Using SharePoint 2007 as a document management center

Sharepoint LMS is one of the best LMS , and it does track SCORM packages with no problem. It is a commercial solution, anyway.

Also if you use the free sharepoint elearning kit (a downloadable feature for your sharepoint server) tracking will work, though the portal will not behave as a "proper" LMS. and uploading scorm packages it's a bit more complicated...

Hi Heidi,

You should be able to use Articulate published content with your Sharepoint server. You will need to switch to "Explorer View" in Sharepoint before uploading your published output as explained in this forum post: 

http://www.articulate.com/forums/articulate-presenter/8619-help-publishing-company-intranet.html#post44880

We are concerned with checking in and checking out Articulate files in the SharePoint site.  When you use the "explorer view", SharePoint doesn't keep track of the versioning. 

Hi Julie & welcome to Heroes,

Explorer view is only recommended if you have issues with your Articulate content.  Feel free to use the traditional Sharepoint method.  However, if you do run into any issues, I'd recommend using Explorer view again.

Perhaps I can provide some additional insight into what Heidi and Julie are asking.  (We already know how import the published files –we are strictly interested in using SharePoint for development files.)

We have the enterprise version of SharePoint 2007.  We’ve been charged with creating a SharePoint site to house all of our eLearning development files.  We must be able to check-in/out files and version them.  We’re running into problems opening the PowerPoint/Presenter files once they are imported. 

The problem we are having is that SharePoint does not appear to be “letting” the pptx file and the ppta file “communicate.” 

We have opened up the files by checking out the files using three different methods: the traditional check-out, opening the files through Internet Explorer (which then prompts the checkout), and opening the files by going through Explorer and navigating to the SharePoint file structure – this is done by mapping the SharePoint site to My Network Places.

We’ve had two successes thus far.  We have been able to create a presentation (from scratch) by saving a PowerPoint template to our document library.  You then start a new presentation by opening the template and saving it to the SharePoint site.  From there you work as you normally would.  We have even been able to import existing audio.  (We haven’t tried recording yet.) 

We also got lucky and imported a completed presentation – pptx and ppta (with audio).  It allowed us to open the existing file, and edit a slide and the audio.  Unfortunately, we have not been able to replicate this one success (with existing presentations.)  We are currently avoiding anything with Engage and Quizmaker until we figure out how to successfully do a "plain" presentation.

We have found other forums in which Articulate users successfully use SharePoint as a development site; however, we don’t know if they are also using versioning and check in/checkout.  (We have not received any replies to our inquiries.)

Our SharePoint IT Admin said that SharePoint is recognizing the ppta as a valid file extension, so that is not the problem.

Does anyone else use SharePoint for development?  We’re also looking at whether SharePoint 2010 would work better than 2007.

(Note –Our IT Department ruled out the use of the SharePoint LMS add on as we have a strict rule forbidding the use of open source code.)

Thank you for the interesting info, Penny.

I have heard great things about Sharepoint 2010, but I haven't had to chance to see its new features, yet.

Anyway, please not that Sharepoint LMS is NOT an open source code add on... that one is Sharepoint Learning Kit.

Sharepoint LMS is a good, but quite expensive, commercial LMS. Based on sharepoint, however.

Thanks for reporting us your development use of the portal.

Stefano