Category: User Assistance

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Writing & Grammar: Further discussion of Comma after And

by Jennie Ruby View our profile on LinkedIn
 
During one of my challenges a few weeks ago, I asked if there should be a semicolon, comma, or nothing before however. Many respondents added a comma after the word and in one of the examples. Here is the problem sentence, punctuated as recommended:

The roadside was sprinkled with breadcrumbs, and however you look at it, that bird's luck had finally turned.

As you all determined, the comma after breadcrumbs is required. Placing another comma after and is optional, but according to the late William Sabin, of the Gregg Reference Manual, the preferred usage is to omit that extra comma. His reasoning is that a comma after and makes the following introductory element appear as though it is nonessential, when actually it is essential.

If you read the sentence aloud, you will find that your voice does not drop on the clause however you look at it, as it would if this were a truly nonessential interruption in the sentence.

Read this aloud: The roadside was sprinkled with breadcrumbs, and, however you look at it, that bird's luck had finally turned.  

Compare it with this truly nonessential interruption:

Read this aloud: The bird, by the way, was a chickadee.

I'm guessing you found that your voice definitely dropped in pitch and loudness on "by the way" but did not drop on "however you look at it." Having commas both before and after the clause indicates that your voice should drop because the part surrounded by commas is parenthetical, or nonessential. Here, we have just experienced that the clause is not parenthetical.

"But I want a pause there!" I can hear you thinking. Well, I sympathize. I have previously discussed the tendency in training videos for the speaker to pause gratuitously but meaningfully after the word and, like this:

Spoken: "Select the text you wish to format, and [pause] choose 14 from the Font Size drop-down menu."

The pause in speaking draws the learner's attention to the next instruction, "choose." However, putting a comma after and to indicate that pause is ungrammatical. What to do? What to do? Perhaps it is time to make the leap to "literary" punctuation, where the commas indicate pauses rather than grammatical structures. If I accept literary punctuation, with that extra comma, I need to add the following names to the list of winners: Alicia Grimes, Michelle Duran, Alisha Sauer, Gail Kelleher, Joanne Chantelau, and Vera Sytch.

Correct answers to the Puppies challenge on Apostrophes are brought to you by Kay Honaker.

  1. The black and tan puppy ran right into the children's room.
  2. All three puppies' noses were white from the milk in the cereal bowl.
  3. The kids' faces brightened as soon as they saw the puppies.
  4. The cat guarded the kittens from the rambunctious dogs.
  5. The biggest dog's paws were up on the table.
  6. The children pulled the puppies' and the momma dog's ears.
  7. There was little doubt about the puppies' affection.
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Adobe RoboHelp: Master Pages for Word Headers and Footers

by Willam Van Weelden Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn
 
When importing or generating Microsoft Word documents with RoboHelp, one of the chief weaknesses has always been the lack of support for Word's headers and footers. When importing, the Word headers and footers were ignored. When generating Printed Documentation, there was no support for controlling the resulting headers and footers from within RoboHelp. Instead, you had to edit them in the Word document.

With the new Adobe RoboHelp 11, you can now control the headers and footers for Printed documentation with Master Pages. This allows you to control the information displayed in the headers and footers of Word and PDF documents generated by RoboHelp.

A master page is a template for your topics. You can assign a style sheet to a master page, and set up headers and footers. If you apply a master page to a topic, the topic will use the style sheet and display the header and footer. When you create printed documentation, the printed documentation can use the header and footer you set up on the master page.

Setting up headers and footers in a Master Page

To change the header and footer of a master page, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Project Set-up pod. (View > Pods > Project Set-up)
  2. Open a master page (or create a new one)
  3. Choose View > Header to open the header pane
  4. Add content to the header just as you would add content to a topic
  5. Choose View > Footer to open the footer pane
  6. Add content to the footer, just as you would add content to a topic 
Using the Master Page for Printed Documentation

Once you have set up the master page, you can use the master page when generating printed documentation.

  1. Open the Single Source Layouts pod (View > Pods > Single Source Layouts). 
  2. Double-click a Printed Documentation layout to open the Print Document options.
  3. From the Header/Footer area, select the master page you set up earlier. 
  4. Click Save and Generate to create the printed documentation.

***

Looking to learn RoboHelp? We offer a live, two-day online RoboHelp class once a month. Feel free to contact us to learn other ways to meet your RoboHelp training requirements.
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eLearning: Determining the Best Size for Today’s Lessons

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

When developing eLearning lessons using any of the top development tools (Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, or TechSmith Camtasia Studio), you need to take the size of your learner's device into account. If you make your eLearning lesson too large (I'm talking width and height, not how many megabytes the lesson might be), learners with small displays may have to scroll to see your content. If your published lesson has the ability to scale to fit the learners display, your content could scale down so small that your content will become unusable.

