Best practices and tips for managing the file size of your course in WebCT.
-course management advice from MSU WebCT

In an effort to keep per-course disk space use at a reasonable level throughout a semester, the MSU WebCT support team typically surveys all WebCT courses for file size and looks closely at courses that occupy 100Mb (or more) of disk space on the WebCT server.

MSU WebCT determines if there are file size best practices that can be introduced to any course 100 MB (or larger) and, if so, contacts the primary designer of the course to help he or she employ strategies designed to bring course size down. Applying a surprisingly small set of best practices can reduce disk usage significantly (in many cases by half!) and at the same time improve the student experience and server performance.

Below are best practices and tips recommended by MSU WebCT support:

1. When preparing files for use in your course:
   1. Be selective when using PDF files – use plain web pages (html) whenever practical and possible.
   2. If you do need to use them, optimize PDFs whenever possible. Visit http://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/tweak/pdf/ for lots more info.
   3. Optimize image files. Save image files in compressed formats (JPEG or GIF) rather than uncompressed (don’t use TIFF or BMP or PDF if possible). If they are photos they can be much lower resolution and still look great on the web. If they are black and white you don’t need to save color information. Remember that your students will have to download these files too. There are documents (including many tutorials) regarding working with Web graphics in many places on the web - we suggest a search (using your favorite search engine) containing search terms like: web, graphics, tutorials, optimize. This will point you to many resources.
   4. Optimize media files (audio and video). If you create or edit your own media files, most media editing programs have settings that allow you to reduce file size significantly and still retain good quality. Keep in mind it’s the web, not sensurround.
2. Space savings inside your WebCT course:
   First and foremost it’s important to remember that aside from taking up valuable server space, all files in your My-Files area are included in any WebCT course backups you create – meaning it can take much longer to create and download a backup than may be necessary. So…
   1. Keep track of large files (especially audio, video, PDF, and image files) and delete those that are no longer in use in your course. Don’t use your WebCT file manager as a storage area – you should already have those files stored elsewhere.
   2. Delete all .zip archives after uploading and unzipping them in your course.
   3. Download large WebCT course backup files to your computer as soon as you create them, and delete them from the course. Don’t use the My-Files area to store course backups. Remember that a backup (dependent on when created) effectively doubles the amount of disk space your course uses.
   4. Use the discussion tool for general announcements and group interaction, instead of sending and receiving the same email messages to multiple recipients.
3. Special Considerations – courses utilizing e-Packs from publishers:
   Courses that use e-Packs are typically large to begin with when users choose to use all the features built into the e-Pack. If users choose to be more selective they can follow the suggestions below.
   1. If you do not intend to use all of the features in your e-Pack you can go into the My-Files area and selectively remove non-needed files in tandem with non-needed tools.
   2. Some of the newer e-Packs have a function that allow users to selectively import parts of the e-Pack into the course instead of the whole e-Pack. Investigate these options while adopting an e-Pack if you are interested in selectively utilizing certain parts of an e-Pack.

If you are interested in any of the procedures mentioned above but don’t know where to begin, contact MSU WebCT. We’ll help you analyze your course and give recommendations on areas where you can adjust to save disk space and – your sanity.
e-mail: msuwebct@montana.edu or call 406.994.6550