The Logical Blog by IconLogic

ELEARNING DEVELOPMENT: The Levels of eLearning

I'm seeing a lack of clarity when it comes to developing eLearning content and how long it takes to create the eLearning courses. To help developers more accurately determine a level of effort, I need assistance from other professionals.

Can you please tell me your opinion on the different eLearning levels? It's been widely accepted that there are three levels of eLearning. However, the complexity of those levels is all over the map.

Here's my take:

Level 1: Video-based with little to none learner interaction (videos on YouTube for example or the eLearning offered on Lynda.com). This type of eLearning allows learners to go back and forth, pause, and play but that's about it for interactivity. These could be videos or PowerPoint presentations. Level 1 eLearning could include voiceover audio, a quiz, and be enabled for tracking via SCORM and/or AICC LMSs.

Level 2: This level of eLearning includes a fair amount of interactivity and is visually appealing using graphic techniques such as iconography to minimize screen clutter. If created in Adobe Captivate or Articulate Storyline, I'm talking about eLearning that includes buttons, hotspots/click boxes, text entry areas, branching scenarios, scenes, layers, learner interactions (such as dials, sliders, and drag and drop interactions), random quizzes, etc.

Level 3: Gamification or virtual worlds/fantasy games. In my mind, level 3 eLearning is beyond the scope of the vast majority of eLearning developers. This level of eLearning involves the creation of virtual settings where learners interact with characters, pick up items, and use those items throughout the course. If not virtual worlds or scenarios, this level of eLearning would include intense games that require complex advanced actions (Captivate) or triggers (Storyline). While tools such as Storyline and Captivate cannot easily create the virtual worlds as I've described them here, they could be used to create complex games, etc. Nevertheless, the time to create those games would make them counter-productive (effectiveness in learning to be debated).

Fellow eLearning developers, what are your thoughts on this? How would you describe the eLearning levels? Would you add more levels than the three I've mentioned here?

ARTICULATE STORYLINE: Inserting Web URL Hotspots

Just about every eLearning course you've ever used or created has contained at least a button or two that, at a minimum, allows for learner navigation.   Storyline allows you to insert buttons. But there's also a hotspot feature. What's the difference between buttons and hotspots?   Hotspots are similar to Buttons in that they can be interactive. Unlike Buttons, which are typically visible to the learner on the slide, hotspots are transparent. You insert hotspots over slide assets or areas of a slide and then use triggers to make the hotspot interactive.   To insert a hotspot, click the Insert tab on the Ribbon and, from the Interactive Objects group, click Hotspot.

On your slide, draw a hotspot shape over the area of the screen that you'd like to be clickable. In the image below, I've drawn a hotspot over the web address and globe icon. Next, I'll create a trigger that links to the Chesapeake Stables website.

With the hotspot selected, click Create a new trigger on the Triggers window. Change the Action to Open URL/file.   Note: The Open URL/file Action is in the More group; you’ll need to scroll down to find it.   In the File or URL field, type the website address you'd like learners to visit and then press [enter].

Next, test the link. With the Trigger Wizard still open, move your mouse over the web address that you just typed.   At the right of the web address, click Check URL/File.

The target website opens. The ability to check a URL from within the Trigger Wizard is a nice feature because links to websites aren’t fully functional until you Publish. In fact, if you Preview the slide and click the hotspot, you'll see the Link alert as shown in the image below.

And that's that... between buttons and hotspots, adding interactivity to your eLearning cannot get much easier.

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Looking for training, consulting, mentoring, or development on all things eLearning? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. You can learn more about our eLearning classes on the IconLogic website.

TECHSMITH CAMTASIA: These 2020 Features are Magnetic!

TechSmith recently announced an update for Camtasia from version 2019 to version 2020. Some of the top enhancements you'll find in the Camtasia 2020 update include templates, placeholders, replaceable media, reversible transitions, a detachable Timeline, the ability to control callout text resizing (the feature can be toggled on or off), and magnetic tracks.   In the next few newsletters, I'll delve into some of the new Camtasia 2020 features. To begin, let's focus on the detachable Timeline, magnetic Timeline tracks, and reversible Transitions.   In the image below notice that I've added some media to the Camtasia Timeline. Gaps between Timeline objects aren't ideal, and I have two gaps as indicated by the orange annotations in the image.

One awesome new feature in Camtasia 2020 is the ability to instantly remove Timeline gaps via magnetic tracks. To enable this feature, click the magnet icon to the left of the track as shown in the image below.

The gaps between Timeline objects are instantly removed. And now that the track is magnetic, there won't be any gaps in the track moving forward.

Speaking of enhancements, do you notice anything strange in the image of the Camtasia 2020 interface below?

By default, the Timeline is anchored to the bottom of the Camtasia interface. In the image above, the Timeline is detached. Detaching the Timeline is helpful if you want to position it someplace specific on your display or on a second monitor. To enable the feature, choose View > Timeline > Detach Timeline.   Should you lose track of the Timeline (it can easily go behind the Camtasia main window), choose View > Timeline > Attach Timeline.

Last, but not least, you can now reverse Transition effects. In the animated image below, I've added the Cube Rotate transition to some media on the Timeline. Check out how I can make the cube rotate the opposite direction simply by clicking Reverse on the Properties panel.

***   Looking for Camtasia training? Check out these live, online, instructor-led training classes (all Guaranteed to Run).

***

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.

eLEARNING DEVELOPMENT: Dude, Watch Your Aspect... Ratio!

When creating eLearning in TechSmith Camtasia, Adobe Captivate, or Articulate Storyline, one critical consideration is the physical width and height of your project (also known as the canvas size).   The size of the project is measured in pixels and if you don't get this right from the start, changing your mind later could lead to some unintended consequences. (Objects being resized out of proportion is one of the biggest concerns.)   When I teach any of my eLearning courses, I encourage learners to consider their end-users when determining the size of the canvas. These days, most users access eLearning content on anything from a desktop computer to laptops to mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.   In my experience, most devices used to view eLearning are shaped more like rectangles than squares. For that reason, I think the eLearning canvas should be set up to use a 16:9 aspect ratio as opposed to 4:3.   The aspect ratio of an eLearning canvas designed to be viewed on its side, or in landscape mode, is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side. If you go with a 4:3 aspect ratio (4 pixels across for every 3 pixels in height), you're working with a shape that is tending toward a square. If you go with 16:9 (16 pixels across for every 9 high), the shape is very much a rectangle.   Once you decide on the shape of your canvas (again, 16:9 is a strong rectangle shape), the exact size you use depends on your design and/or the needs of your users. Both 1024x576 and 1280x720 are 16:9 ratios. (Here's a handy list of 16:9 aspect ratios.)   So how do you ensure your aspect ratio is a 16:9 aspect ratio as opposed to 4:3. Read on!   Because eLearning often begins in Microsoft PowerPoint, let's start there. Go to the Design tab on the Ribbon and, from the Customize group, change the Slide Size to Widescreen (16:9).

In TechSmith Camtasia, click the drop-down menu just above the Canvas and choose Project Settings. From the Canvas Dimensions drop-down menu, choose a size from the Widescreen group. All of the sizes in this group are set to an aspect ratio of 16:9.

In Articulate Storyline, the default aspect ratio for new projects is 4:3. Go to the Design tab on the Ribbon and, from the Setup group, click Story Size.   From the Story Size drop-down menu, choose 720:405 (16:9) and then change the Width and Height as needed. Select Lock aspect ratio to ensure you're maintaining a 16:9 aspect ratio as you change the size.

In Adobe Captivate, when creating new projects, select Blank Project and then, from the Canvas drop-down menu, choose an appropriate 16:9 aspect ratio. If you need to change the size of an existing project, choose Modify > Rescale Project and change the Width and Height as appropriate.

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Looking for training, consulting, mentoring, or development on all things eLearning? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. You can learn more about our eLearning classes on the IconLogic website.

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).

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.

• What 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.

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.

***   Looking for Adobe RoboHelp training? Check out these live, online, instructor-led training classes (all Guaranteed to Run).

***

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.

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.   Check out the minicourses on virtual training.

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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.

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.

***   Looking for Articulaste Storyline 360 training? Check out these live, online, instructor-led training classes (all Guaranteed to Run).

***

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.

MICROSOFT POWERPOINT: Convert Text to Shapes Using the Fragment Tool

Let’s say you’re creating icons for some eLearning and you’d like some letter icons. You might approach this by drawing a circle and layering a text box over the top of it or by typing the letters directly onto the shapes. For some applications, this approach might be perfectly fine, but there are a few instances where you may find this approach has shortcomings.

Shortcoming 1: You want the letter to be cut out of the icon’s shape so that you can see the background through the icon. (For example, maybe you have a gradient background and you want to see that through the icon.)

Shortcoming 2: You want to resize the icon, without saving it as a picture, and have the letter resize proportionately. Here’s what it looks like if you resize this icon with standard text on it:

Shortcoming 3: You want to fine-tune edit how the letters look, perhaps down to the point level. Maybe you like your font but you wish the characters were a bit shorter and wider. Maybe, like in this example, you also want to edit one of the characters to have a long “tail” to match the diagonal design element elsewhere on the slide.

The best way to accomplish any of the above is to convert your text to shapes using PowerPoint's Fragment tool. Here’s how.   First, insert your shape.

Insert your text box with text. For this task, you’ll want to use a text box vs typing directly onto the shape.

Select your first icon’s shape, hold down the control key, and then also select the text box. From the Format Shape tab of the ribbon, find the Insert Shapes area and choose Merge Shapes > Fragment.

Each item will become its own separate shape. In the case of this example, you’ll have three pieces.

Now you can resize the icon as one shape and even edit the points of your letter to customize to your heart’s content.   Have any PowerPoint PainPoints (see what I did there?) for which you’ve been dying to find a solution? Shoot them over to me and I’ll see if I can help and share them in a future newsletter article!

*** 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.

ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Recording Screen Actions on a PC with a High-Density Screen

So, you got a fabulous new Windows laptop. It’s light! It’s compact! And it has a beautiful High-Density screen. The screen’s resolution is so sharp that you’ve got it set up to display at 150% or 200%, because otherwise the icons and text are so tiny and sharp that you can barely read them.   Then you try to do some screen-capture work in Adobe Captivate, and you are hit with an error message: Screen capture with high density monitor not allowed or perhaps something about DpiAwareness. The net result is that you cannot record the screen, either in software simulation or in video demo recording mode.

