Sending results via email

Jul 16, 2015

Hi. I'm working on a project where I want to send results via email to one email address.

I would be capturing three variables to be displayed on the email: name, email address and results. The user would be inputting the first two through input text fields. The results would be coming from a quiz they'll take. The email will be sent to only one email address.

Is there an easy way to do this?

I understand this is possible in HTML5 using JavaScript but it could have problems with Flash. However, I can't control what platform users would use to access the file. Would it be possible to work around that limit?It would be up on a server, not an LMS.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

28 Replies
Jan Vilbrandt

Hi Chelsea,

sorry, there is no easy way.

Of course you can can write some JavaScript that will create an E-Mail like the one you want to have.

But: this E-Mail will not be sent automatically but manually by the user. There will be enough users who will not send this mail because of many different reasons. Sent mails will contain text that will maybe differ from the text you had originally written into the mailbody, because the user can change this text bevore sending the mail.

Or: you can use some asyncrone JavaScript (AJAX) to send an E-Mail, but you need a server with a mail-sending program (e.g. Apache-Server with php and it's function "mail()").

Anyway: there is no simple working way of sending that kind of E-Mail.

Cheers,

Jan 

P.S. You may want to take a look at this thread:

https://community.articulate.com/discussions/articulate-storyline/javascript-can-i-pull-text-from-a-text-box-into-an-email#

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Chelsea,

Storyline doesn't include an email results feature as detailed here, so you'll want to look at using a method such as those mentioned in the thread Jan linked to - and there are a few other similar threads in the forums. Also, I did want to point out the information here on some Javascript best practices to help you setting up the Javascript. 

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Shay and AH,

We want every feature in our software to work well. Unfortunately, there’s no way to email quiz results easily, accurately, and consistently.

For example, if you use Gmail or your computer’s security settings are high, you can’t email results. Also, you run the risk of learners tampering with results since they can access the email before it’s sent.

Given these limitations, we decided not to include the email results feature in new products.

Íde O'Neill

Hi Asheyl

I would love to see Articulate developers work on a solution for this query.

Would it be possible for the results to be forwarded as a db or excel file to a designated email address that is hidden in a trigger thereby maintaining the integrity of the content and results ?

It would be really useful for my purposes.

Thanks.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Ide,

I know that folks have done similar using Javascript and reported it to an excel or database. Since the calculation and tracking of results is something that can be handled by an  Learning Management System (LMS) we've deferred to that set up. 

Do you have an LMS to host your courses in? 

Íde O'Neill

Hi Ashley

I have been using an LMS and the tracking is good.  However, at times, I find that the uploading of scorm packages can be a little cumbersome.  Also some learners have experienced screen freeze so, I am looking in to swifter alternatives which would not involve the use of an LMS but where results would be emailed automatically.

I'll keep looking! :-)

Thanks for your help again.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Mohun,

Unfortunately, there’s no way to email quiz results easily, accurately, and consistently.

For example, if you use Gmail or your computer’s security settings are high, you can’t email results. Also, you run the risk of learners tampering with results since they can access the email before it’s sent. Given these limitations, we've decided not to include the email results feature in Articulate products.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi AH,

I'm not that familiar with iSpring - does it send it directly from the program or do you host your content within their site? The latter is a much easier lift, and we're able to send similar emails using Articulate Online. We don't support sending the quiz results and if you've hosted on a  Learning Management System (LMS) - it's often a feature within an LMS.

Thao Madsen

Ashley,

We are hosting the training content online. Are we able to set up a "Submit to Email" button in SL3 where learners can submit an end evaluation form directly to a preset email address (evaluation form example attached)? If so, could you provide the process to do this? Thanks!

-Thao

Tim Whitehouse

Would also love to see the option to have quiz summary results sent to an email.

iSpring has this feature, which is setup in quiz settings and properties, it will send an email to both the student and the instructor (or selected email address). Does not need to be attached to an LMS for this to occur.