Programme Guide Editor Overview
Programme Guide Editor - User Guide
Overview
The Programme Guide Editor allows Programme Directors to create, edit, and publish Programme Guides directly into Blackboard via their Programme Support Area (PSA) course. The tool is accessed through the Module Manager application under Support Area Setup > Programme Guide.
Key capabilities include:
Selecting any PSA programme you are enrolled on as an instructor
Editing all guide sections through a structured, tabbed interface
Auto-populating core fields (programme title, school, director name and email) on first load
Uploading a Programme Director photo directly to Blackboard
Attaching or linking a Programme Specification PDF
Auto-saving your work every 90 seconds and on every change
Publishing the completed guide to Blackboard with a single click
Contacting support directly via email from within the editor
💡 Access is restricted to staff enrolled as Instructor, Primary Instructor, or Teaching Assistant on a PSA Blackboard course. Only parent PSA courses appear in the dropdown — child PSAs are automatically filtered out.
Accessing the Programme Guide Editor
To open the editor:
Log in to the Module Manager application.
Navigate to Support Area Setup from the home page.
Click the Programme Guide tab. If you have the MM_PSAG role this will be your default landing tab.
💡 If you do not see the Programme Guide tab, contact your system administrator to confirm you have the correct role and Blackboard enrolments.
Selecting a Programme
The Programme dropdown at the top of the editor lists all PSA courses you are enrolled on as an instructor for the current academic year. Only top-level (parent) PSA courses are shown.
When you select a programme the editor will:
Load any previously saved guide from the database, or use the default template if none exists
Auto-populate the Programme Title and Code from the dropdown label
Look up and fill in the School name from the ODS academic database
Fill in the Programme Director name and email from your Blackboard staff record (only if those fields are currently blank in the guide)
Enable the Publish to Blackboard button
Begin auto-saving
💡 If a guide has been saved previously, your saved content is always loaded — the auto-population only fills fields that are blank, so existing data is never overwritten.
Editor Layout
The editor is divided into two areas:
Left panel | Right panel |
|---|---|
A vertical list of guide sections. Click any section name to load it in the editor. Sections with editable content are highlighted in blue. | The editing area for the selected section. Fields render as text inputs (short values) or text areas (longer content). Lists of items have add/remove controls. Nested subsections appear as collapsible groups. |
The toolbar above the editor shows two buttons:
Email Support | Publish to Blackboard |
|---|---|
Opens your email client addressed to n.humphries@ulster.ac.uk with the programme name pre-filled in the subject line. | Saves and publishes the current guide content to your PSA Blackboard course. Disabled until a programme is selected. |
Guide Sections
The Programme Guide is structured into a front page and seven numbered sections. Each section may contain one or more subsections.
Section | Content |
|---|---|
Front Page | Programme title and code, school, college, banner image, and Programme Director card (name, email, phone, room, drop-in hours, photo). |
1 — Programme Organisation and Management | Programme overview, aims, structure, management arrangements, and relevant contacts. |
2 — Staff–Student Partnership | Student voice, representation, surveys, and how feedback is used. |
3 — Programme Design and Structure | Module list (auto-injected from Banner data), programme learning outcomes (auto-injected from CMS), and the Programme Specification link. |
4 — Assessment, Marking and Feedback | Assessment strategy, marking criteria, feedback timelines, and academic integrity. |
5 — Learning Resources and Support | Library, IT, wellbeing, disability support, and other student services. |
6 — Additional Opportunities | Placement, study abroad, employability, and extracurricular activities. |
7 — Other Useful Information | Attendance, regulations, complaints, and any other relevant policies. |
Front Page Fields
The front page is the cover of the published guide. Most fields are auto-populated on programme selection.
Core Fields
Programme Title and Code | Auto-filled from the dropdown. Edit if the display name needs adjusting. |
|---|---|
School | Auto-filled from the ODS academic_study table using your programme code. Edit if required. |
Faculty | Auto-filled from the ODS college code associated with the programme. |
Banner Image | Automatically selected based on your college code (e.g. Ulster Business School, Arts and Humanities, etc.). |
Programme Director Card
Name | Auto-filled from your Blackboard staff record on first load. |
Auto-filled from your Blackboard staff record on first load. | |
Phone Number | Enter your office or contact phone number. |
Room Number | Enter your office location. |
Drop-in Hours | Enter your student drop-in or office hours. |
Photo | Upload a photo using the Upload Photo button (see next section). |
Uploading a Programme Director Photo
A photo can be uploaded directly to Blackboard from within the editor.
