Blackboard Learn includes an email function for administrators to quickly email sets of users:
- All instructors
- All students
- All users
After the recipients are determined, all messages are created the same way.
More on how to make the email tool available in courses and organizations
Send email
- On the Administrator Panel in the Tools and Utilities section, select Email.
- Select All Instructors, All Students, or All Users.
- Type a subject and a message.
- Select Submit to send the message.
Edit email configuration settings
In the Administrator Panel, you can designate email addresses for users to contact for support requests. Additional email settings are also available. Navigate to the Admin Panel. In the Tools and Utilities section, select System Configuration > Email Configuration to get started.
Make changes to the settings as needed. Select Submit when you're finished.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Primary Support Email Contact | Enter an email address for support requests that originate from Blackboard Learn. This is the email address used in the Contact Support link that appears to instructors and course builders in the Control Panel of their courses. |
| Administrator Email | This email address appears in the From field for emails sent by the administrator from within Blackboard Learn. |
| Override "From" Address | Designate an email address to override the sender's own email address. If you select Yes, type an email address that should appear in the From field of the messages. |
| Override "To" Address | Designate an email address to receive a copy of emails sent from within Blackboard Learn. Emails still reach the intended recipient, but a copy of the message goes to this email address. This email address will collect a lot of messages over time because it receives a copy of all messages sent from within Blackboard Learn. If this field is left empty, a copy of the emails will go to the administrator email address. |
| Debugging SMTP | Enable this setting to keep a log of SMTP interactions. This log can be useful when troubleshooting. |
| Send Email Notifications From | Type an email address that should appear in the From field for notification emails sent from Blackboard Learn. |
| Mail Server Settings | Setup an SMTP server to handle email in Learn. For extra security, choose whether to require authentication and enable SSL or TLS encryption. Settings take effect when you select Submit. An entry in the registry is created the first time this configuration page is used. |
| Advanced Info | Details the email configuration settings that are in the bb-config.properties file. To edit these settings, you'll need to restart your Blackboard Learn instance. |
Restrict email permissions in a course
Administrators can define the extent to which users in courses can contact one another using the Email tool. You can restrict the Email tool recipient options that are available in a course, which can help prevent students from misusing the tool.
The options are managed through these permissions:
- Course/Organization (Tools) > Send Email > All Groups
- Course/Organization (Tools) > Send Email > All Instructor/Leader Users
- Course/Organization (Tools) > Send Email > All Observer Users
- Course/Organization (Tools) > Send Email > All Student/Participant Users
- Course/Organization (Tools) > Send Email > All Teaching Assistant/Assistant Users
- Course/Organization (Tools) > Send Email > All Users
- Course/Organization (Tools) > Send Email > Select Groups
- Course/Organization (Tools) > Send Email > Select Observer Users
- Course/Organization (Tools) > Send Email > Select Users
Instructors won't be able to enable the email settings you have disabled through these permissions. For example, if you choose to restrict students from emailing all users in a course, the option appears grayed out and unavailable for instructors to enable in the course.
