Web Object Issues

Jul 08, 2016

While I love the possibility of using WebObjects to extend SL functionality with all sorts of tools (code, documents, etc), I’m running into a few limiting problems. I also want to confirm a few assumptions. Perhaps others could share their knowledge and expertise and let us know if these are known issues. Or maybe there are best-practices, solutions, or other work-arounds for these issues:

  1. When I right click on the WebObject in Storyline and open it, the url containing WebObject ID (for example: file:///C:/Users/xxx/AppData/Local/Temp/Articulate/Storyline/6CRQ1oF0VLS/zip/6GnVjV3pyK7/index.html) does not match the WebObject ID in the published WebObject folder in story_content. It looks like Articulate creates a temporary number in the “preview”/open mode. Just wondering about this discrepancy. Any insight?
  2. If I update a file (for example, a js file) that is contained in the folder that I point to when I insert the WebObject and republish, Storyline does not seem to recapture the changes on the edited (js) file. The only way to get Storyline to see the updated file is to delete the WebObject and insert it again. However, that renders a new WebObject ID, which is not ideal when using that number in other places. Is this a known issue? Is there another way to get Storyline to recapture the contents of the WebObject folder without inserting in a whole new WebObject?
  3. Is it possible to replace a WebObject post-publish? For example, could I replace a pdf in the story_content/WebObjects folder and see the new version in the project? When I tested this, it didn’t seem possible. I'm guessing that SL doesn't actually pull files from this folder at run-time...
  4. If I publish a SL file with a different name, this also seems to render a new WebObject ID number. Is this also a known issue?

 

2 Replies
Leslie McKerchie

Hi Caroline!

Web Objects cannot be properly previewed in Storyline as you can see in this tutorial. The objects would be packaged up once you publish the course if added properly as shown in the documentation.

To update/edit a web object, please be sure to follow the guidelines in this tutorial.

You may find that your Articulate Storyline content doesn't update as expected in the following scenario:
  • You're hosting content on a web server or LMS.
  • You republish the content and overwrite the existing files on the web server or LMS.
This is due to file caching. See this article for solutions.
 
We do not support the modification of published output and would recommend editing as shared above.
 
Perhaps I'm not following your last statement. What issue does this cause you to have?
Daniel Bolia

Hi Matt,

Looking for solutions on the forum sometimes makes me feel like I'm prospecting for gold. You go panning for it, you may find gold or you may come up empty-handed. 

Finding this nugget of information about recapturing WebObject contents without losing the original WebObject ID is like striking GOLD in a big way that makes all the efforts spent looking for the information worth its weight in gold.

I want to THANK YOU for providing the many nuggets of gold to this forum over the years.

Dan

This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.