In the past, the fix was to manually update the AdobeCaptivate.ini file. You had to venture deep into the Adobe Captivate program files and find that .ini file. Then you had to edit it with a text editor and change the DPI setting to 1. Then you had to battle your Windows setup about permissions and file names and passwords even just to save your changes to the .ini file. Even after all that, many developers report that while recording works, the Captivate software itself becomes so teeny-tiny that it's impossible to use.   As an alternative to fighting with the .ini file, I've got two easy plans of attack for you (neither involve editing any sort of support file):   Plan A: Right-click your desktop and choose Display Settings. Change the size of text, apps, and other items to 100% (even if not recommended) and then close the Display Settings.

Restart Captivate and see if you can record a software simulation. If yes, all is right with the world. If you still cannot record the screen, it's time for plan B.   Plan B: Find the Captivate.exe file (it's usually in Program Files > Adobe > Adobe Captivate 2019), right-click and choose Properties.

From the Compatibility tab, click the Change high DPI settings button.

Check the checkbox for Override high DPI scaling behavior. Ensure that Application is selected in the Scaling performed by drop-down.

Click OK to each of the two dialog boxes to confirm your changes.   And that’s it. You should now be able to record screen actions on your high-density monitor with no problems.

***   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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Looking for Adobe Captivate training, consulting, mentoring, or development? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. We've got an awesome collection of live, online classes. You can learn more about our Captivate classes on the IconLogic website.

ISPRING SUITE 9: Video Demos with Annotations Equals Awesomeness!

If you have content in Microsoft PowerPoint and need to use it for eLearning, you'll be happy to know that the top eLearning tools (Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, and TechSmith Camtasia) allow you to import PowerPoint content and then output HTML5 or videos. In the case of Storyline, the imported PowerPoint content can even be edited from within Storyline post-import.   But what if you wanted your PowerPoint content to stay in PowerPoint and still be able to add eLearning-type features such as a quiz and interactive objects? Unfortunately, while PowerPoint excels at visually stunning presentations, it's not an eLearning development tool. Fortunately, tools like Adobe Presenter, Articulate Presenter, and iSpring Suite allow you to add eLearning capabilities to any PowerPoint presentation.   I've spent a significant amount of time over the past few months using iSpring Suite, a PowerPoint-based authoring toolkit that allows developers to create mobile-friendly eLearning courses complete with slides, quizzes, dialog simulations, software video demonstrations, selfie-videos, and other interactive learning content. The finished course can quickly be published as HTML5 or as a video and uploaded to a web server, Learning Management System, or to video services like YouTube or Vimeo.   In the next few articles, I'm going to delve into some of my favorite iSpring Suite 9 features. I'm also rolling out an iSpring Suite book ("iSpring Suite 9: The Essentials") and an iSpring Suite 9 instructor-led class!   This week I tested iSpring's ability to create a video demo similar to what you can do in Captivate, Storyline, and Camtasia. During my testing, I was happy to see that iSpring even adds Annotations to the recording (automatic text captions).

To begin, I visited the iSpring tab on the PowerPoint Ribbon, Insert group, and then clicked Screen Recording to open iSpring Cam Pro.

I clicked New Recording which opened a recording area with controls similar to the other top eLearning development tools.

I clicked the red record button and within seconds had an awesome video demo.

When the recording was complete, I expected a standard video just like the other tools. However, the resulting Recording Complete screen offered a nice surprise--the check box Add annotations to the screen recording (shown circled below).

Of course, I selected the Add annotations option clicked the Continue button. I was surprised by how awesome the resulting text was (almost no editing needed).

I was also happy to see that, like the other competitors in the eLearning development tools space, there's a Timeline allowing me to quickly change when the annotations appear onscreen, and for how long.

I was able to edit the annotations and change the way they looked via the Formatting toolbar. All-in-all, this is awesome!

Next time: Dialog simulations.

***   Looking for iSpring Suite training? Check out these live, online, instructor-led training classes (all Guaranteed to Run).

***

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.

ARTICULATE STORYLINE 360: Recolor and Crop Content Library Images

During our beginner Articulate Storyline classes, we emphasize the importance of using images in a project instead of relying on dense, text-heavy slides. Of course, finding good images can be a challenge unless you are a subscriber to Articulate 360. Subscribers have access to an millions of assets in the Content Library loaded with downloadable Characters, Illustrations, Icons, Videos, and Photos.   While recently working in Storyline, I was in need of a photo of a horse. The project I was creating was about horse health and I was specifically looking for a horse showing as many teeth as possible. (The wider the grin, the better.)

I visited Storyline's Insert tab on the Ribbon and, from the Content Library, I clicked Photos.   From within the Search Photos dialog box, I typed horse teeth and I was pleasantly surprised when several candidates appeared. (Given that I was needing horse grins, I wasn't expecting even a single decent photo to appear and was fully prepared for a trip to a photo-supply website.)

I selected the photo shown above at the right and then clicked the Insert button. By default, the photo was inserted in the middle of my slide.

The other images I'd used throughout the project were black and white and I wanted to keep that theme. Unfortunately, the computer I was using did not have an image editing program. No worries, you can recolor an image without leaving Storyline.   I selected the Picture Tools tab on the Ribbon, clicked Recolor, and selected Accent color 3 Dark.

I also needed to crop the image. That wasn't a problem either. At the right of the Picture Tools tab, I clicked the Crop tool.

I dragged the cropping handles from both corners to crop everything out of the image except those awesome teeth.

And here's how the finished image looked on the slide.

***   Looking for Articulate Storyline 360 training? Check out these live, online, instructor-led training classes (all Guaranteed to Run).

ADOBE CAPTIVATE 2019: An Alternative to Rollover Captions and Rollover Images

I have always loved using rollover captions and rollover images in my Adobe Captivate projects. The problem is that while I love them, HTML5 does not. In the images below, you can see a rollover caption in action (in the first image, there's no rollover caption; in the second image the hidden caption, which is attached to the image, appears when the learner rolls their mouse over the image of the number 2).

While they offer an awesome level of interactivity to your eLearning, rollover captions and rollover images are not HTML5 compliant. (They will not work correctly on mobile devices.) Sadly, if you run the HTML5 tracker (Project > HTML5 Tracker), the rollover captions will be flagged as Unsupported.

The good news is that you can still use rollover captions in your projects... you just can't use rollover captions. I know, I know... it's confusing, right? You can get the same functionality of rollover captions by deploying shapes as buttons and then using Inbuilt States. (This sounds complicated but it's super easy.)   To begin, I inserted a shape onto the slide (I used a rectangle shape).

I set the properties of the shape (on the Properties inspector) to a Fill of 0% Opacity and 0 Stroke.

Then I positioned the now transparent shape over the image I wanted learners to roll over.

My goal is to use a state in place of a rollover caption. To use states effectively, I need the shape to be treated as an interactive object. That's easy enough to take care of via the Properties inspector > Use as Button.

I didn't want the button/shape to actually do anything except allow for the state to kick in so I set its Action to No Action.

And now... the State!   With the shape selected, I accessed State View.

I selected RollOver, which is an Inbuilt State (meaning it's a State that exists in all projects by default).

I inserted a Text Caption onto the RollOver State and then exited State View.

The net result is the same as using a rollover caption: the caption appears only when learners roll over the transparent shape. However, when I open the HTML5 Tracker there are no longer errors about unsupported objects.

***   Looking for Captivate training? Check out our live, online (instructor-led) Adobe Captivate classes.

TECHSMITH CAMTASIA: From Mobile Device to Camtasia in a Snap!

I was recently tasked with creating some video demos of an app on my iPhone and using them in TechSmith Camtasia 2019. To make the process as seamless as possible, I visited the App Store while on my phone and downloaded TechSmith Capture. (The app is free.)   I started the Capture app and recorded several videos simply by tapping TechSmith Capture on the initial screen.

When I was ready to transfer the videos to Camtasia on my computer, I started Camtasia and chose File > Connect Mobile Device. There are four simple steps in the Connect Mobile Device dialog box. I had already completed step 1 when I downloaded Capture and then used the tool to record a video on my phone.   Step 2, as shown below, required both my computer and my iPhone to be on the same wireless network.

Back on my iPhone, I opened one of the videos using Capture and, from the bottom left of the app, tapped Share.

From the Export to area, I tapped Camtasia.

I pointed my iPhone's camera at the barcode in the Connect Mobile Device screen on my computer and a few seconds later, like magic, the video imported to my computer, into Camtasia, and into the Media Bin. From there, it was a simple matter to add the media to the Timeline, edit, and share.

I had similar good luck exporting regular-old videos and pictures from my roll from Capture (both videos recorded using Capture and other videos that I imported into Capture) to TechSmith SnagIt and TechSmith Relay.   Kudos to TechSmith for making this a truly simple and seamless process!

***   Looking for Camtasia training, consulting, mentoring, or development? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. We've got an awesome collection of live, online classes and we offer private, one-on-one online mentoring. You can learn more about our Camtasia classes on the IconLogic website.

ARTICULATE STORYLINE 360: New Trigger Workflow

If you want to make something happen in Articulate Storyline, Triggers are everything. They're so important to your success in Storyline that we cover them beginning in the opening minutes of our Storyline Beginner class and continue to teach them through the end of the Storyline Advanced class.   A recent Storyline 360 update from Articulate has taken what was already a pretty nice trigger workflow and made it even better. In this article we'll take a quick look at the new workflow. (If you'd like to explore the new workflow, download the latest build.) You can check your version of Storyline via Help > About Storyline. The new trigger workflow can be found in build 3.33.20625.0 or later.

The new trigger workflow will be on by default. However, you can elect to stick with the old, Classic workflow if you prefer. To switch between the new and Classic workflows, choose File > Storyline Options.

Select the Features category and then select Use the new, faster trigger workflow. (You will need to restart Storyline to switch between modes.)

In the image below you can see the classic Trigger Wizard. As I said at the start, I think the wizard was already pretty easy to use. If I had any complaints at all it was with the need to take a few extra clicks to create a Condition. (As you can see, there's a Show Conditions button which leads to a second screen where, after a few clicks, the Condition gets created.)

