Unless you’ve been on extended vacation (which, thrilled if you have), there’s a good chance you’ve heard about some of the newest releases from Articulate; our new content types, Nova, Frontline (oh my!).
We’ve been busy cookin’ up so much that I wanted to spend a moment to highlight the quality of the life updates that may not have as much “flash” but should save you time, frustration, and effort. Many of these started humbly with a member post, and the story didn’t end at launch. You kept giving feedback, and the product kept changing.
Here’s what that looked like:
Brands: the "just let me save my colors" request
💬 You asked
Back in the Ideas board, one member put it plainly:
As an ID for a company with a specific brand package, I would love the opportunity to create a custom theme/brand that includes more than one color to streamline the customization/editing process.
Others piled on. One called manual hex codes “an astronomical waste of time” and said a custom palette “should be a no brainer, bare minimum feature.” Another said that for what teams pay for licenses, “a proper brand kit feels like a very basic expectation.”
🚀 What shipped
Brands, now in public beta in Rise 360: create a brand, apply it to your courses, and bulk apply it across multiple courses from your dashboard.
📣 What you said
This is a GAME CHANGER! Thank you for listening to the feedback, proposing it to the dev team, rolling out a Beta version, and for informing us.
We have a 28 slide brand ppt for every version of articulate; can't wait to retire it!
There will be less temptation to throw my laptop out the window. My computer thanks you!
(That last one made me smile.)
🔧 How members made it better
During the beta, members flagged that only admins could create brands. One member asked for the default to be that everyone can create a brand, and admins have to do something to prevent it. The team changed Brands permissions to default to Everyone, with admins still able to restrict.
Thread: In Public Beta: Brands | Original request: Brand Kit in Rise 360
Connected packages: publish once, update anytime
💬 You asked
Updating a course in your LMS has always meant exporting a new package, re-uploading it, and hoping nothing broke. One member put it simply:
Every course needs an update after publication. This could be due to a legislative change, a contact person leaving the organisation, an external link that is no longer active, or even a typo.
🚀 What shipped
Connected packages: publish a SCORM package once, then push updates from Rise 360 with a click. You can also notify learners with an update banner and reset progress when the structure changes.
📣 What you said
We use 3 or 4 different LMS across my organization worldwide... 'publish once, update anytime' workflow sync is a real game changer!
We tested this and see that we can push the changes when we are ready. This looks like it will be very useful for our team.
THE UPDATE WORKS AND SHOWS UP IN SUMTOTAL!
🔧 How members made it better
This one has the best example of the loop at work. Members hit publish errors in the first days, and the team fixed them in the thread. A member found custom block content missing in connected packages, and a fix rolled out. A member reported a 404 flash when learners clicked the exit button in Docebo, and weeks later, after a fix, her reply was:
“VICTORY! IT WORKS!!”
Members are also steering what comes next: asking about xAPI, Storyline support, and version history for compliance.
Thread: New in Labs: Connected Packages. | Article: Update Your LMS Content with Connected Packages
Interactivity in custom blocks: the thing people keep reaching for Storyline to do
🚀 What shipped
Custom blocks can now include click interactions: show, hide, or toggle objects when a learner clicks. It's in Labs, and members are already pushing on it.
📣 What you said
Excitement first:
Every single time I see the little blue dot by the Labs button, I get excited. And so far, every time I look at the information on a new feature, I audibly gasp.
Then the useful kind of honesty. One member wrote that the feature should:
Occupy the space between standard Rise blocks and Storyline: easier and faster than building a Storyline interaction, but powerful enough that I don’t immediately reach for Storyline or a Code block.
They listed what would get it there: states, variables, animations, more triggers. Another member:
If we could get clickable buttons, variables, and states in these custom blocks, I could probably ditch Storyline altogether.
🔧 What the team said back:
That’s the goal. Buttons, states, and animations are on the radar, and click interaction is a first version.
Members also asked about accessibility (keyboard and screen reader testing hasn’t happened yet and would happen before leaving Labs), translation (custom blocks do translate through the localization workflow), and gating learners until they finish an interaction (not supported today). Straight answers, in public.
Thread: New in Labs: Interactivity in Custom Blocks
The Analytics dashboard: all your results in one place
🚀 What shipped
A central Analytics page for content you’ve shared with Quick Share. Instead of digging for completion metrics and survey results inside each piece of content, you get aggregate views, sessions, and completion rates up top, then drill into individual artifacts, guestbook data, and survey results (with CSV export). With AI Tutor enabled, it also surfaces frequently asked questions and content gaps.
Per the support article, you need AI enabled on your account to see it.
Docs: Using the Analytics Dashboard
What’s next
Here’s the reality: not every request ships, and not every request ships quickly. Labs even says so: there’s no guarantee that experiments become production features.
But look at the pattern in these four. A request shows up, a beta ships, members tell us what’s missing and needs tweaking, and the product changes in the same thread (permission defaults, bug fixes, answers on accessibility and roadmap).
These updates started with a member post. Yours can be next.
Got something you’ve been waiting on?
Here’s the best way to make sure it’s seen.
Post in the Ideas board →And if it’s already there and you haven’t heard back, tag me.
What’s the one thing on your wish list right now? Let me know!
<3, Rachael
