Month: September 2013

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Writing & Grammar: Writing Badly

by Jennie Ruby View our profile on LinkedIn

One of the most basic facts about the English language is that sentences are made of nouns and verbs. The strongest sentences have people as nouns and their actions as verbs. The first step in writing badly is to get rid of the people as subjects and transform active verbs into abstract nouns. Consider this nice, clear sentence:

You should complete the lesson on HTML tags before you start this section on tables.

The person in the subject role in the sentence is you. The action verbs are complete and start. We also have the helping verb should in front of complete. Let's eliminate the person and change the action verb complete into the abstract noun form completion. We get this:

Completion of the lesson on HTML tags….

Great! We are seven words into the sentence and we have neither a person nor an action verb. That is an excellent sign of bad writing. But what are we saying about the completion of the lesson on HTML tags? Let's take that helping verb should and change it into a static concept:

…is necessary…

Now let's attack the second half. We'll eliminate the person youagain and make the verb start into a gerund, which is the noun form of a verb:

…before starting this section on tables.

For truly bad writing, I think the verb form starting is a little too clear. It is still a verb form, after all. Let's substitute a fancier word, and let's make it even more abstract:

…before commencement of this section on tables.

Putting it all together, we now have no people in the sentence, no action verbs, and some abstract nouns that merely allude to actions:

Completion of the lesson on HTML tags is necessary before commencement of this section on tables.

In just a few simple moves, we have taken a sentence that was written at the very clear and concise 6th grade level, with a high readability quotient, 73.1, and transformed it into a 12th-grade sentence with a terrible readability quotient of 37.2. Sweet.

Think you've got it? See if you can take these clear, straightforward sentences and give them this same treatment. Notice that we did not add any meanings or additional phrases. We just eliminated the people as subjects and made all actions into abstract concepts.

Challenge

Using the techniques described in this article, transform these sentences into "bad writing."

  1. We understood the mathematical formula after the instructor explained it.
  2. The customer service representative greeted the client within a minute and drove the car into the service bay for her.
  3. Timmy ran down the dusty road calling for Lassie.
  4. You must insert the DVD into the disk drive face up.
  5. I now click the drop-down arrow to see a list of choices.

As always, feel free to post your answers below as comments.

***

Answers to last Week's Challenge

Answers to the then versus than challenge are brought to you by Debra Mascott.

  1. The pen is mightier (then/than) the sword.
  2. The hummingbird sipped the nectar, (then/than) flew off.
  3. A chill wind brushed the treetops, (then/than) the sun rose.
  4. The raven is much larger (then/than) the crow.
  5. Yogi is smarter (then/than) the average bear.
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MobiLogic: Inside iOS 7

by Kevin Siegel Follow us on TwitterView our profile on LinkedInView our videos on YouTube

Apple, Inc. released iOS 7 last week, its latest and greatest operating system for its mobile devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch). The last time Apple offered an update to its iOS, several IconLogic staffers wasted little time and installed the update. Some of us paid the price for being zealous. There was lost data (a few iPads lost Contacts, Calendars, photos or all three), performance issues and bugs.

This time we resisted the temptation to immediately download and install the new iOS wholesale. Instead, I selected a single iPad 3 to serve as a guinea pig. After backing up the iPad's data, I went to Settings > General > Software Update. The download file is huge–I'd suggest plugging your device into a power source prior to downloading. And because iOS 7 is such a large download, you'll need to be connected to Wi-Fi. Once the download completed for me, it only took a few moments to install the software.

The first thing you'll notice after restarting the newly updated mobile device is that the security keypad has been redesigned (assuming you have assigned a password to your device). Upon accessing the device, you'll then notice that the interface has a fresh, clean look and feel. Personally, I like the new look, but I've read several reviews where people simply didn't like it.

Apple iOS7
Images courtesy Apple.com.

I'm not going to spend any time here discussing the pros or cons of the new look since it's really a personal preference. Instead, I'd like to cover a few of the cooler features I've found and where some of the old features have gone.

