Author: IconLogic

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ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Fix for the Object Style Manager Freeze

by Kevin Siegel, COTP, CTT+

I received an interesting distress email from a fellow eLearning developer about an issue that caused Adobe Captivate 2017 to crash frequently and otherwise behave erratically. It's a bug I had not experienced before, and I’d like to share both the issue and the fix.
 
During the recording process, the developer clicked the Settings button on the recording Control Panel. Clicking the Settings button is a common thing to do and opens Captivate’s Preferences dialog box. From here, you can view or change the way Captivate records screen actions and control the appearance of the text captions that will be created during the recording process. You can also access the Preferences directly through Captivate by choosing Edit > Preferences (Windows); or Adobe Captivate > Preferences (Mac).
 
Instead of seeing a full complement of Object styles (via Recording > Defaults), the dialog box was missing all the default styles. Since you cannot delete or rename Captivate's default application object styles, and there isn't a "none" menu item in the drop-down menu for the styles shown in the image below, this was very strange indeed.
 
 
At some point the developer wanted to modify a style being used in a project so he chose Edit > Object Style Manager. And here is where the bug really bit him. The Object Style Manager dialog box never fully appeared and Captivate froze. It was so bad the only thing he could do was force-quit Captivate (with a good old [Ctrl] [Alt] [Delete]). While that freed things up, unsaved changes were lost forever.
 
 
None of the usual troubleshooting steps helped (the developer restarted Captivate, reset Captivate's Preferences, and even uninstalled and reinstalled the software). Thankfully, the actual fix was easy. Here's what you should do if you are bitten by this particular bug.
 
First, close Captivate. Next, locate Captivate’s eLearning Assets folder (the folder is typically found here: C:\Users\Public\Documents\Adobe\eLearning Assets). You’ll see a folder named “Layouts.” Rename the folder (you can give the folder any name such as “Layouts_Old”).
 
 
Restart Captivate. The “Layouts” folder will be recreated anew and all will be right with the world.
 
***
 
Looking for eLearning training (including beginner and advanced Captivate training)? Check out these live, online classes.
 
***
 

Kevin Siegel, CTT, COTP, is the founder and president of IconLogic. Following a career in Public Affairs with the U.S. Coast Guard and in private industry, Kevin has spent decades as a technical communicator, classroom and online trainer, public speaker, and has written hundreds of computer training books for adult learners. He has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.

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TECHSMITH CAMTASIA: Splitting Audio for Synchronizing with Video

by Kevin Siegel, COTP, CTT+

When recording short videos with the Camtasia Recorder, it’s most efficient to record your voiceover audio at the same time. However, it may be necessary for you to add the audio to the video later while working in the Camtasia Editor. I’ve seen a couple of scenarios where adding the audio to a project later is a better way to go. For instance,
 
  • You don’t intend to use your own voice as the voiceover audio (you’ll be relying on a team member or voiceover talent and will be receiving the audio files later)
  • Your system/location isn’t set up or ideal to record audio and you’ll record the audio later (perhaps in a studio)
  • You didn’t think you’d like audio in your video but now you’ve changed your mind
 
It’s simple to add voiceover audio to your video after you’ve recorded screen actions. Add the audio to the Media Bin via the Camtasia Editor and then add the Media Bin asset to the Timeline (along with the video you recorded). Alternatively, you can record the voiceover audio directly through the Editor.
 
I recently had a fellow Camtasia developer who recorded her own voiceover audio while recording screen actions. Her intention was never to use her own voice, however. She simply wanted a placeholder of her voice for the Editor and was intending to replace her audio with professional talent.
 
All went well for the developer (she easily removed the audio from the imported video and then imported the professional audio in place of her audio). However, upon playback, she noticed a few areas where the professional narrator spoke more slowly than she did and the video wasn’t synchronized with what she recorded. This is the perfect use-case for splitting audio.
 
In the image below, notice that there are a few tracks in the project, and I’ve selected the audio asset in Track 3 (you can tell that an asset is selected thanks to the yellow border). I’ve also positioned the Playhead on the Timeline at the precise time where I want to split the one audio asset into two. All that’s required at this point is a right-click on the Playhead.
 
