Accomodation for non-frame users and search engines (4/9) - Links to second level pages included in noframes tags and JavaScript added to display link to home page whenever page is viewed outside of its frame, for example someone coming from outside the site.
Deployment (4/9) - Description of all files used in site added as well as a link to a zip file containing all files in site
Email Notification (3/14) - If permitted by the creator of the class, members of a class can subscribe so that they are emailed with the content of any new posts on a given topic. The subscription is per topic in the class rather than being for the entire class and can be changed at any time. Blackboard doesn't offer any email notification, I believe.
Security (4/25) - Now that all the code has been made available, the database is no longer secure so the name of the database and the reference to it in the header.asp file has been changed to something other than discuss.mdb
Completed
Cookies - The October version used cookies to pass the username from page to page to demonstrate the use of cookies for this purpose. If cookies were disabled in some way by the user, the tool would not function properly, instead ASP session variables will be used so that the username is accessible from multiple pages.
Duplicate submissions - In the October version, if the user hits refresh or reload in their browser (in an effort to see submissions made by other users since they loaded a page), the user's post is resubmitted thus resulting in duplicate entries in the discussion board. Now the user is provided a link and instructed to click that link to refresh or reload. Eliminating the behavior of the refresh/reload button may not be possible.
Enrollment - In the October version, any user of the discussion tool could access any discussion so there was no concept of being enrolled in a particular class or discussion. Now one will enroll in particular classes to be able to access the discussion for that class. For the time being, any user can enroll in any class. Instructors can now remove students from a class the instructor created and administrators can remove students from any class.
Font - Fonts are now specified in an external style sheet using sans-serif font rather than utilizing the default browser font
Login - In the October version, returning users and new users logged in. Attempts to access an interior page of the site directly without logging in might produce an error but would not if a successful login had previously occurred from that machine and thus a username cookie had been written. Now, attempts to access restricted interior pages during a session without the user having first logged in will cause the login page to be displayed
Logout - The user can now click a button to logout.
Navigation -
Terminology - "Category" changed to "Courses". Terminology now used in a consistent way throughout website.
User Identification - The October version identifed users only by username. Now when users register for the first time, they will be asked to supply first name, last name, and email. This will aid instructors in the class management screens.
User Modification and Deletion of Posts - The October version did not allow anyone to modify or delete a post once it was submitted under the rationale that this capability could make subsequent replies to that post difficult to interpret. However, letting the user modify or delete their post permits correction of errors and provides the user's current thinking without others having to wade through initial posts followed by revised posts. Whether or not to permit user modification and deletion of their own posts will be set by whoever creates the discussion group. Instructors who created the class and administrators have this capability regardless of how the course is set up.
Administrator role - In the October version, all functions which only the administrator could perform were done directly in Access, such as the creation of a new discussion board (now termed class). Ideally these could be performed through a browser over the web.
Enrollment - Implement instructor enrollment for classes where open enrollment of students isn't permitted.
Capabilities description
Help screen
Order Posted are Presented - Currently posts are presented in chronological order. Since some would prefer reverse chronological order, an option for this should be considered.
Security -- Make sure that roles are verified on a page rather than assuming that since a person got to a page, they have the correct role.
Threads - The October version presented all posts to a topic at the same level, rather than presenting posts as replies to other posts, replies to replies, etc. Some users find this additional detail useful.
User Identification - Instructors should have the option of having the students first and last name displayed for posts rather than their user name.
Attachments - In the October version, users post messages and can include HTML to format their messages and can use <img> tags for inline images using referrences to images stored on other servers. Ideally users will be able to include attachments. However, in ASP it is unknown whether the Microsoft Posting Acceptor is available on the NVCC server. Implementing in ASP.NET may be a better long-term solution.
Revised: April 25, 2003.Comments to William Pegram, wpegram@nvcc.edu