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Blackboard Browser Setup

The UO Blackboard system requires that your browser be configured correctly. Use this page to ensure that you have required plugins and features installed or enabled.

Check your web browser

Your browser

To view the different types of information on Blackboard coursesites, the following plugins and features must all be successfully installed or enabled:

Cookies	not tested
JavaScript	Incorrectly Installed or NOT ENABLED.
Adobe (Acrobat) Reader	not tested
Adobe/Macromedia Flash	not tested
Apple QuickTime	not tested
Windows Media Player	not tested
Java	not tested
Word, Powerpoint, etc.	not tested (see below)

See "Install required plugin programs" below.

Some features of the Blackboard system (e.g. online quizzes and the collaboration tool) generate popup windows. If you have installed a popup blocker, it may interfere with your use of Blackboard.

Your instructor may require additional software as well.

Use the right browser version

If the test above reported that your browser was not compatible with Blackboard, you need to update your browser version. Blackboard officially certifies various browsers; see "Blackboard End User Configuration Matrix." However, we've found that the official Blackboard list is often outdated or wrong. As of April 2008, we recommend and attempt to support:

Operating system	Hardware	Recommended Browser	Notes
Windows 2000	PC	MS Internet Explorer 6 Firefox 2.0	Firefox 2.0 is preferred
Windows XP	PC	MS Internet Explorer 7 Firefox 2.0
Windows Vista	PC	MS Internet Explorer 7 Firefox 2.0	provisionally supported at UO
MacOS 10.3 (Panther)	Macintosh	Firefox 2.0	not recommended but mostly works
MacOS 10.4 and 10.5 (Tiger and Leopard)	Macintosh	Firefox 2.0	Safari 2.0 and 3.0 mostly work
Linux	any	Firefox 2.0	unsupported but may work adequately

In general, the latest version of your browser is usually the best.

Both Mac and PC users can get the latest version of Firefox on the web at www.mozilla.com.

 

It is also very important for both security and functionality that you update your system software (including Internet Explorer or Safari) regularly.

• PC users: regularly visit Windows Update or set your system to automatically run Automatic Updates. To turn on Automatic Updates: (1) Click Start, and then Control Panel. (2) Depending on which Control Panel view you use, Classic or Category, do one of the following:
  • Click System, and then click the Automatic Updates tab.
  • Click Performance and Maintenance, click System, and then click the Automatic Updates tab.
  (3) Click the option that you want. Make sure Automatic Updates is not turned off.
• Mac users: run Software Update... from the Apple menu. Mac users who are still running Jaguar or Panther (10.2 or 10.3) are strongly encouraged to upgrade to Tiger or Leopard.

Internet Explorer configuration

If you need to enable cookies in Internet Explorer, choose Tools->Internet Options->Privacy. A setting of "medium-high" works well.

If you need to enable Java or JavaScript in Internet Explorer, first visit Blackboard to find out what security zone your browser is using for the site; you are probably viewing it in the "Internet" zone (see the status bar footer at lower right of the browser window; use "View->status bar" if necessary). You may want to have security for the Internet zone set higher than blackboard allows, and if so you may decide to set security for the Internet zone to "High" but then tell your browser to view Blackboard in a slightly less restrictive context. You would do so by adding the URL "https://blackboard.uoregon.edu" to the list of "Trusted Sites" and then would verify that the "Trusted Sites" zone was set appropriately.

To change the security level for the zone you are using for Blackboard, choose Tools->Internet Options->Security, select Internet or Trusted Sites, and choose an appropriate security level. Most users will find that the best security setting for Blackboard use is "Medium." If you really need a more restrictive security setting, start with "High" but then go to "Custom level" and make sure at a minimum that you have:

Scripting -> Active scripting		enabled
Microsoft VM -> Java permissions		high safety
ActiveX -> Download signed ActiveX controls		prompt
ActiveX -> Run ActiveX controls and plugins		enabled or prompt
ActiveX -> Script ActiveX controls marked safe		enabled or prompt
Downloads -> File download		enabled

Many versions of Internet Explorer also include popup blockers -- you might have the google, AOL, Yahoo, or other popup blockers installed. If you get a "Pop-up blocked" message in the information bar (directly under the Address bar at the top of the window), click the information bar and choose "temporarily allow popups".

