the right-hand pane, right-click and select Add a network
location.
• The Add Network Location Wizard will open. Click Next.
• When asked where you want to create the network location, select Choose a custom network
location. Click Next.
• When asked for the location of your website, type https://learn.sju.edu/bbcswebdav/users/
yourusername. Click Next.
• When prompted to enter a username and password, type your Blackboard Learn username and
password. Click OK.
• You will be prompted to enter a name for the location. Enter a name and select Next.
• On the Completing the Add Network Location Wizard page, click Finish.
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• The web folder will open. It will now be listed in Computer under Network Location.
How to Set up a Shared Location for the Mac OS©
To set up a shared location for the Mac, use the web address of the Content Collection folder and a
valid username and password.
• In the Content Collection, click Set Up Shared Location on the action bar of the top-level folder.
Starting from this location ensures WebDAV access to all folders contained in the Content
Collection. You can select any folder inside the Content Collection, but the shared location path
must be less than 240 characters. Each selected folder has a different address.
• On the Using Shared Location page, copy the URL that appears for Current Web address.
You will paste the address in later steps.
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• On the Finder bar, select the Go menu and then, select Connect to Server.
• In the Connect to Server window, type https://learn.sju.edu/bbcswebdav/users/
yourusername in the Server Address field. Click the plus sign to add this address to the
Favorite Servers box.
• Click Connect. When prompted to enter a name and password, type your Blackboard Learn
username and password. Click Connect.
• The shared location will open. It will now be listed in the Computer sidebar under Shared.
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Find the Web Address for another folder
The address for this directory is provided at the top of the page. To find the web address of any folder in
the Blackboard Content System, follow these steps:
• Navigate to the folder in the Blackboard Content System.
• Navigate to the Edit Folder Settings page. The Address field on this page (not the address
displayed by the web browser) contains the URL needed to map to the folder.
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