The Blackboard WYSIWYG editor (aka the Visual Text Box Editor) is causing nightmares for students and faculty. Any student who posts an image (or any document) with the VTBE using the paperclip tool eliminates the ability for any user (student or faculty) to “collect” posts. Collection is used on a regular basis to bring all the posts from a particular student–or all the posts from a particular thread–into a single reading window. Obviously, the collection method is infinitely faster than clicking on every post and reading them one at a time.
We have applied plan to apply a just-released patch next week. In the meantime, and prior to the long weekend (when we suspect many students may be active in their Blackboard courses), wWe have turned off the VTBE back on by default. This doesn’t mean the VTBE is unavailable–it simply means that when you (or a student or a faculty member) logs in over the next few days, the VTBE will not be turned on. But it can easily be turned on. However advanced users may find it easier to leave the VTBE editor off because if you are inserting JavaScript within the text box, the VTBE editor often strips out your code (or adds the “defer” parameter to the end of the function with the same effect).
To assist you with turning on the VTBE on or off (in case you need to use the editor and will not be attaching documents to discussion board posts), we have created a new Knowledgebase article located at:
http://supportcenteronline.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=688&task=knowledge&questionID=2458.
