What types of files may be included in content?

Most file types may be uploaded to D2L and placed in content; however, D2L can only display files of certain, supported types right in your web browser, inside the content tool.

Files of types not supported by D2L's in-line viewer will need to be downloaded by students before being opened and viewed in external programs, outside of the students' web browsers. Having to download and open files outside of D2L and the web browser can frustrate and confuse students, so whenever possible, try to create content so D2L can display it directly.

All files placed in content must have appropriate file extensions (e.g. .doc, .pdf, .rtf) in order for them to display or download properly.

D2L's In-Line Document Viewer

The in-line document viewer supports only the file types listed below. Files of other types must be downloaded and then opened in appropriate, external applications.

Text documents
  • Corel WordPerfect (.wpd)
  • Extensible Markup Language (.xml)
  • Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx) 1
  • OpenDocument Text Document (.odt) 1
  • plain text (.txt) 1
  • Portable Document Format (.pdf)
  • Rich Text Format (.rtf, .rtfx) 1
  • web pages (.htm, .html, .mht, .mhtml) 1
Presentations
  • Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx, .pps, .ppsx) 1
  • OpenDocument Presentation (.odp) 1
Spreadsheets
  • Microsoft Excel (.xls, .xlsx)
Images
  • Bitmap image file format (.bmp)
  • Graphics Interchange Format (.gif) 1
  • Joint Photographic Experts Group (.jpg, .jpeg) 1
  • Portable Network Graphics (.png) 1
  • Tagged Image File Format (.tif, .tiff) 1
Audio/Video

For better, more reliable playback across devices, plus options for supplementing, modifying, and reusing your video and audio, please use the My Media tools (MU Video)  instead of uploading video or audio files to D2L directly.

  • Flash (.swf)
  • MP3 (.mp3)
  • MPEG (.mpg, .mpeg)
  • MPEG-4 (.mp4, .m4v, .m4a)
  • QuickTime (.mov)
  • RealAudio and RealVideo (.rm, .ra, .ram)
  • Waveform Audio File Format (.wav)
  • Windows Media (.wmv, .wma, .avi, .asf) 2


Notes
  1.  In Assignments instructors may annotate student submissions of these file formats.
  2. Firefox cannot reliably play Windows Media files shown with D2L's in-line viewer. Use the My Media tools instead.

File Types Blocked by D2L

To protect the security of your data, the security of the devices you use to access D2L, and the security of the D2L system itself, D2L blocks the upload of some types of files. In some cases you may put files of blocked file types into archives (.zip files) if you must share the files through D2L.

Blocked from All Tools

D2L will reject files of these types anywhere you attempt to upload them:

  • Active Server Pages (.asp, .aspx, .asa, .asax, .ascx, .ashx, .asmx, .axd, .webinfo)
  • batch files (.bat)
  • Blackberry encrypted data files (.rem)
  • configuration files (.config)
  • DISCO Dynamic Discovery Document files (.vsdisco)
  • Dynamic-link Libraries (.dll)
  • executable programs (.com, .exe)
  • HTML server side include files (.shtm, .shtml)
  • initialization files (.ini)
  • Internet database connector files (.idc)
  • Microsoft Installer files (.msi, .msp)
  • Microsoft Visual Basic files (.vb, .vbproj)
  • Microsoft Visual C# Project files (.csproj)
  • Microsoft Visual FoxPro files (.cdx)
  • Microsoft Visual J# files (.vjsproj)
  • Microsoft Visual Studio files (.jsl, .licx, .resources, .resx)
  • Microsoft Windows screen saver files (.scr)
  • script files (.scr, .sct, .wsc, .wsf, .vbe, .vbs)
  • Simple Object Access Protocol files (.soap)
  • X.509 certificates (.cer)
Blocked from the HTML Editor

In addition to the file types listed above, D2L's HTML Editor will reject files of the following types if you try to upload them:

  • archives (.zip)
  • Corel WordPerfect documents (.wpd)
  • MakeMusic notation files (.mus)
  • Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (.xls)
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer web archives (.mht)
  • Microsoft PowerPoint presentations (.ppt, .pps)
  • Microsoft Word documents (.doc)
  • plain text files (.txt)
  • Portable Document Format documents (.pdf)
  • Rich Text Format documents (.rtf)
  • web archives (.mhtml)
Blocked from Content

The content tool rejects upload of files of types listed in "All Tools" above, plus:

  • Cascading Style Sheet files (.css) 

Web pages (HTML files) in content may reference, include, and use CSS; however, CSS files themselves cannot be content topics.


Help Desk

Help Desk Contact Info

717-871-7777

Location: Boyer Building

Email: help@millersville.edu

Classroom Hotline: 717-871-7280

After Hours D2L Help: 877-325-7778

Hours:
Call Center/Technical Assistance Center

  • Fall/Spring Semesters:
    • M-TH 8AM - 7PM EST, F 8AM - 5PM EST
  • Winter/Summer Sessions:
    • M-F 8AM - 4PM EST

By Appointment - book an appointment

Technical Operations (Audio/Video/Lighting/Electronic Support for University Campus functions): 717-871-7689

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