This morning, Thursday, April 25th, Desire2Learn Inc. deployed Service Pack 9 to our D2L learning environment.

Along with some tool fixes (as outlined below), D2L has made a much-requested change to the interface. The course navigation bar no longer disappears when users are viewing full-screen pages, such as the “Enter Grades” tool. Issues with downloading files in the Dropbox and Content tools’ file attachments through Internet Explorer 8 have also been resolved.

In addition, these are some tool specific fixes from the Service Pack:

• Discussions:
  1. On the Group Restrictions page for a discussion topic, returned results now work properly when you select All Forums in the Forum drop-down list when previously no results were returned.
  2. After users perform a Role Switch and then access Discussions, they can now perform actions only allowed by the switched role permissions, and no longer possess the original role permissions.
• Grades:
  1. Lengthy grade category descriptions now wrap correctly; this eliminates the need for horizontal scrolling.
  2. Formulas for Calculated Final Grade and Adjusted Final Grade now copy correctly when Grades are copied in Copy Course Components.
  3. In Grades’ Enter Grades page, each grade item’s Properties information no longer displays “Weight” properties if the grading system is not a Weighted system.
• Dropbox:
  1. The Dropbox Folders page and Folder Submissions page now correctly indicate the number of submissions that are “Unread” and “read” after file submissions are viewed online or downloaded.
  2. In Dropbox folders with Turnitin OriginalityCheck enabled, an error no longer occurs when a GradeMark Available to Students date is set in the past. This error occurred most frequently in OrginialityCheck-enabled Dropbox folders that were copied from another org unit.
• Chat: Previously, chat messages had a maximum limit of 400 characters. This limit has been removed.
• Content:
  1. The Content Browser widget did not update release conditions when conditions were met. Release conditions are now computed when the widget loads so students can see content that becomes available.
  2. Inserting a quicklink no longer updates the topic title if it is not empty.
• User Progress: User visits to Content topics and modules and navigation through them with the Next or Previous buttons are now correctly tracked.
• HTML Editor: Image resizing is now supported in Firefox for both instances.
• Homepages: Duplicated instances of a custom widget can now be styled independently without affecting all instance of that widget.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact UW-W D2L Support.

This morning, Thursday, April 4th, Desire2Learn Inc. deployed Service Pack 8 and a few hotfixes to our D2L learning environment.

A bug that made instructors unable to copy gradebook items and/or categories from any previous offering of the course using the Copy Components tool has been fixed. Also, a fix has been applied that corrects an issue with the “New Survey” function not working in some courses under the Surveys tool. Issues with downloading files through Internet Explorer 8 are now resolved. News and other tools’ file attachments are now downloadable from IE8.

In addition, these are some tool specific fixes from the Service Pack:

• ePortfolio: Invitation messages that are longer than 150 characters when entered, but are less than 150 characters after formatting, no longer results in an error when viewed.
• Grades: When copying a course with an attached grade scheme using the Import / Export / Copy Course Components tool, the default grade scheme selection is now retained. Several database performance issues were corrected to improve or reduce load issues.
• Dropbox: If a dropbox folder has a date availability restrictions, its folder instructions no longer appear in the calendar to users without proper permissions until the available start date. Also, when users evaluate the last dropbox folder submissions on the Evaluate Submission page, the “Finish” button is now replaced with a “Done” button and no longer publishes the last submission listed. “Done” instead redirects back to the Folder Submissions page.
• Widgets: The links widget did not allow users to add links within it even if users have proper permissions. This has been corrected.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact UW-W D2L Support.

In order to maintain optimal storage capacity, and ensure the ongoing smooth operation of D2L, the UW System conducts an annual purge of older courses from the system. This year, we are beginning preparation for courses from Fall 2008 through Summer 2010. Courses that are in this time frame will be purged from the D2L system beginning on May 3, 2013.

Things to keep in mind for the Cleanup process:

• Only courses from Fall 2008 through Summer 2010 will be affected by this year’s Cleanup. Any courses that don’t fall in that time frame, including courses that are “OTHER” or “ONGOING” designated, are not affected.
• Course materials or student information in courses can be exported if they’re needed for future courses or analysis. If you need assistance with exporting these items, please review the “How To” section of the D2L Cleanup Resources website.
• Course components and materials can also be copied to an “OTHER” or “ONGOING” course shell if you plan on using the same materials for future courses. To complete a request for one, use the “Special Course Request” section of the D2L Course Request application.
• If a special circumstance exists where a course that is slated for cleanup needs to be maintained as is (this is usually for reasons other than retaining course materials or student information), please complete and submit the Course Cleanup Retention form before April 26, 2013.

If you have any questions about the D2L Course Cleanup process, please review the Frequently Asked Questions section of the D2L Cleanup Resources site as your question may already be addressed there. If you still have questions or need assistance, please contact UW-W D2L Support.