Managing Course Menu

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At times you may not need or want all of the course menu buttons to show.  For example, if you are using Blackboard in support of a face to face class you may not want to use the Staff Information feature instead you will deliver that information in class.  The best option is to hide the button from the view of the students rather than removing the button.  You can remove buttons but in some cases that can also limit the functionality of Blackboard.

To hide a course menu button, please enter your course and find the button that you want to hide, then point to the double down arrow next to the button. Select Hide Link from the list.

An icon will be shown on the button, if you point to it, it will show This link is hidden from students.

If you want to make the link available to students again, click on the double down arrow and select Show Link.

Managing course menu also includes Add/Edit Content Area, Tool Link, Course Link, URL, and Module Page to the course. The appearance of the course menu is changed by adding Subheaders and Dividers to organize the menu area.

Add/Edit Content Area

The Add New Content Area link enables the instructor to add a new course area to the course and choose which course roles will have access to the content.

To add a New Content Area, You should open a course and click Edit Mode ON at the right upper corner.

Click Add button in the Course Menu and then click Create Content Area.

Type a Name for the content area. Click the Available to Users check box. Then click Submit.

The content area that you just created will be shown in the Course Menu.

Once a content area has been created its properties may be edited to suit the course. To edit a content area, make sure the Edit Mode is ON. Click the double down arrow next to the content area, and you will see three options: Rename Link, Hide Link, and Delete.

Select one of the following options from the contextual menu for the Content Area:

Rename Link: Change the Name of the content area and click the Check Mark icon.

Hide Link: This will make content area unavailable to students. An icon appears when the content area is unavailable.

Delete: Click to delete the content area. A confirmation window appears to verify the deletion.

Add a New Tool Link

The Add New Tool Link feature enables the instructor to add tools to the course menu and choose which users will have access. To add a new tool link, click Add button in the course menu, and select Create Tool Link.

Type a Name. Select the Type of tool from the drop-down list. Click Available to Users if you want to make it available. Then click Submit.

Create New Course Link

This option allows instructor to add a link to another part of the course to the course menu. Instructors may add a link to an assignment or an assessment that is due. The item would then be listed in a course area and also on the course menu.

A link to the discussion board could be added to the course menu.

To add a new course link, Make sure the Edit Mode is ON. Click Add button and Select Create Course Link.

Type a Name, then click Browse button.

The course map appears. Select a folder or item within the map to link by clicking on it.

 Click the Available to Users check box to make this area available to course users. Click Submit.

The course link will be shown in the course menu.

Add External Link

If you add an external link to the course menu, users are able to click on it and connect to linked resources.

To add an external link, please open a content area in the course and make sure the Edit Mode is ON. Click Add button and select Create External Link from the Build drop-down list.

Type a Name for the external link. Type or paste a copied Web site address for the link to access. When typing a URL, do so as http://www.blackboard.com, not www.blackboard.com or blackboard.com. Click Submit.

The link will be shown in the course menu. You can click on the double down arrow to edit it.

Creating and Editing Module Pages

Module pages are used to display Content Modules. To create a module page, please open a course and make sure the Edit Mode is ON. Point to Add button in the menu area and select Create Module Page.

Type a Name for the module page. Click Available to Users. Click Submit.

The module page will be shown in the course menu. You can click the double down arrow next to the module page to edit it.

Create Subheader

A subheader can hold additional course menu areas. To create a subheader, please point to Add button in the menu area and select Create Subheader.

Type a Name and click on Submit.

Now you can see the subheader is shown under the course menu.

Create Divider

This creates a line that is placed anywhere on the course menu. To create a divider, please point to the Add button in the menu area and select Create Divider.

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