The new Trigger Wizard, shown below, streamlines/groups things quite nicely. Tops among my favorites is that Conditions have been moved up in the workflow (there's no longer a big button to click that leads to a different window).

When you select Actions (by clicking the link to the right of the word Actions), the options are grouped into appropriate categories, making specific actions easy to find.

The Triggers panel also received a facelift in the new build. Chief among the enhancements is the ability to Disable (you no longer need to delete and recreate individual triggers... with a quick click you can disable them) and Group (when triggers are grouped, you can make a single edit to change the event that triggers all the actions).

If you're still working with developers who are using Storyline 3, there's no worries about the new workflow causing trigger issues. According to Articulate, "The new trigger workflow is fully compatible with the classic workflow in all builds of Storyline 360 and Storyline 3, so you can share a project file with other authors no matter which version of Storyline they’re using. When you disable a trigger in the new workflow, that trigger is present but hidden in the classic workflow in Storyline 360 and Storyline 3."   You can learn more about the new trigger workflow on the Articulate website.

***   Looking for Storyline training, consulting, mentoring, or development? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. We've got an awesome collection of live, online classes. You can learn more here.

ARTICULATE STORYLINE 360: Slides Numbers and Percentage Completion Rates

We do a ton of eLearning development in Storyline. A recent client asked if there was an easy way to add a percentage complete area on each slide so the learner quickly knew how much content remained to be viewed. Thanks to a fairly recent addition to Storyline 360, adding such a feature to a project is simple (it's also easy to add slide numbers).   If you'd like to follow along with me, create a new Storyline 360 project and insert 10 slides from the Content Library. (I went with the Affinity template but you can use any of the templates.)  Each of the slides in my sample project are represented in the menu shown in the image below (at the left).

To add the slide numbers and percentage completion, I went to the parent master slide (View > Slide Master), inserted a text box and typed the phrase: of . | You’ve completed of the lesson.

Still working on the slide master, and with my insertion point to the left of the word "of," I went to the Insert tab on the Ribbon, Text Group, and clicked the drop-down menu next to the Slide Number icon.

I selected More options and the dialog box shown below opened. From the Insert drop-down menu, I selected Slide number in menu.

I repeated this process two more times. On the second pass, I added Total slides in menu to the left of the period. On the third pass, I added Progress through menu (%) after the word "completed.".   The text box on my master slide looked like the image below.

When I previewed the scene, this was the result.

Because I added the text box to the parent master slide, the text appeared on every slide in the project. Alternatively, the number can be added to a text box on a layer (and use triggers to make the layer appear or disappear based on what the learner does throughout the lesson).

***   Looking for Storyline training, consulting, mentoring, or development? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. We've got an awesome collection of live, online classes. You can learn more here.

ADOBE CAPTIVATE 2019: Copy/Paste Appearance

I've long trumpeted the benefits of using Object Styles in Adobe Captivate. However, there may be times when you don't want to work with styles but still want to quickly apply an object's formatting to other objects. In that case, you'll love Captivate's copy and paste appearance feature.   Before I show you how to use the copy/paste appearance feature, let me review Object Styles (using styles is truly the most efficient way to work in Captivate). If you'd like to follow along with the steps below, create a blank project in Captivate 2019 (update 11.5) and draw a few shapes similar to the image below.

On the Properties Inspector, notice that the shapes are all using the Default Smart Shape Style.

Using the Properties Inspector, change the appearance of one of your shapes (for instance, change the fill color).

On the Properties Inspector, notice the plus sign to the left of the style name. The plus sign indicates a formatting override. The change you made to the object is not part of the object style and the formatting was not applied to any other objects using the same style.   To update the style, go to the menu across from Style Name on the inspector and choose Save changes to Existing style.

Every object on every slide using the style gets updated instantly. That's cool stuff. However, if you want to format multiple objects and you don't want to use Object Styles, this next technique is for you.   Select and format a shape (use the Properties inspector to change the fill, color, stroke, etc).

Select the shape you just formatted and choose Edit > Copy Appearance (or right-click and choose Copy Appearance).

Select another shape and choose Edit > Paste Appearance (or right-click and choose Paste Appearance).   The selected shape is instantly formatted to match the previous object. You can use this technique to format multiple slide objects, even across project slides. If you'd like to see a video demo of this process, you'll find it on my YouTube channel.

***   Looking for Captivate training? Check out these live, instructor-led classes.

***

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.

TRAINING TIPS: Don't Write Trick Quiz Questions!

Have you ever written a quiz only to have some of your students come back and say the quiz wasn’t fair? Or that Number 5 was a trick question?   Here is a quiz scene from the classic movie My Cousin Vinnie, which contains a classic “trick” question. The District Attorney is trying to prove that the witness, Mona Lisa Vito, is not a qualified expert on automobiles.    D.A. Jim Trotter: Now, uh, Ms. Vito, being an expert on general automotive knowledge, can you tell me... what would the correct ignition timing be on a 1955 Bel Air Chevrolet, with a 327 cubic-inch engine and a four-barrel carburetor?   Mona Lisa Vito: It's a bull**** question, it's impossible to answer.   D.A. Jim Trotter: Impossible because you don't know the answer!   Mona Lisa Vito: No, it is a trick question!   Judge Chamberlain Haller: Why is it a trick question?   Vinny Gambini: [to Bill] Watch this.   Mona Lisa Vito: 'Cause Chevy didn't make a 327 in '55, the 327 didn't come out till '62. And it wasn't offered in the Bel Air with a four-barrel carb till '64. However, in 1964, the correct ignition timing would be four degrees before top-dead-center.   D.A. Jim Trotter: Well... um... she's acceptable, Your Honor.   Here’s some advice on how you can avoid writing any bull****, oops, I mean “trick” questions.   Realistic   Make sure the question is realistic—that it is something that would actually come up or happen in the workplace. Don’t fall into the mistake Trotter made: asking about something where there is no such thing. That may sound obvious, but it is worth having a colleague look over your questions to make sure.   Meaningful   If you write up your quiz at the end of a course development project when you are tired and in a hurry, you are at risk for cherry-picking trivial facts that are easy to write questions about. For example,  How many commands are on the Themes menu in Captivate? The right answer to that is, “Who cares?” Knowing how many items are on a software menu is meaningless with regard to whether you can use the software successfully. Your learners know it’s meaningless. So steer away from trivia, and ask relevant, meaningful questions.   Fair   Another kind of question that gets student hackles up is an unfair question. What makes a question unfair? First and foremost: it was not actually covered in the class. Sure, it may be some kind of common knowledge that does relate to the class, but if it was not actually, explicitly covered, steer clear.   No Double-Talk   Don’t use double-negatives in your quiz questions. Here’s an example of a double-negative: Which of these file formats is not unacceptable when importing images? Your learners will certainly not fail to feel like you are just messing with them, to see if you can trick them into not necessarily failing to read it incorrectly. See what I mean?   Take care in writing your quiz, and you can avoid any accusation that your quiz was unrealistic, meaningless, trivial, unfair, or unclear. And that’s a good thing!

***

Jennie Ruby, CTT, COTP, is a veteran eLearning developer, certified master 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.

ARTICULATE STORYLINE 360: The Awesomeness of the Media Library

Have you ever had this happen to you? You insert an image into your Storyline project and then sometime later you decide to use the image on another slide. However, your project is large (multiple scenes and slides) and you're having a hard time finding that pesky image. How about this one? You're making your project accessible for learners with disabilities. You're pretty sure you added alternative text to a specific image but now you're doubting yourself. Is there a quick way to check? Or perhaps you've used an image in a project and someone on the team wants to use it too. Is there a quick way to share the image?   If you add images, characters, audio, or video to your projects (I think that covers all eLearning developers, everywhere), you'll love Articulate Storyline 360's Media Library (View tab > Views group).     The Media Library displays a list of all of the project's assets grouped on tabs for Images, Characters, Audio, and Video.     I love the ability to select an image and, from the right of the Media Library, add Alt text (for accessibility) and notes. You can also see where the image has been used throughout the project and add the same accessibility text to all instances of the image.     You can also import assets directly into the Media Library and export any asset (so it can be shared with team members).     ***   Looking for Storyline training? Check out these live, instructor-led classes. *** 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.

TEACHING TIPS: Writing Meaningful Quiz Questions

One guideline that textbooks tell us about quiz writing is that the questions have to be seen as meaningful to your learners. Each question should be about something important... something that the employee actually does need to know, or be able to do. The questions should be about something that everyone would agree matters in the workplace... at least for the intended audience of the training.

 

Let’s take an example. I was teaching a class for an organization, and one of the learning objectives was: The employee must know all five of our board members.

 

One of the questions on the quiz was this: What is Board Member Jane Jones’s middle initial?

 

Imagine what your students would say if you wrote a question about such a minor point of trivia like this! I can just hear the grumblings:

• That’s not fair! 
• Why does it matter?
• I can name all five board members. I forget one middle initial and I get dinged on my quiz score?

On the face of it, this question does not meet the criterion of meaningfulness.

 

But what if I told you that the students in this case were the administrative assistants responsible for proofreading all of the Board’s correspondence? 

 

Now, it makes sense that they need to know the middle initial. They need to be able to recognize immediately if the initial is wrong. And they need to know a lot of other details that would also seem like trivia to another training audience. They need to spell the names right. They need to know how many tabs to indent the signature line. They need to know whether to capitalize the phrase Board Member.

 

Let’s see what happens if the audience is different. What if I told you that the students are the security guards at the front door of the building. The objective is the same: They must know all five board members. But now, what is it that they have to know?

 

This time, the middle initial probably is meaningless trivia. What the guard needs to know is how to recognize Ms. Jones on sight! My proofreaders may know Ms. Jones’s middle initial, but they could walk right by her in the hallway and never realize it. But the guard needs to know immediately to allow Ms. Jones into the building. 

 

In sum, your quiz questions have to be meaningful, specifically to the audience of the training. It is all too easy to write questions about trivia. Think about your training audience to keep your questions meaningful.

 

***

Jennie Ruby, CTT, COTP, is a veteran eLearning developer, certified master 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.

