I have a PDF file which, need to be uploaded in either Rise or Storyline 360 to convert that PDF to interactive course and need to publish that so that can play in any LMS. Would you suggest the process for this?
Im actually not sure why that would be. The link in the resources of the player is just a weblink that should be accessible anywhere, such as a web obhect or hyperlink button in storyline?
Only other thing I can maybe think of, and not sure what would happen, is if the storyline is published again, does your LMS maybe change the link to that resource?
Are you able to host your PDF on a web server so you can access it on the web from a URL? If so, you could use the URL to embed the PDF in a Storyline Web Object.
I've tried adding a web object and it's not working. I'm publishing and nothing. Every time I click the "button" it takes me back to the "home" slide. Please help! I'd love to make this happen and hav ethe PDF open in a lightbox.
Sorry to hear you are running into this snag here! May I ask how the web object was added to your course? Is the file located online or is it stored on your local computer?
I have published a good number of documents as web objects and it is working pretty well. However! They don't render in safari, users just get a greyed out box. Has anyone else encountered this/found a solution?
That is odd that your learners see a greyed-out box when using Safari. I tested this out in a demo course with a PDF web object, and it appeared fine for me.
With your permission, could you share the troublesome .story files in this thread here for further troubleshooting? If you prefer to send them privately, please feel free to connect with our Support Engineers! We'll let you know our findings and will delete it after having a closer look.
What kind of hyperlink are you using for the PDF file? Is it an HTTP link? If so, you will want to be sure the content is being hosted on a secure site.
If it is hosted on a secure site but you are still not able to see the PDF file, please let me know!
Good call - I think you are right. I am running two separate instances of Blackboard and the content works in one and not the other.
The one in which the content works has the little padlock in the search bar and the other doesn't so I guess I need to sort that out with our technical team.
Hi I'd like some help with this! It should be very basic but I cannot work out how to link to a PDF file (currently stored on my PC) using an object that the user clicks on to open the PDF in a new tab! The published file will be delivered via an LMS.
I was told and have seen from googling that when you create the link (using the trigger) Storyline apparently stores the PDF file within the published output files - however this is not the case. There's no external file content in there!
I've tried using the resources within the player which isn't although isn't ideal (as we really don't want the resources tab visible in the course) it still didn't work. I've tried copying the files to the published output folder but that still doesn't work! Help please!
Also as I've been reading through this thread the lightbox feature sounds like a great idea - but that earlier link doesn't work - would be great if that could be explained too! Would it work to allow the user to download a copy of the PDF to their device?
I just worked it out! I thought I'd tried everything,... Just in case anyone else needs this: I saved the trigger file name as story_content/filename.pdf then in the zipped output open the story_content folder (which doesn't include an external files folder) add the document (with the same file name there). Relieved - it's been annoying me for ages...
I'm glad you found a solution, but I'm not 100% clear on what it was! It sounds like you were trying to follow the steps outlined here? Let me know where you got stuck and I'm happy to help!
It looks like you are replying to Katie's issue and further reading shows that she seemed to have a mixed security issue.
With your permission, I'd like to take a look at your project file to investigate what's happening. You can share it publicly here, or send it to me privately by uploading it here. I'll delete it when I'm done troubleshooting.
I couldn't get much help from Aritculate on this. It was like pulling teeth, finally got a screen recording from someone that helped but also this blog post REALLY help. I'm a visual learner and this was perfect.
I'm posting this because I just spent most of a day trying to get this to work. I think it may be a bug, but before I submit it, I'll clarify what Rebecca was saying above.
I'm embedding a .pdf into my .story file by using a web object that references an index.html file - both files are on my local drive, but I want them wrapped up in the Storyline export because I don't have a web server to host them on. However, when I publish the file, the .pdf will only display if I have it on my local drive in the exact same folder it was in before. Storyline is publishing with an absolute path, not relative, and it's pointing to my C: drive.
I go digging around in the published folder structure, and I notice there aren't any subfolders under the story_content directory, which is odd, because if there are files to be included, that's where they should be located. I published and re-published a dozen times, moving files around, changing names, etc, etc, when I came across Rebecca's post. At this point, I didn't have anything to lose, so I tried moving the index.html and the .pdf files into an arbitrary folder named story_content, and then published my file. POW - the published story_content folder now had a WebObjects subdirectory, and further down, I found my two files in there:
Basically, if you're having trouble with Storyline including content for a web object, this might be your solution. Create a random story_content folder and drop your web object content in, then publish. It seems to force Storyline to create the folder structure it needs to in order to embed those files.
