Updated 11/12/12 MH Adding Your Files to Blackboard (i.e. Uploading Your Syllabus) Blackboard allows users to upload files to many different content areas. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to navigate to the content areas in Blackboard, create an ITEM, and upload your file using one of two upload options: the attach file area and the text-editor attachment tools. Please Note! Blackboard cannot upload any individual file larger than 250 MB. Attempting to upload a file larger than 250 MB will prompt an error message. Unfortunately, this cannot be changed in the system. Please see our guide to optimizing files for Web upload if you have a large file. Option A: Uploading Your File through an Item s Attach File Area An Item is any type of file, text, image, or link that displays to users on a Content Area page. 1. In your CONTENT AREA, roll your mouse over the BUILD CONTENT button. In the menu that appears, click ITEM. 2. On the CREATE ITEM page, under CONTENT INFORMATION, give the item a name and description. 3. Under ATTACHEMENTS, click BROWSE MY COMPUTER to locate your file on your computer or storage media. Click BROWSE MY COMPUTER
4. In the browse dialog box that appears, select your file, and click the OPEN button. Locate and select your file Click OPEN 5. Your file will appear in the ATTACHED FILES list. If desired, you may add additional files through the Browse My Computer button. Click to remove file To remove a file from this list, click the DO NOT ATTACH link. 6. Once you have selected your file(s), scroll down to OPTIONS to indicate the viewing options you want to apply to this item: Permit Users to View Content: Select YES to allow students to access the document links listed in this item. Track Number of Views: Select YES to track the frequency of students viewing this item. Date and Time Restriction: If you would like to limit the availability of this item to students by time and day, CHECK the DISPLAY AFTER and DISPLAY UNTIL checkboxes and use the scheduling tools to set the calendar day and time. 7. When done, click SUBMIT. The item will be added to the content area and provide a link that students can click to download and view your file.
OPTION B: Adding Files through the Text-Editor s Tools Another way instructors can add files, such as Word or Adobe PDF documents, to a Blackboard course is through attaching files to items using Blackboard s text-editor. In this way, instructors can create a single item with links to multiple files. Some resources can be accessed directly within Blackboard, such as images, audio, and video. 1. With editing mode enabled, navigate to a COURSE AREA in which you want to add your files. In this example, I am choosing an area called Course Documents. 2. On the page for your chosen course area, roll your mouse over the BUILD CONTENT button. From the menu that appears, choose ITEM. An item is any type of file, text, image, or link that displays to users on a Content Area page. Roll over Build Content, choose Item 3. This will take you to the CREATE ITEM page. Give your item a logical name in the field provided. Next, locate the ATTACHMENT TOOLS in the texteditor. Attachment and Embedding Tools Attach File Attach Image (JPG, GIF) Attach Movie File (WMV, MOV, MP4) Attach Audio File (WAV, MP3) Attach Flash File For the purposes of this tutorial, click the ATTACH FILE icon. CLICK
4. The INSERT CONTENT LINK page will appear. If the file you want to attach is located on your computer, Click BROWSE MY COMPUTER. If the file is located in your Blackboard Content Collection, click BROWSE CONTENT COLLECTION. If the file is located on the Web, click SOURCE URL. CLICK For the purposes of this tutorial, click BROWSE MY COMPUTER. 5. A FILE UPLOAD box will appear. Navigate to the file you want to attach and click OPEN. Locate and select your file Click OPEN 6. Your chosen file will appear on the Insert Content Link page underneath ATTACHED FILES. In the blue box, choose the content link options you would like to apply to this item. When done, click SUBMIT.
7. A confirmation ADD CONTENT LINK window will appear, showing you that your link has been made. Click SUBMIT to return to the CREATE ITEM screen. 8. Back on the CREATE ITEM page, you can repeat the process of attaching documents and creating links as desired. 9. When done creating your links, scroll down to OPTIONS to indicate the options you want to apply to this item as a whole. Permit Users to View Content: Select YES to allow students to access the document links listed in this item. Track Number of Views: Select YES to track the frequency of students viewing this item. Date and Time Restriction: If you would like to limit the availability of this item to students by time and day, CHECK the DISPLAY AFTER and DISPLAY UNTIL checkboxes and use the scheduling tools to set the calendar day and time.
10. When you are done, click SUBMIT. The new item, containing links to attached documents, will now appear within the specified course area.