 
Notice in the image below that there are two Split options: Split and Split All. The Splitoption will split just the selected media at the Playhead position. The Split All option will split all media assets on all tracks at the Playhead position (regardless if the assets are selected or not).
 
 
Now that I have successfully split the audio asset, it’s simple to drag the different segments along the Timeline as necessary to synchronize the audio with what’s happening in the video.
 
 
***
Looking for eLearning training? Check out these live, online classes.
 
***

Kevin Siegel, CTT, COTP, is the founder and president of IconLogic. Following a career in Public Affairs with the U.S. Coast Guard and in private industry, Kevin has spent decades as a technical communicator, classroom and online trainer, public speaker, and has written hundreds of computer training books for adult learners. He has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.

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ELEARNING DEVELOPMENT: Background Music & Copyright

by Kevin Siegel, COTP

Over the past few months, I've received more and more calls and emails about the pros and cons of adding background music to eLearning projects (specifically projects created using Adobe Captivate and TechSmith Camtasia).
 
First and foremost, it's a simple process to add background music using your tool of choice. For instance, in Captivate, choose Audio > Import to > Background. In the image below, I've imported a music file called Acoustic Mellow.mp3. The file comes with Captivate and can be used in your Captivate projects royalty-free.
 
 
In Camtasia, drag music media from the Media Bin or the Music Tracks folder in the Library to the Timeline. In the image below, I've added morningcafe to the Timeline. Because this asset ships with Camtasia, it's free to use just like the assets that come with Captivate.
 
 
While the process of adding background music to projects is simple, there are two bigger questions that need to be asked. First, is it a best eLearning practice to include background audio? Second, does it break copyright law to add the music without permission from the copyright holder?
 
Is It a Best Practice to Add Background Music to eLearning?
 
Ask 20 eLearning developers if it's cool to add background music to eLearning and you can expect 20 wildly different opinions. From my perspective, background music can be as polarizing as politics or religion. Case in point: everyone knows that Led Zeppelin rules and the rest are fools. Forget that… let's go with Justin Bieber! How about a bit of jazz music to get you in the mood to learn… or to put you to sleep? Country? Punk? Soft Rock? The bottom line is that the background music you choose is going to make you happy, but bum out at least 50% of your audience. My advice is not to do it.
 
Copyright Law as it Relates to Using Music in eLearning
 
So you ignored my advice above and you're going to do it. Fine! But is it legal? In the two examples above, the background music was included with the eLearning development tool so you're allowed to use it. But what about Bieber's greatest hits? Can you use his music in your projects? What about that cool melody you found via a Google search?
 
I'm not a copyright lawyer (and I don't play one on TV), however, I have had more than one copyright lawyer in my Captivate, Storyline, and Camtasia classes over the years who have agreed that it is "perfectly fine to use copyrighted music in your projects, provided the lesson you create is meant for educational purposes and that you do not use more than 10% of the copyrighted works or 30 seconds, whichever comes first."
 
Cool, go forth and add that music to your projects!!!
 
Not so fast! Did I mention that I'm not a lawyer? And did I also mention that more than one lawyer/student in my classes has said that the statement above is correct? And that I've also had students/lawyers in class who have said that it is never okay to use copyrighted works without permission?
 
So there you have it… it's okay to use copyrighted music in your lessons; it's not okay to use copyrighted music in your lessons.
 
So here's another personal recommendation that you're probably going to ignore (you ignored me when it came to The Biebs, didn't you?). My personal opinion when it comes to adding copyrighted music to eLearning is don't do it, unless you have written permission from the copyright holder to do so.
 
Having said that, I thought you might like to learn a bit more about copyright from two sources.
 
Source 1: Copyright Law According to the US Copyright Office
 
The US Copyright Office says the following about copyright: "Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of "original works of authorship," including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works."
 