While you can create a project at one size and resize it smaller later, it's not an ideal workflow. Resizing a project once you've started will likely result in shifting of screen objects that require additional editing on your end. For that reason, it's best to pick a width and height that will work for the widest possible range of devices right from the start.

Several years ago, the typical desktop computer display resolution was 800×600 pixels. If you developed eLearning content for a screen resolution that low, a project size of 640×480 was recommended. A few years later, 1024×768 was the standard screen resolution, resulting in typical eLearning lessons sized to 800×600. According to w3schools.com, the standard desktop screen resolution today is 1366×768 and it's trending higher. (You'll find that available resolutions vary from system to system. For instance, I use an HP 22 inch display that doesn't support 1366×768. Instead, my closest options are 1360×768 and 1376×812.)

Because screen resolutions are higher than ever, developers are seeking an optimal viewing experience for learners. But what's the ideal size for an eLearning lesson? Unfortunately, there isn't a cookie-cutter answer. The size of the lesson you create depends largely on your customer. What is the typical device you expect your learner to be using? How big is its screen? Is the device typically used vertically (portrait) or horizontally (landscape)? What is its typical resolution?

If you are creating content for learners using standard desktop computers (Windows or Mac), a project size of 800×600 still works well. However, if you plan to post your content to YouTube, stay away from 800×600. At that size, your lesson won't look quite right when viewed on YouTube (you will likely see black bars on one or both sides of the video, and the video might look distorted during playback).

What's the Relationship Between Project Size and Screen Resolution?

Let's say that you create a project that is sized to 800×600. I view your lesson on a 17-inch monitor with a resolution of 1024×768. In this scenario, your lesson is going to look fine on my monitor. But what if I have a large screen (a 27-inch monitor for instance), and I'm using a high resolution? Your lesson is going to have a lot of white space to the left and right. Will that white space make the lesson look silly? Who's to say?

It's a delicate balancing act between the size of the capture area and an ideal screen resolution. When I create YouTube videos, I set my eLearning tool's capture size to 1024×568 and my screen resolution to 1440×900. While I could go higher with my screen resolution and capture more of the screen, the captured screen text at a higher screen resolution is small and hard to read. When I upload videos to YouTube, the already small text gets worse because YouTube makes my videos smaller.

More information on sizing eLearning projects:  

I'd love to hear from you. What is the best project size you've come up with? (Please post your comments below. Let me know who your target end-user is and the eLearning development tool you use.)

***

Looking for instructor-led training on the top eLearning tools? We offer live, online training on Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia Studio. We can also bring the same great training onsite to your facility. Interested? Contact us for details.
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Writing & Grammar: Where Does the Apostrophe Go?

by Jennie Ruby View our profile on LinkedIn

Perhaps you have seen a grocery store sign saying "Orange's." Or maybe you have chortled over some poor soul who spelled "mens' room" with the apostrophe on the wrong side, because men is plural, right? Let's see how many of us can put the apostrophes to rights. (You can post your answers as comments below.)
  1. The black and tan puppy ran right into the childrens' room.
  2. All three puppie's noses were white from the milk in the cereal bowl.
  3. The kid's faces brightened as soon as they saw the puppies.
  4. The cat guarded the kitten's from the rambunctious dogs.
  5. The biggest dogs paw's were up on the table.
  6. The children pulled the puppies and the momma dogs ears.
  7. There was little doubt about the puppies affection.

Here are the answers for the challenge on punctuation with the word however. They are brought to you by Rita Martino. Special thanks to Michelle Duran for drawing my attention to the fact that meltwater should be all one word, rather than two separate words–even though Microsoft Word is red-underlining it right now. Webster's says it is one word, and that is good enough for me.

  1. The tiny bird explored every crevice of the log; however, it did not seem to find any food.
  2. Snow covered the ground within the woods; the road, however, was clear.
  3. Beside the road, pools of meltwater had formed; however, the road was completely dry.
  4. The bird flew down from a branch to forage in the clear space beside the road; the passing traffic, however,frightened it back.
  5. The bird returned to the roadside, however, hoping to find a seed.
  6. What it found when it returned, however, was something unexpected.
  7. The roadside was sprinkled with breadcrumbs, and however you look at it, that bird's luck had finally turned.

