I have published a test module and it has been uploaded to sharepoint. Due to restrictions of some sort, sharepoint is not uploading 3 web object related jpeg files that are housed in the 'story_content' subfolder. The test module runs fine and calls up the web object (link to survey monkey). However, I am wondering if this will cause me problems down the road. Does the course run off of the files only at the route level, or will the missing 3 jpegs in the subfolder 'story_content' cause a problem later? Any advice is appreciated.
You'll want to have all the files in the published output folder loaded up on your hosting solution - and it may be running for you if it's able to reference where those files are located on your local drive. To confirm that, if you share the link with a colleague or user, they likely won't be able to see those objects when viewing the course.
Is there an error associated with those web objects or does Sharepoint prohibit certain web objects?
So, my colleague is the one who put it up on Sharepoint, and for whatever reason, SPN will not allow those three jpeg files to be uploaded. She shared the link with me, and all worked as expected (the web object - basically linking to survey monkey) loaded up and the interactivity (drop down menu selection) worked. (However, I have the file on my desktop as well). Going into sureveymonkey I was also able to see that survey monkey did record the selections.
I believe that the error is associated with sharepoint prohibitions. Attached is a screenshot of the files that would not upload as well as the error message upon trying to upload to sharepoint. What it looks like to me is really a screen shot of what should appear when the web object is opened within the web object window. I am checking to see if it is anything related to the file name that is putting up red flags in sharepoint, because I dont think it is related to the jpeg extension. Is there a way we can change the file name of these three files, and then change all references to it in the published content?
Hi Lamma. I have seen something very similar with files not uploading. See this thread. Some have suggested that the file name is too long but I'm not sure that is the issue. I too have chosen to "skip" the upload of the jpegs (and they always seem to be jpegs) and the project has played fine.
Here is an interesting sidebar to this. When I drag and drop the files into SharePoint using Explorer view I sometimes get the error message. However, when I've used the SharePoint "Upload Multiple Files" option I haven't had a problem. That's not a very workable solution, at least in my installation of SharePoint, as the Upload Multiple Files only allows 100 files at a time and it doesn't take much for Storyline to create more than 100 files.
Thanks for the info Brett. Have you tried the LongPathTool?
Right now I am just testing with a dummy file with 3 questions and 3 web objects. My intended courses will also include video and more complex web objects. So I am trying to determine whether this is an option for us before getting too far in development, otherwise we may need to use another tool like Brainshark where everything is housed outside of our system. (I prefer to use SL, since learning Brainshark would require more time on an already tight timeline.)
I'm glad Brett was able to chime in here in regards to specific Sharepoint elements - and I've heard the issue with Sharepoint and long file names before too. We don't support the modification of the published output, so I hope that others here in the community can chime in on how they've worked around that in Sharepoint and Storyline.
Hi Lamma. I haven't tried LongPathTool as I'm not convinced that is the issue. When you upload files do you user Explorer view or do you use the standard SharePoint "Upload File" / "Upload Multiple Files" option? As I mentioned, I haven't seen the problem when using the upload file method which leads me to believe it's not a file name length issue. It is possible to upload more than 100 files this way but you need to keep your wits about you as you upload batches at a time to make sure you get them all in the proper place — not a fun operation but possible.
I could be wrong but it seems to me that everytime I had an issue it was a jpeg and it looked like the samples you showed above, i.e., with the "Width=xxx, Height=xxx..." as part of the file name.
I'll keep my comments regarding Brainshark to myself :-).
Thank you Brett...we are thinking it may be the {=, characters in the name, but are still not sure. I will continue to investigate this on my end with other sharepoint users within the organization and be sure to share with you if I find anything worthwhile. I am trying to avoid Brainshark as well...but their are a lot of constraints on this project.
Ashley, I am trying to come up with plans A, B, C, etc. regarding this issue. I have been looking at the free trial for articulate online and it states that it is fully functional. Are there any restrictions on the trial, like # of modules you can trial, # of users, etc, or is it exactly the same as if we had a paid subscription? One of the reasons I ask is my client is moving towards using more interactive content within their training and if SPN continues to be an issue then this may be a viable solution. I'd like to test run it on my own as well as test its use with my client's users within their highly secure network with a quick training that we have coming up. Can you expand? thanks!
There are different subscription plans, as detailed here. You can do a free 30 day trial of Articulate Online just as our other software, so you may want to sign up for that to investigate it further before signing up - as it doesn't follow the normal 30 return policy of software, although you can cancel at any time, no questions asked. You’re responsible for charges incurred up until your cancellation date and we don’t issue refunds for past payments, and we don’t provide partial-term refunds.
