Ultra Documents
A Document, in Ultra, is a way of organising materials on a course or organisation. They can be used in conjunction with Learning Modules and Folders. See the guide Content Containers in Blackboard Learn Ultra for more details.
Documents are comparable to Items in original Blackboard but can been used more like a webpage. You can create multiple sections referred to as blocks within your Document. At their simplest, these blocks could consist of a single file (such as a Word document or PowerPoint presentation) uploaded to Blackboard. You can create multiple text blocks within a Document, each of which might contain text, weblinks, images, uploaded files or embedded videos.
Example of student view of a document with three different blocks – (a) Text Editor block (b) File Upload block (c) HTML Editor block
Create a Document
Step 1: Go to the point inside a Learning Module, or on the Course Content area, where you would like to add the Document.
Step 2: Hover over the dividing line until a plus sign icon appears click on the plus sign icon to open the Add Content menu.
Step 3: Select Create from the Add Content menu. The Create Content Panel will open on the right-hand side.
Step 4: Select Document. The New Document page will open.
Step 5: On this page give your New Document a name by overwriting the default title.
Step 6: Build your document by adding blocks using the add content options.
The Document add content options are:
- Add Content (opens the text editor)
- Add HTML (opens the HTML editor)
- Upload from Computer (opens the file manager to upload files)
- Browse Content Collection (opens the Content Collection)
Step 7. Save you the block you have created. You can now build additional blocks to the document as required.
Building blocks in a Document
Once you have created and saved the first block of content, using any of the add options, you may wish to add additional blocks. Hover the cursor under the completed section until the purple line and plus sign icon appear. Click on the plus sign icon to choose from the menu again, and create another block in your Document.
Block options:
Add Content (Text editor block)
The Add Content option will open the Blackboard Ultra Editor.
The editor provides functions to enable you to build content in the document. These functions include:
- Formatting options, text styles, fonts attributes, insert table, alignment, bullet points.
- Insert Link and Attach file options.
- Using the Plus icon option to insert media from other platforms.
The Plus menu options are:
- Math
- Image
- YouTube video
- Content Collection
- Content Market
Embedding a YuJa video
To embed a video from your YuJa account select Content Market (from the plus menu (3)) and use the YuJa Media Chooser LTI tool to insert the video from your My Media area. Please see our guide: YuJa Media Chooser
Add HTML
When you select Add HTML a text editor will open and allow you to write HTML code directly into the editor.
In the HTML text editor the code will display in various colours to distinguish it from the text, and a prompt of tags and attributes will display to aid your code writing.
Add Embed Code to HTML editor
The Add HTML option is likely to be used rarely, if at all, by most staff. However you will need to use the HTML editor in Ultra to add the embed code for external media, such as Box of Broadcasts, or to embed a Twitter feed. Simply paste the embed code into the editor and it will add the media.
Upload from Computer
When you select Upload from Computer the file manager will open and prompt you to select the file or files to add to the document.
- Select the files
- Click Open
- Each file displays in the document as separate blocks (these can then be rearranged on the page)
Browse Content Collection
When you select Browse Content Collection the Blackboard Content Collection will open and prompt you to select the file or files to add to the document.
- Select the Content area
- Select the file/files
- Save
The files will display in the document as separate blocks (which can then be rearranged on the page).
Organising the Blocks
Once you have created your various blocks using these methods, those blocks can be rearranged into the order you desire. Hover over the block you wish to move until the Move Paragraph/Move File icon appears. Click on this icon to pick up the section and move it.
Relevant guides:
Guide last updated on January 26, 2024
