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h3. Get your EduGarage account
- If you have an existing Behind the Blackboard account, just send edugarage@blackboard.com an e-mail letting us know to add the developer role to your account.
- If you do not have an existing Behind the Blackboard account, please contact your local Blackboard administrator or Blackboard representative to obtain one.

{note}Commercial and for-profit entities are provided developer access for a nominal fee through the [Blackboard Partnerships Program|http://www.blackboard.com/Partnerships/Partnerships-Program.aspx]. Partnering with Blackboard provides access to design guidance and support among other benefits.{note}

h3. Install Blackboard Learn
Installing Blackboard Learn can be challenging and requires general knowledge of OS installation and installation of a relational database management system.

For a complete lists of steps involved to install Blackboard Learn, click [here|http://help.blackboard.com/Blackboard_Learn/EN/9.1/Admin/index.htm].

You can install Blackboard on a standalone server, a virtual image, and even [in the cloud|Installing Blackboard in the Amazon EC2 Cloud].

h3. Review developer documentation

# Before you begin, get an understanding of what your [project lifecycle|Overview] will look like. You might not utilize all the steps, but it provides a helpful structure to base your plans off of.
# Next [become more familiar|Getting Started] with the functional and technical capabilities of the Building Blocks framework and APIs.
# If you are looking for a thorough although slightly dated overview of what Building Blocks are capable of, now review the [Developer Guide|https://behind.blackboard.com/s/faculty/refcenter/docs/details.Bb?DocumentID=3391&pid=100&rid=5767&dt=].
# Finally, review the Blackboard [Design Framework|http://library.blackboard.com/d/?a778d98c-aa44-4d4c-9bc8-209688d72dd1] and the [Tag Library Guide|https://behind.blackboard.com/s/developer/refcenter/docs/details.Bb?DocumentID=3512&pid=0&rid=0&dt=] to understand how the various User Interface components that are already used throughout Blackboard can be reused inside of your project. An added bonus of using the user interface widgets like the data picker of file uploader in your tool is that you automatically inherit the accessibility compliance of core Blackboard Learn in your own tools.