Internet Explorer tends to cache pages too aggressively for Blackboard use. Try going to Tools→Internet Options and on the General tab click the "Settings" button (for "Browsing History" or "Temporary Internet Files"). Then make sure "Every time I visit the webpage" is selected for "Check for newer versions of stored pages".

Firefox configuration

Mozilla FireFox defaults are generally adequate for Blackboard. If you need to change them, most settings are on the menu item Tools→Options (on a Mac, Firefox→Preferences), under "Content". "Load Images", "Enable Java", and "Enable Javascript" should all be checked. If "Block Popups" is checked, then you should also click the corresponding "Allowed Sites" button and add "blackboard.uoregon.edu", since popup blocking can interfere with some blackboard features.

One annoyance with Firefox is that it makes it difficult to copy and paste from other documents into the visual text box editor. If you get an error message "your browser does not allow web pages to cut, copy, or paste", then instead of using CTRL-V or APPLE-V to paste, use the menu item Edit→Paste.

Install any required plugin programs

If you need to install any of the plugins listed above, you can download them FREE, directly from each software maker's website below. Please ensure that you have the CURRENT VERSION of each plugin below, or you may experience problems.

Link to download	Plugin
	Adobe Reader PC: we recommend Adobe Reader version 8 or later Mac: the built in PDF viewing in Panther and Tiger is adequate for most purposes
	Apple QuickTime After clicking, select the link to download the FREE player. We recommend QuickTime 7.1 or later for both Mac and PC.
	Macromedia Flash Player We recommend Flash Player 9 or later; click "install now" or follow instructions on the download page
RealPlayerŽ FREE	Real Player choose the link to "Free RealPlayer" (or "RealPlayer - free") then Basic Player. You don't want the "RealPlayer with SuperPass" version. Beware that for some platforms both versions are downloaded from the same link, but then you are offered a setup option; you want the free "basic setup" not the premium or "free trial" version.
	Java For a more complete test of your browser's Java support visit http://www.javatester.org/version.html PC only: choose "Free Download" (also available on DuckWare); you will probably want "Java Runtime Environment" version 5.0 Mac: Panther (10.3) and Tiger (10.4) already include Java 1.4.2 or Java 1.5
	Windows Media Player PC only: WMP is normally installed automatically as part of Windows Update. We recommend WMP 10 or WMP 11. Mac: we recommend installing Windows Media® Components for QuickTime from Flip4Mac rather than WMP 9 itself.

Get programs for displaying Word and PowerPoint

If your instructor has posted material in Microsoft Word format (files with names ending in ".doc"), then you need to be able to display Word documents. If your instructor has posted PowerPoint files (names ending in ".ppt"), you need software to display PowerPoint.

If you have Microsoft Office installed on your machine, then you should be able to view Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files stored in Blackboard. Depending on your browser configuration, such files will either be downloaded to your hard disk or displayed directly in the browser window.

If you don't have MS Office, then you need some other program to view these files (WordPad, built in to Windows, isn't good enough). For PC and linux users who don't have Microsoft Office, we recommend the free OpenOffice suite (downloadable, but also available on DuckWare). OpenOffice is also available for MacOS X under the name NeoOffice, but is recommended only for intermediate to advanced users. Many other possibilities also exist for both Mac and PC. For example, Mac users who own iWork will typically find that it adequately handles most Office files.

An additional complication is that Microsoft changed their default file formats in Office 2007. If you receive a file with an extension .docx, .pptx, or .xlsx, it's in the new and incompatible Office 2007 format. Encourage the author to re-save it in the traditional Office format. If you are using a previous version of Office, you can also install a compatibility package that will allow your version to read and write most Office 2007 format documents. The compatibility pack is available from the Microsoft web site. Similarly, you might want to install the SUN ODF Plugin for Microsoft Office that allows you to read the word processor formats preferred by OpenOffice.

http://libweb.uoregon.edu/dc/blackboard/plugin/
Maintained by JQ Johnson, University of Oregon Libraries
Last revision: 16 April 2008 by JQJ