Using the Content Editor

With the editor, you can add and format text, attach files, embed multimedia, and insert equations, links, and tables. Use the options in the editor when you work in assignments, tests, discussions, journals, blogs, wikis, and more.

• Simple Mode
• Advanced Mode
• Best Practices: Copying and Pasting Text to Prevent Loss
• Using Spell Checker
• Using Find and Replace
• Using the Link Function
• Inserting Horizontal Lines
• Adding Attachments and Media
• Adding Content from Common Tools
• Image Files
• Media Files & Settings
• Adding Content From Additional Tools (Mashups)
• Using the Math Editor
• Working with Tables
• Using Anchors
• Advanced Functions
• Using the Right-Click Contextual Menu

Using the Content Editor

Simple Mode

The simple mode contains a minimal set of the most used text formatting functions. Click the more options button — represented by an ellipsis — to access more editor functions.

The following table defines each function:

Advanced Mode

The advanced mode includes every available formatting and object attachment function. Click the show less function — represented by an ellipsis — to view only one row of functions.

Functions not currently available appear grayed out. For example, the functions to apply or remove a hyperlink are available only when you select text or an object in the text box.

The following tables describe each function:

Adding and Editing Content

Best Practices: Copying and Pasting Text to Prevent Loss

To protect against losing work if an Internet connection loss or software error occurs, you may choose to type in an offline simple text editor, such as Notepad or TextEdit, and copy and paste your work into Blackboard Learn. The content editor will recognize the type of content and will provide the user with the proper formatting options.

Alternately, before submitting or saving, you can select and copy all of the text typed in Blackboard Learn. Select the text and right-click to copy it. You may also use key combinations for copying and pasting:

• Windows: CTRL+A to select all the text, CTRL+C to copy, and CTRL+V to paste.
• Mac: COMMAND+A to select all the text, COMMAND+C to copy, and COMMAND+V to paste.
  
  

Working with Lists

Ordered/Numbered List: Creates an ordered or numbered list, or adds a numbered list item.  Click the down arrow to select from the available list ordering schemes. Choices include:

• Alphabetic
• Roman numerals
• Greek symbols

Bullet List: Creates an unordered or bullet list, or adds a bulleted list item. Click the down arrow to select from the available bullet list symbols.

 

Using Spell Checker

Click the Spell Check icon to turn the automatic spell check function on or off. Click the down arrow to select a different language's dictionary. You will see wavy, red underlining for words detected as potentially misspelled or not found in the loaded dictionary. 

Click on the Spell Check icon for the underlined word to view a menu, allowing you to:

• See a list of suggested correction.
• Ignore the single instance.
• Ignore all occurrences of the indicated word.

The university determines if the spell checker function is available and which spelling dictionaries are loaded in.

 

Using Find and Replace

Use Search icon for locating/matching text and, optionally, replace it with other text.

Finding Text

In the pop-up window, type the text to Find. For Direction, choose whether to search up or down from the current mouse pointer position.

Click on Settings icon to select the Match Case to match upper and lower case. If the text is located, it appears highlighted in the text box.

 

Replacing Text

To search for and replace text, enter the replacement text and click Replace to replace one instance or Replace All to replace all instances where the word is used.

Type the text you want to replace. For Direction, choose whether to search up or down from the current mouse pointer position. Select the settings icon to choose Match Case if needed. Click Find. If the text is located, it appears highlighted in the text box.

In the Replace with text box, type the text to replace the located text with and choose an action:

• Replace: Replace the next instance found.
• Replace All: Replace every matched instance.

Using the Link Function

Select text or an object, and click the Link icon to add a new hyperlink or edit an existing hyperlink. To remove a link, select the link and click the remove link function icon. You can also link and remove links using the right-click contextual menu. You must use the http:// protocol when typing or pasting an address for the link.

Unless you select text or an object, the insert/edit link and remove link functions are grayed out and unavailable. If you click remove link for something that has no hyperlink, nothing happens.

You can specify a link to a website.

In the Open link in drop-down list, choose where to open the link:

• Open in Current window.
• Open in a New window.
   

Inserting Horizontal Lines

Line: Click the Line function icon to add a thin horizontal line to the current mouse pointer position, spanning the entire width of the text area.

Adding Attachments and Media

Attachments and media can be added by selecting the add button (+) for all sources and options for adding content. If you select a file, the Content Editor will
automatically recognize what kind of a file it is. You can edit the display options and add alt text by right-clicking on the item.