Closing An Application: It used to be that closing an application required you to press the Home button twice, which displayed the running applications along the bottom of the screen. From there you would press and hold any of the application icons and tap a red minus sign to close the application. In iOS 7, you still press the Home button twice to display running applications. However, if you press and hold an application icon, you no longer get a minus sign. In iOS 7, you simply swipe up to close an application. Personally, I like the change (once I figured it out). In the old iOS, I constantly had people tell me that the minus sign didn't make sense. Those folks typically confused the red minus sign with the minimize button found in Windows. The general feeling was that the minus sign was counter-intuitive. (Don't even get me started with telling you about how many people intended to close an application, only to delete it. It seems that many folks confused the "x" that appeared on an icon when attempting to delete an application with the minus sign meant for closing an application.)

Searching: In previous versions of the iOS, pressing the Home button multiple times took you to a Spotlight Search window. Since I am constantly losing which screen contains specific applications (and I have around 9 screens), I relied on the Search window a ton. In iOS 7, I was dismayed to find the the Search window appeared to be removed. I quickly discovered, however, that it hasn't been removed, only moved. To bring up the Search window, simply swipe any window down to reveal a Search panel at the top of the screen.

Teaching Siri a Thing Or Two: In the previous iOS, Siri had a hard time pronouncing some words. In iOS 7, you can simply say "you didn't pronounce that correctly" or "that's not how you pronounce that" and a series of screens will appear where you can train Siri. You can now also use Siri to enable or disable such features on your device such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Simply press and hold the Home button to start Siri and say, for example, "Turn on Wi-Fi."

Adding Message Timestamps: If you've sent text messages with the Apple mobile devices, you know that a time stamp was added at the beginning of a conversation. Curious to learn when a message was sent in iOS 7? Swipe the message bubble to the left.

Improving Performance Issues: I noticed that my iPad lagged a bit after installing iOS 7 (I could actually out-type the keyboard, which is saying something given how "fast" I type. After resetting all of my settings, the speed returned. Here are some things to try if you notice your mobile device slows down after installing iOS 7. 

  • Reset your settings. Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings. Note: If you go this route, you will have to enter all of your device settings again (such as your Wi-Fi keys). You won't lose any data, but it takes time to re-enter all of the settings.
  • Restart the Device. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button for a few seconds until the red "slide to power off" slider appears, and then slide the slider. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.
  • Reset Your Device. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button together for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears. Apple recommends this only if you are unable to restart it.

Found a cool iOS 7 feature? Please share via a comment below.

***
Note: As with all software updates, there are bugs. One of the bugs I mention above is a loss of performance. Beyond bugs, some of the applications currently on your device may no longer work with the new iOS. Prior to updating to any new OS, ensure your favorite applications either have an update or will continue to work. If you're nervous about bugs, consider holding back on upgrading until patches are announced by Apple. (iOS 7.1 can't be that far behind.)

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Adobe Captivate: Pretest Actions

by Lori Smith

We recently introduced you to Captivate's Pretest feature. In this article, I'm going to follow-up with Pretests and teach you how to control a Pretest Advanced Action. Here's the scenario: your client or boss wants to ensure that all the learners know the material by passing a quiz. The boss doesn't care if the learner spends the time watching the individual slides that make up the lesson, only that learners are given a fair opportunity to pass the quiz.

You move forward and design an eLearning lesson that contains an introductory slide (slide 1), some pretest questions (slides 2 through 5), eLearning content slides (slides 6 through 50) and a final quiz (beginning on slide 51). If the learner is able to pass the Pretest right out of the gate, then you will not require the learner to review the course content. Instead, you will allow the learner to jump straight to the final quiz. However, if the learner fails the Pretest, the learner will be required to move through the course content before taking the final quiz.

