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Blackboard FAQ

Blackboard FAQ - Browser Setup

BB Related
FAQs
 

• Users must have cookies enabled to access various parts of the Blackboard learning system.
   
  To enable cookies in Internet Expxlorer
  • Select "Internet Options" from the Tools menu.
  • Click on the "Privacy" tab.
  • Click the "Default" button (or manually slide the bar down to "Medium") under "Settings".
  • Click "OK".
     
  To enable cookies in Netscape 7.1/Mozilla 5.0
  • Select "Preferences" from the Edit menu.
  • Click on the arrow next to "Privacy & Security" in the scrolling window to expand.
  • Under "Privacy & Security", select "Cookies."
  • Select "Enable all cookies".
  • Click "OK".
   
• In various situations, users will need to have Active X controls enabled.  For example, without it, users may not have an area to enter text into the discussion board or  essay questions on online tests.  Instructors may not have a text entry area when trying to add items to course site.
  
  This occurs when the user's Active X controls have been disabled in their browser.  To prevent this problem, enable Active X controls in Internet Explorer:

From the Tools menu, select  Internet Options.
Select the  Security tab.
Highlight the Internet zone;
Select Custom level.
Set "Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins" to enable or prompt*

(Be careful, many settings have similar wording)
Click OK.

*Selecting prompt will let you choose which controls to run on a one time basis.

• Some activities in Blackboard require that pop-ups be permitted.
   You have several options to work around this pop-up issue.
  
  1.    Hold down the control key while clicking on the link that produced the error message.  This will allow the new window to open.  You might have to do this multiple times in a session.
  2.    Turn off the pop-up blocker while working on the activity that requires the popup.  Reset it when you exit Blackboard for security reasons.
  3.    Configure your pop-up blocker to always allow popups from the bb.hollins.edu site (while blocking them from other sites).
  
  In Internet Explorer, do this by clicking on Pop-up Blocker in the Tools menu. 
  Select Pop-up Blocker Settings...
  In the address area type bb.hollins.edu and click Add
  Click close
   
• An error occurred in the authentication module.  Error occurred while trying to lookup the current session in the database.

  This error indicates that the server was unable to set a cookie on your computer  Blackboard requires the use of cookies, so you will need to change the settings on your computer to allow this.

  See the directions in the paragraphs above.