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Problems with Inactive Links

Have you clicked on a link in your eLearning course, but nothing happened?

Check to see if either of these common reasons is causing the problem. If the problem persist, please let the helpdesk know via our email form.

Your browser or computer may have anti-popup or ad-blocking settings which are interferring with My eLearning. If you have one or more of these blockers, you may not be able to open links:

  • on the homepage (or other pages of the site)
  • to compose or open a discussion message
  • to begin a quiz
  • to open a chat room
  • to compose or open an email

For help, see more about pop-up and ad-blocking.


Plug-ins
Learning resources in your My eLearning course may be presented in many different formats and you will need the appropriate software to view each one.

To view some files you will need a plug-in for your browser, such as Acrobat Reader for PDF files or QuickTime for video. Browsers often download the plug-in automatically, but if this does not happen, you can download the plug-ins you need from:

http://www.webct.com/exchange/viewpage?name=exchange_browser_tuneup_information#plugins

Information about which plug-in you need should be on your My eLearning site. If not, ask the course instructor.

Updates
If you have the appropriate software, yet still cannot open some files, you may also need to update the software in question. To do this, you will need to identify the software (such as Adobe Acrobat or Macromedia Flash) and go to the supplier’s website to find an update.

For example, you may get a blank screen after opening a PowerPoint file within My eLearning. This is most likely due to a software bug and can be overcome by installing a patch or Service Pack for MS-Office. To do this for Windows, go to:

http://office.microsoft.com/OfficeUpdate/default.aspx

or for Macs, go to:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx

Sometimes the link may simply be broken, or the file no longer exists. Therefore, if you come across a link that is inactive (or as we say "dead", or "broken") and have ruled out any of the causes above, you should:

a) check with classmates, to see if they are having the same problem, and if they are:
b) contact your lecturer and notify them of the problem.