That seems straightforward enough, until you get to this blurb, also provided by the US Copyright Office: "It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the copyright law to the owner of copyright. These rights, however, are not unlimited in scope. Sections 107 through 121 of the 1976 Copyright Act establish limitations on these rights. In some cases, these limitations are specified exemptions from copyright liability. One major limitation is the doctrine of "fair use," which is given a statutory basis in section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act."
 
If you review section 107 via the link above, this passage jumps out (and is the most important if you are creating eLearning for training purposes: "the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright."
 
Hmmm, when I see the word "teaching" above, it leads me to believe it's okay to use music in my eLearning projects because I'm using my lessons to teach a concept. Right? Or does the word "teaching" refer to teaching the music in question (for music teachers only)?
 
At this point, if I've learned anything about the copyright laws, I've learned that attempting to interpret the language can be an exercise in futility! While that explains why lawyers make the big bucks, it doesn't explain why lawyers often provide different interpretations of the law. Shouldn't this stuff be black and white?
 
Perhaps the next source will help set things straight.
 
Source 2: Music Copyright Myths
 
Note: The following article was originally published at www.premiumbeat.com, a leading Royalty Free Music Library.
 
Ever downloaded music from the Internet? Perhaps you wanted to use it in the classroom, or needed it for your website, or to add to a flash movie, or maybe to jazz up a multimedia project… Whatever the end use, more and more of us are frequently turning to the Internet as our one-stop resource for digital music because we know that it is a fast and easy way to get just what we are looking for! Unfortunately, what many of us don't know is that it may not be legal to do so. Downloading music files for free from the Internet and using them like they belonged to you means that not only are you infringing upon the copyright, but you are also risking being fined and even being legally prosecuted.
 
The law does not recognize if you are unaware of copyright laws. So, don't put yourself in an illegal situation when it is so easy and affordable to use Royalty Free Music from music production libraries such as http://www.premiumbeat.com. And don't base your online actions on hearsay. 
 
This article attempts to bust some common myths that abound in the virtual world and put you on the right side of the law.
 
Myth 1: It is legal to use any music for 7 seconds
 
Fact: No. Unlawful use of even a short excerpt from a song is enough to land you in a copyright infringement case. Don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise, unless he is a copyright attorney! Remember, there is nothing like free to use music… not for 30 seconds, not for 7 seconds, not even for the first eight bars! You need a license to use music without landing into trouble.
 
Myth 2: I bought a music CD, I can use the music on my website since I paid for it.
 
Fact: Wrong. You bought the CD… not the music! Buying a legitimate CD gives you the right to play the music privately. You definitely need permission from the composer of the music as well as the sound recording company to use the music on the CD as background music for your website.
 
Myth 3: The composer is dead- his music is no longer under copyright.
 
Fact: Untrue. The copyright for a music composition lasts for approximately 70 years from the death of the composer. It does not automatically expire with its creator. And even if the composer has been dead for a long time (like Mozart for example) you still don't have the right to use someone's interpretation of their music without a license.
 
Myth 4: It's for a non-profit organization, so I can use any music I want for free.
 
Fact: False. Your project (website, presentation, video… anything) may be non-profit, but when it becomes available to other people, you are allowing them to hear music they didn't purchase. That is a breach of the copyright law, no matter if you are making money on the project or not.
 
Myth 5: I can use this music for free because I found it on the Internet.
 
Fact: Absolutely not. All music found on the Internet is under copyright. If you reproduce, perform, or distribute musical compositions and sound recordings without the requisite licensing, you are violating copyright law.
 
Myth 6: I can use music because the website did not carry a copyright notice.
 
Fact: Beginning March 1, 1989, it was no longer mandatory to display the copyright notice to protect one's intellectual property, in this case, music.
 
And if you are still not convinced, consider this: Would you pick up produce from a farm and walk away without leaving money for what you took? Most certainly not! You wouldn't deprive a hard working farmer from his rightful income. Likewise, if you violate copyright law, you deprive a composer of the royalties derived from the purchase of their work. Think about it! 
 
Conclusion: I think the US Copyright Office sums it up best when it comes to using copyrighted music in your eLearning: "For further information about the limitations of any of these rights, consult the copyright law or write to the Copyright Office."
 