Hi, all. These are all fairly old posts, and there's probably an updated version relevant that I haven't seen for Storyline 360 as well as the demise of Flash/SWF support in modern browsers. First, as most of us probably know now, you can't use the old "embed src=" code. You have to use "iframe src=" and you don't need to add all the parameters. Keep it simple, unless you want to hone your HTML skills. Here's the index file code I use:
</html> I've attached a video of the steps to embed the file. This is to embed the PDF directly in your course so you don't have to launch the user to a new window or refer them to the Resources. If there's a better way, I'm happy to hear about it. This method is a little clunky, but it's the only way I've been able to make it work. (By the way, if anyone cares, I did the screen recording in Peek 360. It worked well, but there are some UX considerations that I hope are evolving.)
Hi, all. These are all fairly old posts, and there's probably an updated version relevant that I haven't seen for Storyline 360 as well as the demise of Flash/SWF support in modern browsers. First, as most of us probably know now, you can't use the old "embed src=" code. You have to use "iframe src=" and you don't need to add all the parameters. Keep it simple, unless you want to hone your HTML skills. Here's the index file code I use:
</html> I've attached a video of the steps to embed the file. This is to embed the PDF directly in your course so you don't have to launch the user to a new window or refer them to the Resources. If there's a better way, I'm happy to hear about it. This method is a little clunky, but it's the only way I've been able to make it work. (By the way, if anyone cares, I did the screen recording in Peek 360. It worked well, but there are some UX considerations that I hope are evolving.)
Phillip, It appears that the instructional link has expired. Have you posted on youtube or somewhere similar? Thanks looking forward to utilizing your method.
Hi, AV. The video demonstration is uploaded here as an attachment. When I tested, clicking the video link downloads directly to my hard drive. It doesn't live out on the Internet anywhere at this time (although maybe I should add an eLearning channel to my YouTube presence?).
If it doesn't work for you at all, let me know and I'm happy to get it to you.
By the way, the trick definitely does work, but you have to be careful with the funky file structure once you've published.
51 Replies
Hi Venkat,
If you can tell me more about what you're looking to do, I can point you in the right direction!
Are you trying to hyperlink a PDF file in Storyline? If so, is the PDF hosted on a web server?
Hi Team,
I have a PDF file which, need to be uploaded in either Rise or Storyline 360 to convert that PDF to interactive course and need to publish that so that can play in any LMS. Would you suggest the process for this?
Hello Michael,
Could you provide instructions on how to display the pdf in the lightbox for this example you shared: http://dev.keypointlearn.com/xcl71_SL/PDF/V4/story.html
This post was removed by the author
Thanks Drew, worked really well.. Only thing i've found is that if you hide the resources tab it doesn't work. Any suggestions?
Hi Will,
Im actually not sure why that would be. The link in the resources of the player is just a weblink that should be accessible anywhere, such as a web obhect or hyperlink button in storyline?
Only other thing I can maybe think of, and not sure what would happen, is if the storyline is published again, does your LMS maybe change the link to that resource?
Hey Will,
Are you able to host your PDF on a web server so you can access it on the web from a URL? If so, you could use the URL to embed the PDF in a Storyline Web Object.
I've tried adding a web object and it's not working. I'm publishing and nothing. Every time I click the "button" it takes me back to the "home" slide. Please help! I'd love to make this happen and hav ethe PDF open in a lightbox.
Hey Ali,
Sorry to hear you are running into this snag here! May I ask how the web object was added to your course? Is the file located online or is it stored on your local computer?
I have published a good number of documents as web objects and it is working pretty well. However! They don't render in safari, users just get a greyed out box. Has anyone else encountered this/found a solution?
Hey Katie,
That is odd that your learners see a greyed-out box when using Safari. I tested this out in a demo course with a PDF web object, and it appeared fine for me.
Is this happening for every course that is viewed in Safari or just a couple of courses? What might be happening here is that the hosting website where the documents are located are not secure.
With your permission, could you share the troublesome .story files in this thread here for further troubleshooting? If you prefer to send them privately, please feel free to connect with our Support Engineers! We'll let you know our findings and will delete it after having a closer look.
Hi Vincent,
I've tried both ways and neither work.
Hey Ali,
Thank you for letting me know!
What kind of hyperlink are you using for the PDF file? Is it an HTTP link? If so, you will want to be sure the content is being hosted on a secure site.
If it is hosted on a secure site but you are still not able to see the PDF file, please let me know!
HI Vincent,
Good call - I think you are right. I am running two separate instances of Blackboard and the content works in one and not the other.