ADOBE ROBOHELP CLASSIC: Modifying the Indigo Layout Copyright Notice

Sometimes a feature that seems like it would be simple to find is buried deep with an application's interface and becomes a challenge to locate. Such was the case when it came to changing the copyright notice in a responsive output.   In the image below, you can see that the default copyright year is 2017.

I searched every area of the layout for an option that controlled the default copyright information but could not find it. The reason? The option is not part of the layout. Instead, it's a project setting. To change the copyright information, follow these steps:

Choose Project > Project Settings From the General tab, click the Advanced button Click the Labels tab Scroll down the long list to the Responsive Help section Locate Copyright= followed by the copyright info

Click on the copyright info and then click the Edit button Edit the text as necessary Dismiss the dialog boxes and re-generate

ADOBE CAPTIVATE 2019: Free Assets Make New Projects a Snap to Create

In a previous article, I showed you the hot new assets that are available in Adobe Captivate 2019 (update 11.5). This update, which is free to current Captivate 2019 users, really does fill a void found in older versions of the software: a lack of quality templates to use as the starting point for new projects.   In previous versions of Captivate, blank projects weren't the most attractive things to look at. Sure, there were (and are) themes that quickly allow you to change the look of a project in mere seconds. However, many people have complained that the default themes are hardly a visual party nor do the themes add new slides to your project with usable placeholder objects. If you are not a content person or a designer, you are pretty much on your own.   Adobe Captivate 11.5 offers several project assets that will help both the non-designer and non-content expert get off to an awesome start.   To begin, create a blank project. Locate the Assets icon in the upper right of the Captivate 11.5 window.

From the left side of the Assets dialog box, select Projects. There are two project options: Projects and Slides. Projects will create a complete project with wonderful placeholders. Slides will add slides to existing projects.

Select Slides and then select Intro.   Select Title 01 and then click the Insert (1) slide button.

A single slide is added to your blank project. You can now edit the placeholder content as appropriate. (I love that the slide already contains an interactive button and that is preset to go to the next slide when clicked.)

As cool as the slide assets are, and as nice as they look, things are about to get crazy. Go back and click Assets, and then select Projects (instead of Slides).   Select one of the project templates (I selected Rhapsody) and then click the Open as New Project button.

I ended up with a new, 44-slide project. (That's right... 44 ready-to-use content slides.) And the slides look awesome! Kudos to Adobe for doing these Assets right!

All that I needed to do was replace the placeholder text with my content, perhaps add a few slides here or there, and maybe swap out some of the images... and that was that. Spend some time with the Project and Slide assets. I'd love to hear your thoughts about them. Cool? Lame? What do you think?

***   Looking for Captivate training? Check out these live, instructor-led classes.

***

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.

ADOBE CAPTIVATE 2019 (11.5): Branching View Broken?

Adobe recently updated Captivate 2019 from version 11 to 11.5. While most of the interface remains unchanged between 11 and 11.5, there are several enhancements that I've been writing about here (such as the improved assets).

I have noticed one bug so far in Captivate 2019 (11.5): It appears that the Branching View is broken (you can access the Branching View via Window > Branching View).

In Captivate 11, the image below represents what the Branching View looks like if you have jumps or branches built into your lesson. Notice that I have two branches from slide 1 and both branches are clearly shown in the Branching View.

Here's the same file opened in Captivate 11.5. Notice that the two paths are not displayed.

I have tested the branching feature on both new projects (projects created from scratch in Captivate 11.5) and upgraded projects (projects created in older versions of Captivate and upgraded to version 11.5). The result are the same: a broken Branching View.

I'm curious if other Captivate developers in version 11.5 are seeing the same thing?

ARTICULATE RISE: Rise to the Challenge with Tables

Articulate 360 Rise allows you to create beautiful, responsive eLearning courses using just your web browser and the Articulate 360 Rise application. Since its launch in late 2016, Articulate has been slowly but surely adding amazing new features to Rise. One of the latest is the ability to display data and structured information in tables.    If you’ve worked with Rise, you know that everything is created in “blocks.” There are text blocks and image blocks and multimedia blocks–and now, there is the new table block. Here’s how it works:   Inserting a Rise Table In Rise, choose All Blocks from the Blocks Shortcut Bar. Choose Text from the Block Library. Choose Table from the list.

The table that is added defaults to 5 columns and 3 rows and, like other Rise blocks, contains dummy text in each cell. You can modify the cell contents by selecting the dummy text in the cell and typing over it.   Formatting Rise Table Text    Formatting table text works the same way as formatting any other text in Rise. If you select text in a single cell (or select text in multiple tables) a floating formatting toolbar (pictured below) appears to let you change fonts, size, styles, colors, and alignment.

Modifying the Structure of a Rise Table   The Table Toolbar is easy to use. Begin by selecting the cells, rows, or columns you want to work with and then: Click Table Header to toggle the colored top row on or off. Click Delete to delete the entire table. Click Row to insert or delete a row. Click Column to insert or delete a column. Click Table Style to add a dashed border or to have every other row sport a colored background. Click Cell to merge two or more cells together or to split a single cell into multiple cells. Click Cell Background to assign a color to the background of the selected cell(s). Click Vertical Alignment to align text to the top, middle, or bottom of the cell(s). Click Horizontal Alignment to align text to be left, center, right, or justified. Click Cell Style to call attention to the selected cell(s) with highlighting or a thicker border.

Table Tricks To add a new row at the bottom of a table, click in the bottom right cell of the table and tap the Tab key. (This is how it works in most other programs that allow you to create tables.) To add a line break above or below a table, hover your mouse pointer along the top line of the top row or the bottom line of the bottom row. When you are in the right place, the Break arrow icon appears (pictured below). Click the icon to insert the break. To delete a break, place your cursor on the line below your table and use the keyboard shortcut or place your cursor in front of your table and tap Backspace.

To change the width of a column, position your mouse on the right side of the column. When you are in the right place a double-headed arrow icon appears, which will allow you to click and drag to change the column width. (This is how it works in most other programs that allow you to create tables)   Ready to learn more about Rise? Sign up for my 3-hour Rapid eLearning Development with Articulate 360 Rise program July 17. You will come away from this program being able to use Rise like a pro!

***

Geeky Girl Karin Rex is an online learning pioneer and infographic evangelist. Since 1989, Karin has owned Geeky Girl, LLC, a boutique learning organization, where she devotes her time to writing, course development (instructor led and eLearning), and teaching. Karin has authored several technology books, including: "Office 2010 Demystified" (McGraw-Hill) and hundreds of user guides, reference manuals, and tutorials. She’s also developed an extensive number of learning programs for a wide variety of global clients. Karin is a certified synchronous facilitator, designer, and producer, with a master’s degree in professional writing. Additionally, Karin teaches undergraduate writing courses for Penn State University and is the Instructional Design Lead for InSync Training.

ADOBE CAPTIVATE 2019 11.5: Alert Messages When Updating

Adobe recently updated Captivate 2019 from 11.0 to 11.5. While much of the look and feel between versions 11 and 11.5 remain unchanged, there are some feature enhancements that I'll be addressing in future posts (if you scroll down you'll see a recent post on the new Assets).

Legacy versions of Captivate upgrade to version 11.5 nearly seamlessly. I say "nearly" because there are a few dialog boxes you'll come across during the upgrade process.

First, you'll likely get a message about missing fonts (even if you weren't using the missing fonts in your project... it seems those pesky missing fonts were being using behind your back by default styles, etc.)

Clicking the Replace Fonts button has not altered the look of any of my slide objects in any projects I've upgraded so far (nor has replacing the fonts messed about this my object styles). Nevertheless, you should go from slide to slide and ensure all is well with your upgraded projects.

Upon saving your upgraded project for the first time, you'll be warned that saving the project as the newer version means you will no longer be able to open that project in an older version of Captivate. For that reason, it's a good idea to make a backup of your legacy projects prior to upgrading.

I'm currently updating all of the data assets that are used in my Captivate Essentials and Beyond Essentials books so students won't get hit with either of the messages shown below.

And of course, if you need Captivate training, we've got you covered with a huge selection of instructor-led courses.

ADOBE CAPTIVATE 2019: Three Cheers for Improved Assets in Version 11.5

Adobe recently released a significant, and free, update to Captivate 2019, its flagship eLearning development tool. The updated version of the software is 11.5 (11.5.0.476 to be precise).   Over the coming weeks, I'll highlight the biggest improvements/enhancements. This time, it's all about the awesome new assets.   If you're a veteran Captivate developer, you'll see that the interface remains mostly unchanged. However, notice that the Assets tool has been moved to the right (and is now grouped with Library and Properties).

In the previous version of Captivate, clicking Assets opened a dialog box where you'd find find some free Characters and other assets (most of the cool stuff was provided by the eLearning Brothers).   In Captivate 2019 (11.5), clicking Assets still opens the Assets dialog box, but wow-oh-wow will you find some wonderful new stuff here.

There are still Characters, and lots of them, so definitely check them out. However, what I'm loving is the addition of Icons, more 360 Assets, Images, Videos, Audio, and Buttons.   In the image below, I searched for "checkmark" and was presented with two options.

I selected the image I wanted, clicked the Insert button and the image appeared on my slide. All of the images are SVGs so you can scale them up or down without fear of losing any quality. I love that. And if you double-click the SVGs you can change the color on the Properties Inspector. (Note that it will actually take three clicks to change the icon's color. Two clicks to get to edit mode, one more click on the existing color to modify it.)

Back with the Assets dialog box, I played around with the Videos and Audio options and found plenty of potential here. Keep in mind that after inserting these assets, you can still edit them within Captivate just like always.

Speaking of buttons (were we speaking about buttons?), I think we can all agree that the buttons provided in every version of Captivate, back to the beginning of time, left much to be desired. It's time to rejoice. To be clear, if you add a button to a slide via the Interactions tool you'll end up with the same boring button as always. And if you switch to an Image button the same ghastly images are available (all the more reason to use Shapes as buttons). Nevertheless, the button Assets in Captivate 11.5 can be added to your project in seconds and are a welcome upgrade.   In the image below, I've selected the Play button.

After inserting the button Asset onto a slide, the button behaves like any button (you'll find Actions you can modify on the Properties inspector). What I'd love to see down the road are either buttons as Shapes available in the Assets area or some way to modify the button images that are currently available without having to leave Captivate.   Note: If you'd like to see a video where I demonstrate the concepts detailed in this article, visit the IconLogic YouTube channel.   Next time: Project and Slide Assets (both of which are game changers and worth a deep dive). ***   Looking for Captivate training? Check out these live, instructor-led classes.