That's great advice (the write to the Copyright Office part). If you'd like to contact the Copyright Office, their phone number is 202.707.3000.
 
Here is the address: 

U.S. Copyright Office
101 Independence Ave. S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20559-6000

Finally, here is their website: http://www.copyright.gov/.
 
***
 
Looking for eLearning training? Check out these live, online classes.
 
***
 
Kevin Siegel, CTT, COTP, is the founder and president of IconLogic. Following a career in Public Affairs with the U.S. Coast Guard and in private industry, Kevin has spent decades as a technical communicator, classroom and online trainer, public speaker, and has written hundreds of computer training books for adult learners. He has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.
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ONLINE TRAINING & ELEARNING: Are You Helping to Save the World?

by AJ Walther, COTP

If you're using eLearning or attending your classes online, you just might be helping to save the world… without even thinking about it. How? Believe it or not, you are drastically helping to reduce CO2 emissions by not traveling to an onsite class.

"My youngest daughter asked me what a ton of carbon dioxide looks like," said high school science teacher Dave Ames. "It was a great question–and one for which I had no immediate answer. All I could tell her was that CO2 is odorless and colorless–but this reply wasn’t particularly useful for a seven-year-old looking to visualize a ton of gas. So I did what I do best: research! Fifteen minutes later I had discovered this great image, which helped both of us enormously."

Photo source: http://www.sustainablemilton.org 

How many of these cubes of CO2 can be saved just by not traveling to receive training? Let's compare a 17-person onsite class with a 17-person online class. The onsite class will be held in a centrally-located city in the U.S.: Topeka, Kansas.

To attend the onsite class, all 17 people will have to fly in from cities all across the country (and a few from outside the country). The instructor, who lives locally, will drive to the training facility.

So let's start with the instructor. She lives 35 miles away from the training facility and drives a 2004 Toyota Camry. Her roundtrip travel carbon emission for the day: .03 metric tons of CO2.

Now let's talk about the students. There's someone from Maryland, California, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, and North Carolina. There are two people from New York and from Colorado. Additionally there are three people from Minnesota. But that's just the United States. There are also students from the United Kingdom, Puerto Rico and Quebec. The roundtrip Domestic travel carbon emission: 7.12 metric tons of CO2. The roundtrip International travel carbon emission: 4.9 metric tons of CO2. Total: 12.05 metric tons of CO2 (or 26,565.43 pounds). That's 12 of those cubes pictured above. And that's not including travel incurred by students to get to their respective airports and from the airport to the training location. 

I've just added up the CO2 requirement for one hypothetical onsite class. A training company can easily run 15 classes each month (we do… and that's 180 classes a year). Given the fact that many students will take the courses from home (the rest will attend from the office), it doesn't take a math wizard to see the dramatic CO2 savings online classes can provide each day and each year.

Want to help save the world? Consider teaching your classes online! Not sure you're ready? There's no better way to prepare than getting certified as the best in the field. Join a session with the International Council for Certified Online Training Professionals and get certified in two days (and, of course, it's all online!). Click here to learn more about ICCOTP and register to get certified. 

Carbon footprint calculated using: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/

AJ Walther, COTP, is IconLogic's Chief Creative Officer (CCO), a seasoned online trainer, eLearning graphic designer, and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials." AJ made her own interdisciplinary studies major, focusing on writing and art. Her combined expertise in PowerPoint, graphic design, and writing allows her to bring a unique skillset to the eLearning community.

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ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Updated Images in a Snap

by Kevin Siegel, COTP

You've imported your corporate logo into your project, and you've used the logo throughout the project (on both master slides and Filmstrip slides). 

One day, and without much fanfare, your marketing department updates the logo. Did anyone bother to tell you? Well, yes… there was that memo. However, your project was just about done; and now you're going to have to scour through the project, delete each occurrence of the logo, and replace it with the new one. Unless, of course, you can learn a better way. No worries, I've got you covered.
 