While the scenario above sounds complicated to implement within Captivate, there is an action built within the Pretest that will get you started. Select any Pretest slide on the Filmstrip and take a look at the Action group on the Quiz Properties panel. Just below the Failure Levels drop-down menu you'll see an Edit Pretest Action button.

Edit Pretest Action button

Clicking the Edit Pretest Action button will open the Advanced Action window containing a basic advanced action.

Standard IF statement.

Let's take a look at what the action does. In the IF area, a System Variable named cpInfoQuizPretestScorePercentageis being checked to see if the learner's score is greater than 50. This means that if the learner gets over half of the points allocated in the pretest, he or she passes the pretest.

Take a look in the success and failure areas. Both are sending the learner to the very next slide (using the Go to Next Slideoption).

Standard Else statement.

In the images below, I have edited the Action so that it will use the Jump to Slide option. Should the learner score higher than 50, the Action will jump the learner directly to slide 51 (the quiz). Should the learner score 50 or lower, the ELSE segment of the Action sends the learner to the first content slide for the lesson (slide 6).

***

Looking for training on Adobe Captivate? IconLogic offers multiple live, online Adobe Captivate classes each month including Introduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate.
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Writing & Grammar: Then Versus Than

by Jennie Ruby View our profile on LinkedIn

People often confuse the proper use of then and than. Pronunciation is likely the culprit. In the mid-Atlantic region people tend to pronounce both of these as "then." Here's the difference, with a quick memory aid: then rymes with when and is always about time:

When did he make the onside kick? First they made the touchdown, then he made the onside kick.

Than is about comparisons:

He is taller than I am.

The Cadillac is more expensive than the Camry.

You can have both meanings in one sentence:

Aunt Louise was taller then than now.

Or to complete the comparison:

Aunt Louise was taller then than she is now.

But the most important thing to remember is that the word thenis for time or sequence in time.

When was she taller? Back then.

It rhymes with–and answers the questions of–when. And here is a reminder about sequence:

First he did A, then he did B.

And again, comparisons require the word than:

He did A better than he did B.

Using than and then correctly is yet another of those little details what will make your writing clear and professional.

Challenge

  1. The pen is mightier (then/than) the sword.
  2. The hummingbird sipped the nectar, (then/than) flew off.
  3. A chill wind brushed the treetops, (then/than) the sun rose.
  4. The raven is much larger (then/than) the crow.
  5. Yogi is smarter (then/than) the average bear.

As always, feel free to write your answers as comments below.

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eLearning: How to Pick a Font Set

by AJ Walther Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

Picking the best possible font set can be an elusive task for even the most seasoned of designers. So if you have the design prowess of a vacuum cleaner, the task may seem insurmountable. Never fear, I'm here to help.

Think of Your End-product

Are you designing for print or for on-screen viewing? Are you designing for people who will view your design from large, high-resolution monitors? Maybe for mobile? Knowing where your design will be viewed is a good first step. If you are designing for print publication, serif fonts (those with hats and feet like Times New Roman) are easier on the eye in large quantities. On the other hand, if you're designing for on-screen consumption, a sans-serif font like Arial or Verdana will be easier to read. If you know your design will be viewed on low-resolution machines (or if you're really not sure), it's best to play it safe and use as pared-down a font as possible. If you know for a fact that your design will be viewed on a large, high-resolution machine, your design options open up pretty drastically.

Here are some good options:

IconLogic: Font examples.

Note: You could really choose any font in the On-Screen (high resolution) section. I have highlighted a few that I would suggest using only if your end-product will be viewed on a high resolution screen.

Identify Your Message

Studies have shown that regardless of content, fonts can convey emotions and affect trust levels in viewers. For this reason, it is important to decide what kind of a message you want to convey right off the bat. There is nothing wrong with a fun, fanciful font…unless, of course, you're not trying to convey a fun, fanciful message. For instance, would you want to give access to your personal financial information to The Bank of the Universe if their website log-in met you with this font?

