New xAPI features question

Hi, Jim.

Thank you for reaching out!

When you are using the LRS without a Learning Management System, you will need to supply the actor via a query string. Take a look at the article below for additional information:

• Storyline 360 - LRS Support

I hope this helps!

Thanks, but this doesn't really explain how one would create this from inside Storyline.

If there is a  published course hosted somewhere and we have no way of knowing who the user is until they launch the course and presumably enter their name or email in the launch page of the course, this doesn't follow as a solution.

Am I misunderstanding something?

Hi, Jim!

The query string won't be created from within Storyline. Instead, you should contact your IT department or LRS admin for help creating the scripts that will collect the information from the user, since this will look different depending on the LRS you use. 

Hey Maria,

I'm pretty sure the issue Jim is getting at is the fact that without an LMS (or any backend which stores user credentials) there's no way of knowing or passing this information through a query string.

One of the benefits of xAPI is that you don't need a centralized database to store learner information and that xAPI content can be hosted anywhere, so it's bizarre that Storyline would make it a requirement to pass actor information through a query string, which requires you to:

a) have ownership of the platform that it's being delivered on AND

b) have some sort of account system already in place.

I tried sending actor information using variables, but Storyline refuses to acknowledge information is provided through this method. Perhaps there is a reason for this I am unaware of, but I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work...

I submitted this as a feature request (#03013026) in case you wanted to follow it up.

Cheers

Yes, yes, 1000 times yes. Thank you, Ben for explaining more eloquently than I did.

Given the recent changes that rendered Google Analytics events integration non-functional, this is very important. Not just for people without an LMS, but for those who want to track more granular and specific events, you know, the entire reason for xAPI...

Did you happen to see Ben's response that explains my issue further?

Hi, Jim.

As of right now, as I mentioned, the only way to send the actor's information without a Learning Management System is through a query string using the LRS. 

We received Ben's feature request, and I've shared the details and your comments with my team. I'll update this discussion if it makes it on the roadmap!

Hello Maria,

I wrote a post on a similar topic.

In my opinion, at the moment, the implementation of LRS support in the Articulate Storyline is meaningless, it needs to be improved.

Hi Jim, I ran into a similar problem to yours.

Hi Oleg!

I've responded to your discussion. 

Hi Jim,

I'm using the following Javascript code to provide an actor on launching a xAPI project/course:

 function getActor() {
     
    const queryString = window.location.search;
    const urlParams = new URLSearchParams(queryString);
    const name = urlParams.get('name')
    const email = urlParams.get('email')
     
 return {
 "mbox" : "mailto:" + email,
 "objectType" : "Agent",
 "name" : name
 };
}

This Javascript code will get the name and the email from the URL. So if your start file is story.html, you can provide the parameters below for running the course for a specific actor:

name=John Doe
email=johndoe@example.com

The link will be:

story.html?name=John Doe&email=johndoe@example.com

Maybe you could use another storyline project for capturing the name and email and building up the launch URL.

Best regards,

Bastiaan