Tasks Browser Extension for Blackboard

Ever had trouble finding weekly Blackboard assignments? Wish there was a cleaner progress view for current work?

Either way, the Tasks Browser Extension for Blackboard is here to help

Fork Notice

This repository contains an unofficial fork of the open-source Tasks for Canvas browser extension.

• Original project: https://github.com/UseBetterCanvas/canvas-task-extension

• Chrome Store Listing: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/iobjgdiplbeimhchihcmfbefepnpfpnk?utm_source=item-share-cb

All credit for the original design, functionality, and ongoing development belongs to the original author and contributors.

Why This Fork Exists

It started after hitting a Blackboard API failure:

Assignments failed to load: SyntaxError: Unexpected token '<', "<?xml vers"... is not valid JSON

This fork exists somewhat backwards compared to a typical open-source workflow.

I originally made this modification for personal use, then kept extending it to better fit Blackboard-specific behavior, layout, and workflow needs that were outside the original project scope.

What This Fork Changes

This fork focuses on Blackboard-first behavior rather than multi-LMS support. It trims out unrelated runtime paths, adjusts the UI for Blackboard use, adds Blackboard-specific loading and filtering logic, and keeps the extension tuned around the way Blackboard pages actually behave.

Relationship To The Upstream Project

• This fork is unofficial
• It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the original author
• All upstream credit and licensing are preserved
• Users looking for the canonical version should use the original repository linked above

Download

This repo is now only intended for Blackboard-focused use. I have no intention of supporting canvas.

(Canvas Is Better Than Blackboard Anyway)

Features

Stay on Track

Colorful task items ensure that you'll never miss an assignment again.

Track Your Progress

Visual progress bars for each of your courses show how far you are in completing your assignments this week.

Make It Your Own

Task items and progress bars correspond with your chosen dashboard colors and positions.

Notes

• The sidebar only works in Card View and Recent Activity.
• Only courses that have assignments will appear in the chart.
• The Unfinished assignments list will show current Blackboard work that is still incomplete.

Installing and Running for Development

Procedures:

1. Check if Node.js is installed.
2. Clone this repository.
3. Install dependencies with either:
   • bun install
   • npm install
4. Build the extension with either:
   • bun run build
   • npm run build
5. If on Chrome: Load the extension following:
   1. Access chrome://extensions/
   2. Check Developer mode
   3. Click on Load unpacked extension
   4. Select the build folder.
6. If on Firefox: Load the extension following:
   1. Copy src/manifest-firefox.json to build/manifest.json
   2. Access about:debugging
   3. Click on This Firefox
   4. Click Load Temporary Add-on
   5. Select the build folder and click on manifest.json
7. Reload Blackboard and confirm the sidebar appears.

Useful development commands:

• bun run build
• bun run test
• bun run zip
• npm run build
• npm run test

Built with Chrome Extension Boilerplate with React 17 and Webpack 5

Browser Testing Status

This fork is currently only tested on Brave, which is Chromium-based.

Firefox support remains in the repository, but Gecko behavior is currently untested in this fork.