Navigate to Front Page in the left panel.
Click the Choose File button.
Select an image file from your computer (JPEG or PNG recommended).
Click the Upload Photo button below the photo field.
The image is automatically compressed to under 1 MB if necessary and uploaded to Blackboard. A preview appears once the upload completes.
💡 Images larger than 800px wide or tall are resized automatically. If compression fails, resize the image manually before uploading.
Programme Specification
Section 3 (Programme Design and Structure) includes a Programme Specification link. To make this available to students you must download the specification from the Ulster Curriculum system and then upload it to Blackboard via the editor.
The steps are:
In Section 3, locate the Programme Specification subsection. If a Banner Programme Version ID was found, an automatic link to the Ulster Curriculum system (https://curriculum.ulster.ac.uk/...) will already be shown.
Click the curriculum link to open the specification. Download the PDF to your computer.
Return to the editor and use the Upload PDF button in the Programme Specification subsection to upload the downloaded PDF directly to Blackboard.
Once uploaded, the PDF hosted in Blackboard replaces the curriculum link in the published guide. Students will open the PDF directly rather than being redirected to the curriculum system.
💡 Uploading the PDF triggers an autosave automatically. If no Banner Programme Version ID is found the automatic curriculum link will not be present — in this case contact support to obtain the correct PDF before uploading.
Auto-populated Content
When a programme is loaded, the system automatically injects the following content from Banner and the TSA (Teaching Support Area) database. This content is read-only in the sense that it is refreshed from source data each time the guide is loaded — do not delete these sections.
Programme Learning Outcomes | Injected into Section 3 from the TSA ProgrammeLearningOutcome data. |
Module List (FT / PT) | Injected into Section 3 from ProgrammeModuleFT or ProgrammeModulePT depending on whether the programme label ends in "PT". |
Structure and Requirements | Injected from TSA ProgrammeVersion data. |
Regulation of Standards | Injected from TSA ProgrammeVersion data. |
Saving Your Work
Autosave
The editor autosaves automatically in two ways:
Triggered save — 1.5 seconds after you stop typing or make a change.
Interval save — every 60 seconds regardless of activity.
The status bar displays the result of each autosave. A successful save shows the timestamp; a failure shows an error message.
💡 Autosave writes to the Module Manager database. Your guide is NOT published to Blackboard until you click Publish to Blackboard.
Local Draft Recovery
If your browser session expires or you close the tab unexpectedly, the editor stores a local draft in your browser. The next time you load the same programme, you will see a notification:
"Restored unsaved local draft (session may have expired)."
You can accept the recovered draft or click Discard local draft to revert to the last server-saved version.
Publishing to Blackboard
When you are ready to make the guide visible to students:
Ensure all sections are complete and reviewed.
Click Publish to Blackboard in the top-right of the editor.
The system generates the HTML version of the guide and uploads it to your PSA Blackboard course (identified by the external ID in the format psa_<code>_<year>).
The status bar confirms success or reports any errors.
💡 Publishing can be done as many times as needed. Each publish overwrites the previous version in Blackboard.
Getting Help
If you encounter a problem or need assistance with your Programme Guide:
Click the Email Support button at the top of the editor.
Your default email client will open with n.humphries@ulster.ac.uk as the recipient and the programme name pre-filled in the subject line.
Describe your issue and send the email.
Troubleshooting
Symptom | What to check |
|---|---|
Programme dropdown is empty | Confirm you are enrolled as an Instructor on at least one PSA course for the current academic year in Blackboard. |
School field is not populated | The programme code may not be in the ODS academic_study table. Contact your administrator or use Email Support. |
Director name/email not filled in | Your Blackboard user record may be missing name or contact information. Update your profile in Blackboard. |
Autosave fails with a database error | The Banner Mappings table may not contain an entry for your programme code. Use Email Support to report the issue. |
Publish to Blackboard button is disabled | Select a programme from the dropdown first. The button is only enabled once a guide has been loaded. |
Photo upload fails | The image may be too large even after compression. Manually resize to under 1 MB before uploading. |
Changes are lost after closing the browser | If the local draft prompt does not appear, autosave may have failed. Check the status bar before closing the editor. |