We're continually striving to improve Web Community Manager!
See the latest changes for Blackboard Web Community Manager.
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Web Community Manager 2020 Release 1 (2.39)
Here's what the 2020 Product Release 1 (2.39) includes:
- New Site Manager design
- Design ready template updates
- Bug fixes
New Site Manager design
Our Site Manager interface is getting a face-lift! We're excited to launch a new Ultra Site Manager design! All the administrative tools, reports, and content apps remain the same, but we've updated the look and feel to be more user-friendly. It's a big change, we know, so we're giving you lots of time to get ready for it. You can choose to move to the new Ultra interface or keep the current interface until the July 2020. Ready to try it out? Have your administrator contact our support team to get started!
Design ready template information
Our Design Ready Templates require updates when defects are found, accessibility guidelines change, new WCM features change, etc. We've made it easier for you to keep track of updates with our subscription service. When an update has been applied to a Design Ready Template that you have subscribed to, you receive an email with the release information. You can review the release information before clicking the "Update" button for the template.
Bug fixes
- Notify Google calendar owner when there's an error due to a Google process
- Notify the user when they're deleting a calendar with an active Google connection
- Notify the user that a Google connection exists when a page with a calendar is deleted from the recycle bin
- Notify the user when a page is deleted with an active Google connection
Technical Requirements
Here are the Web Community Manager End-User Technical Requirements and the Blackboard Privacy Policy updated to reflect the Blackboard brand.
Refresh Your Cache
It's always a good practice to clear your browser cache on a regular basis. Refresh your Cache shows you how to clear your cache in any browser.
Resources and Materials
As always, you can find resources and materials related to this release as well as to the many features and functions on the Help site. Core Resources, Hot Help Topics, Apps Showroom, Training and Creative—we’ve got the information you need to succeed with your Web Community Manager website.
Web Community Manager 2019 Release 8 (2.38)
Here's what the 2019 Product Release 8 (2.38) includes:
- New Site Manager design
- Design ready template updates
- Bug fixes
Web Community Manager 2019 Release 7 (2.37)
Here is what the 2019 Product Release 7 (2.37) includes:
- Design ready template information
- Bug fixes
Web Community Manager 2019 Release 6 (2.36)
Here is what the 2019 Product Release 6 (2.36) includes:
- New in-app messaging feature
- Bug fixes
Design Ready Templates Updates
Web Community Manager 2019 Release 5 (2.35)
Here is what the 2019 Product Release 5 (2.35) includes:
- Minor enhancements
- Security improvements
- Bug fixes
Minor enhancements
- increased the stability of Google calendar sync
- security improvements
Bug fixes
- Google calendar
- fixed the repair icon so it displays working until the repair is complete.
Web Community Manager 2019 Release 4 (2.34)
Here is what the 2019 Product Release 4 (2.34) includes:
- Minor enhancements
- Bug fixes
Web Community Manager 2019 Release 3 (2.33)
Here is what the 2019 Product Release 3 (2.33) includes:
- Design template updates
- Bug fixes
Web Community Manager 2019 Release 2 (2.32)
Here is what the 2019 Product Release 2 (2.32) includes:
- New page editing on the homepage
- Updated features
- Bug fixes
Web Community Manager 2019 Release 1 (2.31)
Here is what the 2019 Product Release 1 (2.31) includes:
- New page editing on the homepage
- Enhanced page editing
- Bug fixes
Web Community Manager 2018 Release 9 (2.30)
Here is what the 2018 Product Release 9 (2.30) includes:
- Updated features
- Bug fixes
Design Ready Templates Updates
New updates for Ally customers
The latest release of Ally (v. 1.23) contains bug fixes and other improvements that may apply to your product. Visit the Ally release notes to learn more. Don't have Ally? Learn more about Ally.
Web Community Manager 2018 Release 8 (2.29)
Here is what the 2018 Product Release 8 (2.29) includes:
- New features
- Updated issues
Web Community Manager 2018 Release 7 (2.28)
Here is what the 2018 Product Release 7 (2.28) includes:
- Updated features
- Resolved issues
Web Community Manager 2018 Release 6 (2.27)
Here is what the 2018 Product Release 6 (2.27) includes:
- Bug fixes and resolved issues
New updates for Ally customers
The latest release of Ally (v. 1.19.4) contains bug fixes and other improvements that may apply to your product. Visit the Ally 1.19.4 release notes to learn more. Don't have Ally? Learn more about Ally.
New updates for Ally customers
The latest release of Ally (v. 1.19) contains bug fixes and other improvements that may apply to your product. Visit the Ally 1.19 release notes to learn more. Don't have Ally? Learn more about Ally.
New updates for Ally customers
The latest release of Ally (v. 1.17) contains bug fixes and other improvements that may apply to your product. Visit the Ally release notes to learn more. Don't have Ally? Learn more about Ally.
