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!

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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.