Can a course be published to an LMS if I am still in the "30-day trial" period for Storyline? I'd like to test a course in our LMS (Oracle) but I can't get it to launch. I get a 404 error. The URL works fine independently, just not bouncing out of Oracle. I thought perhaps that publishing from the trial version might not be allowed?? Or perhaps the more likely reason - user error. Any help appreciated. --Jeannette
I'm sure it is my method that is getting in my way. I did use the publish to LMS option, and the output files are in a network folder on our Intranet.
For our current online courses (currently using Captivate) we have only used the option within Oracle LMS to launch from a URL (we are not importing files into the LMS)
After I published, I chose the option to view my course and copied the URL from that output into the content object in Oracle. The URL works fine on its own, but will not launch when I enroll and try to play it from Oracle.
Should the URL have "index_lms.html" in it somewhere? Can you tell I'm not an IT person?
I'm outside my expertise on this one. Are you tracking the results then? Or just launching the course? If just launching the course, then you could use the story.html file to launch.
In either case, the URL should contain either the story.html or the index_lms.html file. This is what will launch it for you.
My org is at the very beginning stages of integrating elearning with Oracle Learning Mgt. What we have done so far in Captivate has been very rudimentary (courses point to a URL and complete on launch). Eventually we do want to be able to test and track and keep more accurate training records in the LMS.
Right now I just need to verify that Articulate will play nice with Oracle, but I haven't yet been able to achieve that. I can see through this forum that others use OLM with Storyline, but I can't seem to replicate their success. URLs that work fine on their own do not launch from OLM.
The current URL ends with "story.html" and I assume that the "index_lms.html" is something that would have to be imported into the LMS, is that correct?
Gerry, it sounds like we will not get the tracking functionality we seek just by pointing to a URL, we will need to import the index file?
Just getting started here, so thanks again for providing guidance.
I don't know a lot about the Oracle LMS. Most of my experience is with Saba and a couple of other LMS's. Don't know how you load or refer to content into the Oracle LMS.
Saba has a similar feature it sounds--where you can launch "regular" HTML content and get passing credit just by launching the training. For this with Storyline, you'd want to use the story.html as your launch file. In Saba, the content could be anywhere on a web server (or you could load it into Saba)--you just enter the launch URL pointing to story.html in Saba.
Personally, I was never a big fan of using that (i.e., launch a course and you get a completion). I'm more old school--a completion should be earned.
For that, you need to publish Storyline courses to LMS and a "learning standard"--either AICC, SCORM, or Tin Can (if your LMS supports that last new learning standard). The learning standard defines how content and the LMS communicate together.
When published to those standards the course determines completion and passes it on to the LMS, or works with the LMS to determine completion, be it by viewing so much content or by passing a final quiz.
Such Storyline courses use index_lms.html as their launch file. With that, at launch, some things are set up and then the AICC or SCORM or Tin Can code gets loaded that's lets the content "talk to" and "report back" to the LMS. Then story.html gets launched for viewing the content.
Your entire published Storyline course needs to be stored somewhere, be it on the LMS or on web servers outside the LMS (if the LMS supports that).
We used AICC and SCORM 1.2 with Saba. For SCORM, we loaded the content (as a zip file) into Saba itself and it determined the launch URL from the zip package (specifically, from the imsmanifest.xml file, where the launch file is indicated). For AICC, we placed content on separate servers and then figured out the URLs and then entered that into Saba, either as one URL or by use of the four AICC files that are sometimes used for AICC integration.
You need to take all this slow and sometimes "baby-step" it. Lots of new concepts, operations and options to grasp. I was overwhelmed at first but eventually "got it."
Baby steps is right. I actually got the course to launch by tweaking the URL a few times based upon what you all said above. I agree with you and I don't like the "get credit just for launching the course" idea either. That'll be the next hurdle.
At least I can show a basic product that launches from OLM now.
If you encounter any issues with Storyline, be sure to come back and post. This place is "happily rife" with very friendly and helpful folks.
P.S. "Launch and complete" has one advantage--it probably works most--if not all--the time in recording completions. AICC and SCORM courses often have issues due to the more complex needs of the content and LMS having to work together properly and the network delivering things back and forth properly.
More "hair pulling" issues sometimes with this route (AICC, SCORM) . After integrations with other systems, the biggest issue with LMS implementations and on-going operations is usually content issues--i.e., getting the e-learning content and LMS to play nice together. But if you want to increase the likelihood of people actually learning something with the training, it is usually worth the troubles.
