Month: April 2020

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ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Updating Images Project-Wide

Adding an image to an Adobe Captivate project is simple: use the Media tool on the toolbar or import the assets into the Library and then drag the imported assets onto Filmstrip slides.
 
But what if you've imported an image into Captivate and then the image is updated outside of Captivate. How can you get the updated image into your project and have the image update across the entire project?
 
In the image below, notice that I've imported an image of a city skyline. I'm using the image on multiple slides. The image's slide location and size are different on each slide.
 
 
I originally imported the image from my corporate server. The designer edited the image in Photoshop by adding a filter.
 
 
I received an email alerting me to the change and was instructed to use the updated image in my Captivate project. I opened the project. Sadly, the image did not update automatically on any of my slides. No worries. On the Library, I right-clicked the image and chose Update.
 
 
I then clicked the Update button.
 
 
And like magic, the image in the Captivate Library updated–and every instance of the image throughout the project updated too.
 
 
Looking for live, virtual Captivate training? We've got you covered with these classes (all guaranteed to run).
 
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REMOTE TRAINER CERTIFICATION: Become a Virtual Training Pro!

More and more companies are embracing virtual classes. That's great. But leading an online class isn't as easy as it sounds.
  • COTPBadge_ver1What are some tactics for ensuring that your virtual class gets off on the right foot?
  • How can you engage remote attendees, keep them awake, and help avoid distractions?
  • What are the ideal ways to prepare your materials for online delivery?
  • How can you improve the look of your onscreen visuals even if you're not a graphic designer?
  • Zoom. WebEx. Connect. GoToTraining. Teams. What's the difference between the top virtual platforms? What are their strengths and weaknesses?
  • What's your backup plan?
  • When teaching online, what's the best "voice" to use?
  • If you need to create a quiz to support your course, how can you ensure that it's written as effectively as possible?
 
Attend the Certified Online Training Professional (COTP) course and learn the answers to these questions, and much more.
 
Sponsored by the International Council for Certified Online Training Professionals (ICCOTP), the COTP course helps ensure that virtual meetings, training events, and conferences provide high-quality, memorable, enjoyable, and, most of all, effective learning experiences to participants.
 
Learn more about the Certified Online Training Professional course at www.iccotp.com.
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ADOBE ROBOHELP: Master Projects and Merging Help Content

You've got two RoboHelp projects. The projects have been maintained independently for years, but now you need to combine them.
 
One strategy for combining multiple RoboHelp projects into one is to simply import all of the assets from one project into the other. If you go that route, one of the original project(s) would no longer be needed.
 
However, if you want to keep the projects working as independent projects but have them share content, a TOC, and an Index, you've created the perfect scenario for project merging.
 
To merge projects, create child RoboHelp projects as you normally would. In this example, I've created two child projects. One project is about dogs. The second project is about cats. The goal is to combine the child projects into a third project called Cats and Dogs. The third project is the master or parent project.
 
In the image below you can see a sample Cats project I created with placeholder content. The project includes a small Table of Contents. Because this project is going to be added to a master project, let's call it Child 1.
 
 
In the image below you can see a simple Dogs project. It also has placeholder content and a simple Table of Contents. This is Child 2.
 
 
Now for the master or parent project. A master project does not need much content. Keep in mind that its main role is to allow you to combine content from child projects.
 
 
To allow the master project to combine assets from child projects, I went to the Table of Contents panel and clicked New Merged Project.
 
 
In the Merged Project dialog box, I opened each child project. You can see in the image below that I've loaded the Cats project. I repeated the process for the Dogs project.
 
 
On the Table of Contents for the master project, the child projects are shown as merged project icons (as shown in the image below).
 
 
Generate and Publish the master project.
 
When you browse to the published destination, you'll see that RoboHelp has automatically created a mergedProjects folder. This folder is key. All that you need to do now is publish each chlid project into this folder.
 
 
Back in each child project, access the Publish settings, create a new Server, and publish each child project to the mergedProjects folder for the master project.
 
 
 
When you open the start page for the parent project (from the Publish destination folder), the three projects have been merged into one. On the TOC shown below, the first page is the only topic that was in the master project. The remaining content on the TOC came from the child projects.
 
 
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Kevin Siegel is the founder and president of IconLogic, Inc. He has written hundreds of step-by-step computer training books on applications such as Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe RoboHelp, Adobe Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia. Kevin spent five years in the U.S. Coast Guard as an award-winning photojournalist and has three decades’ experience as a trainer, publisher, technical writer, and eLearning developer. Kevin is a Certified Master Trainer (CMT), Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+), Certified Online Professional Trainer (COTP), and a frequent speaker at trade shows and conventions.
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TEACHING ONLINE: Teachers are Going Online. Corporate Trainers Could Learn from Their Experience

As teachers in many areas of the country struggle to take their classroom activities into the virtual training world, here’s what we’re finding.
 
Many are familiar with online teaching tools that they have been using in their classrooms: tools such as Quizlet, and Kahoot!, and Quizziz, and Swivl. Collaborative tools such as Google Docs are also in use. (These are all tools that bear a look by business trainers as well!)
 