Bank of the Universe fonts

On the other hand, if you're logging your four-year old in to play an exhilarating afternoon of digital make believe on the Happy Princess Ponies webpage, this seems pretty spot on.

Happy Princess Ponies webpage

Here are some examples.

Fonts that set the mood


Fonts for Body Text

The bulk of your message will be conveyed within your body text. If you are designing content for unknown screen resolutions, you're going to want a sans-serif font that will be easy to read on all screen sizes and resolutions. Because you don't know what system your learner will be using, you'll also probably want to stick with the standard cross-platform fonts (you can Google if you're not sure which fonts these are). You're designing something to introduce new employees to your Fortune 500 company. That means you want something inviting, mature and professional. In short: Comic Sans will not do.

Here are some examples of fonts that would work well in this situation:

Fonts for body text


Fonts for Headlines and Accents

If you're going to get creative, this is the place. As a general rule, I try not to use more than three fonts for one project. This typically includes one for body text, one for headings, and one as an accent. Every case is different; however I'll have a need for a fourth font for subheadings. In some cases I'll use only one font throughout, varying the size and boldness for visual interest.

Want to know a secret to picking fonts that go together? The secret is that many software programs have already done this for you in the form of Font Families. You've decided on Arial? Excellent! Arial often comes with a family of coordinating fonts including Arial Black, Arial Narrow, and Arial Unicode. Here are some other font families:

IconLogic: Font families

These are just a few of the font families. Others include Minion Pro, Myriad Pro, and Tekton. Including font families with just two fonts would make for a much longer list and would include many fonts worth looking into if you only need two fonts.

You may notice that only using fonts that come with families could prove rather limiting. What about all those other family-less, but equally useable, fonts? Let Google help you! Google has an interesting, and underutilized, Fonts page. Here's how it works.

  1. From the Google Fonts page, locate the Filters drop-down and select a category (Serif, Sans Serif, etc.).
  2. If you'd like further filtering, adjust the Thickness, Slant, and Width slider bars accordingly.
  3. Ensure the Sentence tab is selected from the top of the page.
  4. From the Text drop-down menu choose either one of the pre-loaded phrases or enter your own text. If you have a specific design in mind, I would suggest entering your own text.
  5. Here's where it gets really interesting. Pick any font that you like and from the bottom right of the font, click the third button, Pop-Out.
  6. From the Pop-Out window, choose the third tab, Pairings.

Google has taken the liberty of pairing your desired fonts with other fonts that the mighty Google machine has deemed appropriate. This is a great feature and very useful for designing. The catch here is that Google Fonts do not correlate to fonts found in Adobe or Microsoft software lines. They are their own thing. If you like this Google method you have a few options. First, you could download the Google fonts. They're free and open source so you can use them without penalty almost everywhere. But, if you're unsure about your use case, be sure to check the licensing agreement to ensure that your intended use is allowed. Second, you could use a site like Identifont to plug the name of the Google font into the Fonts by Similarity tool and peruse similar fonts that you might already have on your system. (I tried this and had some success, but many of the Google fonts I entered were not recognized by Identifont.) Or third, you could just use the font pairings as visual inspiration and use that to return to your own fonts to make similar pairings.

Do you have any font secrets you'd like to share? Please post them below.

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Adobe Captivate: Align the Mouse

by Kevin Siegel Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn View our videos on YouTube

If you have recorded a software demonstration using Adobe Captivate, you have likely run across the issue of the dreaded "jittery mouse."

Here's the scenario: you are working on a project with several slides. On slide 5, the mouse is moving from point A to point B. On slide 6, the mouse has clearly gotten to point B.

Back on slide 5, you decide to move the mouse position (you can easily drag the mouse anywhere you want on the slide). And that's when the "jittery mouse" will bite you.

On slide 6 of the project, you'll notice that the mouse is no longer in the correct slide position because you moved the mouse on slide 5. If you were to play the project (previewing 5 slides is ideal for this kind of test), you would clearly see the mouse "jump" from its new position on slide 5 to its old position on slide 6. In fact, the jump looks almost as if the mouse pointer on slide 6 received some kind of jolt.

