Adobe Captivate: There's a Widget for That

by Kevin Siegel   

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

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

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

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

  

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

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