Right now, we do not have a "content server" associated with our LMS, onto which I can import the full array of files, including the all-important "index_lms.html".
I am publishing the Storyline files to a network drive and pointing the URL toward the "story.html" file.
True or false: Without a dedicated content server where we can actually upload the SCORM files, we will not be able to fully track the courses.
No question is dumb . . . the only thing that might be dumb is not asking a question.
Again, I don't know your LMS to be sure of my answer.
Some LMS's let you set up and load content inside the LMS itself. Others permit that plus use of servers outside the LMS. Some let you use separate servers and will even load content on them for you from the LMS.
Personally, I would never use a network drive for hosting content. These are usually file servers and don't normally have web servers on them. Plus you often run into permission and security issues if some learners do not have permission to access the network drive: such courses may not launch for them.
ALWAYS use a server with web server software on it, either with or separate from the LMS.
A separate content server (one with a web server on it) from the LMS has advantages. If you ever need to access the server for non-LMS content or other reasons, that might be advantageous. Plus if non-IT folks need to access content or do other things directly on the server, it's best content be on a server outside the LMS. Best not to have non-IT folks rummaging around on your LMS server.
Another advantage in having a separate content server(s) is taking some of the load off of the LMS. Besides normal LMS operations, the LMS server doesn't have to deliver content (though with this you have to watch if the LMS had a timeout set for inactive sessions from learners--fortunately, Storyline has a way to keep the session alive--every 10 minutes it automatically "pings" the LMS.)
You want to avoid the LMS thinking the learner is inactive and them logs them off, while the separate content server keeps delivering content to the learner--the completion may not get recorded then.
One disadvantage with separate content servers, however, could be cross domain issues. If if the LMS and the content server are in the same company and network, sometimes you still see cross domain issues. Articulate has a solution for that with AICC.
SCORM can be tricky sometimes with a separate content server. For Saba, we had to install some extra Saba SCORM server software on our content servers. Saba likes to have SCORM content on its LMS servers so the extra server software "fooled" Saba into thinking the SCORM content is coming from itself to the learner, when in reality it's coming from other server(s). This software also worked through any cross domain issues.
This extra Saba server software was a little tricky for our IT folks to set up. But they got it working eventually.
We actually had many separate servers for content. All these servers mainly did was deliver e-learning content:
One server was for AICC and regular HTML content for testing by developers and admins with our test Saba LMS system (courses always had to be tested before being set up in production).
Three servers were load-balanced "as one server" for AICC and regular HTML content for our production LMS to better handle loads. (P.S. We got AICC working long before we got SCORM working because of Saba's special set up.) With load-balancing, one had one URL and the load balancer would deliver content to the learner from the least busy content server. Also, if one server goes down, content still gets delivered.
Then we had one SCORM test server with use with our test LMS.
And one server for SCORM content with our production LMS.
At first, these were all physical servers. By the time I left this was virtual servers. Everything worked well.
Hi, has any one had experience with publishing storyline in Oracle Learning Management system (we are in the process of changing learner management systems
I am trying to load a learning object created in story line to Oracle Learning Management system (OLM). However all I can get is the OLM to play the content by pointing to the start-up file "story.html"
However the learning course has an assessment built into it and needs to be tracked, therefore I have pointed the start-up file to "index_lms.html" however this only gives me a error 404 or "Error - unable to acquire LMS API, content may not play properly and results may not be recorded. Please contact technical support"
If you receive an "Unable to acquire LMS API" error when launching Articulate content in your LMS, this may be caused by the version of Java that you have installed.
Some LMS’s use a Java API object to load content. Since content created in Articulate does not require Java, please do the following:
* Contact your LMS provider and ensure that your installed version of Java is compatible with the version of the LMS you are using. * Ensure that you have published your content properly as described in the following article.
If this issue persists, make the following modification to your player template, and test your content again:
Go to Home > Player > Other, and deselect "Launch player in new window"
You may also want to try testing your course in SCORM Cloud to help us determine if the issue is Articulate-related or if it's on your LMS's side. If it appears in SCORM Cloud as well, we'd be happy to take a closer look at what might be going on, and you can share your file here in the forums by attaching it with the paperclip icon or I can always send you directions to share with me privately. If you can't replicate the issue in SCORM Cloud, it's probably an issue that you'd want to take to your LMS team. The articles here and here may also help clear up common LMS issues.