***

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.

MICROSOFT POWERPOINT 365: Meet the Shape Union and Shape Subtract Tools

Nine years ago I wrote some articles about the Shape Union and Shape Subtract tools, but, friends, it’s been a while. And can you believe these tools are still lying dormant in secrecy, waiting for you to discover them?    First, I’ll show you what you can do with these tools. Then I’ll show you where to find them. And then I’ll show you how to use them.   If you’re using PowerPoint 365, you have access to a limited (but decent) selection of icons by choosing Insert > Icons from the ribbon.   Let’s say you’re looking for a flower. PowerPoint’s got you covered with the free icon below:

But what if you want other flowers to match, and with a bit of variation? Not a ton of flower options readily accessible here. Using some basic shapes and the shape union and subtract tool, you could easily create your own that mimic the original with a cut-out, transparent circle center:

Here’s How to Add the Tools to Your Ribbon First, you’ll need to add the Shape Union and Shape Subtract tools to your ribbon, as they are not there by default.  Choose where you’d like the tools to live. I put mine on the Home tab of the ribbon. Right-click the ribbon of your selected tab and choose Customize the Ribbon. (The PowerPoint Options dialog box will appear.) On the right-hand side of the dialog box, you’ll find the Customize the Ribbon area. With your desired tab selected (I’m going to put these on my Home tab), click the New Group button.

A group called New Group (Custom) will be added for that tab. Right-click the New Group, choose Rename, and give the new group a relevant name. I’m going to call mine Shape Editing. From the Choose Commands From drop-down menu on the left, choose All Commands. Click within the list of commands and hit the [M] key on your keyboard. Scroll until you find the Merge Shapes command and select it. Ensure your new, custom group is selected on the right and click the Add button to add the command to your new group.

This will add the Merge Shapes command to your ribbon which includes the Union, Subtract, Fragment, Intersect, and Combine tools. I'll cover the last three in future articles.    Here’s How to Use the Shape Union Tool   To make my second flower pictured above, I combined four Heart shapes.  Choose Insert > Shapes and from the Basic Shapes area, choose the heart.  Draw one heart and then press [Ctrl] [D] to duplicate it. Select the second heart and from the Drawing Tools Format tab, choose Rotate > FlipVertical. (Now you have two hearts, one of which is upside down. ) Select the second heart and press [Ctrl] [D] to duplicate it.  Select the third heart and from the Drawing Tools Format tab, choose Rotate > Rotate Right 90 degrees.  Select the third heart and press [Ctrl] [D] to duplicate it.  Select the fourth heart and from the Drawing Tools Format tab, choose Rotate > Flip Horizontal. (You now have four identical hearts rotated in four different directions.) Align them like this:

With all four hearts selected, but not grouped, navigate to your new custom group on your ribbon and choose Merge Shapes > Union to turn the four shapes into one united shape.

Here’s How to Use the Shape Subtract Tool Insert a circle by choosing Insert > Shapes > Oval. Hold down the [Shift] key as you draw to create a perfect circle instead of an oval. Duplicate your circle so you can use the exact circle for your next flower (if you are creating more than one) and put it to the side. Align the circle to the center and the middle of your heart-shape creation by holding the [Ctrl] key and selecting both shapes. From the ribbon, choose Drawing Tools Format > Align > Align Center and then Align Middle.

Click to deselect both shapes. Select the outer shape, hold down the [Ctrl] key, and then select the circle. Yes, the order matters.  From your Merge Shapes tool, choose Subtract.

You’ll be left a flower similar to the PowerPoint icon with a cutout circle center. For the third flower I used this same process but used the Teardrop shape for the flower petals.

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We've added a new PowerPoint class to our catalog: PowerPoint for eLearning 301: Bring Your Project to Class. Bring your existing presentation to this open-forum style live, online workshop where AJ will help get you moving toward a fresh and modern design for your presentation.

***

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.

ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Why Are Smart Shapes So Smart? Let Me Count The (6) Ways

ONE. You can change the shape.   Smart Shapes in Captivate are similar to some shapes in PowerPoint: you draw the shape, and then you locate the special yellow handle to change not the size, but the actual shape of the arrow.   In the image of the Captivate arrow shape below, left, notice the yellow handle. The handle allowed me to adjust the pointiness of the point and the thickness of the stem. (As shown in the second image.)

TWO. You can add text.   Double-click a Smart Shape, and you can type text on it. And you can format the text any way you like

THREE. You can use a Smart Shape as a button.   Select your Smart Shape, and in the Properties inspector, just below the Style Name drop-down, select the Use as Button checkbox.

After you check the Use as Button checkbox, the Actions tab becomes available, where you can assign an action such as Go to the next slide.

FOUR. You can use them as multi-state objects.   Once your Smart Shape has been turned into a button, it automatically has different “states”: a state is a different appearance that the Smart Shape assumes under certain conditions on screen: when a mouse pointer hovers over it, it assumes its “RollOver” state. Once it has been clicked, it assumes its “Down” state during the click, and then returns to its “Normal” state after the click is completed.

You can format each state however you like. And even when a Smart Shape is not being used as button, you can create states for it and then program in events in your eLearning that cause the shape to change states.

FIVE. You can use Smart Shapes as Captions.   Sure, I already mentioned that you can type text onto a Smart Shape. But the caption functionality goes way beyond that. When setting up to record a software simulation, you can ask Captivate to generate Smart Shape captions instead of Text Captions—automatically.

In the Preferences dialog box (Edit > Preferences on Windows; Adobe Captivate > Preferences on the Mac), in the Recording Modes category, Under Captions, select the Use Smart Shapes instead of captions checkbox, and choose your Smart Shape Type.

Why would you want to use Smart Shapes instead of Text Captions? Because you can more fully format Smart Shapes. Let’s say you want your captions to mimic the colors in your company’s logo. Use the Fill and Stroke color pickers, and you’ve got fully branded training.

Take a look at these examples:   Text caption (not the right shade of green; limited choices):

Smart Shape used as caption (that’s much better, but still…):

Smart Shape formatted to match your logo (THAT’s what I’m talking about!):

SIX. Use as SFH Captions.   Wait, what? You know, SFH Captions—Success, Failure, and Hint captions that appear automatically when your viewers try to click through your eLearning lesson correctly. Often, these are connected with Click Boxes and other interactive elements. To ensure that your SFH captions come out as Smart Shapes, you have to go to the Preferences dialog box, Defaults category, and deselect—that’s right, UNcheck—the Use Text Captions for SFH Captions instead of Smart-Shapes checkbox.

And there you have it. Six ways Smart Shapes are, well, smart. (If you'd like to see a video of smart shapes in action, here you go.)   Learn more about states, and Smart Shapes, and many other nifty things about Captivate, in our Advanced Captivate class.

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Jennie Ruby, CTT, COTP, is a veteran eLearning developer, master trainer (CMT), 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.

ARTICULATE STORYLINE: Master Slides vs Layouts: What's the Difference?

When it comes to working efficiently in Articulate Storyline, few things top the proper use of Slide Masters. When I teach my beginner Storyline class, students are always surprised to learn that Storyline supports masters and, even better, that master slides are so easy to use.   One of the more common misunderstandings when it comes to slide masters is the difference between a slide master and layout slides.   Consider the relationship between a parent and child. The parent might have one child or several. And while a child might look and behave very differently from the parent and his or her siblings, each child inherits all sorts of attributes from their parent. None of a child's attributes are passed on to the siblings, nor are any of a child's attributes passed up to the parent.   Think of a slide master as a single parent. The layouts are the children.   In the image below, I've created a new Storyline project and accessed Master View by choosing View > Slide Master. By default, there is one Slide Master (parent) in every new project and five Layouts (children).

The easiest and most visual way to show the relationship between a Slide Master and its layouts is by adding a shape to the Slide Master. In the image below, I've drawn a simple star on the Slide Master by choosing Insert > Shape.

Notice how the star automatically appears on the Slide Master and all of the child-layouts.

Next, I drew a circle on the first layout slide in the list (its default name is Title and Content).

Notice that the circle does not appear on any of the other layouts or the Slide Master.

Back in Story View, notice that my lone slide already has the star because, by default, all slides use the contents found on the Slide Master.

If I want to apply one of the master layouts to this slide, it's as simple as right-clicking and choosing Apply Layout.

Notice that slide instantly gets all of the objects added to the layout master.

You'll find all kinds of reasons to format and use both Slide Masters and layout masters. For instance, if you need an image or background color across all slides, change the appearance of the Slide Master. If you want some slides in certain scenes to have alternate colors or background images, use layout masters.   As you get more comfortable with masters, try right-clicking the Slide Master. Notice that you can insert new Slide Masters or layouts (as shown in the image at the right). Each time you create a new Slide Master you get a new family of slides (one parent and some children) giving you unlimited design/layout options you can leverage from slide to slide and throughout your scenes.   I've created a video demonstrating these concepts on the IconLogic YouTube channel.   Looking for Storyline training, development, or mentoring? We've got you covered with these live, instructor-led classes (some for as little as $49). We also offer private group training onsite at your facility or live, online.

DESIGN CENTRAL: Is It Time for a Design Refresh?

Late last year Microsoft announced a design update to their MS Office product line suite, but you may have only recently noticed an update to your icons.    It doesn’t seem like that long ago that they were updated, but did you know that was five years ago already?

Image: https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/29/18117580/microsoft-office-new-icons-2018-design-features

By the looks of things, Microsoft is in a design-y mood and is focusing on updating the look of lots of their product line. Erin Woo, Microsoft’s current Product Designer, also announced brand new file icons for Outlook on her Twitter account this month.

As someone who works heavily in the MS Office suite, particularly in PowerPoint, this of course has me in a refresh mood myself so I thought I would share some brand evolution we’ve had in our online training decks over the years here at IconLogic--including a brand new design I was just inspired to conjure up today!

Shown above, the original PowerPoint slide used the late 1990s. The instructor "designed" the slide using typical bullets and sub-bullets.   Shown below are design evolutions over the years culminating in the use of iconography.

What are you refreshing in your brand? Share it with me and we’ll feature it in an upcoming newsletter!

***

We've added a new PowerPoint class to our catalog: PowerPoint for eLearning 301: Bring Your Project to Class. Bring your existing presentation to this open-forum style live, online workshop where AJ Walther, our Chief Creative Officer, will help get you moving toward a fresh and modern design for your presentation.

***

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.

TECHSMITH CAMTASIA: Cursor Smoothing: A Cure For the Over-Caffeinated

Any eLearning developer knows that coffee by the gallon helps get the job done. Of course, too much coffee can lead to the jitters and, by extension, a jittery mouse while recording a video demonstration.   Such was the case for me during a recent project. I was recording a series of clicks in a client's software using Camtasia Recorder. After importing the video in the Camtasia Editor and adding the video to the Timeline, I was dismayed to see that my mouse was all over the screen... not smooth at all.   Under normal circumstances, a herky-jerky cursor in a recording requires a re-record (once the effects of the caffeine have worn off). Fortunately, the recently released Camtasia 2019 has a solution: Cursor Smoothing.   Add your Camtasia recording to the Timeline. From the list of tools at the left of the Camtasia Editor, select Cursor Effects.

There are three options at the top of Cursor Effects: Cursor Effects, Left Click Cursor Effects, and Right Click Cursor Effects. Select Cursor Effects.

With the video on the Timeline selected, right-click Cursor Smoothing and choose Add to Selected Media.

Just like that, you've been decaffeinated. And while you'll likely find that Camtasia's built-in smoothing settings have settled your mouse motions nicely, you can also explore the Cursor Smoothing Properties for some fine-tuning.

Looking for TechSmith Camtasia training or support? Check out these hands-on, instructor-led classes. If you prefer something a little more private, we also offer one-on-one Camtasia mentoring.

TEACHING ONLINE CLASSES: Interactive Polls Help End Sucky Training

One of the easiest ways to engage online students is by displaying quizzes and polls. When I start my classes, displaying a poll is a great way to break the ice and get my class started on the right foot.   Most virtual training platforms (GoToTraining, WebEx, Connect, etc) allow you to create polls within the tool. You can then display the poll to your virtual students on the fly. In the image below, I've created a poll within GoToTraining.

While there's nothing wrong with creating and displaying the kind of poll shown above, you can crank up the interest quite a few notches by creating a visually-appealing poll as part of your presentation. In the image below, I've created the same poll as shown in the first image but it's in my PowerPoint presentation and certainly more visual.

But if you want to truly engage your learners, you've got to interact with them. Instead of just asking my attendees to tell me their favorite cereal via audio or asking them to type their favorite via the chat pod, I can let them draw on the screen. In GoToTraining, I can enable this feature via my control panel (by choosing Attendees can draw).

A series of drawing tools is added to each student's control panel and they can draw on my screen. And just like that, I've got my students fully engaged... even having fun (perish the thought).

Interactive polls are just a tiny step toward a goal of eradicating sucky training forever. If you'd like to learn more tips, tricks, and get real-world solutions to everyday training challenges (from creating awesome visuals to engagement tactics to writing perfect quiz questions), check out the Certified Online Training Professional course offered exclusively by the International Council for Certified Online Training Professionals (ICCOTP).

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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.

ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Importing Photoshop Layers

I received a Photoshop file the other day for use in a Captivate project. Moments later, I received a frantic call from the person who sent it to me. He was in a bit of a panic because he had sent me a Photoshop file (PSD) instead of the .jpg image I had requested. He then remembered that I didn't have Photoshop on my computer and was wondering if he needed to head back to the office and send the jpg image instead.   I was able to save him the trouble. Adobe Captivate imports native Photoshop files, and you don't have to have Photoshop on your computer. All you need to do is choose File > Import > Photoshop File.   In the example below, I'm importing a Photoshop file named puzzle.psd. After opening the image, the Import dialog box opens. Even though I don't have Photoshop on my computer, Captivate recognizes that the file contains and image with two layers (Purple Piece and Background). From the Import as area, I selected Layers and then clicked the OK button.

The puzzle image, shown below, appeared on my slide without issue.

But here's where the awesomeness kicks in. Because the Photoshop file imported into Captivate with its layers intact, I was able to manipulate the purple piece (move it, resize it, even delete it) independently of the other part of the image.

Just as cool, I can use the Timeline to hide, lock, and control the timing of the layers/images (which are independent objects) as needed.

***

If you need to learn Adobe Captivate, we've got you covered with an awesome number of live, online classes. If you need help developing your next eLearning project, or if you just need some quick one-on-one mentoring, we've got you covered there too.

TECHSMITH CAMTASIA: Extending Video Frames

After adding a video asset to the Timeline in Camtasia, it's likely you'll want to freeze a specific part of the video to allow for other Timeline objects to appear (such as annotations or images).   In the image below, I've added a video to Track 1 on my Timeline.

When previewing, I noticed that the video ended too soon. I needed to freeze a portion of the video for 10 seconds so that overlay text added to a different track had time to appear and be read by the learner.   I positioned the Playhead on the Timeline where I wanted to freeze the action in the video. Then I right-clicked the video (not the Playhead but the video object on the Timeline) and chose Extend Frame.

In the Duration (seconds) field, I typed 10 and then clicked the OK button.

The change to the selected video was ever-so-subtle. In the image below, I've added the green and red arrows for emphasis. The red arrow is pointing to a thin vertical line on the video asset. The line marks the end of the 10-second frame freeze that I added via the Extend Frame option. The green arrow indicates the 10 seconds that the video has been frozen.

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Looking for TechSmith Camtasia training or support? Check out these hands-on, instructor-led classes. If you prefer something a little more private, we also offer one-on-one Camtasia mentoring, we've got you covered.

ARTICULATE STORYLINE: Random Text... It Rocks!

I was cranking away recently on an Articulate Storyline project. On one slide, I had the layout done but was waiting for the final text from the client. I created a shape but couldn't go further without the client's text. At the very least, I wanted some placeholder text, so I could finish the slide by formatting the boxed text.   And that was when I was reminded of an awesome Storyline feature: random text. In the image below, you can see the shape I've added to a slide. It still needs text that I can format.

I typed the following line of text into the shape: =Lorem().

And check out what happens after I press the ENTER key.

Pretty cool, eh? But I know what you're thinking... Lorem ipsum? If real words are more your style, it's no problem. Type =Rand() instead.

After pressing the ENTER key, it was all about the quick brown fox. Pretty cool, eh?

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Looking for Storyline training or support? Check out these awesome live, online, instructor-led classes. Also, if you need help with Storyline development or if you'd like one-on-one Storyline mentoring, we've got you covered.

INTUIT QUICKBOOKS: Using Built-In Templates to Communicate with Your Customers, Vendors, and Employees

One of the best-kept secrets in QuickBooks is that it contains dozens of pre-made letters you can use to communicate with your customers, vendors, or employees. One of the things I cover in my Quickbooks classes is templates.   For customers, templates include everything from collection and bounced check letters to an apology or approval/denial of credit. Vendor letters include a request for credit or a charge dispute. And using these templates, you can easily acknowledge your employees’ birthdays or inform them of their vacation or sick time! You can also easily edit the pre-made templates or make your own.   To begin, click the Company menu and choose Prepare Letters with Envelopes:

For this example, I selected Collection Letters. On the first few screens, I selected and then reviewed the Recipients.

You can decide if the tone of your letter is to be formal, friendly, or even harsh. In my example, I went with a Friendly collection notice.

I filled in the name and Title of the person who is going to be signing the letter.

From there, QuickBooks performs a little magic by taking you into Microsoft Word and essentially creating a finished document with the relevant information that it got from QuickBooks.

You can edit the documents or print them. In addition, if you switch back to QuickBooks, this dialog box appears and allows you to create and print envelopes to go along with the letter.

Click OK and you will again be transported into Word, where you will be able to print the envelopes. To be honest, the hardest part of the entire process is figuring out how to properly feed the envelopes into your printer so they don’t print backward or upside down! But that is a topic for another day.

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Rosemary McCracken is a computer trainer with over 25 years of experience in the classroom. She teaches all levels of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Visio, and Outlook. In addition to Microsoft products, she also teaches QuickBooks, InDesign, HTML/CSS, and WordPress. Rosemary has a B.S. from James Madison University. She is Microsoft Office Expert Certified and is also a Certified Online Training Professional.

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Rosemary is teaching several IconLogic classes including HTML5 Basics, CSS, Styles Basics Training, and several classes on QuickBooks.

MICROSOFT POWERPOINT & OFFICE 365: Three Cheers for Editable Icons

Microsoft is constantly updating the applications that make up Office 365. After a recent update, I was delighted to see that PowerPoint (and Word and Excel for that matter) not only include icons, the icons can be modified (change colors at will), ungrouped, and then edited as needed.   I'll be focusing on using icons in PowerPoint during this article, but the same functionality exists if you're using the other Office 365 tools.   First, create a new PowerPoint presentation (or open an existing presentation). Working on any slide, select the Insert tab on the Ribbon. You'll find the Icons tool in the Illustrations group.

After clicking Icons, the Insert Icon dialog box opens.

I was specifically looking for a crab icon so I selected the Animals category from the list at the left. I selected the crab icon and then clicked the Insert button. (You can also double-click an icon to add it to a slide.)

Once the icon was inserted onto the slide, changing its Fill color was as simple as right-clicking. (In the image below, I've changed the color from its default black to red.)

I also needed to modify the crab's claws (I wanted each claw to be a bit longer). I ungrouped the icon by right-clicking it and choosing Group > Ungroup. (I clicked Yes to the alert that appeared.)

I right-clicked the icon again and chose Edit Points.

I zoomed closer to the slide and then dragged the points making up the claw until I had the length I wanted. How cool is it that you can easily edit these icons?

Note: If you don't see an Icons icon on the Insert tab of the Ribbon, or you're unable to ungroup/edit the icons, check your PowerPoint version (it's possible that your version is older than mine). To check your PowerPoint version, click the File tab and then choose Account. Click the About PowerPoint button. The version number is listed at the top of the About dialog box.

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Do you need help with your PowerPoint presentation? Bring an existing PowerPoint deck to an open-forum style live, online workshop where AJ Walther, our Chief Creative Officer, will help you get moving in the right direction toward a fresh and modern design for your presentation.

Hands-On Workshop in Houston, TX: Create an Articulate Storyline 360 eLearning Course In a Day

I'm teaching a hands-on workshop in Houston May 3: "Create an Articulate Storyline 360 eLearning Course In a Day."

 

Bring your own laptop (use the free 30-day trial version of Storyline for the class), start with a blank project, and leave with a working eLearning course.

 

You can listen to a podcast about the session here.

 

You can register here.

ARTICULATE STORYLINE: Logical Scene Numbering

When I work with scenes in Articulate Storyline, I like it when the number that accompanies each scene is logical. Take the three scenes below for instance. I'm creating an eLearning project for a zoo, so naturally I have scenes for Big Cats, Elephants, and Exotic Birds.

Because I created the Big Cats scene first, it was automatically tagged as my Starting Scene (as indicated by the red flag in the image above).   Next, I created the Elephants scene, followed by the Exotic Birds scene. Notice in the image above that in addition to having appropriate names, the scenes are logically numbered (1, 2, and 3).   The scene numbers are based on their creation order. While logical, the numbers do not indicate the order in which any scene might be seen by my learners. In fact, I can make any scene the Starting Scene and, using Triggers, I can make the third scene appear before the second scene.   I created a fourth scene and named it Home. On the Home scene, I added three buttons to a slide. Each of the buttons were given Triggers that jumped to a different scene in the Story.

I then made the Home scene the Starting Scene (this is easy to do with a simple right-click on the scene via the Story View).   After making the fourth scene (the Home scene) the Starting Scene, the drama started. In the image below, notice that the pesky Home scene is positioned correctly (above the other scenes). And you can clearly see the arrows indicating the button jumps between the Home scene and the other scenes.

But do you also see the horror in the image above? Look at that number 4 to the left of the Home scene's name. Noooooo! The Home scene is my first scene, and as far as I'm concerned, it should be numbered with a 1, not a 4. Of course, Storyline doesn't agree with me... a numbering sequence of 4, 1, 2, 3 is perfectly fine!   At the end of the day, the scene numbers don't truly matter. Learners will be able to move freely around the zoo, they'll never see the numbers, and won't ever know that the scene numbers are out of order.   But I'll know the numbers are out of whack... and so will you!   Fortunately, while not obvious, the fix is easy.   While in Story View, select the scene that's out of order and cut it to the clipboard. Without selecting anything, immediately paste the scene back into Story View.   And that's that. If you're like me, you'll be delighted to see that the scenes are numbered logically in the Story View (which is truly the only way to go, right?).

Looking for Storyline training or support? Check out these awesome live, online, instructor-led classes. Also, if you need help with Storyline development or if you'd like one-on-one Storyline mentoring, we've got you covered.

ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Adding Text Hyperlinks

Adding a hyperlink to an interactive object in Adobe Captivate has never been a problem. Select the object (click box, button, or text entry box) and, on the Properties Inspector, Actions tab, change the On Success to Open URL or file.

Type the web page address into the URL area and that's it.

Hyperlinking text within a text caption isn't quite as straight forward. After adding text to a caption, there isn't an Action tab on the inspector (therefore, no apparent way to create a hyperlink).   There is a way to accomplish the task, however. From within the caption, select the text you'd like to be clickable (you have to highlight the text, not just select the caption) and then, on the Properties Inspector, Character area, locate and click the Insert HyperLink icon.

From the Link To drop-down menu, choose Web Page and then, in the field below, type the web address you'd like to use.

In the image below, I've linked a single word to the IconLogic website. The appearance of the text can easily be changed via the Character options on the Properties Inspector.

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If you need to learn Adobe Captivate, we've got you covered with an awesome number of live, online classes. If you need help developing your next eLearning project, or if you just need some quick one-on-one mentoring, we've got you covered there too.

Adobe RoboHelp 2019: The Essentials Now Shipping from Amazon.com

We are proud to announce that our newest book, Adobe RoboHelp 2019: The Essentials workbook is now available on Amazon.com as both a print book or eBook.

About the book:

“Adobe RoboHelp 2019: The Essentials” is a self-paced, step-by-step workbook that teaches you the essential RoboHelp skills needed to create and deliver user assistance (software/application help systems, operations manuals, policies and procedures... the list is endless).

Step-by-step instructions guide you through the process of creating new RoboHelp projects and topics from scratch. Learn to import content from Microsoft Word and HTML files.

Enhance your topics with graphics, and interactive multimedia (using eLearning content created in Adobe Captivate).

Improve the navigation of your content by adding hyperlinks, indexes, and glossaries.

Increase your production efficiency by learning about cascading style sheets, variables, snippets, and master pages.

Learn how to control the look of final output via Skins and presets.

Deliver content that can be consumed on any kind of device including desktops, laptop, smartphones, and tablets using output such as Responsive HTML5, WebHelp, HTMLHelp, and even eBooks.

This book features:

• All of the Adobe RoboHelp projects, images, audio files, and other assets to get started (Just download the free RoboHelp 30-day trial software from the Adobe website and jump in!)
• Dozens of step-by-step, hands-on activities
Confidence Checks to challenge your new skills
• Hundreds of supporting screen shots

You can order the print book here and the eBook (Kindle) here.

ADOBE ROBOHELP: Fixing Broken Links

Broken links... they happen (just like stuff).   Perhaps you imported HTML content into RoboHelp that contained one or more links. It’s possible that some of the links in the document were broken in the source file. If there are broken links in the document before you import the document, they’ll remain broken in RoboHelp when the imported content becomes a RoboHelp topic. And of course, there are all kinds of ways you can break a link all by yourself from within RoboHelp (it’s as simple as deleting a source topic or, when editing a topic in HTML view, deleting an important tag).   In the image below, a topic in my RoboHelp project contains a link (the link is supposed to go to a topic about the corporate policy on the consumption of alcohol during work hours).

While the link looks fine, it’s actually broken (the name of the target file is different than what is referenced in the HTML code). Anyone clicking the link is going to see the following page (instead of the information about alcohol).

Regardless of how a link gets broken, it’s great to know you can fix the problem easily. To begin, check your project for the existence of broken links by choosing Edit > Fix Broken Links.    If the Fix Broken Links box that appears is empty, awesome… you don’t have any broken links. In the image below however, you can see that I have a broken link in one of my topics.

After clicking the Replace button, all I needed to do was find the target topic (Alcohol Policy) and click the Link button.

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Adobe just released update 5 for Adobe RoboHelp 2019. To get the free update, choose Help > Updates. You'll see that version 14.0.5 is available for immediate download. All you'll need to do is click the Update button. Depending upon your internet speed, the update should only take a few minutes (you'll need to close RoboHelp while the update is in process). Adobe is planning to update RoboHelp regularly (the updates fix bugs and add features so it's a good idea to check for updates about once per month).

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If you're looking to learn Adobe RoboHelp, we've got you covered in these live, online instructor-led RoboHelp classes and mentoring sessions.

ADOBE CAPTIVATE: The Fix for Corrupt Themes

While attempting to apply a Theme to a Captivate project I received the alert shown below.

My only option was to click the OK button and try again. Of course, no matter how many times I attempted the task, I received the same failure message.   When Captivate misbehaves, the first thing I always attempt is to reset the program’s Preferences. There’s a handy utility for this located in the program’s application folder within a subfolder called Utils. With Captivate closed, browse to the Utils folder and open CleanPreferences (there’s a version for the Mac and PC).

Upon restarting Captivate, the cleaned Preferences file usually puts Captivate back in working order.   If resetting the Preferences file doesn’t work, plan B is to clear Captivate’s Cache folder. This option is found by opening Captivate’s Preferences dialog box (Edit menu for PC users; Adobe Captivate menu for Mac users) and, from the General Settings category, click the Clear Cache button.

Every once in a while, one or more of the theme files (they are .cptm files) get corrupt. When that happens, Captivate simply refuses to apply the themes and you’ll get the "Cannot apply..." error message shown in the first image above. While I cannot help you prevent corrupt theme files (if I find out what causes the corruption, I’ll be sure to share), I can show you how to replace the corrupt theme files with new files   First, with Captivate closed, go to Users > Public > Public Documents > Adobe > eLearning Assets > Layouts > 11_0. Copy the en_US folder and paste it in another location on your computer (this is going to be a backup copy of the en_US folder's contents, so I suggest giving it a name such as en_US_bk).

With Captivate still closed, go to Documents > My Adobe Captivate Projects > Layouts > 11.0 > en_US. Select and copy all of the .cptm files in the en_US folder.

Go back to Users > Public > Public Documents > Adobe > eLearning Assets > Layouts > 11.0 and open the en_US folder (this is the folder you backed up a moment ago).   Paste the .cptm files on your clipboard into this folder (replace the existing .cptm files when prompted). Restart Captivate and you’ll be able to apply the supplied Themes as before.

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Need to learn Adobe Captivate? Want to save on travel? Consider our live, online, and 100% interactive and hands-on classes. (If you prefer onsite training, send us an email. We can come to you!)

eLEARNING DEVELOPMENT: How Much Time Does It Take to Create eLearning?