Ok, so now I am trialing Articulate Online and I have published my content to online and added the link to Sharepoint as a launch. Clicking on the link brings up the module, but does not bring up permissions that I have set. So, it goes directly into the module rather than asking for email and login first to identify user. I can't find a discussion group for online specifically, so am asking here. I need to essentially have a launch page in sharepoint for all users then have AO identify users by email and login by setting permissions, (and not have that start module from beginning message come up as it tracks the origin from a user who has already viewed the module). Can you point me in the right direction?
How are you linking the content and setting up permissions? Have you looked at the tutorials here? I can't speak to the specifics of linking within Sharepoint, but if you've enabled the content item for only specific users, you'll want to set your content to Private, then only users for whom you’ve given permission will be able to view it. Find out more about permissions here.
Yes, I have looked at all of those recordings and done all that is suggested. However, my issue is the link placed in sharepoint (which will be a common link for all users) automatically opens up the module even with privacy settings set - so no asking for email and password, just opens up and then asks if I want to resume where I left off. So it seems as if that feature is not working, or I am missing something.
Have you shared that link with another user to test it or are you just testing it yourself? It sounds like the latter - and then it's allowing you to pick up where you left off based on the cookies within your browser. You could try in another web browser to confirm.
Permissions seem to be useless. I have created several test modules and set up private permissions. Once someone is logged in to one of the modules, all of the modules open from a link regardless of permission settings. For example, if sandy.piper@aol.com has permission and gets link to test 1 and logs in, then with a link Sandy opens test 2, test 3, etc. without login prompt, even though private permissions do not include her.
From my testing, what I am seeing is that once the first permission has been set using a particular browser, then the cookies on the browser determine the permission to other modules and not the email/password. For example, on a new browser I logged in with sandy.piper,with permission only for sandy.piper, got the login prompt. then with a different module with permission set for only lou.snow, same browser, an automatic no permission message comes up. I did not have to enter login and password infor. shouldnt the email and passowrd be necessary for each separate module in case more than 1 person is sharing the same computer?
The resume behavior is tracked by cookies on a browser or computer - so if you're going to have multiple people logging in on the same computer, you may want to disable the resume.
You also mentioned users being able to access courses not assigned to them - and if this is the case on separate computers/browsers we may need to take a look at your Articulate Online account and that is easier to do in a support case.
When I am setting permissions for a praticular course with an email and password for individuals that I would like to have access to the course, my expectation is that the login and password are the functions that allow or don't allow access.
However, I have done several rounds of testing and this is what I have found:
I have done all AO admin work from my work computer. I then tested on my personal laptop. I cleared all cookies and history from the browser of my personal laptop and used the urls to each module to launch that particular module.
I published 3 different sets of modules with the following publish settings. 1) Never resume. 2) Prompt resume, when running in LMS, ignore flash cookie, and 3) Prompt resume.
All three options give me the same results.
1) With cleared browsers, the first url launched attempt to connect to the module brought up a login/pswd prompt. Once the email/pswd for user Ann was entered and the module was opened, AO from then on only recognized the cookie as an identifier for Ann only and no further login was required for consequent separate modules that Ann had access to. So if Ann was allowed access to modules 1,3,and 5, Ann only had to login to module 1 and then modules 3 and 5 automatically opened. These are 3 different, discrete modules.
2) Furthermore, when permissions of 1, 3, and 5 were changed to exclude Ann, Ann was still able to access these modules after permissions were changed.
3) Lastly, when Ann tried to access modules 2 and 4 of which she was not previously given an attempt to login for and did not have permissions for, she was automatically given the 'you do not have permissoin, see administrator' message. She did not have the opportunity to enter email/pswd because she was automatically reognized as Ann by cookies.
So, this tells me that it has nothing to do with the resume settings and everything to do with how AO recognized its users by cookies only and not the personal identifiers of email/password.
If I am missing something, please let me know as I can not recommmend that my client use this product unless there is a way we can truly identify the user with permissions and to be able to change permissions and make them stick. We can not ask 500 users to clear their browsers everytime we want them to take a course.
If there is some other work around for ensuring that each module brings up a login and password please advise.
Thanks for sharing additional information here - and yes, the cookies of the browser are also going to play a roll in this, especially with users who are accessing from the same computer and utilizing the same user profile. I see that Justin has also answered a similar question of yours here. I heard you're working with our Success team - so again it may be best to work with them or our Support team who have the options to do a screen sharing with you if you'd like.