The one in which the content works has the little padlock in the search bar and the other doesn't so I guess I need to sort that out with our technical team.
Thanks for the nudge though!
Katie
Hi I'd like some help with this! It should be very basic but I cannot work out how to link to a PDF file (currently stored on my PC) using an object that the user clicks on to open the PDF in a new tab! The published file will be delivered via an LMS.
I was told and have seen from googling that when you create the link (using the trigger) Storyline apparently stores the PDF file within the published output files - however this is not the case. There's no external file content in there!
I've tried using the resources within the player which isn't although isn't ideal (as we really don't want the resources tab visible in the course) it still didn't work. I've tried copying the files to the published output folder but that still doesn't work! Help please!
Also as I've been reading through this thread the lightbox feature sounds like a great idea - but that earlier link doesn't work - would be great if that could be explained too! Would it work to allow the user to download a copy of the PDF to their device?
Thanks
I just worked it out! I thought I'd tried everything,... Just in case anyone else needs this: I saved the trigger file name as story_content/filename.pdf then in the zipped output open the story_content folder (which doesn't include an external files folder) add the document (with the same file name there). Relieved - it's been annoying me for ages...
Hi, Rebecca!
I'm glad you found a solution, but I'm not 100% clear on what it was! It sounds like you were trying to follow the steps outlined here? Let me know where you got stuck and I'm happy to help!
Same here no solution
Hi Rodney,
It looks like you are replying to Katie's issue and further reading shows that she seemed to have a mixed security issue.
With your permission, I'd like to take a look at your project file to investigate what's happening. You can share it publicly here, or send it to me privately by uploading it here. I'll delete it when I'm done troubleshooting.
Hey Rodney,
I couldn't get much help from Aritculate on this. It was like pulling teeth, finally got a screen recording from someone that helped but also this blog post REALLY help. I'm a visual learner and this was perfect.
https://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-development/adding-pdfs-to-elearning-courses-in-articulate-storyline
I'm posting this because I just spent most of a day trying to get this to work. I think it may be a bug, but before I submit it, I'll clarify what Rebecca was saying above.
I'm embedding a .pdf into my .story file by using a web object that references an index.html file - both files are on my local drive, but I want them wrapped up in the Storyline export because I don't have a web server to host them on. However, when I publish the file, the .pdf will only display if I have it on my local drive in the exact same folder it was in before. Storyline is publishing with an absolute path, not relative, and it's pointing to my C: drive.
I go digging around in the published folder structure, and I notice there aren't any subfolders under the story_content directory, which is odd, because if there are files to be included, that's where they should be located. I published and re-published a dozen times, moving files around, changing names, etc, etc, when I came across Rebecca's post. At this point, I didn't have anything to lose, so I tried moving the index.html and the .pdf files into an arbitrary folder named story_content, and then published my file. POW - the published story_content folder now had a WebObjects subdirectory, and further down, I found my two files in there:
Basically, if you're having trouble with Storyline including content for a web object, this might be your solution. Create a random story_content folder and drop your web object content in, then publish. It seems to force Storyline to create the folder structure it needs to in order to embed those files.
Hi, all. These are all fairly old posts, and there's probably an updated version relevant that I haven't seen for Storyline 360 as well as the demise of Flash/SWF support in modern browsers. First, as most of us probably know now, you can't use the old "embed src=" code. You have to use "iframe src=" and you don't need to add all the parameters. Keep it simple, unless you want to hone your HTML skills. Here's the index file code I use:
<html>
<title>Embedded PDF</title>
<body>
<iframe src="YOURFILENAMEHERE.pdf" width="100%" height="500px"</iframe>
</body>
</html>
I've attached a video of the steps to embed the file. This is to embed the PDF directly in your course so you don't have to launch the user to a new window or refer them to the Resources. If there's a better way, I'm happy to hear about it. This method is a little clunky, but it's the only way I've been able to make it work. (By the way, if anyone cares, I did the screen recording in Peek 360. It worked well, but there are some UX considerations that I hope are evolving.)
Phillip, It appears that the instructional link has expired. Have you posted on youtube or somewhere similar? Thanks looking forward to utilizing your method.
Hi, AV. The video demonstration is uploaded here as an attachment. When I tested, clicking the video link downloads directly to my hard drive. It doesn't live out on the Internet anywhere at this time (although maybe I should add an eLearning channel to my YouTube presence?).
If it doesn't work for you at all, let me know and I'm happy to get it to you.
By the way, the trick definitely does work, but you have to be careful with the funky file structure once you've published.
How does this process work for multiple PDF files within a single course?