One of the more common questions that I get from new eLearning developers is how much time does it take to produce published content. The answer depends upon a couple of factors. For instance, which eLearning tool are you going to use? Is it Adobe Captivate? How about TechSmith's Camtasia? Or maybe you're going to use Articulate Storyline?   Here's another factor: how many minutes of eLearning playtime are you looking to produce? Are you creating a 30-minute course? 60 minutes?   I have extensive experience using Storyline, Captivate, and Camtasia. In my experience, it will take you approximately 2 hours of labor to produce 1 minute of eLearning playtime if you use Captivate or Storyline. If you use Camtasia, your labor will go down a bit (1 hour or perhaps 1.5 hours for every 1 minute of video playtime).    The production times mentioned above do not include the following:   Writing an eLearning script or developing a storyboard   If you’re creating a software simulation, you’ll need a step-by-step recording script. If you’re creating soft skills content (lessons such as conflict resolution or onboarding), I've found that it could take between 1-2 hours to write a single minute of content.   Rehearsing the Script   Once you're written the software simulation script, you'll likely need to run through it multiple times to ensure it's accurate.   Writing an Audio Script   If you're going to include voiceover audio (and I highly suggest that you do since audio has been shown to improve the learner experience), you should create an audio script. It could easily take you 40 hours or more to prepare an audio script.   Recording the Software Simulation or Video Demo   Once you've written a script, recording screen actions in any of the eLearning tools is simple and shouldn't take more than the actions detailed in the script. For instance, if the script has you recording a 3-minute process in Microsoft Word, it should only take 3-minutes to record the process. And while recording screen actions doesn't take a lot of time or special skills, if there are a lot of simulations to record, you'll need to factor the time in your budget.   Developing Assets Externally   I mention below that you can save production time in your eLearning tool by creating as much of the course assets as possible outside of the eLearning tool. Many people create the content in PowerPoint and simply import the content into the eLearning tool. While that means there will be less content to create in the eLearning tool, don't overlook the fact that the content still needs to be created in that other tool. In my experience, creating content in PowerPoint is easy. However, it still takes time. In fact, I'd put the development time in PowerPoint at about the same development time as working within Camtasia (1-1.5 hours for every minute or presentation play time).   The production clock begins ticking after you create a blank project, open a project containing previously-recorded content, or import external content such as a PowerPoint presentation.   Production includes, but is not limited to: Adding/editing text content such as callouts/captions Adding images Adding animations Adding interactivity (Buttons, clickable hotspots, menus, etc.) Creating quizzes Publishing to an LMS or web server Testing the published content Fixing errors found during the testing process Republishing and retesting Looking to save time? You can trim production times significantly by following these tips: Create Just In Time eLearning If creating a software demonstration in Captivate or Storyline, record the lesson and simply publish it without going from screen-to-screen and tweaking any of the timing or the text. When an eLearning developer simply records a lesson and publishes it without much post-production, I call those kind of eLearning modules "just in time eLearning." Depending upon your audience, "just in time eLearning" may be perfectly appropriate. Why spend the production time creating a highly-polished lesson if it's not necessary? Use Microsoft PowerPoint If creating a soft skills lesson, create the bulk of the content in Microsoft PowerPoint. All three eLearning tools mentioned above allow you to take existing PowerPoint content and quickly create eLearning out of it. In my opinion, Captivate and Storyline handle the PowerPoint content more elegantly than Camtasia, but the bottom line is that you can re-purpose existing content. Assuming you are satisfied with the original PowerPoint content, and you don't need to add additional content (beyond possibly a quiz) in the eLearning tool, the production time for converting PowerPoint to eLearning should be no more than 1 hour of production time for every minute of eLearning playtime. Use Templates If you start a project with a well-conceived and implemented template, each of your projects will have a consistent look and feel. Depending on the Tool, Go Demo or Sim If you use Camtasia, I suggest creating software demonstrations instead of simulations. If you add interactivity (hotspots) to a Camtasia project, you will need to post the lesson to a server to test the interactivity. That kind of back and forth simply takes too much time. However, creating software simulations in Captivate and Storyline is so quick and easy, I think it's actually faster to produce simulations over demonstrations. The pesky mouse pointer that is typically included in a demonstration always need a significant amount of production attention (you'll likely need to adjust the pointer position, pointer path, click effects, and click sounds). Since simulations don't typically include a mouse pointer, those production issues go away. What's your experience with eLearning production times? I'd love to see hear about the eLearning tools you're using. How much time it takes you to produce each minute of eLearning. Feel free to share your thoughts below.   We've created an online tool that will help you calculate how long it can take to develop eLearning (the tool supports Captivate, Camtasia, Presenter, and more). Check out the tool on the IconLogic website.

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IconLogic has deep experience developing eLearning. If you need assistance with your next project, we can help!

ADOBE ROBOHELP 2019: Update 5 Available

Adobe just released update 5 for Adobe RoboHelp 2019. To get the free update, choose Help > Updates. You'll see that version 14.0.5 is available for immediate download. All you'll need to do is click the Update button. Depending upon your internet speed, the update should only take a few minutes (you'll need to close RoboHelp while the update is in process).

Adobe is planning to update RoboHelp regularly (the updates fix bugs and add features so it's a good idea to check for updates about once per month).

If you're looking to learn Adobe RoboHelp, we've got you covered in these live, online instructor-led RoboHelp classes and mentoring sessions.

ARTICULATE STORYLINE: Free Icons Galore!

I was teaching Storyline recently and one of my students wanted to put a check mark image into his project. Before I could blink, he was on Google, had searched for a check mark image, found a ton of them, downloaded the one he liked, and added it to his project. Done and done!   Of course, the image was copyrighted (as are most images you'll find via Google searches). Given that he is a Storyline 360 subscriber, I showed him a better way to icon-glory that's not only cost-free but copyright-free and royalty-free.   From the Storyline 360 ribbon, select the Insert tab. From the Content Library section, click Icons.

In the Search Icons area, he typed check mark and pressed [enter]. The result was more check marks than he could possibly ever use. Better still, he was able to quickly change the color of the shape once it was loaded onto his slide (something he would have been unable to do with a checkmark image lifted from the Internet).

Similarly, you can use the Search feature to find anything from puppies to kittens to boats. And again, everything you find is free to use and/or modify in your Storyline project.

If you're looking to learn Articulate Storyline, we've got an awesome collection of classes... all live, all instructor-led, all online, and all incredibly interactive.

ADOBE ROBOHELP 2019: The Fix is In!

Adobe recently released RoboHelp 2019, a totally reimagined, rebuilt, re-everything RoboHelp. If you're a veteran RoboHelp user, I'm thinking you'll find the overhauled interface to be intuitive and significantly cleaner than previous versions of RoboHelp.

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In RoboHelp 2019, there are far fewer toolbars or tools. And while there are still some dialog boxes in RoboHelp 2019, much of the topic formatting work can be performed in panels to the left and right of the application window.

While Adobe has spent significant time streamlining RoboHelp's interface and development process, there are some awesome enhancements as well. One of my favorite features is Auto Fix Content. Although it is not necessary for you to know HTML to create RoboHelp projects, knowing a little HTML can pay off when imported content causes trouble because of misplaced or missing HTML tags.   I imported an HTML file into a project. I then opened the topic expecting to see it in the Author window as shown in the first image above (where you see the text and the heading About This Guide).   What I didn't know prior to importing the HTML file was that there were HTML code errors in the file. While the file imported without issue, upon attempting to edit the file, it automatically opened in HTML View.   In the HTML View, I noticed that there was an error icon next to line 20 as shown below.

I ran my mouse over the error icon and was alerted that the HTML file wasn't following conventional HTML rules (where tags must be paired). I'm comfortable with HTML and could have easily fixed the problem myself by adding the missing tag. However, if HTML isn't your thing, you'll love this awesome feature.

From the top of the HTML View window, I clicked the Auto Fix Content icon.    In a blink, RoboHelp automatically fixed all of the errors. (For instance, in the image below, a missing paragraph end-tag was added on line 18.)

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Need to learn Adobe RoboHelp? Want to save on travel? Consider our live, online, and 100% interactive and hands-on RoboHelp classes. (If you prefer onsite training, send us an email. We can come to you!)

TECHSMITH CAMTASIA: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

How often have you had multiple objects on the Camtasia canvas and found yourself moving one object out of the way so you could work with another object? If you're like most developers, I'm thinking it's a common occurrence. And while it's not difficult to move an object (just drag and drop), you'll likely have to put the misplaced object back where you found it.   In the image below, I've positioned four objects on the canvas (each of the objects shown below are available for free via Camtasia's Library).

I'd like to change the behavior of the two people on the canvas. However, I consistently found myself selecting the house by mistake and either moving it or accidentally applying behaviors to the wrong object. Also, when previewing the video, I wanted to hide the house and focus instead on the two characters.   Fortunately, the solution to both problems is incredibly simple. On the Timeline, click the Disable Track icon (the eyeball) for the Track containing the item that's in the way.

Not only are the items on the disabled track hidden from view on the Canvas, they won't preview nor will they publish.

If you'd like the hidden objects back, simply Enable the track.

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Looking to learn how to develop eLearning in Camtasia like a pro? Check out our live, online Camtasia classes and one-on-one mentoring sessions.

TRAINER TRAINING & CERTIFICATION: Next Online Class is February 19-20!

Learn to Teach Live, Online Classes Master Some Amazing Tactics For Engaging Virtual Learners

Teaching live, online classes isn't as easy as it sounds. Learn how to engage learners who attend your classes from anywhere in the world! More and more companies are embracing live, online classes. If your company wants you to teach online, great. But teaching online isn't as easy as it sounds. For instance, how can you be sure that your class isn't boring? How can you keep your audience engaged, even when your content isn't very exciting?   The International Council for Certified Online Training Professionals (ICCOTP) promotes standards of excellence in delivering online training in a wide variety of formats by instituting a certification process for online trainers.   The Certified Online Training Professional (COTP) course aims to ensure that online training events and classes provide high-quality, memorable, enjoyable, and, most of all, effective learning experiences to participants.   Learn some best practices for engaging an online audience. Learn the hardware and software you'll need to host online training. Are your materials ready for an online world? We'll teach you how to prepare your existing materials for online access and even how to create awesome, visually-appealing presentations.   If you need to include quizzes in your online course, do you know how to create effective questions (and surveys)? We'll show you how. And you'll get a chance to take the controls of an online training room and teach for a few minutes to your fellow COTP candidates.   ***   Sign up for the February class using coupon code SKILLS10 and save 10% off the price of certification. Learn more about the certification course (and sign up) here.

ARTICULATE STORYLINE: Publish a Portion of a Project

When publishing a Storyline project, it’s often preferable to publish a small section of the project instead of the entire thing (a single slide for instance or an individual scene). Fortunately, Storyline 360 makes quick work of this task, if you know where to look.   Open Storyline’s Publish dialog box by either using the Publish tool on the Ribbon or choosing File > Publish.   From the Properties area of the Publish dialog box, click the link to the right of Publish to open another Publish dialog box.

From here you can elect to publish the entire project, a single scene, or from the A single slide drop-down menu, specify any slide from any scene within the project.

Click the OK button and then click the Publish button to publish the selection.   Need to learn Articulate Storyline? Want to save on travel? Consider our live, online, and 100% interactive and hands-on Storyline classes.