21 Replies
Hi Lamma,
You'll want to have all the files in the published output folder loaded up on your hosting solution - and it may be running for you if it's able to reference where those files are located on your local drive. To confirm that, if you share the link with a colleague or user, they likely won't be able to see those objects when viewing the course.
Is there an error associated with those web objects or does Sharepoint prohibit certain web objects?
So, my colleague is the one who put it up on Sharepoint, and for whatever reason, SPN will not allow those three jpeg files to be uploaded. She shared the link with me, and all worked as expected (the web object - basically linking to survey monkey) loaded up and the interactivity (drop down menu selection) worked. (However, I have the file on my desktop as well). Going into sureveymonkey I was also able to see that survey monkey did record the selections.
I believe that the error is associated with sharepoint prohibitions. Attached is a screenshot of the files that would not upload as well as the error message upon trying to upload to sharepoint. What it looks like to me is really a screen shot of what should appear when the web object is opened within the web object window. I am checking to see if it is anything related to the file name that is putting up red flags in sharepoint, because I dont think it is related to the jpeg extension. Is there a way we can change the file name of these three files, and then change all references to it in the published content?
Thank you for your response and help!
Hi Lamma. I have seen something very similar with files not uploading. See this thread. Some have suggested that the file name is too long but I'm not sure that is the issue. I too have chosen to "skip" the upload of the jpegs (and they always seem to be jpegs) and the project has played fine.
Here is an interesting sidebar to this. When I drag and drop the files into SharePoint using Explorer view I sometimes get the error message. However, when I've used the SharePoint "Upload Multiple Files" option I haven't had a problem. That's not a very workable solution, at least in my installation of SharePoint, as the Upload Multiple Files only allows 100 files at a time and it doesn't take much for Storyline to create more than 100 files.
Thanks for the info Brett. Have you tried the LongPathTool?
Right now I am just testing with a dummy file with 3 questions and 3 web objects. My intended courses will also include video and more complex web objects. So I am trying to determine whether this is an option for us before getting too far in development, otherwise we may need to use another tool like Brainshark where everything is housed outside of our system. (I prefer to use SL, since learning Brainshark would require more time on an already tight timeline.)
Have you had upload issues with other file types?
Hi Lamma,
I'm glad Brett was able to chime in here in regards to specific Sharepoint elements - and I've heard the issue with Sharepoint and long file names before too. We don't support the modification of the published output, so I hope that others here in the community can chime in on how they've worked around that in Sharepoint and Storyline.
Hi Lamma. I haven't tried LongPathTool as I'm not convinced that is the issue. When you upload files do you user Explorer view or do you use the standard SharePoint "Upload File" / "Upload Multiple Files" option? As I mentioned, I haven't seen the problem when using the upload file method which leads me to believe it's not a file name length issue. It is possible to upload more than 100 files this way but you need to keep your wits about you as you upload batches at a time to make sure you get them all in the proper place — not a fun operation but possible.
I could be wrong but it seems to me that everytime I had an issue it was a jpeg and it looked like the samples you showed above, i.e., with the "Width=xxx, Height=xxx..." as part of the file name.
I'll keep my comments regarding Brainshark to myself :-).
Thank you Brett...we are thinking it may be the {=, characters in the name, but are still not sure. I will continue to investigate this on my end with other sharepoint users within the organization and be sure to share with you if I find anything worthwhile. I am trying to avoid Brainshark as well...but their are a lot of constraints on this project.
Ashley, I am trying to come up with plans A, B, C, etc. regarding this issue. I have been looking at the free trial for articulate online and it states that it is fully functional. Are there any restrictions on the trial, like # of modules you can trial, # of users, etc, or is it exactly the same as if we had a paid subscription? One of the reasons I ask is my client is moving towards using more interactive content within their training and if SPN continues to be an issue then this may be a viable solution. I'd like to test run it on my own as well as test its use with my client's users within their highly secure network with a quick training that we have coming up. Can you expand? thanks!
Hi Lamma,
There are different subscription plans, as detailed here. You can do a free 30 day trial of Articulate Online just as our other software, so you may want to sign up for that to investigate it further before signing up - as it doesn't follow the normal 30 return policy of software, although you can cancel at any time, no questions asked. You’re responsible for charges incurred up until your cancellation date and we don’t issue refunds for past payments, and we don’t provide partial-term refunds.