When adding local files, multiple files can be selected at once using standard desktop actions (shift or control/command) this includes images and video. There are not any drag-and-drop options at this time. Advanced settings such as class, style,and mouse-over images are not available at this time in order to provide a simpler user experience. 
 

Adding Content from Common Tools

 The content editor puts uploading files, images, etc. in one place rather than using separate tools. Click the Plus icon to begin uploading content.

• Insert Local Files browses the computer to access the file to be uploaded.
• Insert from Content Collection browses the Content Collection to locate the file to be uploaded.
• Insert from Cloud Service allows the user to connect to OneDrive for Business, Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc to access the file to be uploaded.
   

Image Files

You can determine where images appear in relation to your text. Place the cursor where you want the image to be and select Add Content icon. Choose one of the Common Tools or Additional Tools available according to the type of content you are creating, then browse for the image file. Once the image has been added, right-click to access the contextual menu. The content editor will recognize the type of content and will provide user with the proper formatting options.

You can add the common image types, such as GIF, JPG, JPEG, BMP, PNG, and TIF.

Whenever possible, use compact, compressed file formats such as JPG or PNG to reduce the time required to download the embedded image.

Image Settings

• Source displays where the image was accessed from.
• Alternative description provides an alternate text description for the image. Recommended for accessibility readers.
• Image size can be adjusted by making changes to width and height. Clicking on the lock will "unlock" the image allowing you to change the width and height of an image separate, but it will not be in proportion, which can lead to the image looking stretched and distorted.
   

Media Files & Settings

You can determine where media will appear in relation to your text. Place the cursor where you want the media to be and select Add Content icon. Choose one of the Common Tools or Additional Tools available according to the type of content you are creating, then browse for the file. Once the media file has been added, right-click to access the contextual menu. The content editor will recognize the type of content and will provide user with the proper formatting options.

From the menu, you can select General, Embed or Advanced properties.

• General properties you can change are the source, and the dimensions of the video (width and height) measured in pixels.
• Embed properties option presents you with a text area where you can write or modify the embedding HTML code for the video to appear. This feature is intended for advanced web developers.
• Advanced properties include an alternative source or image URLs.
   

General Media Settings

The General properties you can change are the source, and the dimensions of the video (width and height) measured in pixels. If not set, the actual size will be used. If you select the padlock icon to Constrain Proportions and add a measurement, the file is resized without horizontal or vertical distortion.

Media Source Settings

In the Embed and Advanced tab, you can enter custom media HTML code or enter Alternate source URL. This feature is intended for advanced web developers.
 

Adding Content From Additional Tools (Mashups)

• Dropbox allows users to connect to an existing Dropbox account to browse and upload content.
• Flickr Photo uses Flickr mashup to search for photos to insert into as content.
• Slideshare Presentation uses Slideshare mashup to search for presentations to insert as content.
• YouTube Video uses the YouTube mashup to search for videos to insert as content.

The Additional Tools section contains the Mashup options for Blackboard Learn. A mashup combines elements from two or more sources. When you view a YouTube™ video in a Blackboard Learn course as part of the course content, you are experiencing a mashup.

Once the Additional Tool type or mashup is selected, you can search for content to fit your course. Then, you set viewing and presentation options.

Note: After selecting a YouTube video, choose "No" for the Show YouTube Information option if you do not want to show YouTube’s suggested videos at the end of playback.

Before submitting, click the preview function  to see how the mashup will appear in the content item. Close the preview window to make changes. When you are satisfied with the selection and options, click Submit to continue or Cancel to abort adding the mashup.
 

Using the Math Editor

The Math Editor delivered within the content editor provides an interface for creating and managing math formulas in your course. Click the Launch Math Editor icon to launch the interface. This will open the math equation editor window, the WIRIS Formula Editor. The image for the authored formula automatically has alt text added that describes for formula for accessibility. The alt text will be in the language of the formula author if using Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Norwegian (NB), Norwegian (NN), Portuguese (BR), and Spanish; otherwise, alt tags will be English.

The math editor is based on Javascript and runs on any browser and operating system, including smartphones and tablets. Based on which course view you see, your editor may have one or three rows of options.

