Add Item

Manage Items

What are items?

Items are general pieces of content added to a course. The Add items feature allow instructors to add content to the course site. Files can be attached to an item and when students click on the link created for the file, the file may be downloaded to the student’s computer or open in browser (depending on the browser and the computer setup). Web supported graphic files (such as .jpg or .gif) can also be added, which can be viewed directly within the Blackboard.

Where to Manage Items?

To manage items, you need to go to the Content Area you want to add, modify, or delete an item. To do so,

1. Click on Control Panel link on the left side of the course site.
2. Click on the name of desired Content Area under Course Areas section.

How to Add an Item?

1. Go to desired Content Area by following above steps.
2. Click on the Add Item button to open the Add item page.
3. In the Content Information section, fill in name and text as needed.
4. In the Content section,

• Click on the Browse button to select the file you want to upload from your computer. The system will create a link for this file. Yon can give the link a name by typing it in Name of Link to File. If you leave it blank, the link will appear with the name of the file.

Note: Because Blackboard is cross platform (works on Macs and PC's) all files should have a three letter file extension (such as .doc or .pdf), which designates its file type. To prevent conflicts, file names should contain no spaces or special character except the underscore (_) and only one period before the file extension (ex: HomeWorkOne.doc).

• The Special Action choice allows instructors to select the behavior of files uploaded.

• Create a link to this file - Use this default option to create a link to a document. 
• Display media file within the page - Use this option when working with graphic images or media files you want to display within the page.
• Unpackage this file - Use this option when uploading .zip (or compressed) files. This is typically used with PowerPoint presentations saved as HTML or collections of linked web pages.

5. In the Options section, select options as needed.

• Choose Yes for the Make the content available option if you want your student to see this document. If you are not ready to let students to access the document, choose No for this option. You can change this option at any time.
• Choose Yes for the Track number of views, if you want to track how often individual users view the document.
• The Choose date and time restrictions option lets you set the dates and time when the document is visible and invisible to students.

6.  Click on Submit button at the bottom of this page.

How to Modify or Delete an Exiting Item?

1. Go to desired Content Area by following above steps.
2. To delete an item, click on the Remove button on the right side of the item. All information about the item including the attached files will be deleted.
3. To edit the item, click on the Modify button to open the Modify Item page.
4. Modify as needed
5. In the Content section,
• The files you have uploaded before will be listed at the end of this section. You can modify or delete the files by clicking the Modify or Remove button next to those files.
• You can also upload an additional file by following the same steps in Add Item procedure.
6. Click on the Submit button at the end of this page to save the change.

Questions about Add Items

• How to add, modify, or delete an item under a folder?

1. Click on the name of the folder that contains the item you want to delete.
2. Click on the Remove button next to the item you wish to remove.

• What kinds of documents can I upload to Blackboard?

Uploading just means putting your document up onto the Blackboard server or any Internet server. You can upload just about any file type to Blackboard, however the type of document that you upload affects how your students can view it. If you save and upload a document in word format, PDF format, xls, etc., the document will be downloaded to students’ computer after they click the link of the document. If you save your files as HTML and then upload them to Blackboard, the students can view the documents directly on screen from within Blackboard. This is preferable for course information and documents, such as assignment instructions and timelines, which students may need to check often. There may also be times where you want to upload files for download, such as templates or forms that need to be modified or copied or longer documents that students will want to print. In those cases, leaving the document in its original form (.doc, .xls) would be preferable.

• What kinds of media files are supported by Blackboard?

The following media files can be viewed within Blackboard.

• Graphics: GIF and JPEG. These two formats are the most universally supported file formats on the Web. It is NOT recommended to use bitmapped graphics with Blackboard. These files are very large and can affect your course performance, as they are slow to load, especially for modem users. It is also important to remember that Blackboard will upload all graphics in their original size. Make sure that you have sized and saved your graphics in an appropriate size for your course site. There are recommended sizes shown in the Page Editors when uploading course banners and staff photos.

• Video: MPEG, Quicktime, AVI

• Audio: WAV and AIFF

Q: How fast (or slow) will my files be downloaded for the student?
A: See the following link regarding time involved in downloading files.