To fix the problem, you could go to slide 6 and attempt to manually drag the mouse pointer into the same position that you established on slide 5. But this solution isn't ideal because the mouse position has to be identical to the position on the previous slide. It will probably take several attempts to get it right. What's a developer to do?

  1. Go to slide 6 (this is where the mouse pointer is not in the desired slide position)
  2. Select the mouse pointer and choose Modify > Mouse > Align to Previous Slide.

    Adobe Captivate: Align Mouse Pointer

Bam! This is the perfect cure for the jittery mouse.

Note: You could have also gone to slide 5, right-clicked the mouse pointer and selected Align to Next Slide (or selected the command via Modify > Mouse).

If you would like to see a demonstration of aligning the mouse pointer with previous or next slides, check out the video I created on the IconLogic YouTube channel.

***

Looking for training on Adobe Captivate? IconLogic offers multiple live, online Adobe Captivate classes each month including Introduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate.
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Adobe Captivate: Two-Bits for the Best Rate

by Kevin Siegel Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn View our videos on YouTube
You can easily record audio from within Captivate by choosing Audio > Record to. You can record audio directly to slide objects, a single slide, multiple slides, or the project background. Regardless of your choice, you'll find yourself in the Slide Audio dialog box.

After clicking the Device link in the Audio dialog box, the Audio Settings dialog box will open. This is where you have to make an important decision about your bitrate.

Captivate 5 bitrates

You have two choices in the Bitrate drop-down menu: Constant and Variable. Constant Bitrates (CBRs) produce smaller file sizes. By contrast, Variable Bitrates (VBRs) tend to produce audio with a higher, more consistent quality level than CBRs, but the VBR file sizes will be larger than CBRs. For that reason, most Captivate developers stick with Constant Bitrate.

Then you have to select from one of the four bitrate settings: CD, Near CD, Custom or FM. So many decisions… so little time. Bitrate is defined as the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time. Using a higher bitrate setting, such as CD Bitrate (128 kbps), will result in higher quality audio but a larger published lesson.

If you decide to use a higher quality bitrate than FM Bitrate, you should spend time experimenting with the options to see which selection sounds best to you. As a general rule, the FM Bitrate is more than adequate for eLearning audio that will be played through typical computer speakers or headsets.

***

Looking for training on Adobe Captivate? IconLogic offers multiple live, online Adobe Captivate classes each month including Introduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate.
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eLearning & Design: Want to be a Better Designer? Play this Font Game

by AJ Walther Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

Did you enjoy playing the color game from my previous article? Did it make you the best designer ever? Almost? If so, don't you dare stop there! Now it's time to focus on fonts!

Last week I was having a blog designed for my personal use. My designer sent over three header samples in three different fonts. I obnoxiously responded with, "These are great, but I'd really like to combine the round punctuation of Option One with the character width in Option Two and the line weight of Option Three. Know any fonts that meet this criteria?" My designer was not amused and more or less put the task back in my lap. I was soon perusing thousands of fonts and attempting Google searches like, "tall, skinny font with round punctuation and lowered middle 'E' bar" with no success.

eLearning: The Font Game

In my font search I did eventually find what I deemed to be a suitable font selection, but I also ran across The Font Game from I Love Typography which, if nothing else, served as a fun distraction. But beyond being a fun distraction, the game became a bit more. The more I played the better I got at quickly identifying fonts by sight and name. Being able to eye-ball subtle differences in fonts (as well as becoming familiar with naming conventions) ended up helping me more quickly scout fonts to get to what I wanted for my own design purposes.

