This topic applies to those who are using Blackboard Learn 9.1 release April 2014 or earlier. If you use Blackboard Learn 9.1 October 2014 or later, or Learn SaaS, this help topic doesn't apply. For more information about which browsers are supported with the release of Blackboard Learn that you are using, see Supported Browsers in this section.

Common issues

If you use Microsoft's Internet Explorer to access Blackboard Learn, you may encounter two common errors:

  • Not Logged In: This occurs when you try to access Cloud features such as Profiles and the browser is not configured to have both the Cloud server and the Learn installation server in the same Security Zone.
  • Profile Not Found: This occurs when you try to access the Profiles feature and your browser is configured to show either the Learn installation server or the Cloud server in Compatibility View mode.

These errors can occur even if you are successfully logged in to Blackboard Learn at your institution.

Compatibility View and Security Zones configuration are unique features of Internet Explorer. If you use other supported browsers for Blackboard Learn, you do not have these issues. To learn more about supported browsers, see the Browser Support Policy topic in this section.

These problems are easy to correct, but must be done in the individual browser. The following sections provide directions for several versions.

Configuring Internet Explorer security zones for Blackboard Learn and Cloud

  1. From the Tools menu, select Internet Options. In Internet Explorer versions 9 and 10, you access this menu by selecting the gear icon below the search bar. The following steps are identical for all versions.
  2. Select the Security tab in the Internet Options dialog box.
  3. Select Trusted Sites (the green check mark icon).
  4. Add *.cloud.bb to the Trusted Zone if it is not already added.
  5. Add your Blackboard server address to the Trusted Zone if it is not already added.
  6. Close the Trusted Sites dialog box.
  7. Select OK to close the Internet Options dialog box.

Internet Explorer version 9

Internet Explorer version 10

Configuring Compatibility View settings for Blackboard Learn and Cloud

  1. From the Tools menu, select Compatibility View Settings. In Internet Explorer versions 9 and 10, you access this menu by using the Alt key to make the menu bar visible. In version 10 on Windows 8 OS, you must be in Desktop mode. The following steps are identical for all versions.
  2. Review any sites in the Websites you've added to Compatibility View list.
  3. If there are any cloud.bb sites or your Blackboard Learn site on the list, select them and select Remove.
  4. If your Blackboard Learn site is in your Intranet Security Zone, clear the Display intranet sites in Compatibility View check box.
  5. Select Close to close the Compatibility View Settings dialog box.

Internet Explorer version 9

Internet Explorer version 10

Notes

Technically, the Security Zone issue arises if your Blackboard Learn server and the Blackboard cloud.bb server are in two different Internet Explorer Security Zones AND one of those zones is running in Protected Mode and the other zone is not running in Protected Mode. In this configuration, the cloud.bb server and the Blackboard Learn server are not able to communicate with each other to validate your session, so the cloud.bb server reports that you are not logged in.

Because of this, it is also possible to fix this issue by changing the Protected Mode setting for one of the zones (using the Security tab as described above) so that it matches the other, without necessarily changing the zone for either server, or adding either one to the Trusted Sites zone. However, this may have an impact on your browsing of other, non-Blackboard sites or on browsing policies at your institution.

The recommended, easiest way to configure your browser to work around this issue is by adding both entries to the Trusted Sites zone as described above.

Compatibility View mode should not be needed for any feature of Blackboard Learn. With this mode set, the Cloud server is unable to communicate back to the Blackboard Learn server when it has new information.