D2L (the company that owns Brightspace) uses Continuous Delivery to update our Brightspace system. The Continuous Delivery model gives us regular monthly updates allowing for incremental and easily integrated changes with no downtime required for our Brightspace system.
Our Continuous Delivery update occurs on the 4th Thursday of each month. D2L provides release notes to help users stay up-to-date with the changes.
Here are some of the updates in the March 2024/20.24.3 release that were added to our system this month:
1) Brightspace Editor – Consistent link creation with the ability to choose link format
As of this release, inserting a link into Brightspace Editor opens the Add Link dialog which allows users to determine if their links open in a new window (set as the default) or in the current window. The text box in the Add Link dialog also allows users to add text to their link. This provides users with a consistent workflow and control over how links respond in their content.
The Add Link dialog opens when inserting links with the context menu or with keyboard shortcuts (for example, ctrl+K or command+K).
Additionally, the dialog includes a new Insert Quicklink option, allowing users to easily insert a quicklink. When using Insert Stuff > Insert Link or Insert Quicklink > Link, the same Link, Text, and Open In options are displayed ensuring consistent link creation.
Finally, this feature updates the icons shown in Insert Quicklink to ensure all icons use the new style.
Previously, adding links throughout the editor resulted in different workflows, different fields, and different behaviors in the way that links would open. The previous Whole Window option is removed, as it was being treated as the current window and thus cause inconsistent behavior. Several options have been renamed from the previous version to improve consistency:
- The option to have links open in the current window was previously called same frame.
- Link was previously named URL.
This feature implements the following PIE items:
- D9265, D7107, and D10615 (Ability to set links to “open in new window” when inserting a link via the context menu)
- D8186 (Link target is not available except from the Quicklinks menu)
- D8051 and D8279 (Enhancements and better hyperlink options in HTML Editor)
- D10602 (Consistent process for adding URL)
- D10475 (Making Insert Quicklinks smoother and faster)
2) Quizzes - Improved experience for generating quiz reports
This release introduces a better experience for instructors when running and exporting quiz reports with large amounts of data. To avoid time-out failures and screen freezing, the following report types now run asynchronously:
- Attempt Details
- Question Statistics
- Question Details
- User Statistics
- User Attempts
When reports are ready for downloading, Brightspace generates a notification that instructors can access from the bell icon in the navbar.
Previously, quiz reports were generated slowly and would time-out in large classes.
If you are interested in getting more information about these and all the March Continuous Delivery updates, refer to the Brightspace Platform March 2024/20.24.3 Release Notes.
Additionally, refer to the Brightspace Release Notes for Continuous Delivery Releases, for details about current, past, and to preview upcoming continuous delivery updates.
Want more information?
View current, past, and preview upcoming Continuous Delivery release notes
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Brightspace Known Issues
Request a sandbox course
Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions
You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Join the Brightspace Community.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.