The Font Game is an iOS app for iPhones and iPads. In this timed game, you are presented with a font sample and asked to choose the name from four options. High scores can be added to Apple's Game Center. In addition to the Font Game, the app includes the Terminology Game (for learning typography lingo), The Flip Font Game (like the original font game but reversed–you're given the name of the font and choose the correct one from four samples), and the Match Game (like the memory game, but with fonts). The app isn't free, but if you're a design junkie (or aim to be one), $2 may not seem like an unfair investment to you.

Do you love The Font Game? Do you hate it? Do you have an alternate method for learning fonts? I'd love to hear from you.

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Adobe RoboHelp: Variables in Topic Titles

by Willam Van Weelden Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

User Defined Variables have been a RoboHelp staple for a few years now. You were first introduced to variables in this 2009 IconLogic blog post. As a review, variables are placeholders for text that you need to use throughout a RoboHelp project (e.g.: a product name). You might be using the product name thousands of times within hundreds of RoboHelp topics. Should you need to change the name of the product, you would have to go through the entire project and manually change the product name, one-by-one (or use RoboHelp's Find/Change feature).

As an alternative to manually adding the product name throughout a project and then having to worry about manually updating the text later, you can create a variable. The variable will display the product name as if it were regular text, and insert the variable within topics, snippets, the Table of Contents (TOC), and/or the Index. Should the product name need to be changed, edit the variable text via the Variables pod and it will be updated everywhere. It's a powerful feature and very easy to use.

In this article, I want to show you a fantastic enhancement to variables that was introduced in Adobe RoboHelp 10: the ability to add variables within Topic Titles.

In older versions of RoboHelp, a Topic Title was static text, meaning that you had to manually type the Topic Title when you created the topic. If you added the topic to the TOC, the Topic Title appeared on the TOC. But since the Topic Title was static, a change to the Topic Title when editing the Properties of the topic meant that you also needed to edit the text that appeared on the TOC. The ability to add a variable within the Topic Title means the text will be linked to the Topic Properties and will automatically update everywhere.

Add a Variable Within a Topic Title

  1. After you've created the variable, display a topic's Properties dialog box. (You can display the Properties dialog box for the topic via the Topic List pod by right-clicking the topic.)
  2. On the General tab, click the Variables drop-down menu and and select a variable.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Adding a Variable within a RoboHelp Topic Title
  3. In the Topic Title field, select the location where you want to insert the variable.
  4. Click the Insert button.
    Adobe RoboHelp: Adding a Variable to a Topic Title

Now that the topic's Title is using a variable, should you update the variable at any time, the variable text will update within the topic text, title, Index and the TOC.

***

Looking to learn RoboHelp? We offer a live, two-day online RoboHelp class once each month. Feel free to contact us to learn other ways to meet your RoboHelp training requirements.
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Adobe Captivate: Add a Retake Quiz Button

by Kevin Siegel Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn View our videos on YouTube

I’ve had several students in my Captivate classes ask if it was possible to allow learners to retake a quiz. It’s not only possible, but the solution is very simple.

Choose Quiz > Quiz Preferences. From the list of Categories at the left of the Preferences dialog box, select Settings. From the Settings area, select Show Score at the End of the Quiz. (This will add a Quiz Results slide to the project, which is where the Retake Quiz button will appear once enabled.)

Adobe Captivate: Show Score at the End of the Quiz

With the Preferences dialog box still open, select the Pass or Fail category. From the If Failing Grade area, select Show Retake Button and then click the OK button to close the Preferences dialog box.

Adobe Captivate: Show Retake Button.

The Quiz Results slide will now include a Retake Quiz button. You can size and position the button anywhere on the slide just like any other button.

Adobe Captivate: Retake Quiz Button.

When the learner takes the quiz and fails, clicking the Retake Quiz button will automatically reset the quiz score. In addition, the learner will be taken back to the beginning of the quiz.

If you would like to see a demonstration of adding a Retake Quiz button to a project, check out the video I posted to the IconLogic YouTube channel.

***

Looking for training on Adobe Captivate? IconLogic offers multiple live, online Adobe Captivate classes each month including Introduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate.