Adobe Captivate: It Takes a Community

One of the biggest complaints I hear constantly about Adobe Captivate is the lack of free support for the tool. Sure there's a Captivate forum (where you can search for and post questions on Captivate), there's a Captivate Blog (hosted by Adobe… you can learn about Captivate updates, features, and attend free webinars), and free YouTube videos abound. However, none of the current resources were integrated with the Captivate tool itself… and nothing gave developers a sense of being part of a community with like-minded eLearning warriors.

Adobe has taken a step toward filling that gap by integrating the all-new eLearning Community with Adobe Captivate.

Check out the new Community tool on Captivate 9's toolbar:

 

Upon clicking the Community tool, the Community page open directly within Captivate (no need to leave Captivate and launch a browser). Notice that there's a Community tab grouped with the open projects. This nifty bit of integration allows you to find a solution to a problem via the Community site and quickly correct a problem in the project itself.

 

Once you're on the Community page, you can create an account (you'll need one to become an active member of the community) or sign in if you already have an account.

 

The largest part of the Community is a box where you can search for just about anything related to Captivate. In the example below, I typed themes and was greeted with several relevant topics.

My favorite area of the Community site is the navigation panel at the right. You'll find buttons that allow you to add your own questions, log bugs, and submit feature requests for the next Captivate release. Best of all is something I'm asked for all of the time… sample projects that can be easily downloaded.

 

When you first access the eLearning Community, you're assigned a rank of Newbie. By answering questions posted by other members of the community, writing articles, etc, you collect points and quickly move up the ranks (eventually achieving the rank of Legend held by such experts as Rod Ward).

For years Adobe has lagged behind its competitors when it comes to free, accessible, friendly, neighborly, helpful support. While the eLearning Community is new, its ease-of-use, even easier access from within Captivate, and awesome features is a huge step forward. Well done Adobe!