Sounds like you tried the suggestions given in this recent thread: Pasting text on a discussion board.

What do you think about updating to Firefox 23? There was a bug in Firefox 22 that caused copy/paste problems, particularly affecting people with ZoneAlarm software. That should be fixed in Firefox 23. I don't know whether it's the same issue for you, but you can read more about that here:

• Can't copy and paste from Firefox 22.0 anymore
• cannot copy and paste in Firefox, text or graphics

I do have Firefox 23. Blackboard recently updated, and the copy/paste issue roughly coincides with that upgrade. I can copy/paste using Chrome, but like the other correspondent I prefer Firefox.

I contacted the college Blackboard Help desk, and the tech replicated the problem. He also could copy/paste in another browser.

Neither mouse commands or keyboard commands operate. The work around I use is to paste the text into a Word doc and then recopy it and paste into the Blackboard edit window. Bu this is just too many keystrokes.

Hi greyhound4, you can paste into Blackboard when the source application is Microsoft Word -- but not when the source application is Firefox itself? Or is the problem pasting from another external application? Are you pasting plain text or HTML (i.e., text mixed with images or other HTML tags)?

One possible workaround is to block the scripts on sites from detecting when you cut, copy, or paste using the keyboard or right-click context menu. You can do this by changing a preference in Firefox's about:config preferences editor. This may cause some side effects when copying on other sites, though, so it's not an ideal workaround.

To try it:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box that appears above the list, type or paste event and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click dom.event.clipboardevents.enabled to switch its value from true (the default) to false.

This should take effect immediately, or after you reload the Blackboard page.

Does that make any difference?

I have two sections of the same course on Blackboard. If I post an announcement in one section, I want to post the same announcement in the other section.

I highlight the text, use control + c to copy. When I open a blank announcement in the other section and use Control + v, the text will not paste.

The operation will work in the Chrome browser but not Firefox.

I assume I'm composing in html. If I copy to a Word doc in between, the text will paste in Firefox using Control + c.

I am using the Mac version 23.0.1 and am having the same problem. Cannot copy/paste within a Blackboard text box anymore without clicking the "html" button and pasting there. Copy/paste to/from MS Word does work.

This is happening to me also on Ubuntu 12.04 with Firefox 23.

If you are on a system without Word (ex. Linux) using LibreOffice Writer seems to work as an intermediary.

The simplest way to do this is click on teh HTML button on top of the text box. Then you can CTRL V paste anything you want but you have to reformat....

The simplest way to do this is click on teh HTML button on top of the text box. Then you can CTRL V paste anything you want but you have to reformat....