Troubleshooting issues with online submissions - Student Guide
If you have been asked to submit assessed work online or take part in an online test and are having problems doing so, here are some troubleshooting steps for you to try.
General Advice
Make sure the clock and time zone on your device is correct
Check your computer/laptop time – it should show the accurate time, date and time zone (for whatever country you are in at the time). You can find advice on setting your device time here.
Stop clicking!
Double clicking or repeated clicking doesn’t help and may cause problems. Click once and wait for the page to load. Response times may be a little slower during assessment periods.
Check your internet connection
Do you have a strong enough wireless/wi-fi signal? If not, use a wired connection—it’s faster and there’s no competition for a wireless connection. If you must use wireless, ensure your submission is complete before walking away.
Use a computer
We do not recommend submitting work via the UniLeeds App or on a mobile or tablet.
Check the advice from your tutor
Check that you've followed the advice you've been give by your school or tutor.
Browser Advice
Run the Browser Checker
To check that your browser is running the right settings for Minerva, use the Browser Checker on the Blackboard website.
Check your browser is up-to-date
If it isn't up-to-date, update it before uploading your assignment.
Check third party cookies are enabled on your browser
This allows Minerva to "talk" to other systems and is often blocked by default. Use the guide on enabling third-party cookies on your browser.
Check that pop-ups are enabled
Some assessment systems open in a new window known as a pop-up. If these are blocked, you may not be able to access the assignment.
Try a different browser
If you are using on campus PCs you can use any of the available browsers. If you are using your own computer see, recommended browsers for Minerva.
Assignment Advice
Check the file type
Read the instructions to ensure that the file is in the right format. Different assessments have different requirements.
Don't use long file names with special characters
File names that are really long, or contain special characters such as & , . ( ) % # ‘ “ / \ - { } [ ] : ; @ can experience issues. Try and keep to letters and numbers where possible.
Check the size of your file
If your file is too big for the system, then you may need to change it before you submit. See the guide on reducing file size/compressing for tips on doing this.
System Specific Troubleshooting
Online time limited assessments (OTLA)
If you are asked to participate in online time limited assessments (OTLA), here are some additional tips. The most common tools used by tutors for OTLA's are currently is Blackboard Test:
Use a PC or laptop - we do not recommend using a mobile or tablet device for online time limited assessments.
Check your device time this is critical for online time limited assessments, so we're mentioning it again. Check your computer/laptop time before you start – it should show the accurate time, date and time zone (for whatever country you are in at the time). Make sure you check and correct the clock and time zone if it is incorrect. If you are not sure on how to do this, see, set time, time zone and date for further guidance.
Check your device settings - ensure your PC or laptop is not set to go to sleep during the test.
Timers continue to count down once you start - If your tutor has set up a Blackboard Test/Assignment so that you have a defined period of time in which to complete the test, (for example, 60 minutes in a 24 hour time frame), the timer will continue to count down, even if you leave the Test/Assignment test mid-way.
Blackboard Tests/Assignments
If you want to leave a Blackboard Test/Assignment mid-way and resume later, make sure you click Save and Close, not Submit.
If your tutor has set up a Blackboard Test/Assignment so that you have a defined period of time in which to complete the test, (for example, 60 minutes in a 24 hour time frame), the timer will continue to count down, even if you leave the Test/Assignment mid-way.
When you are ready to submit your Blackboard Test/Assignment make sure you click Submit, not Save and Close.
Turnitin
Check the size of your file - The file size limit per assignment is 100MB (2MB for plain text files), and no greater than 800 pages in length. If your file is larger than this, it is usually because you have large image files embedded which need to be compressed. see the guide on reducing file size/compressing.
Check the file type - In general, PDF is recommended.
Turnitin will not accept PDF files that do not contain highlightable text (e.g. a scanned file – usually an image) or documents containing multiple files. PDFs created using Adobe Acrobat® are officially supported. Web-based PDF creators should be avoided.
Turnitin will also accept the following file types (though if you have not been told to submit any particular format the best choice is PDF):
| Supported file formats |
|---|
| MS Word (.doc/.docx) |
| MS Excel (.xls/.xlsx) The submitted version of an Excel file will display in Turnitin as if it had been saved as a PDF from Excel. Pay attention to the preview shown during the submission process to make sure the file appears as intended. The appearance of the file can be controlled by editing the page setup and print area settings for the file prior to saving it in Excel. |
| WordPerfect (.wpd) |
| PostScript (.ps) |
| HTML |
| Rich Text Format (.rtf) |
| OpenOffice (.odt) Turnitin will not accept .odt files created and downloaded from Google Docs online, or “.doc” files created using OpenOffice. You should save your file as a PDF. |
| Plain text (.txt) |
| Google Docs, Slides and Sheets via Google Drive If using Google Drive to submit, third party cookies must be allowed in your browser. See the links below for guidance on specific browsers: Chrome guidance on Google's website Firefox guidance on Mozilla's website Safari guidance on Apple's website |
| Adobe PDF (.pdf) |
| Hangul Word Processor (.hwp) |
| MS PowerPoint (.pptx/ .ppsx/ .pps) Turnitin converts PowerPoint documents into static PDFs. Dynamic elements (embedded audio/video, animations, etc) are not included in the conversion. Any visual effects for text, such as shadows and 3D, should also be removed prior to submitting to Turnitin. Documents with a .ppt extension will not work, use .pptx instead. |
If you are using an unsupported word processor, you may need to save your plain text as a .txt or .rtf in order to upload to Turnitin
When converting to a new file format, you should use a different name to rename your file than that of the original to prevent your original formatting being overwritten
Check the file name - you cannot use < > characters in the file name. Please also see the filename guidelines for characters which should not be included in the name of files.
Check the number of files - You can only submit one file per assignment. You need to make sure all your work is saved under the one file name before submission.
Coursework Coversheet - Use a coversheet as directed by your teaching school. Your teaching school is the school offering the module. For example, if you are a Business School student studying an English module, for the English module, if you were asked to submit to Turnitin, you would use the coversheet directed by the School of English. For your LUBS module, you would use the coversheet directed by the Business School and so on.
Check your choice of internet browser - In a small number of cases, corrupt caching settings within the Safari browser has caused the session to hang and submissions to fail. If this occurs then users should take the following steps:
- Go to the Safari Preferences > Privacy tab > Manage Website Data.
- Look for and remove the three cached websites below: (All three may not be present)
– googlesyndication.com
– googleservices.com
– turnitinuk.com or turnitin.com - Close and reopen Safari.
- Try submitting again.
Alternatively, you can submit using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.
Check your files - Turnitin needs at least 20 words. Files must be smaller than 100MB. If your file is larger than 100MB, see the guide on reducing file size/compressing.
Be methodical on submission day
Don't attempt to submit multiple assessments at the same time by opening more than one tab in your browser. You can end up submitting to the wrong assignment! Wait until your first assessment has uploaded … then navigate to the other submission area and upload the next paper. Turnitin does not support opening multiple assignments in browser tabs.
Double-check that the correct file has been uploaded by checking the preview that is shown on screen before confirming.
You may find the video guide explaining how to submit a Turnitin assignment (will open in Mediasite) helpful.
Gradescope
Troubleshooting - see the Gradescope troubleshooting guide for 6 common tips.
If the advice above has been helpful please give us feedback on this webpage and let us know.