Other winners are Kolja Fuchs, David Zimmerle, Karyn Highet, Anne Goldenberger, Chris Zimmel, Jiang Ping Fan, Ginny Supranowitz, and Sonia Verma.

The example where many lost out was number 7: the clause "however you look at it" is not parenthetical, and therefore should not be surrounded on both sides by commas. Instead, it is introductory to the second sentence. So no comma before however.

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Localization: Training & Development in Costa Rica

by Jen Weaver Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

Take a few minutes over this morning's café con leche to learn about the beautiful country of Costa Rica. Let's explore some common cultural facts about Costa Ricans and their expectations when it comes to training and development.

Pop Quiz (no Googling the answer):

  1. True or False? Costa Rica means "Rich Coast."
  2. True or False? Costa Rica is the wealthiest country in Central America.

Quick Tips for Training & Development in Costa Rica1:

  • Costa Ricans often refer to themselves as Ticos, a name based on their tendency to add tico to the end of words to imply fondness.
  • English is commonly spoken in business settings, but translating materials into Spanish is still the preference. Spanish is the official language, but a small percentage of people also speak Caribbean Creole English and a handful of local dialects.
  • As is common in many Latin American cultures, Costa Ricans interpret facts through feelings and may use their faith (86% are Catholic) as the foundation of truth.
  • More than citizens of many other countries, Costa Ricans believe in the value and equality of all people and emphasize the dignity of work independent of social class.
  • Many Costa Ricans exhibit a strong sense of group responsibility and favoritism toward family and close relationships.
  • Sociologists describe Costa Ricans as being high in uncertainty avoidance. They rely on strict rules to limit risk and avoid change and conflict when possible. To keep from losing face, Ticos may provide indirect answers rather than offer a less-than-preferable response.
  • Decisions are made by group consensus, so be sure to allow additional time for these discussions and deliberations.
  • Timelines and deadlines are seen as suggestions rather than hard dates, causing late payments to be a common occurrence. Be tolerant of and anticipate delays.

Pop Quiz Answers:

  1. True.
  2. False. Panama is the wealthiest nation in Central America.

References:

1Morrison, Terri, & Conaway, Wayne A. (2006). Kiss, bow, or shake hands (2nd ed.). Avon: Adams Media.

***

Developing international training and development materials? Contact Jen at Carmazzi Global Solutions.

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Adobe Captivate: No More Empty TEBs

by Lori Smith

During my beginner Adobe Captivate class, I am often asked if it's possible to ensure that learners do not leave a Text Entry Box (TEB) blank. When working with a TEB, you can set specific correct values using the Validate Entry option in the General group on the properties panel.

Adobe Captivate: Validate Entry option  

But what if you want to ensure that learners put something in the box, not a specific value? While there is no setting in Captivate to ensure that a TEB isn't left blank, using a little variable and some advanced action magic can make it happen. 

Create User Variables

    1. Choose Project > Variables and create a new variable. Do not fill in the default value. (I named my variable empty.

      Adobe Captivate: Empty Variable

      Note: This would be a great variable to put in all your templates!

    2. Create another variable to store the TEB data. (I named mine UserData.)

      Adobe Captivate: UserData Variable

    3. Attach the UserData variable to the TEB (using the General group on the TEB's Properties panel).

      Adobe Captivate: Attach the variable to the TEB.

    4. Create a Text Caption on your slide that tells the user they need to fill in the data. Name the caption error and deselect the Visible in output option.

      Adobe Captivate: Caption named

Create a Conditional Advanced Action

This advanced action will compare the UserData to the empty variable. If the UserData is empty, show the error message and jump back to the beginning of the slide to allow for another try. If the UserData is not empty, Go to Next Slide.

(Note: To make this action generic so it will work with any slide, do not hard code the slide it needs to jump to. Instead, determine which slide you are on and jump to it as needed. You will do this using an additional user variable named thisSlide, and two system variables, cpInfoCurrentSlide and cpCmndGotoSlide.)

Adobe Captivate: Advanced Action

 Adobe Captivate: Advanced Action 2

The last step is to assign the advanced action to Execute when the learner clicks the Submit button. You can do this via the Properties of the selected TEB (on the Action group).

Adobe Captivate: Execute the Advanced Action

And there you have it. No more tearing your hair out trying to force a learner to enter information into a TEB instead of just skipping over it.

Got other Captivate challenges? Send them to me and maybe you'll see your problem solved in a future article.

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Looking for instructor-led training on the top eLearning tools? We offer live, online training on Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia Studio.We can also bring the same great training onsite to your facility. Interested? Contact us for details.
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“Adobe RoboHelp HTML 11: The Essentials” Workbook Now Available on the Kindle

I'm pleased to report that my newest book, "Adobe RoboHelp HTML 11: The Essentials" has gone to the printer. While the hard copy version of the book won't be available for a week or so, the Kindle version is available now from Amazon.com.

During the activities presented in this workbook, you will create RoboHelp projects from scratch and add such best-in-class features as TOCs, Indexes, Glossaries, images, links, DHTML effects, eLearning videos and much more. You'll also learn how to use the hot new Responsive HTML5 output to create content for any device, anywhere.

More information.

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eLearning: Playbar or No Playbar? Let the Debate Begin

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

I was teaching Adobe Captivate recently when a student asked a few questions about the value of a playbar that fueled an interesting and heated, discussion (some folks love playbars, others hate them). Here are the questions that got the debate rolling:

  • Is the playbar necessary? 
  • If a playbar is included, how can you encourage learners to interact with screen objects instead of skipping them using the playbar navigation controls?
  • Where is the best place to position the playbar (top, bottom, left, or right of the lesson)?

All of the top eLearning development tools (Articulate Storyline, Articulate Presenter, Adobe Captivate, Adobe Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia Studio) allow you to control the appearance of the playbar. In addition, each of the tools can accomplish the suggestions outlined below. In some instances, the option I discuss isn't easy to find in a particular tool. If you have trouble locating the playbar options, feel free to contact me.

Is the Playbar Necessary?

Should you include a playbar in your eLearning lessons? In my opinion, absolutely! If you've created a video like those commonly posted on YouTube or Lynda.com, there isn't any interactivity. The only way learners can navigate through a video is via the Play, Rewind, and Pause tools found on a typical playbar. While a video's playbar doesn't offer much in the way of learner engagement, at least it's something. In my experience, videos without playbars are ineffective. The lack of a playbar can be disconcerting if not flat-out annoying. 

How Can You Encourage Interaction With Screen Objects?

If your eLearning lesson is interactive (perhaps it's a software simulation with a quiz, or a soft skills lesson with buttons for navigation), the learner who navigates via the playbar instead of the interactive slide objects can derail the lesson. For example, you've created a button on a slide that, when clicked, reports a score to your Learning Management System (LMS). If the learner clicks the forward button on the playbar, not the interactive button on the slide, no score is reported to the LMS. As far as the LMS is concerned, the learner skipped the slide.

How can you encourage the learner to interact with the slide objects and not simply race through the lesson by clicking the forward button on the playbar? 

  • Add an animation in combination with an interactive slide object.
      In one of my projects, I inserted an arrow animation that pointed to the buttons on the first several slides (not all of them, since I was worried about the animation being a distraction). While short and sweet, the animation was enough of a visual cue that very few people missed the opportunity to click the buttons.
  • Hide the playbar for the entire lesson by default, but have it automatically appear when the learner mouses over the screen.
  • Hide the playbar on any slides where clicking an interactive object is critical.

Playbars and Quizzes…

If you've included a quiz in your lesson, most of the eLearning development tools require the learner to answer the question and submit before it is recorded and graded. If the learner answers a question correctly but clicks the forward button on the playbar instead of a Submit button on the slide, the LMS will likely treat the question as unanswered. In this instance, the learner will not get credit, even though the question was answered correctly. 

In this scenario, you can set up your lesson so that the playbar will disappear when the learner is taking the quiz but reappear on non-quiz slides. Most eLearning development tools offer a "hide playbar during the quiz" feature. (For example, in Adobe Captivate, it's a simple check box found on the Quiz Preferences dialog box.)

What Is The Best Screen Position for the Playbar?

If you elect to include the playbar, where is the best place to position it? The most common location for the playbar is below the video or simulation. In my experience, this position works the best since the majority of your learners are conditioned to look there first. The biggest problem with the bottom-position occurs when the video is very tall. In this case, many of your learners won't know there's a playbar at all since they'd need to scroll down. In this scenario, positioning the playbar at the top of the lesson would be ideal.

I'd love to hear if you think playbars belong in eLearning or not. I'd also like to know where you place them and how you encourage users to avoid the playbar when screen interactivity is critical. Please post your comments below.

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Looking for instructor-led training on the top eLearning tools? We offer live, online training on Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia Studio. We can also bring the same great training onsite to your facility. Interested? Contact us for details.
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Adobe FrameMaker and Captivate: Merging Multimedia With Print PDFs

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

There's no trick to creating a PDF these days. Simply open a document and, if you've got Adobe Acrobat on your computer, choose Adobe PDF when you print.

