Known Problems with WebCT 6.0
as of 4/11/07 - jfb
Since the beginning of Fall 2005, we have been working towards moving all of our courses from version 4.1 of WebCT to the new version, WebCT Campus Edition 6.0. Overall, the new system has a great many improvements over the older versions. These improvements include bug fixes, but mainly it includes many new features and expanded functionality of familiar tools. This said, the new system is still new and exhibits some of the unfortunate characteristics of new software, mainly errors in the code.
The past year, 2006, was filled with problems for WebCT. The product's host company was purchased by competitor Blackboard and support for WebCT moved to the Blackboard support system, which has left a lot to be desired. That said, the contact people we have worked with have been responsive and sympathetic and as helpful as they can be, but the underlying support that they receive has been inadequate. We have documented many of the problems and errors of the system. Some of these problems have been fixed in subsequent updates to WebCT, the last major update occurring on Dec. 17, 2006, a minor one on Feb. 18, 2007. The next major update is planned for early summer, 2007. Basically, the process of fixing bugs in the system is a slow one, but we are pushing as best we can to get results.
Following is a list of the significant known problems in WebCT:
O. Larger Learning Modules Give Errors in Internet Explorer
If your course has a Learning Module that has more than about 20 items, accessing certain items in the list when using Internet Explorer (6 or 7) will give you the Unexpected System Exception Error. Either the instructor has to make the Learning Module smaller, or else all users must avoid Internet Explorer. This problem seems to be fixed in the upcoming WebCT update, expected to be installed before Fall Semester 2007.
I. Files and Attachments Not Opening
[Updated 22 June 2006, again 14 Mar. 2007]
Beginning with SP2 (mid-2006), Internet Explorer does not allow direct downloads of non-Webpage documents. This is still an issue, though it is not a WebCT-caused problem. You will see the screen looking blank where the document normally would appear. It should bring up a dialog box offering to have the file downloaded, but that doesn't happen. In order to get access to these documents directly, go into the Internet Options area of your PC and enter WebCT.utah.edu as a safe site. After that, most documents will become directly accessible. Also, in Internet Explorer, there is a standard setting to not allow automatic downloading of files. This prevents the file from being seen at all, or even the option for downloading. Often there is a narrow bar on the top of the window saying that downloads were attempted and not allowed. Clicking on that bar and allowing downloads from WebCT usually fixes this problem for future downloads. Sometimes that is seen as an alert in the lower right area of the Windows screen. Once you have allowed downloads to happen you will need to try to get the document again. After that, future files should be available for downloading or viewing.
In the case of Macintosh systems using Safari, the process of downloading files sometimes simply places the file on the desktop without giving any indication that it happened. You may need to check there to find your document.
II. NOTE about Java downloading (Windows systems) - (especially note the Additional Problem at the end)
[Updated 14 March 2007 - see end of this note.]
If you get a red x in the place of the My Computer icon, you may need to upgrade your Java. [This is still an issue.]
Special Note: Sometimes even when you have the correct version of Java on your system, the best way to fix problems, especially browser crashes, is to re-install the Java.
The browser checker Java Link takes you to a confusing place and the download of the Java update code either doesn't work or is too confusing to use. Here is what we have found to be the best for Windows Java updates:
Go to http://www.java.com
Click on the Manual Download option (under the larger Download Now link)
Click on the first item in the list (on [Download]): Windows (Online Installation) [Download]
Open the downloaded .exe file and follow the instructions.
If you still have problems, you may have to go into Wondows settings and remove older versions of Java.
Additional Problem - Note that in Windows systems, if you run with the latest version of Java (1.5.0.9 and later) you will probably have errors uploading files into WebCT, especially after the first upload. WebCT recommends backing off to version 1.5.0.8 of Java (JRE) to remedy this problem. We hope that WebCT/Blackboard will bring support up to the latest Java version soon.
III. Learning Modules Indent/Outdent Problems
[Updated 14 March 2007]
WebCT 6.0 has some serious problems in the outlines in the Learning Modules, especially in medium to large sized outlines. Usually the problem occurs when you add an item or after you remove an item. Sometimes when you change the indent or outdent of an item, it has unpredictable results, then leaving the whole outline in a mess. WebCT knows about some of these problems, but has no estimated time of a repair to the system. (This is our oldest problem case with WebCT - a problem since December 2005.)
Sometimes this problem produces a more serious problem, the famous "Unexpected System Exception Error." Usually, the best solution to this problem is to not use indentation at all in Learning Modules, or possibly to unindent the last item in the list.
IV. Mail Forwarding
With the update to WebCT, mail forwarding is set for the user in general and not as it once was, course-by-course. This is specified in the "My Settings" link on the My WebCT page.
Unfortunately, mail forwarding is not working for most people. The mail forwarding issue is a software bug. The decision to forward mail is incorrectly decided by the sender's mail forwarding setting, not the recipient's (although the correct email address is used). A message will only be forwarded if both the sender and receiver have enabled mail forwarding. Blackboard is working on a fix for this problem.
Please note that all mail messages are kept in the Mail Tool within WebCT, even when a copy of the message is forwarded to an external address. No messages are being lost.
V. Unexpected System Exceptions
There are a number of known issues that bring up this error: An Unexpected System Exception has occurred.
This seems to have been augmented by the service pack update last December. The following issue is an example of this.
VI. Serious Assignments and Groups problem
We are seeing some serious problems coming up in a few courses that use the Assignment Tool with Groups. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you NOT use the Assignments and Groups tools together. The problem is that the Group manager becomes damaged and causes all assignments to be inaccessible, showing an "Unexpected System Exception Error".
If you are using Assignments and Groups together, we advise that you do not make any additional changes to that setup and avoid using groups in the future, until we get a fix from WebCT/Blackboard.
VII. "New" Discussion Postings include already-read messages
Discussion postings listed in the "New" links bring up older, already-read messages in many cases. When you go to your Discussion topic, either by clicking on the little greenish new icon or directly into the Discussions Tool, and you see the "nn New" link by the side of a topic name, If you click on that link, it brings up a compilation of those new messages in one window. Starting with the December "upgrade" this compilation list started including messages that have already been read, gradually getting longer each time this is done, and the items not necessarily in chronological order.
The work-around for this is to go into the discussion topic, do an "Exapnd All" and then select all messages (click in the little box by the "Subject" heading), then go to the bottom and click "Mark as Read". Even if none show as unread, this will set them so that they no longer are included in the "New" messages compilation... at least until over time they start adding up again, when you have to do that again.
VIII. HTML codes in pop-up window announcements
If you create announcements where you just type in a message and then send to students, etc., when they are viewed as a pop-up window, some HTML codes will appear mixed in the text, mainly <BR> codes between paragraphs, but also unreadable codes replacing quotes and some other special characters. You don't see them in the regular view, but if you preview them or view them in pop-up form you will see them.
IX. TA posted announcements not visible or changeable by instructors
TAs can send announcements to students that are not seen by the instructor. The instructor/designer also cannot remove any announcements sent by TAs, even if they can see them. This is only if the TA marks them as available to students but neglects to include the instructor and/or designer as roles to receive the announcement.
X. Several problems with Internet Explorer version 7
A number of formatting problems occur in using Internet Explorer 7 - some more serious than others. One notable example is the gradebook when the text view size is not "medium", the names columns do not match the grades columns.
XI. WebCT System Stalls and Kills Quizzes
NOTE: This problem may not be happening any more, but we are not sure. Please let us know if you see this happen.
It appears that if the WebCT server is experiencing a problem where it does not respond for a few minutes WHILE a person clicks on the Save button on a quiz, depending on the browser, you will get the "Page cannot be displayed" error in the right panel and the rest of the quiz refuses to function from that time on. Often, WebCT will also not respond.
When this happens, try the following to continue with the quiz:
1. Copy the text of the last answer entered and save it somewhere (e.g. Wordpad).
2. Quit the browser program.
3. Start the browser again and login again and re-enter the quiz and continue to work.
4. Get the text from the last answer (saved in step 1) and copy the saved text back into the answer you were trying to save in the first place.
5. Continue with the quiz.
This problem has two issues. One is the problem with the server where it gets bogged down and does not respond. Normally, when it recovers (the "timeout" usually lasts less than a minute), processing is supposed to continue where it left off. The second issue is the situation where the applet running the assessment tool does not respond well when the server does not respond. In these cases, it locks up and prevents further work in WebCT. This also seems to be an issue with Assignment submission and could affect other tools.
NOTE:
WebCT informs us that if you get to the point of being locked out of the quiz as described above (first paragraph of this section), if you hit the F-5 key, the applet will unlock and you can continue with the quiz (if the server is responding normally by this time). NOTE: any unsaved answers will be lost at this point so it is important to copy and save any unsaved answers before hitting F-5.