First, if you're intending to use an image multiple times in a project, don't use the Media tool and insert the image (that could take thousands of years and cost millions of lives). Instead, display the Library and use the Import tool.
 
 
Imported images will appear in the Images folder on the Library.
 
 
Next, drag and drop the imported image from the Library directly onto any slide.
 
 
In the image below, you can see that I've used the logo on several slides.
 
 
Remember that memo you received about the updated logo? It's simple to get the updated image. On the Library, right-click the image and choose Update to open the Update Library Items dialog box.
 
 
Click the Update button and every instance of the image throughout the project will instantly update.
 
 
 
***
Looking for Captivate training? Check out these live, online classes.
 
***
 
Kevin Siegel, CTT, COTP, is the founder and president of IconLogic. Following a career in Public Affairs with the U.S. Coast Guard and in private industry, Kevin has spent decades as a technical communicator, classroom and online trainer, public speaker, and has written hundreds of computer training books for adult learners. He has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.
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MADCAP FLARE: QR Codes

by Neil Perlin

QR (Quick Response) codes are an expanded form of a bar code. Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave created them in 1994 for parts tracking during manufacturing.

What makes QR codes interesting for technical communicators is the spread of smartphones with QR readers.
 
If you look in Flare’s Multimedia section of the Insert ribbon, you’ll see the QR Code option. You may not be familiar with QR codes by name, but you’ve seen them if you’ve ever seen something that looks like the image below.
 
What can you do with QR codes? You can use them to help potential customers get to your web site. If you've got a QR code on your mobile device, scan the code above and you'll end up on my web site at http://www.hyperword.com.
 
Here are some other ways to use a QR code, first for traditional technical communications:
 
  • Let field service techs open a complete online service manual without having to carry it, just by scanning a QR code on the product casing.
  • Let any users jump to your web site from a PDF or print manual by scanning a QR code that you add to a manual.
  • Created “extended” quick reference cards with QR codes that link to the full online help system on a server or to web pages with videos showing how to perform tasks described in the card.
 
And depending on how you define “content marketing” and tech comm’s role in it, you can also use QR codes:
 
  • As a sales tool for times when prospective customers can’t write down your contact information because they’re driving or hanging onto a strap on a subway. (I saw a QR code on the back of a delivery truck. If I was interested in the service, I could have simply scanned the code to get the company’s URL.)
  • As a brand differentiator that says that you’re much cooler than your competitors.
  • For any case where it’s inconvenient to type a URL. (I have large hands and find it difficult to type on a smartphone keyboard, virtual or real. I’d find a QR code a helpful substitute.)
How do you create and use QR codes in Flare? It’s like inserting a graphic, the difference being that you can actually see Flare’s QR code generator create the code.
 
Click in a topic where you want to add the code and choose Insert > QR Code. In the Insert QR Code dialog box, select the content type—text, URL, Email…, Contact Information, or SMS. The dialog box settings change accordingly. For example, if you select Text, Flare waits for you to start typing. But if you select Contact Information, fields appear for Name, Company, etc. Fill them out and you’ll see the code take shape in the Preview pane.
 
 
You can control the code size, useful if you create one with lots of content or one to be read in shaky environments. You can also set display elements like position, borders, margins, and background.
 
Is there a limit to how much you can put into a QR code? Yes, depending on the nature of the content—4296 alphabetic characters or 7089 numeric characters with some variations—according to this article. But this should still be enough for many uses. 
 
How to read QR codes on a phone? Easy! Get a reader app from your app store. I use one called QR Reader for my iPhone and Android phone. It works nicely and was free. Start the app, point the camera at the code, and wait a few seconds. The app reads the QR code and pops up the information on the screen or jumps to the URL. 

QR codes are a specialized but interesting feature with a range of possible uses, probably more than I mentioned above. But I can see many possibilities and they’re easy to try.

***

Neil Perlin is MadCap-Certified for Flare and is a long-time consultant, troubleshooter, and trainer for the tool, going back to MadCap’s founding in 2004. He also has years of experience with older tools like RoboHelp and Doc-To-Help and now defunct tools like ForeHelp. He is also a certified app developer, trainer, and consultant for the ViziApps app development platform. You can reach him at nperlin@nperlin.cnc.net and at NeilEric on Twitter.