Thank you, that is just the info I was looking for. I did poke around the site, but somehow missed that.
Glad that helps - and please feel free to connect with our Sales team if you have any other questions.
Ok, so now I am trialing Articulate Online and I have published my content to online and added the link to Sharepoint as a launch. Clicking on the link brings up the module, but does not bring up permissions that I have set. So, it goes directly into the module rather than asking for email and login first to identify user. I can't find a discussion group for online specifically, so am asking here. I need to essentially have a launch page in sharepoint for all users then have AO identify users by email and login by setting permissions, (and not have that start module from beginning message come up as it tracks the origin from a user who has already viewed the module). Can you point me in the right direction?
Hi Lamma,
The Articulate Online discussion page is here (it's not a part of any particular product, so called out on it's own).
How are you linking the content and setting up permissions? Have you looked at the tutorials here? I can't speak to the specifics of linking within Sharepoint, but if you've enabled the content item for only specific users, you'll want to set your content to Private, then only users for whom you’ve given permission will be able to view it. Find out more about permissions here.
Yes, I have looked at all of those recordings and done all that is suggested. However, my issue is the link placed in sharepoint (which will be a common link for all users) automatically opens up the module even with privacy settings set - so no asking for email and password, just opens up and then asks if I want to resume where I left off. So it seems as if that feature is not working, or I am missing something.
Hi Lamma,
Have you shared that link with another user to test it or are you just testing it yourself? It sounds like the latter - and then it's allowing you to pick up where you left off based on the cookies within your browser. You could try in another web browser to confirm.
Permissions seem to be useless. I have created several test modules and set up private permissions. Once someone is logged in to one of the modules, all of the modules open from a link regardless of permission settings. For example, if sandy.piper@aol.com has permission and gets link to test 1 and logs in, then with a link Sandy opens test 2, test 3, etc. without login prompt, even though private permissions do not include her.
From my testing, what I am seeing is that once the first permission has been set using a particular browser, then the cookies on the browser determine the permission to other modules and not the email/password. For example, on a new browser I logged in with sandy.piper,with permission only for sandy.piper, got the login prompt. then with a different module with permission set for only lou.snow, same browser, an automatic no permission message comes up. I did not have to enter login and password infor. shouldnt the email and passowrd be necessary for each separate module in case more than 1 person is sharing the same computer?
Hi Lamma,
The resume behavior is tracked by cookies on a browser or computer - so if you're going to have multiple people logging in on the same computer, you may want to disable the resume.
You also mentioned users being able to access courses not assigned to them - and if this is the case on separate computers/browsers we may need to take a look at your Articulate Online account and that is easier to do in a support case.
When I am setting permissions for a praticular course with an email and password for individuals that I would like to have access to the course, my expectation is that the login and password are the functions that allow or don't allow access.
However, I have done several rounds of testing and this is what I have found:
1) With cleared browsers, the first url launched attempt to connect to the module brought up a login/pswd prompt. Once the email/pswd for user Ann was entered and the module was opened, AO from then on only recognized the cookie as an identifier for Ann only and no further login was required for consequent separate modules that Ann had access to. So if Ann was allowed access to modules 1,3,and 5, Ann only had to login to module 1 and then modules 3 and 5 automatically opened. These are 3 different, discrete modules.
2) Furthermore, when permissions of 1, 3, and 5 were changed to exclude Ann, Ann was still able to access these modules after permissions were changed.
3) Lastly, when Ann tried to access modules 2 and 4 of which she was not previously given an attempt to login for and did not have permissions for, she was automatically given the 'you do not have permissoin, see administrator' message. She did not have the opportunity to enter email/pswd because she was automatically reognized as Ann by cookies.
So, this tells me that it has nothing to do with the resume settings and everything to do with how AO recognized its users by cookies only and not the personal identifiers of email/password.
If I am missing something, please let me know as I can not recommmend that my client use this product unless there is a way we can truly identify the user with permissions and to be able to change permissions and make them stick. We can not ask 500 users to clear their browsers everytime we want them to take a course.
If there is some other work around for ensuring that each module brings up a login and password please advise.
Thank you.
Also, is there a time period that you have to wait in order for changing permissions to take effect?
Hi Lamma,
Thanks for sharing additional information here - and yes, the cookies of the browser are also going to play a roll in this, especially with users who are accessing from the same computer and utilizing the same user profile. I see that Justin has also answered a similar question of yours here. I heard you're working with our Success team - so again it may be best to work with them or our Support team who have the options to do a screen sharing with you if you'd like.
This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.