WebCT Basics (drogers)

Make sure you have virus and spyware software and run it regularly. Many problems can come from viruse infections.

I am getting file error messages

In WebCT, filenames can contain any of the following: a–z, A–Z, 0–9, spaces, _, &, ( ), –, ., and ~. Note: The tilde (~) cannot be used as the first character in the filename. Unfortunately, when you upload files to WebCT, your files have to go through many other computers, and some of them do not like these characters. Spaces seem to cause the most trouble.

To simplify things, keep your filenames simple and short, like: 1ess-drft. Avoid using spaces and capital letters. To reduce the chances of anything going wrong, keep the length of the filename to 8 or less characters.

MS Works files

If you use MS Works at home, you should probably save your files in Rich Text Format (.rtf) so they can transfer easily from class to your computer.

When you save files at home, drop down the bottom window in Save As.

Select Rich Text Format

Select Save

About filename “extensions”

Each file has a 3 space file extension that identifies what kind of file it is.

anyFile.abc where .abc is the filename extension

Software programs use the extensions to identify what type of data is in the file. Normally, Windows hides these extensions from you when you view files & directories. That keeps you from changing those three letters, making the file unreadable.

Sample extensions:
File.gif is a “gif” picture file
File.jpg is a “jpeg” picture file
File.doc is a MS Word document
File.wpd is a WordPerfect document
File.exe is an executable file (software program)
File.zip is a “zipped” or compressed folder

Some software programs can convert files. Newer software programs can always open older program files (MS Word 6 opens Word 4 & 5 files). Older programs have difficulty with files from newer programs (Word 4 may not open a MS Word 6 file).

If you are have consistent problems with uploading or downloading files, please contact me, or the folks at WebCT. You may have virus problems.