 
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eLEARNING DEVELOPMENT: Audio, Text, or Both?

by Kelly Barett, COTP

Over the years, I’ve taken a lot of eLearning courses; and at this point, I’ve seen it all. Some of the courses I’ve taken were clearly PowerPoint presentations and designed to be eLearning. The "courses" were usually  text-heavy affairs and visually boring. There was usually so much information on the slides that it was nearly impossible to retain anything. 

I’ve seen courses that included page numbers. Once I see a slide that says I’m on slide 1 of 80, I tend to immediately shut down. 

If the course is boring or too long, I admit that I tend to skim through the presentation or simply click the Next Page button until I get credit for the course. Did I learn anything from most of these courses? Nope. 

I’ve also seen eLearning courses developed with rapid development tools like Adobe Captivate or Articulate Storyline. Instead of a bunch of bulleted text, the slides contain text captions that pop up and then disappear after a few seconds. But what if I’m not a fast reader? After the text disappeared, it was replaced with a new one. And now I’m in a panic trying to find a pause or rewind button.

And I’ve seen courses that included voiceover narration but little (or no) text on the screen… just some very dated clipart.

When it comes to effective eLearning, should there be more text on the screen? Should there be less text but more images? Should there be voiceover audio combined with text and images? What should I do with my eLearning courses to ensure most of my learners actually learn?

According to Dr. Ruth Clark and Richard Mayer, the Modality Principle dictates that people learn best via narrated text instead of visual text alone. 

I’ve heard more than once that people are either visual or auditory learners. However, a study published in the Psychological Science in the Public Interest indicates that there is no evidence or scientific validity to support this commonly-accepted theory. In fact, the study says that most people learn best with a combination of audio and visual.

Why Developers Don’t Record Their Own Audio

If you agree that combining voiceover audio, text, and images leads to the most effective eLearning, why is it that people don’t include voiceover audio? These days, all the eLearning tools allow you to record and edit your own audio. And if you find that your eLearning tool does not have the audio editing power you need, there are dedicated audio editing tools like Adobe Audition. 

So why aren’t people recording their own audio? Simply put, many people don’t like the sound of their own voice.

Have you ever listened to a recording of yourself and thought, "that’s not me!"? There are many reasons for that, but mainly when you hear your own voice, you are hearing it from your vocal chords through the bones in your skull and then to your eardrums. However, when you hear others speak, there’s a direct sound wave straight from the speaker to your ear.

Another hurdle is people don’t know what audio equipment to buy or are unfamiliar with recording narration. Maybe they are intimidated by the complexity of editing their recordings. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

Recording and editing audio is not as difficult as it may seem. Especially when you have the right tools, which includes the following:

  • USB Condenser Microphone. I don't recommend that you use your headset microphone!
  • Pop-Filter. Required so you don’t blow your listener’s ears out with your plosive “p” and “t.”
  • Sound Shield. Helps reduce or eliminate ambient sounds or echo.
  • Headphones. Allows you to hear more accurately what your listeners will be hearing.
  • Software. Adobe Audition CC is my tool of choice.

If you’d like to know specifics and learn some basics of using Adobe Audition for recording and editing your audio files so they sound as crisp and clean as possible, then I invite you to register for one of my upcoming audio mini courses where I'll demonstrate some basic voiceover techniques and offer suggestions on the ideal audio equipment to use for recording. I'll also offer some basic audio editing techniques in Adobe Audition that can help eliminate background noises like laptop fans, air conditioners, or other ambient noises.

***

Kelly Barrett, COTP, is a veteran trainer and conference speaker. He is the founder and creator of Self-Help Online Tutorials (SHOTs), narrated microlearning videos. Kelly earned his BA in Electronic Media in 2003 where he first learned how to record and edit radio commercials and voice overs with Cool Edit Pro (later acquired by Adobe and renamed to Adobe Audition).