13 Replies
Jeanette,
The trial version is fully functional and the output should work. Are you publishing with the LMS option?
Also, you'll want to make sure that you point your LMS to the correct file. (index_lms.html)
Hope this helps!
Mike
Mike - thanks for the quick reply.
I'm sure it is my method that is getting in my way. I did use the publish to LMS option, and the output files are in a network folder on our Intranet.
For our current online courses (currently using Captivate) we have only used the option within Oracle LMS to launch from a URL (we are not importing files into the LMS)
After I published, I chose the option to view my course and copied the URL from that output into the content object in Oracle. The URL works fine on its own, but will not launch when I enroll and try to play it from Oracle.
Should the URL have "index_lms.html" in it somewhere? Can you tell I'm not an IT person?
Hmmm...
I'm outside my expertise on this one. Are you tracking the results then? Or just launching the course? If just launching the course, then you could use the story.html file to launch.
In either case, the URL should contain either the story.html or the index_lms.html file. This is what will launch it for you.
But only the index_lms.html file will load the needed code for SCORM or AICC tracking.
My org is at the very beginning stages of integrating elearning with Oracle Learning Mgt. What we have done so far in Captivate has been very rudimentary (courses point to a URL and complete on launch). Eventually we do want to be able to test and track and keep more accurate training records in the LMS.
Right now I just need to verify that Articulate will play nice with Oracle, but I haven't yet been able to achieve that. I can see through this forum that others use OLM with Storyline, but I can't seem to replicate their success. URLs that work fine on their own do not launch from OLM.
The current URL ends with "story.html" and I assume that the "index_lms.html" is something that would have to be imported into the LMS, is that correct?
Gerry, it sounds like we will not get the tracking functionality we seek just by pointing to a URL, we will need to import the index file?
Just getting started here, so thanks again for providing guidance.
Good questions, Jeanette.
I don't know a lot about the Oracle LMS. Most of my experience is with Saba and a couple of other LMS's. Don't know how you load or refer to content into the Oracle LMS.
Saba has a similar feature it sounds--where you can launch "regular" HTML content and get passing credit just by launching the training. For this with Storyline, you'd want to use the story.html as your launch file. In Saba, the content could be anywhere on a web server (or you could load it into Saba)--you just enter the launch URL pointing to story.html in Saba.
Personally, I was never a big fan of using that (i.e., launch a course and you get a completion). I'm more old school--a completion should be earned.
For that, you need to publish Storyline courses to LMS and a "learning standard"--either AICC, SCORM, or Tin Can (if your LMS supports that last new learning standard). The learning standard defines how content and the LMS communicate together.
When published to those standards the course determines completion and passes it on to the LMS, or works with the LMS to determine completion, be it by viewing so much content or by passing a final quiz.
Such Storyline courses use index_lms.html as their launch file. With that, at launch, some things are set up and then the AICC or SCORM or Tin Can code gets loaded that's lets the content "talk to" and "report back" to the LMS. Then story.html gets launched for viewing the content.
Your entire published Storyline course needs to be stored somewhere, be it on the LMS or on web servers outside the LMS (if the LMS supports that).
We used AICC and SCORM 1.2 with Saba. For SCORM, we loaded the content (as a zip file) into Saba itself and it determined the launch URL from the zip package (specifically, from the imsmanifest.xml file, where the launch file is indicated). For AICC, we placed content on separate servers and then figured out the URLs and then entered that into Saba, either as one URL or by use of the four AICC files that are sometimes used for AICC integration.
You need to take all this slow and sometimes "baby-step" it. Lots of new concepts, operations and options to grasp. I was overwhelmed at first but eventually "got it."
Baby steps is right. I actually got the course to launch by tweaking the URL a few times based upon what you all said above. I agree with you and I don't like the "get credit just for launching the course" idea either. That'll be the next hurdle.
At least I can show a basic product that launches from OLM now.
I'll work on the SCORM and tracking issue next.
Thanks for the encouragement.
NP!
If you encounter any issues with Storyline, be sure to come back and post. This place is "happily rife"
with very friendly and helpful folks.
P.S. "Launch and complete" has one advantage--it probably works most--if not all--the time in recording completions. AICC and SCORM courses often have issues due to the more complex needs of the content and LMS having to work together properly and the network delivering things back and forth properly.
