ARCHIVED: In Oncourse, why can't I see a linked website or video?

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Important:
Oncourse is retired. For details, see ARCHIVED: About the Oncourse retirement.

Recent versions of Firefox (version 23 and higher) and Internet Explorer (version 10 and higher) have increased security, and may block certain types of external content linked to or embedded in Oncourse, including both websites and videos. By default, links added in the rich-text editor will open in a new tab or window, avoiding this problem. However, if you see an apparently blank screen, along with a message saying "Only secure content is displayed" (in IE) or a shield icon (in Firefox), follow the instructions below to view the linked content.

Note:
UITS strongly recommends that you use a supported browser, and not Internet Explorer (IE). Microsoft 365 apps and services no longer support Internet Explorer.

Viewing the content

To view blocked content:

  • Internet Explorer: Scroll to the bottom of the screen, and click Show all content.
  • Firefox: At the top of the page, to the left of the address bar, click the shield icon ( Image of Firefox shield icon ). In the pop-up window that appears, click the down arrow next to "Keep Blocking" and select Disable Protection on This Page.

Making content display

If your role allows you to edit material in Oncourse, you may be able to prevent this problem from occurring, in certain cases. (Note that some tools may have no solution other than clicking to view the content as described above.) Try the following:

  • For videos, in the rich-text editor, use the Insert/Edit Movie icon ( The movie icon looks like a clapboard ) to insert your video.
  • Oncourse does not allow embedded iframes; this means that videos from some external providers cannot be embedded.
  • Although opening links in a new window should be the default behavior, if this does not work correctly, try editing the link to specify a new window. Within the rich-text editor, after clicking the Link icon ( The Link icon looks like a globe with chain links at the bottom ) and entering a URL, click the Target tab, and from the drop-down list, select New Window (_blank). Then click OK.

This is document bdnj in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 17:21:47.