Customizing Blackboard
View answers to frequently asked questions asked by NIU faculty and staff.
After logging in to Blackboard, users have a variety of ways to customize the look and feel of Blackboard. These customizations will personalize the design and select what information will appear within Blackboard.
Customize Portal Content
- Login to Blackboard using your NIU AccountID as username and the corresponding password as Blackboard password. Students use their Z-ID and password for Blackboard login.
- Click the Modify Content button located on the upper right part of the page.
- Click the modules to have available. Users can select as many or as few modules as desired.
Note: Modules with a 
cannot be removed.
- Click the Submit button after selecting the desired modules.
Customize Portal Layout
- Login to Blackboard using your NIU AccountID as username and the corresponding password as Blackboard password. Students use their Z-ID and password for Blackboard login.
- Click the Modify Layout button located on the upper right part of the page.
- Click the module name that needs to be reordered and then use the arrow buttons to move the module to a different location on your portal page or click the
button to remove the module.
- Click the Submit button located at the bottom of the page.
Customize the View of My Courses
To modify courses from your My Courses module:
- Login to Blackboard using your NIU AccountID as username and the corresponding password as Blackboard password. Students use their Z-ID and password for Blackboard login.
- Click the
button on the My Courses module.
- Under Modify Courses List section in the Display Course Name column click the box corresponding to each course that the user wants to be displayed in the My Courses module. Uncheck the boxes for any courses that need to be removed from the module.
- To display the Course ID along with the name of a course (helpful if you are teaching multiple sections of the same course) click the box under Display Course ID column corresponding to the course name.
- Click the Submit button.
Note: The My Courses module will then display the Course Name along with the Course ID which identifies specific courses and sections. An example of a listing with the Course ID is as follows:
The Course ID begins with the Year (in the above example: 2008), followed by the Semester which is represented by a numerical code-- 2 for Spring, 6 for Summer and 8 for Fall semester respectively (the above example refers to a course taught in Spring 2008). Followed by the Course Subject represented by an alphabetical code (e.g.: AHPH), the three digit Course Number (in the above example: 593) and then the Course Section (e.g.: P-1) ending with the Course Name (e.g.: FIN DEC MAK SVC MNGR).
Customize the Look of the Course Navigation Menu
Change Navigation Menu Text Links to Buttons
The course navigation menu in a Blackboard course displays text links by default. These text links can be changed into button images as follows:
- Click the Control Panel button on the left side of the screen in your Course homepage.
- Under Course Options click Course Design.
- Click Course Menu Design .
- Under Select Menu Style click Buttons.
- Under Select Style Properties select the Button Type, Button Shape and Button Style by clicking the desired options.
- Click the Submit button.
The Navigation Menu links are replaced by the selected button images.
Modify Menu Format
The course navigation menu in a Blackboard course can be viewed in either the traditional Quick View or Detail View modes. The detail view of the course navigation menu displays the folder structure of all course contents, making it possible for the user to navigate directly to a particular location in the course whereas the quick view is the traditional button or text view of the course links.
To enable users in your course to customize their view of the course navigation menu:
- Click the Control Panel button on the left side of the screen in your Course homepage.
- Under Course Options click Course Design.
- Click Manage Menu Display Options.
- Under Course Menu Display click Allow use of both views.
- Click the Submit button.
Note: Users can click the 
button and the 
button located below the course navigation menu to toggle between the two views.
Irrespective of whether both views are allowed by the instructor or not, users can always click the 
button
located below the course navigation menu to see a Course Map view of the course which is similar to the detail view.
The detailed Course Map view opens in a new window.
To close the Course Map window click the X button located at the top right corner of the Course Map window.
Add, Remove or Modify Course Navigation Menu Items
Faculty can add, remove or modify the course navigation menu items as necessary for their course.
Add a Menu Item
The Course Menu may contain various types of items, such as folders which may contain course documents, items such as Course Syllabus, External Links to pages outside the course or links which provide access to various parts of the course in Blackboard like the Grade Center.
To add an item:
- Click the Control Panel button on the left side of the screen in your Course homepage.
- Under Course Options click Manage Course Menu .
Note: Under Manage Course Menu there are a series of buttons on the top which help in adding different kinds of items such as:
Content Area: Instructors can create content areas to organize their course material. Various types of content can be placed into the content areas, such as spreadsheets, documents, graphics, assignments or web links, etc.
Tool Link: This button helps in adding a menu item which links to any specific tool in Blackboard, such as the Calender, Discussion Board or the Grade Center.
Course Link: Using this button Instructors can create a link to an existing area of their course or to an area of another course they are teaching.
External Link: Instructors can use this button to create links to external online resources or websites.
- Depending on the type of item to be added click the corresponding button (in the below example to add a link to the grade center click the Tool Link button).
- Under Type click the drop down menu and then click the type of item to be added (in the below example click My Grades).
- Click the Submit button.
The new menu item is added to the navigation menu.
Modify a menu Item
- Click the Control Panel button on the left side of the screen in your Course homepage.
- Under Course Options click Manage Course Menu .
- Click the Modify button corresponding to the item to be modified.
- Modify the options as necessary (in the below example the Name was changed from My Grades to Grade Center).
- Click the Submit button.
The navigation menu item name is changed from My Grades to Grade Center.
Change the Order of the Items
- Click the Control Panel button on the left side of the screen in your Course homepage.
- Under Course Options click Manage Course Menu .
- Click the drop down menu located on the left side of the item(s), and click the new position for the item(s).
- Click the OK button.
Temporarily disable an Item
Instructors can make an item temporarily unavailable to the students.
- Click the Control Panel button on the left side of the screen in your Course homepage.
- Under Course Options click Manage Course Menu .
- Click the Modify button corresponding to the item to be temporarily disabled.
- Click Available for Student/Participant users to remove the check mark.
- Click the Submit button.
Remove an Item
- Click the Control Panel button on the left side of the screen in your Course homepage.
- Under Course Options click Manage Course Menu .
- Click the Remove button corresponding to the item to be removed.
- Click OK in the warning dialogue box that opens. Click Cancel to cancel the removal.
Add a Banner to the Course
In order to upload a banner into a Blackboard course, the Faculty Member needs to have a properly-sized banner created. Banners should be about 600 x 60 pixels; larger banners take up too much of the announcements space. Banners must be created and sized outside Blackboard and uploaded as a .gif or .jpg file.
To add a banner:
- Click the Control Panel button on the left side of the screen in your Course homepage.
- Under Course Options click Course Design.
- Click Course Banner.
Note: The banner image being used currently is displayed (a blank image is displayed if no banner is used).
- To upload a banner image click the Browse button.
- In the small File Upload window that opens, locate and click on the banner image filename that is stored on the computer and then click the Open button.
- Click the Submit button.
The banner image appears in the course entry page.
Note: To remove a banner from the course, click Remove this banner in Step 4 above.
Then click the Submit button.
Some useful websites that will help you create banners easily are:
Click here for examples of sample banners for use in Blackboard.
Additional examples of starter banner backgrounds provided by Central Washington University are available here.
Find more answers...
Are you looking for more information related to getting started teaching with Blackboard? Review the answers to frequently asked questions asked by NIU faculty and staff regarding getting started teaching with Blackboard. Also, consider attending an upcoming Blackboard workshop.
Last Updated: 05/13/2008