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ADOBE CAPTIVATE 2017: Workaround for the Spelling Bug

by Kevin Siegel, COTP

Did you know that Captivate has a spell check feature? Yes? No? Feel free to admit it if you didn't know… you're among friends here. You'll find the spell check feature  easily enough by choosing Project > Check Spelling.
 
I'm not saying that the Check Spelling feature is anything to get overly excited about but I strong recommend using the utility prior to publishing. I'm betting you'll be glad you did when a double word or two is flagged (double words are one of the hardest things to catch in a project that you've been starring at for weeks, if not months).
 
When running the Check Spelling feature, you'll see the dialog box shown below that flags for double words and spelling errors.
 
 
Of course, if you run the Check Spelling feature in Adobe Captivate 2017, you're in for a bit of a nasty surprise. Check out the mess that appears in the Check Spelling dialog box.
 
 
 
 
Fellow Captivate developer Sarah Joyce sent me an email a few weeks ago. She said she was seeing "background HTML" when running spell check. I opened a few of my projects so see if I could find anything out of whack. At first, nothing. But then, much to my horror, I saw the same thing as Sarah.
 
I heard from some of the good folks over at Adobe that it's a documented bug that will soon be fixed. If your project includes Slide Notes, you'll see the code shown in the image above. If you don't have Slide Notes, the spell check feature works as expected.
 
While we wait for Adobe to release a patch for Captivate that will fix the spell check bug, I've got three workarounds for you (warning, you're not going to like the first two).
  1. Ignore bad behavior. You can ignore the HTML code while spell checking. However, there could be a lot of code and it's likely going to take a lot of time to spell check.
  2. Delete. Go slide by slide and delete all of the Slide Notes in the project. This option works but now the Slide Notes are gone. Noooo! Don't do it… you'll likely need the Slide Notes down the road.
  3. Round Trip It! Export the project text to Microsoft Word, run a spell check there (along with a grammar check), and then import the edited Word text back into Captivate.

What's that you say, you didn't know Word and Captivate have an awesome working relationship? Check this out:

Choose File > Export > Project Captions and Closed Captions. Select a "Save As" destination for the document and then click the Save button. You'll get the alert dialog box below. Click yes and the Captivate project text will open in a Microsoft Word table.

 

 

Highlight the Updated Text Caption Data column and run Word's spell-check (from the Ribbon, Review > Selling and Grammar). When finished, save and close the Word document.

 

 

Back in Captivate, choose File > Import > Project Captions and Closed Captions. Find and open the Word document you were just editing and all of the text you edited in Word will update in Adobe Captivate. How's that for the ultimate bug zapper?

***

If you're looking to learn Adobe Captivate, check out these live, online, and 100% interactive Captivate classes.

***

Kevin Siegel, CTT, COTP, is the founder and president of IconLogic. Following a career in Public Affairs with the U.S. Coast Guard and in private industry, Kevin has spent decades as a technical communicator, classroom and online trainer, public speaker, and has written hundreds of computer training books for adult learners. He has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.

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ADOBE CAPTIVATE 2017: Wrapping Fluid Boxes

by Kevin Siegel, COTP, CTT

Fluid Boxes, introduced with Adobe Captivate 2017, make the process of creating a responsive eLearning project faster than ever.

I introduced you to Fluid Boxes a few weeks ago.  If you've spent any time playing them I think you'll agree that they're pretty, well for lack of a better word, fluid.

However, if the amount of email I've received recently is any indication, I'm betting you're struggling a bit with how to control the way content flows (wraps) in a Fluid Box when learners either resize their browser windows or access your content on different screen sizes. Let's see if I can make sense of the Wrap features you'll find when working with Fluid Boxes.

To begin, create a new Responsive project (it has to be Responsive because standard projects do not support Fluid Boxes).

Insert a new, blank slide into the project. Then, insert a two row Fluid Box with two rows (click the Fluid Box tool and choose Vertical > 2).

 

Select the second Fluid Box and draw four shapes. Do the same thing in the third Fluid Box. Then, beginning with the number 1, type a number into each box. In the end, you should have 8 shapes (from 1-8, similar to the image below).