More "hair pulling" issues sometimes with this route (AICC, SCORM) . After integrations with other systems, the biggest issue with LMS implementations and on-going operations is usually content issues--i.e., getting the e-learning content and LMS to play nice together. But if you want to increase the likelihood of people actually learning something with the training, it is usually worth the troubles.
One final, perhaps dumb question.
Right now, we do not have a "content server" associated with our LMS, onto which I can import the full array of files, including the all-important "index_lms.html".
I am publishing the Storyline files to a network drive and pointing the URL toward the "story.html" file.
True or false: Without a dedicated content server where we can actually upload the SCORM files, we will not be able to fully track the courses.
Thanks, again!
No question is dumb . . . the only thing that might be dumb is not asking a question.
Again, I don't know your LMS to be sure of my answer.
Some LMS's let you set up and load content inside the LMS itself. Others permit that plus use of servers outside the LMS. Some let you use separate servers and will even load content on them for you from the LMS.
Personally, I would never use a network drive for hosting content. These are usually file servers and don't normally have web servers on them. Plus you often run into permission and security issues if some learners do not have permission to access the network drive: such courses may not launch for them.
ALWAYS use a server with web server software on it, either with or separate from the LMS.
A separate content server (one with a web server on it) from the LMS has advantages. If you ever need to access the server for non-LMS content or other reasons, that might be advantageous. Plus if non-IT folks need to access content or do other things directly on the server, it's best content be on a server outside the LMS. Best not to have non-IT folks rummaging around on your LMS server.
Another advantage in having a separate content server(s) is taking some of the load off of the LMS. Besides normal LMS operations, the LMS server doesn't have to deliver content (though with this you have to watch if the LMS had a timeout set for inactive sessions from learners--fortunately, Storyline has a way to keep the session alive--every 10 minutes it automatically "pings" the LMS.)
You want to avoid the LMS thinking the learner is inactive and them logs them off, while the separate content server keeps delivering content to the learner--the completion may not get recorded then.
One disadvantage with separate content servers, however, could be cross domain issues. If if the LMS and the content server are in the same company and network, sometimes you still see cross domain issues. Articulate has a solution for that with AICC.
SCORM can be tricky sometimes with a separate content server. For Saba, we had to install some extra Saba SCORM server software on our content servers. Saba likes to have SCORM content on its LMS servers so the extra server software "fooled" Saba into thinking the SCORM content is coming from itself to the learner, when in reality it's coming from other server(s). This software also worked through any cross domain issues.
This extra Saba server software was a little tricky for our IT folks to set up. But they got it working eventually.
We actually had many separate servers for content. All these servers mainly did was deliver e-learning content:
At first, these were all physical servers. By the time I left this was virtual servers. Everything worked well.
Hope this is not too complex. Helping?
Thanks for taking the time to put together such a thoughtful response.
Though it's a little out of my scope, this will be great info to share with my IT folks as we move forward.
Hi, has any one had experience with publishing storyline in Oracle Learning Management system (we are in the process of changing learner management systems
I am trying to load a learning object created in story line to Oracle Learning Management system (OLM). However all I can get is the OLM to play the content by pointing to the start-up file "story.html"
However the learning course has an assessment built into it and needs to be tracked, therefore I have pointed the start-up file to "index_lms.html" however this only gives me a error 404 or "Error - unable to acquire LMS API, content may not play properly and results may not be recorded. Please contact technical support"
Please help if you can
Thanks
Darren
Hi Darren and welcome to Heroes!
If you receive an "Unable to acquire LMS API" error when launching Articulate content in your LMS, this may be caused by the version of Java that you have installed.
Some LMS’s use a Java API object to load content. Since content created in Articulate does not require Java, please do the following:
* Contact your LMS provider and ensure that your installed version of Java is compatible with the version of the LMS you are using.
* Ensure that you have published your content properly as described in the following article.
If this issue persists, make the following modification to your player template, and test your content again:
Go to Home > Player > Other, and deselect "Launch player in new window"
You may also want to try testing your course in SCORM Cloud to help us determine if the issue is Articulate-related or if it's on your LMS's side. If it appears in SCORM Cloud as well, we'd be happy to take a closer look at what might be going on, and you can share your file here in the forums by attaching it with the paperclip icon or I can always send you directions to share with me privately. If you can't replicate the issue in SCORM Cloud, it's probably an issue that you'd want to take to your LMS team. The articles here and here may also help clear up common LMS issues.
Hope that helps!
This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.