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 2022 Release (2.64)
Continuous Delivery 2.64 | Release to Production Jul 2022
New feature, Updated features, bug fixes
Here's what the product release (2.64) includes:
- New features
- Updated features
- Bug fixes
New feature:
We've introduced translation settings in the Site Manager with optional Weglot translation services.
Updated feature:
- TinyMCE editor is enhanced with the below features:
- Link checker: This allows users to verify valid links.
- Power paste: This allows users to copy and paste the content with the formatting.
- Contextual warning messages incorporated to the content versioning panel.
Bug fixes
- Performance improvements
- Minor bugs.
Web Community Manager 2020 Release 10 (2.48)
Here's what the 2020 Product Release 10 (2.48) includes:
- New features
- Minor enhancements
- Bug fixes
Removal of Meta Keywords
In this release, Web Community Manager will replace our Meta Keywords feature with a Canonical URL. We're removing the Meta Keywords because Google officially stated they stopped accounting for meta keywords in Search Engine Results Pages in 2009. Bing stopped in 2014. It's understood within the industry that if you use them, a search bot determines that they are excessive and can work against you by penalizing how you rank in Search Engine Results Pages.
Canonical URL
A Canonical URL is a snippet of HTML code that defines the main version for duplicate, near-duplicate, and similar pages. In other words, if you have the same, or similar, content available under different URLs, you can use canonical tags to specific which version is the master copy of your page. This helps further enforce your desired sitemap throughout your website.
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 and enhancements
- Alternative format not tagging when file is marked as deleted
- Security enhancements
Web Community Manager 2020 Release 8 (2.46)
Here's what the 2020 Product Release 8 (2.46) includes:
- New and Classic Page Editing update
- New Site Manager design
- Design ready template updates
- Bug fixes
- Minor enhancements
Web Community Manager 2020 Release 7 (2.45)
Here's what the 2020 Product Release 7 (2.45) includes:
- New and Classic Page Editing update
- New Site Manager design
- Design ready template updates
- Bug fixes
Web Community Manager 2020 Release 6 (2.44)
Here's what the 2020 Product Release 6 (2.44) includes:
- New and Classic Page Editing update
- New Site Manager design
- Design ready template updates
- Bug fixes
Web Community Manager 2020 Release 5 (2.43)
Here's what the 2020 Product Release 5 (2.43) includes:
- New Site Manager design
- Design ready template updates
- Bug fixes
Web Community Manager 2020 Release 4 (2.42)
Here's what the 2020 Product Release 4 (2.42) includes:
- New Site Manager design
- Design ready template updates
- Bug fixes
Web Community Manager 2020 Release 3 (2.41)
Here's what the 2020 Product Release 3 (2.41) includes:
- New Site Manager design
- Design ready template updates
- Bug fixes
Web Community Manager 2020 Release 2 (2.40)
Here's what the 2020 Product Release 2 (2.40) includes:
- New Site Manager design
- Design ready template updates
- Bug fixes
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
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 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 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
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 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
Updated Features, LMS Integrations, Web Community Manager Integration
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
