A simple problem, but is there a fix? I have attached 'Resources' (i.e; a PDF reference document) in the Player of my .story. At first I thought it wasn't launching the document, but when I closed the ICW I found the PDF document had launched multiple times behind the ICW player 'making it seem like' the Resource was not opening. How do I get any 'Resource' (reference document) to open in front of the Player so that the learner knows it's open and can be reviewed?
I'm not sure I'm clear on what you mean by ICW player (perhaps it's just the end of a long day!) but if you wanted to clarify that may help us point you in the right direction. You may also want to look at testing this on different machines to see how they behave, as I suspect it may be a machine specific or browser specific in terms of how the link is opening. The CD published output is viewed in a player that is based off of Internet Explorer so you may want to look at the settings there.
Here's what's happening... I have a published a CD version of a course. The learner launches the course. When they open the "Resources" tab in the upper right of the player, a list of references appears in a dropdown list. When the learner clicks on a PDF document, no document appears to open (as if the resource document is not accessible). After exiting the course, the PDF document was actually opened behind the courseware, not on top where it would be accessible. Of course there are work-arounds like telling the learners to minimize the browser window, drag it to another screen if they have two, etc., but the work-around is not the experience I want to deliver as part of the training.
I don't normally use the built in Player 'Resources' function so I'm unfamiliar with exactly how it was going to work. I think you bring up a valid point about trying it on another machine. In preview, I had no issue with it, but one reviewer using a 'Published' version this course did, which is actually a different problem.
If the Resources function of the player is sensitive to something in the browser, it's action essentially is unpredictable (from the learners perspective), I may have to rethink using this feature. Since this course will be distributed, and I cannot control browser settings in each learners computer, it won't make a difference if I know the cause of the issue or not, it's action will remain unpredictable from computer to computer.
I'm disappointed. i recommend Articulate post a glaringly obvious warning about the limitations of this feature and specifically what the required browser setting are to make it work correctly as to have Resources always appear on top of the browser.
This may be no issue in a controlled computer classroom, given the specific proper browser configuration settings are known.
Thanks. I originally built a Reference Library this way (a pop-up from the
Master Slide), not using the built in Player function. The Player function
was much neater. I obviously have to rethink this.
As designed (in SL2), I concur, there is no way I can fix from a developers
perspective, but I highly recommend Articulate correct this problem. Seems
silly to have malfunctioning capability, or a capability that if used, will
only frustrate the learner. How many developers will use this function
only to discover the same issue?
I'm 3 courses in before discovering this issue, now I have to go back in
and create a fix for each one. I have at least 3 more course that require
the same capability. I'm going to have to build some easy to access
reference library back into my template on the Master Slide.
5 Replies
Hi Art,
I'm not sure I'm clear on what you mean by ICW player (perhaps it's just the end of a long day!) but if you wanted to clarify that may help us point you in the right direction. You may also want to look at testing this on different machines to see how they behave, as I suspect it may be a machine specific or browser specific in terms of how the link is opening. The CD published output is viewed in a player that is based off of Internet Explorer so you may want to look at the settings there.
Thanks Ashley.
Here's what's happening... I have a published a CD version of a course. The learner launches the course. When they open the "Resources" tab in the upper right of the player, a list of references appears in a dropdown list. When the learner clicks on a PDF document, no document appears to open (as if the resource document is not accessible). After exiting the course, the PDF document was actually opened behind the courseware, not on top where it would be accessible. Of course there are work-arounds like telling the learners to minimize the browser window, drag it to another screen if they have two, etc., but the work-around is not the experience I want to deliver as part of the training.
I don't normally use the built in Player 'Resources' function so I'm unfamiliar with exactly how it was going to work. I think you bring up a valid point about trying it on another machine. In preview, I had no issue with it, but one reviewer using a 'Published' version this course did, which is actually a different problem.
If the Resources function of the player is sensitive to something in the browser, it's action essentially is unpredictable (from the learners perspective), I may have to rethink using this feature. Since this course will be distributed, and I cannot control browser settings in each learners computer, it won't make a difference if I know the cause of the issue or not, it's action will remain unpredictable from computer to computer.
I'm disappointed. i recommend Articulate post a glaringly obvious warning about the limitations of this feature and specifically what the required browser setting are to make it work correctly as to have Resources always appear on top of the browser.
This may be no issue in a controlled computer classroom, given the specific proper browser configuration settings are known.
Thanks Again!
Hi Art!
I see the same behavior that you are reporting, but there is not a way within the software to change this behavior.
I did test this method and it works as you wish and the resources open in the fore-front of my project when testing.
Hopefully this will assist you.
Thanks. I originally built a Reference Library this way (a pop-up from the
Master Slide), not using the built in Player function. The Player function
was much neater. I obviously have to rethink this.
As designed (in SL2), I concur, there is no way I can fix from a developers
perspective, but I highly recommend Articulate correct this problem. Seems
silly to have malfunctioning capability, or a capability that if used, will
only frustrate the learner. How many developers will use this function
only to discover the same issue?
I'm 3 courses in before discovering this issue, now I have to go back in
and create a fix for each one. I have at least 3 more course that require
the same capability. I'm going to have to build some easy to access
reference library back into my template on the Master Slide.
Thanks for the help!
Art
I understand Art. I would encourage you to share your thoughts with our product development team here as well.
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