Use the Preview tool to preview from your current slide. At first, you'll see that the shapes appear in the web browser exactly as you created them within each Fluid Box.


However, as you drag the size slider (at the top of the page) to simulate a smaller and smaller window, the shapes might not wrap within each Fluid Box as you'd like. For example, in the image below, I'm not happy with how two of my shapes ended up on a line all by themselves.


Back on the slide, use the Fluid Box Selector to select the Fluid Box containing the first four shapes. (Selecting a child Fluid Box can be a challenge. If you don't see the Fluid Box Selector on the Properties Inspector, on the slide click in a corner of any Fluid Box and see if that makes the Fluid Box Selector visible.)


From the Wrap area of the Properties Inspector, choose Squeeze in a column. Do the same thing to the second child Fluid Box.


If you preview now and resize the browser window, the Fluid Box shapes will get squeezed together within each box (none of the shapes will wrap to the next line).


It's certainly possible that you do want the shapes to wrap to the next line, but you’d like to ensure that no single shape is on a line by itself. No problem. From the Wrap area of the Properties Inspector, choose Symmetrical. Do the same thing to the other Fluid Boxes.


Preview again or drag the Preview Slider (shown in the upper right of the image below) to change the onscreen size and notice this time that the shapes wrap, but in even groups.

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If you're looking to learn Adobe Captivate, we've got you covered. Check out these live, online, and 100% interactive Captivate classes.

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Kevin Siegel, CTT, COTP, is the founder and president of IconLogic. Following a career in Public Affairs with the U.S. Coast Guard and in private industry, Kevin has spent decades as a technical communicator, classroom and online trainer, public speaker, and has written hundreds of computer training books for adult learners. He has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.
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LIVE, ONLINE TRAINING: Stop Wasting Your Potential

by Jennie Ruby, COTP

We’ve all been to webinars: you sign up or register, then you log in to the webinar site a little before the scheduled time. Then you sit there. The screen displays a generic background, and the text says something like “The webinar will begin at 12:30.” And you sit. Your watch says 12:28. You see nothing new. You hear nothing new. So you leave to check your email or to watch the latest Cats versus Cucumbers video. Then, finally, you hear the webinar start.

Those minutes between the time when a student logs in and the time when the event actually starts are wasted potential. For live, instructor-led, online training we can do better than that typical webinar tradition.

When participants arrive at your classroom, instead of having them stare at a still screen with the start time plastered on it, use a real timer that is counting down to class time. Since the first space launch, a countdown has always generated excitement. Today, on a hot, summer day, in my classroom, at the end of a timer countdown, one of my participants typed in the chat window: “Happy New Year!” A countdown is fun, positive, and in some small way, exciting.

 
 
Now let’s think about that generic screen background. Sure, you can display your logo and the name of the class. But what about this? Instead of still imagery, you could have a looping slide show providing crucial information to your participants, even as they log in. One slide says “Welcome to the training on Topic X”; another shows a screenshot and says “Here is where you can find your chat window”; another says “Have you downloaded everything you need for the class?” Of course, not all of your participants will log in early, but those who do, will be well prepared for the class.

And what about that silent audio time? By the time students start arriving, you should be there to greet them on the audio. But for the really early students? How about a little background music, so that they can tell that their audio is working.

Soon, I’m planning on using an animated video to welcome my early arrivers. Previews of coming attractions, anyone? Because having students arrive early is to everyone’s benefit, let’s reward those who log in early with additional information, entertainment, and engagement. 

 
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Do you deliver live, online training? Are you using the up-to-the-minute best techniques in your online classroom? Join an upcoming Certification Program with ICCOTP and become a Certified Online Training Professional. 
 
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Jennie Ruby, COTP, has more than 20 years of experience in training delivery, and is much loved for her enthusiasm and energy in the classroom setting, whether online or in person. She is a published author and co-author of numerous training books, including Essentials of Adobe Presenter, Editing with Microsoft Word, and Writing for Curriculum Development.