Web Community Manager 2018 Release 5 (2.26)
Here is what the 2018 Product Release 5 (2.26) includes:
- Headlines & Features app improvement
- Bug fixes and resolved issues
Web Community Manager 2018 Release 4 (2.25)
Here is what the 2018 Product Release 4 (2.25) includes:
- Calendar improvement
- Accessibility improvements
- Bug fixes and resolved issues
New updates for Ally customers
The latest release of Ally (v. 1.16.2) contains bug fixes and other improvements that may apply to your product. Visit the Ally 1.16.2 release notes to learn more. Don't have Ally? Learn more about Ally.
Web Community Manager 2018 Release 3 (2.24)
Here is what the 2018 Product Release 3 (2.24) includes:
- Calendar updates
- Table app improvements
- Bug fixes and resolved issues
Web Community Manager 2018 Release 2 (2.23)
Continuous Delivery 2.23 | Release to Production April 2018
New Features, Updated features
Here is what the 2018 Product Release 2 (2.23) includes.
- Disable self registration
- Improvements to social media sharing
- Updates to SAML certificates
- Updates to Blackboard Ally widget
- Closed caption file option with the Premium Video App
- CERC help content migration to help.blackboard.com
Web Community Manager 2018 Release 1 (2.22)
Continuous Delivery 2.22 | Release to Production February 2018
New Features, Updated features
Here is what the 2018 Release 1 (2.22) includes.
- Continuous integration with Blackboard Ally
- Calendar upgrades
- Resolved issues
Ally 1.12 | Release to production 20 December, 2017
Web Community Manager (WCM) integration
The Ally integration for Web Community Manager (WCM) is now available. WCM is distinct from Ally’s other integrations, as WCM is a content management system that is mostly used by K-12 schools and districts in the US.
In the first release of the Ally - Web Community Manager integration, Ally provides the ability to check the pages and embedded media in a WCM instance for accessibility issues, and generates an accessibility report similar to the LMS institutional report. Instructor feedback and alternative formats are on the roadmap for future releases.
More on Ally in Web Community Manager
WYSIWYG content reporting
Ally 1.12 introduces the ability to check content created in the LMS (through the text/WYSIWYG editor) for accessibility issues, and includes this data in the institutional report.
This allows Ally to review a significantly larger part of the LMS content, and is a first step towards providing alternative formats and instructor feedback for this content.
This feature is currently only available for Instructure Canvas. Blackboard Learn, Moodle, and Blackboard Open LMS require additional APIs and/or push notifications to support this feature. Those teams are working hard on this additional functionality, and we are hoping to enable WYSIWYG content reporting for Blackboard Learn, Moodle, and Blackboard Open LMS as soon as possible.
Additional language support
Ally is now available in these languages.
- German
- Italian
- Turkish
Availability in these languages includes the Ally interface, as well as the alternative formats (including the audio format).
Ally 1.12 was originally going to include the ability to post alternative descriptions for images provided through the instructor feedback back into the LMS, and we have been working with all of you to make the required API permission updates. However, not all institutions have been able to make these permission changes in time. Therefore, the feature has not been enabled yet, as we didn’t want to introduce any risk over the holidays. The current plan is to enable this feature during the first week of January.
Web Community Manager 2017 Release 5 (2.21)
Here is what the 2017 Product Release 5 (2.21) includes.
- Blackboard Ally for Web Community Manager
- Resolved issues
Web Community Manager 2017 Release 4 (2.20)
- New Sign-in With Google Login
- Cloud Storage Dropbox Integration
- Page Editing Experience Enhancements
- Dashboard Personalization Enhancements
- Paging For Apps With Many Records Enhancements
- Added support for SAML for Active Directory Federation Services ADFS4.0
Web Community Manager 2017 Release 3 (2.19)
- Legacy WYSIWYG Editor Upgrade
- Cloud Storage Integration
- New Image Editor
- Page Editing Experience Enhancements
- Dashboard Enhancements
- On-screen Alerts Enhancements
- Section Recycle Bin Enhancements
- New PassKeys
Web Community Manager 2017 Release 2 (2.18)
- Update to Google Custom Search
- New page editing experience now available
- Integrated Dashboard supports student accounts and includes all assignments by class
- User Management lets you see where a user can edit
- New PassKeys have been added to the library: Bb Classroom, SkyCentral Community Engagement Engine
- New Section Recycle Bin to house deleted sections until permanently deleted or restored
- Email addresses in the Staff Directory app and About Teacher app will be obfuscated to protect them from being harvested by bots
- File Library App enhanced to link to the file from the title and now opens PDFs in the browser
- A link to download the file has been added to the Document Viewer app
- LDAP Group Cross Reference supports searching for Group DNs
Web Community Manager 2017 Release 1 (2.17)
- Basic Dashboard is included for non-MyView users
- On-Screen Alerts have a new look
- End-User buttons have a new look
- Google Maps updated within the School Directory and Maps & Directions Apps
- Maps & Directions App End-User View has been refreshed
