Issues: collaborative content creation using DropBox/Sharepoint

Jul 21, 2011

I am having touble using Drop Box to create Articulate content.  In particular, I cannot just save all related files for an e-learning course (Presenter, Engage, Quizmaker) and then allow others through Drop Box to open the files and make edits.

I tried saving Packages of a module, yet sometimes audio or other things get lost or messed up.

Has anyone solved this problem?  How does a distributed team create content without having a dedicated server?

3 Replies
Brian Batt

Hi Nadine & welcome to Heroes,

When working on an Articulate Presenter presentation in a collaborative environment with other developers, I recommend that you use the following workflow: 

1. Use the Send to Articulate Presenter Package feature to make an exact copy of the project and the included Engage interactions and Quizmaker quizzes per the method in the article below: 

http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/?p=457

If the project files are already located on a network drive (in your case, Dropbox), proceed to Step 2.

If the project files are currently located on your local hard drive, skip to Step 6.

2. When you need to edit or publish the presentation, copy the ZIP file (the Articulate Presenter Package) from your network drive (or Dropbox) to your local hard drive.

3. Extract (unzip) the project files onto your local hard drive. 

4. Edit and / or publish the presentation as necessary.

5. Use the Send to Articulate Presenter Package feature (from Step 1) to make an exact copy of the updated project files.

6. Copy the resulting ZIP file to your network drive for storage and sharing.

7. Repeat Steps 2 through 6 whenever you need to edit or publish the presentation in the future.

By working on the main project files on your local hard drive, you prevent any corruption or erratic behavior of the files that might have occurred by working on a network drive (ie: random backups). Also, this method ensures that all of your Engage interactions and Quizmaker quizzes stay properly linked together.

Deborah Munitz

I have been searching for the latest recommendation on collaborative development using dropbox and this article which was last updated in 2011 and refers to instructions which I believe are from 2010 seems to be the latest.  Moving lesson folders in and out of dropbox folders is very cumbersome as there are many many files associated with any single lesson. Is this still the recommended workflow?

Christine Hendrickson

Hi there Deborah!

Those steps for the Presenter Package are still the recommended steps for sharing Presenter presentation files. 

With Dropbox, that's really up to you. Do you have access to a network drive? If not, it would probably be best to stick with a file sharing service similar to Dropbox. 

You could also email the Presenter Package, if your email servers allow this type of content and support the size of the projects.

Thanks and have a great day!

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