Please note that as of Saturday September 1, 2018, Portal is no longer available.

The experience in the Quercus is greatly simplified from the Portal, and it typically does not help to bring the previous complexity into Quercus.  This could be an opportunity to build anew in Quercus, but there are ways to import content.

Creating a new site in Quercus

Content can be added to empty course shells by instructors in a number of ways, but a good place to start is to simply start adding items in the Modules tool or reviewing the Canvas Instructor Guide.  Instructors should have an Archive of their course kept safely for their records, as outlined below, but instructors do not need to use this as a starting point in Quercus.

Creating and Importing a Blackboard Portal Archive

Instructors with access to a course in Portal and Quercus can:

1. In your Blackboard Portal site Go to the Control Panel.
2. Click Packages and Utilities, Export/Archive Course, and then select Archive Course.
3. Select Include Grade Center History.
4. Under File Attachments
   1. In Course Files Default Directory, select Copy links and include copies of the files in the course default directory.
   2. In Files Outside of the Course Files Default Directory, select Copy links and include copies of the files in the course default directory.
   3. Click Submit.
5. When the archive has completed you will receive an email message, or you can remain on the page and click the “Refresh” button until you see a link appear.
6. A link to download a .zip file of your archived course content will be available. Click this link to download the file to your computer, do not unzip it.  Keep this archive file someplace safe and secure.
7. Navigate to your Quercus at https://q.utoronto.ca
8. Enter your empty course shell.
9. In Course Navigation, click the Settings link then click the Import Course Content link.  You may need to hide the new user tutorial if it is still active.
   
10. In the Content Type drop-down menu, select the Blackboard 6/7/8/9 export .zip file.
    
11. Click the Choose File button and then find the Blackboard Archive(.zip file) that you downloaded in the step 6.
12. In the Default Question bank drop-down menu, select the Question bank you want to use for your question bank from Blackboard.  If you do not have a question bank you want to use, you can select the Create new question bank option.
13. Select the Content strategy by clicking the Select specific content radio button so that you are prompted to choose which content to import later in the process.
14. Click the Import button and wait for the import to beginThe current job will show as Waiting for Select.  When it is ready you can select the content you want to import by clicking Select Content.
    
15. This option allows you to select specific content areas such as assignments, settings, and files without importing the entire course.  Choose only what you need and when ready click Select Content.
16. Review the success of the import and make modifications as needed.

Additional Resources

• Canvas’ guide for importing content
• A visual decision tree for choosing a migration method [PDF] [SVG].
• Content Migration Map [PDF]

Content Migration FAQ

Content Migration

Content Migration Clinics

Content Migration Clinics focus on getting content from Portal into Quercus.  For most courses this is straight forward, but having someone work alongside you during the process is often helpful.  For other courses older content, often relying on flash, can require creative solutions or changes in the way content is presented is required.  There are many ways to move content from Portal to Quercus, these clinics help individuals responsible for course content quickly identify the best migration strategy for their content and begin the migration process.

Clinics are hosted in partnership with divisions and centrally by the project team.