Resources / Reference Materials Error Message

I would think that the executable should have worked, but are you able to test the web publish by uploading it to Articulate's tempshare?  http://tempshare.articulate.com/

just ensure the files are present in the story_content\external_files folder.

it should run when hosted on server.

Thanks for your thoughts so far, Brian and Hardeep. 

Brian - I didn't know there was an area in Articulate to test courses.  I'll have to check that out.

Hardeep - I just checked that folder and the files are NOT in there (in fact, nothing is).  Should I just copy and paste them in there to get them to work? 

I would just try publishing for web (or LMS) and then check and see if the files are in the story_content\external_files folder.

HI Corey,

I'd agree that testing in the intended environment is the best option to ensure that everything is working correctly. If you've added the files to your Resources tab they should be in the folder as Brian mentioned.

As far as using Tempshare, it's a great tool created by one of our staff during a hackathon (forever ago!) but it still works really well. It's just not officially supported and courses will disappear after 10 days. There are a few other options mentioned in this article. 

Thanks for that info, Ashley and Brian. 

I went back to Storyline, deleted the docs, and then re-uploaded them from another location on my C-drive.  In the process, I also shortened their names and removed any characters that might cause a snag (like the "&" symbol).  I then republished the executable (just to see if it might work before I publish to LMS or the web), and sure enough, the resources all work now.  So, I'm not sure which step corrected it (placing and accessing the docs from a new location or changing their names), but I'm back in business!

Back in business is what we like to here. The items you mentioned in terms of file name, path, location, etc. are also documented here in regards to best practices for working on project files. 

Well, I think I spoke too soon.  I'd uploaded 5 docs to the Reference Materials (Resources) section of my course.  3 pdfs and 2 excel files.  The pdfs are working fine, but the excel docs won't actually open.  I get an error message stating that they cannot be found...  What's really weird is that they're sitting in the exact same folder on my C-drive as the pdfs  - - - and don't have any weird characters in their names.   Frustrating!  Any ideas? 

Thanks,

Corey

After publishing have you verified that your Excel documents are in the story_content\external_files folder?  Definitely check this before uploading for web testing...  If the documents are not located in that folder after publishing you may need to submit a ticket with Articulate support to see what's going on.

Thanks, Brian.  This time, I did - - - and they're in there!  Might it be an issue because they're excel docs?   I checked another course that I'd worked on yesterday and all the resources launched fine, but none of them were excel docs.  Whaddya think?

Could be a couple of things... It's possible that the server you're uploading them to does not allow excel documents, and they're being excluded from your upload (although I doubt this).

Another possibility is that Excel isn't set up as a mime type for your server?  I've never heard of this, but it used to occasionally happen with certain types of video files... again, this is probably not the issue.

Most likely the issue is that you're running into a browser problem of some kind.  Have you tried it with different browsers, if so is it happening with all of them?

Just brainstorming, though...  I've never run into this problem, but hopefully someone here in the community has and can provide a little more of a concrete solution.

Thanks, Brian.  Not sure what's up.  Wondering if others have run into a reference doc excel issue too.  I'm uploading them exactly as I had the pdfs.  Hopefully the Articulate staff can advise.

Hi Corey!

It's been a while since I've seen someone mention this issue.

It could be the server mime type as Brian mentioned or perhaps it's the browser you're viewing in as I know users previously reported issues with IE related to this.

Check out this thread for reference and let me know if any of that assists you.

Hi Corey,

Sorry for my delay here - and I see Leslie shared information with you as well. I did want to double check, are you running into this issue or another user? If it's another user you'll also want to make sure they have Excel installed - as they'll need the correct software to open each file type. I personally have tested with Excel docs before, so I know that they've worked recently - if you're still running into issues after double checking what Leslie and I shared - let us know! 

Hi Ashley.  Yes, it's me as I test the courses before sharing with my business partner and eventually uploading them to my company's LMS.

Update - When I click on an excel doc in the Resources section, it prompts me to either open, save, or save as.  If I try to open it, I get an error message.  If I save it to a folder on my C-drive, it does so and I CAN open the doc without any problem.  That's promising, but I obviously want the learner to be able to open it immediately upon clicking it in the Resources section of the course.

It sounds like a browser or browser setting issue.  Have you tried in different browsers, or have you tried from a different computer or work station?

I'd also look into your browser settings - the options to download or save files will be specific to the browser set up. Did you try in a different browser as well? 

Thanks, Brian.  Nope, not yet.  Since I'm the course developer, I've only tried it on my laptop.

It's easy to install an alternate browser on your laptop for testing, if you don't have one installed on it already.  I normally test in both IE (newest version) and Chrome.

If you have separate work and home laptops you may be able to use both machines for testing, or you may do what I do sometimes and phone a friend :)

Good luck

Also note, if you're testing using the new Microsoft Edge browser, that Storyline output has not been optimized yet for Edge, so there are no guarantees that all the features will work.

If you are on a Windows 10 machine using Edge, the good news is that IE 11 is installed, you just have to dig thru the apps list to find it.

Thanks, Brian.  I guess I'll look into that on Monday.  Have a great weekend!

Storyline 2 Flash content is supported in the Edge browser. 

I stand corrected, thanks Ashley, didn't know that this had changed.

No worries Brian - just Storyline 2 though, not Storyline 1 as it's not supported in  Windows 10.