 

Rich Set of Features

• Basic operations
• Matrix calculus
• Calculus and series
• Logic and set theory
• Units
• Greek alphabet
• Table of Elements

 

To learn more, select the Manual link in the math editor to access the WIRIS website user manual. The manual provides a list of all icons available in the tabs.

 

MathType Editor Highlights

The math editor automatically converts formulas and equations to images so that users do not need to download an applet to view them. The formulas and equations continue to remain fully editable for an author.

The math editor supports copying and pasting of MathML formulas and equations directly in the editor.

Supports Legacy Equations - the math editor continues to support W3C MathML standards and extracts MathML from the pre-SP8 legacy math editor.

If upgrading from other platforms such as CE 4 or Vista, the math editor can accommodate the formulas and equations from these platforms.

 

Working with Tables

You can add and format tables in the editor. The editor appears wherever you can add text, such as in assignments, tests, discussions, and journals. To be sure your content is accessible to all users, use tables only to present data rather than for layout or presentation purposes. For example, users who are blind use screen readers to have text on the web read aloud. Table information read by screen readers can be difficult for users to understand.

In the editor's text box, place your mouse pointer where you want to add a table and select the Insert/edit table icon.

Most of the table options are grayed out and unavailable unless you access an existing table in the text area. To resize a table, press and drag a table's corners or sides.

 

General Tab

Right-click the table to access the table's contextual menu and table properties. On the General tab, you can set the basic properties for a table. Note that after creation, you can edit a table using the table functions and commands. You can resize a table by clicking and dragging the table border anchors.

 

• Width: Set the width of the table in either pixels or a percentage of the available display width. The default is set to 200 pixels.
• Height: Set the height of the table in either pixels or a percentage of the available display height. If left blank, the table is sized automatically as needed to fit the content.
• Cell Padding: Type a number in pixels for the individual table cells' padding.
• Cell Spacing: Type a number in pixels to separate the table cells.
• Border: Creates a simple black line border around the table. Type a number in pixels for the width of the table border. The default is set to one pixel.
• Alignment: Select the table alignment: center, left, or right. If not set, the current paragraph alignment is used.
• Class: Set the HTML class for the table. If your setup does not use classes, ignore this setting
   

Advanced Tab

On the Advanced tab, you can set additional table properties.

 

• Border Style: Set the style of border (solid, dotted, dashed, etc.).
• Border Color: Set the color for a cell border.
• Background Color: Set the background color for a cell.
   

Edit Tables

Click inside an existing table to make the table editing functions active in the content editor.




To resize a table, in addition to using table, row, or cell properties, you can also press and drag one of the table border anchors. These are positioned at each of the table corners — to make the entire table larger or smaller. You will also find them in the middle of each side — left, right, top, and bottom — to resize the table horizontally or vertically.

Right Click Contextual Menus

You can also right-click anywhere inside an existing table to access a contextual menu. Select Insert/Edit Table to access some editing properties for an existing table.

 

Using Anchors

You can use anchors to position (anchor) other items and objects, such as images. Position the mouse pointer where you want the anchor to appear, and click the anchor icon to open the Insert/Edit Anchor window. Type a name for the anchor and click Insert to add it.

To modify an existing anchor, select it and right-click to Insert/edit link.

To remove an anchor, select it and press the Delete key.

Deleting an anchor also deletes the object or text anchored to it.

 

Advanced Functions

HTML Code View

Click the HTML code view function < > icon to open the HTML Code View/Source code window. Then, you can directly edit the content HTML code. When finished, click Update to apply your changes or Cancel to abort.

The content editor performs some code verification. To keep the code valid and working, HTML tags are added or removed as needed. However, you might enter invalid codes or tags, and the content editor's auto-correcting capabilities may not catch all issues. Displayed results can be unpredictable.

This feature is intended for experienced web developers.

Using the Right-Click Contextual Menu

In the content editor, you can place your mouse pointer in the text area and right-click to access a contextual menu. The menu includes the editor's most commonly used functions.

• Cut: Cut the selected text or object.
• Copy: Copy the selected text or object.
• Paste: Paste the most recently cut or copied text or object.
• Link: Visible only when you select text or an object and opens the insert/edit link window. 
• Remove Link: Visible only when you select text or an object and removes any hyperlink. If you click remove link for something that has no hyperlink, nothing happens.

Cut, copy, and paste functions may not be available in all browsers.

References

This information pulled from What Does The Editor Do  from Blackboard Help.

If you would like more information refer to Blackboard's help site.

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