Category: Captivate

Stretchy Captivate that fits the Saba Player frame, on all browsers

Posted on January 11, 2014February 5, 2014 by ellen

Web-based learning activities in our old LMS were displayed in a flexible-size frameset, – the Rustici SCORM Engine player window. The SCORM Engine spoiled us with its many settings Content that needed to be large

Getting and setting data from Captivate 6 for custom integrations

Posted on November 11, 2012January 2, 2014 by ellen

We use Captivate with our LMS both as standalone SCORM modules that communicate directly with the LMS, and as embedded quizzes inside custom learning modules. Communication of the Captivate score back to the learning module was done using a trick suggested by Adobe’s Andrew Chemey which involved redefining the built-in sendMail function Captivate used to send an email report of the quiz results.

Captivate 6 removed the built-in email functions, so we’re now using the very powerful Captivate API to do the same thing. The new API is very powerful and makes it much easier to get and set variables from outside the Captivate, using javascript.

Here’s how to get started:

Adobe Presenter and Captivate: Hyperlinks don’t work after importing Powerpoint

Posted on May 16, 2012November 21, 2013 by ellenm1

Symptom: hyperlinks that worked in a Powerpoint file no longer work in the published Presenter or Powerpoint presentation based on that Powerpoint.

This is because Flash Security treats local content differently than the content on the internet.

The solution is to put the published files onto a web server and access it using the URL (like: http://yoursite.com/yourpresentation.htm).

Captivate: settings that don’t seem to “take”

Posted on November 20, 2011November 21, 2013 by ellen

There have been several times when I’ve discovered that settings changes I make in Captivate Preferences or Properties are not being honored – my changes can be seen in the Preferences or Properties panels after closing and reopening the Preferences or properties, but they are not being used.

Captivate: Change background images on imported Powerpoint slides to repositionable Captivate images

Posted on November 15, 2011 by ellen

Captivate allows you to import a Powerpoint file to use as the starting point for your learning activity. It’s often easier for people to “think” in Powerpoint, so many users prefer to rough out a project in Powerpoint, then import it and continue working in Captivate.

When a Powerpoint file is imported this way, its images become part of the Background element of the slide in Captivate. Backgrounds are not easily repositionable, or croppable, but it’s not hard to bring the background image up onto the slide as a regular image element that can be moved around, edited, and included in actions.

Captivate Reporting to Internal Server

Posted on November 1, 2011 by ellen

How to set up Internal Server reporting:
What the Learner sees
Reporting

Adobe Captivate provides two methods of tracking quiz results that don’t require you to have an LMS: Acrobat.com reporting and Internal Server reporting. An E-mail reporting option is also available, but it would require some custom development to make any sense of the data.

Before deciding which option to use, it is necessary to understand the requirements involved for each method.

Captivate external links that don’t work on imported Powerpoint slides

Posted on October 17, 2011November 21, 2013 by ellen

The other day a Captivate author showed me a new problem: on one slide, resource links she had put into a slide imported from Powerpoint were not working.

Adobe Captivate 5: Cant copy slides from one project to another?

Posted on July 11, 2011 by ellen

In Captivate versions up to version 4, it used to be easy to copy slides from one project to another. by simply importing slides from any other project.

But Captivate 5 lacks the import slides feature! However, another way to copy slides is to use copy/paste. According to the documentation it should be possible to open one Captivate file, select and Copy slides in Filmstrip view and Paste them into another project. I’ve found though, that in some projects you cannot copy slides. The copy command does nothing in some projects, where in others, it acts as expected.

This problem appears to be linked to the existence of a score page at the end of a quiz.

Review button on Captivate quizzes won’t show up on Score slide

Posted on May 11, 2011 by ellen

In Adobe Captivate, if you check Allow User to Review Quiz in the quiz settings in Preferences, a button should appear on the Score page that allows the user to go back and see what they answered and any available feedback for each question slide. Sometimes this button doesn’t display, even if this setting is checked.

Adobe Captivate: Should I publish in ActionScript 2 or ActionScript 3?

Posted on April 22, 2011November 21, 2013 by ellen

Captivate 5 removed the need to answer this question: it only publishes in ActionScript 3 format, and correspondingly limits the compatibility of the published SWF file in certain situations as described below.

But if you are using Captivate v. 4 or earlier, you may still be wondering which to choose.