Creating a PDF that will engage your reader is another story. One way to engage the reader, besides stellar content, is to add images. Of course, there's no trick to adding images either… and everyone's doing it.

If you really want to make a splash when it comes to PDFs, you've got to engage the reader like never before… and interactive eLearning is the way to go.

In the image below, I've created a FrameMaker document. You can see there's nothing particularly special about the text (beyond the promise of an Adobe Captivate simulation). 

 

After clicking where I wanted the simulation to appear, I chose File > Import > File and opened a SWF I had published earlier using Adobe Captivate. Just like when importing a graphic, I was met with the Imported Graphic Scaling dialog box. I selected 150 dpi to make the imported Captivate simulation a bit smaller in my FrameMaker document.

After clicking the Set button, the Captivate simulation appeared in my FrameMaker document as a large box.

I wanted the simulation positioned below the text, and I didn't want it to be cropped. I right-clicked the frame and selected Anchored Frame.

I changed the Anchoring Position to Below Current Line, changed the Alignment to Right, and removed the check mark from Cropped. Then I clicked Edit Frame.

And that was all there was to it. I created a PDF by choosing File > Save as PDF. Upon opening the PDF, the simulation appeared immediately after being clicked. And I was delighted to see that the simulation remained as interactive from within the PDF as it was when accessed via a web server.

Even better, when I found an error in the Captivate simulation, I was able to return to the FrameMaker document, right-click the imported SWF, and chose Edit With Adobe Captivate.

The source Captivate project opened pretty quickly in Adobe Captivate. I fixed the error and exited Captivate, at which point the project was republished and the SWF contained in FrameMaker automatically updated.

After re-saving as a PDF and opening the PDF with Adobe Reader, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Captivate simulation had been updated.

If you would like to see a demonstration of the Captivate-to-FrameMaker-to-PDF workflow, click here to see a video I created on the IconLogic YouTube channel.

***

Looking for training on Adobe Captivate? We offer multiple live, online Adobe Captivate classes each month including Introduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate. Need the training in-person? We can also bring the same great training onsite to your facility. Interested? Contact us for details.
 
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Adobe Captivate: There’s a Widget for That

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

You've probably heard the phrase "There's an app for that." It basically means that if you want to extend the functionality of your mobile device, you should visit the device's App store and Search. Chances are you'll find an application, often free, that will do whatever it is you need. 

Captivate is an awesome eLearning development tool, and it's loaded with functionality. However, Adobe simply cannot anticipate every scenario, every use-case you'll find for the program. And that's where widgets come in.

Widgets extend Captivate's functionality beyond bounds. Looking for an email icon? There's a widget for that. Need an animated button? There's a widget for that. How about a Print button? Volume controls? Slide numbers? Widget, widget, and more widgets.

While widgets are used in Captivate projects to improve the eLearning content, the widgets themselves aren't created by Adobe Captivate. In fact, widgets can only be created by developers using Adobe Flash. To use a widget, you do not need to know a thing about Adobe Flash, nor do you need Flash installed on your computer. In fact, Captivate ships with several free widgets. To insert a widget, choose Window > Widget.

Adobe Captivate: Widget Panel  

Select the widget you would like to use and click the Insert link. Once inserted, you can configure the widget using the Widget Properties dialog box.

Adobe Captivate: Widget Properties  

While simple to use, you won't get very far with widgets if the pesky Widgets panel mentioned above is missing its widgets (something I've see more than a few times when I teach my Advanced Captivate class).

If the Widget panel is missing some (or all) of the free widgets that come with Captivate, click the Change Path tool at the bottom of the Widget panel.

Change Path command

Navigate to the location of the Widgets that were installed along with the Captivate software (typically this is <Adobe Captivate program folder>\Gallery\Widgets).

If your widgets are still not appearing on the Widgets panel, try clicking the Refresh tool at the bottom of the Widgets panel.

Refresh command

If you are looking for additional widgets beyond what you'll find on the Widget panel, check out the Adobe Captivate Widgets page. You will also find some useful widgets on Rod Ward's Infosemantics website.

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Looking for training on Adobe Captivate? We offer multiple live, online Adobe Captivate classes each month including Introduction to Adobe Captivate and Advanced Adobe Captivate. Need the training in-person? We can also bring the same great training onsite to your facility. Interested? Contact us for details.