The limited customizable features of BlackBoard include:

• Adding a banner to the first page. Simply upload the file from the settings page.
• Selecting a button style (rectangle, oval, rounded rectangle).
• Selecting a button color or pattern, hundreds to choose from.
• Choosing an entry point (what the user sees in the main screen immediately after logging in),
• Selecting the type and number of course components from a provided list. This list will always appear on the left side of the interface.

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This is the extent to which the interface of BlackBoard can be altered. All of the courses on the BlackBoard site have a similar look and feel.

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PostNuke is completely customizable. A number of “themes” available, plus a multitude of others available to download. An additional module called Autotheme allows people with knowledge of html to design pages and place PostNuke database components within it. Between the various themes and Autotheme add on, PostNuke proves itself to be an amazingly customizable LMS. Significantly more so then Blackboard and Moodle, the other leading open source LMS.

Some graphics (topics and logos) have to be stored in an images folder within the PostNuke system, while others have to be stored elsewhere on server or on another server and linked.

The instructor can select the desired components and there is flexibility to place them (from login to forum to news) on various places on the screen. Including what will appear in the main screen before and after login. Additionally, the left and right columns are always shown, even when in the administration menu.

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