Students log in through their iPads, tablets, or laptops and participate online in the midst of the classroom. They can access these tools from home as well, to complete assignments or do independent learning.
 
But with many school systems going completely virtual basically overnight, many teachers are struggling to translate the classroom experience itself into the online world. Sound familiar? Our business classes are doing the same.
 
The first question is what online platform can I use? Some school systems already have virtual learning systems set up: Blackboard, Canvas, Google Classrooms, and so on. Businesses may already have Adobe Connect, Webex, Microsoft Teams, or even Skype for Business.
 
Other teachers need a low-cost online solution—as many in the business world do as well—and they need it now.
 
Here are a couple of our favorites, with a quick look at costs, features, and limitations.
 
Zoom: It seems as though the whole world has been holding meetings on Zoom for the first time in the past week! Churches, synagogues, book groups, writer’s collectives, families…and teachers. Zoom certainly was in the right place at the right time. Here are the details:
 
Cost:
 
Free version
  • meet with one person for free, for as long as you like
  • Meet with 2 – 100 people, but with a 40-minute limit
 
14.99/month version: Meet with up to 100 people, with no time limit
 
Webex Personal: If you are familiar with the corporate version of this software, with its rather high costs, you may be surprised to learn there is a free version! It does not look and function identically to the corporate version—it lacks a whiteboard feature, for example. But other functions will be familiar. Teachers—It has a great Webcam feature, a fabulous “hand raise” tool, chat, and other tools that are very useful for teaching.
 
Free version
  • Meet with up to 100 people, with no time limit
  • Call-in users may have to pay—but computer audio works fine for free!
 
13.50/month version
  • Meet with up to 50 people
  • Call-in included
  • Has many other business-related functions, such as scheduling
 
As both school teachers and business trainers alike are thrown into the virtual world, we are finding a lot in common. Teaching methods, the need for student engagement, the need for ways to interact online with our participants—these are universal.
 
Recently, IconLogic has been teaming up with the certification council for online training, ICCOTP, to offer minicourses based on the curriculum of the full online trainer certification course. These courses are free to school teachers and are being offered at a low price for business trainers. As we all go virtual, let’s find out how we can help each other and share our knowledge.
 
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Jennie Ruby, CMT, CTT, COTP, is a veteran eLearning developer, trainer, and author. Jennie has an M.A. from George Washington University and is a Certified Technical Trainer and Certified Online Training Professional. She teaches both classroom and online courses, and has authored courseware, published training books, and developed content for countless eLearning projects. She is also a publishing professional with more than 30 years of experience in writing, editing, print publishing, and eLearning.
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ARTICULATE STORYLINE 360: Text-to-Speech to Final Voiceover

While working on a recent eLearning project in Articulate Storyline 360, there was a delay in getting the voiceover audio back from our voiceover professional. The dealy was particularly problematic because several slides had image builds that had to be synchronized with the voiceover audio. While these kinds of delays are common, they don't need to derail the entire development process.
 
To keep the project moving forward, I copied the voiceover script into the Notes window on each Storyline slide.
 
Next, I opened Storyline's Text-to-Speech window by going to the Insert tab on the Ribbon and, from the Media group, choosing Audio > Text-to-Speech.
 
 
From within the Insert Text-to-Speech window, I clicked the Copy From Slide Notes button. The voiceover script text that I had previously pasted into the Notes window was added to the Text-to-Speech window.
 
 
 
From the drop-down menu at the left, I selected English (US); and from the next drop-down menu I chose a voice. I was then able to listen to a sample of the voice by clicking the icon to the left of Preview Voice.
 
Once I'd settled on a voice that I liked, I clicked the Insert button to add the audio to the slide. (Inserted slide audio appears as an audio icon at the left of the slide.)
 
To preview the finished Text-to-Speech audio, I right-clicked the audio icon and chose Preview Audio.
 
 
Thanks to the Text-to-Speech audio, I had a reasonable placeholder for my finished audio and I was able to move forward with adding and synchronizing the animations.
 
When the audio finally arrived from my voiceover talent, all I needed to do was replace the Text-to-Speech audio with the "real" audio. On the Timeline, I right-clicked the Text-to-Speech audio file and chose Replace Audio > Audio from File.
 
 
Using Text-to-Speech as a placeholder for finished voiceover audio wasn't a perfect process. Because my voiceover person spoke a little slower than the voice I selected in the Text-to-Speech window, I did have to go back and tweak the timing for some of the animations. However, this was a small price to pay to keep the project on track and on budget.
 
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Kevin Siegel is the founder and president of IconLogic, Inc. He has written hundreds of step-by-step computer training books on applications such as Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe RoboHelp, Adobe Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia. Kevin spent five years in the U.S. Coast Guard as an award-winning photojournalist and has three decades’ experience as a trainer, publisher, technical writer, and eLearning developer. Kevin is a Certified Master Trainer (CMT), Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+), Certified Online Professional Trainer (COTP), and a frequent speaker at trade shows and conventions.