I would like to know whats a good way to share .ppta files. We now have a developer in NY and we want her to use articulate to create and modify content. I would like to know how can we share .ppta files, audio files etc. Would a solution like dropbox work. Most of my current .ppta files are under 100Mb. I dont mind a subscription service if it works well.
When you want another developer to work on a course, it's important that you give them not only the PPTA file, but also the corresponding PowerPoint file and any Engage and Quizmaker files that are part of the course. Also, the PPTA and PowerPoint file always need to be kept in the same folder together, and the two files shouldn't be renamed (their filenames should be exactly the same; only their extensions should be different).
A shared folder in Dropbox is a nice way to go, but the challenge with that is, if you keep your active projects in a shared folder, there's always the risk that two people might open the same project at the same time, which can create conflicted copies and result in a bit of a mess.
Our team uses Dropbox a lot, and here's what we typically do:
The original designer creates a course on their local hard drive, in an unshared folder.
If they need to share that course with another designer, they create an Articulate Package and place it in a shared Dropbox folder. The package file contains the PowerPoint, PPTA file, and any Engage interactions and Quizmaker quizzes that are part of the course.
If there are source files associated with that course that a colleague might need, such as audio, video, font files, etc, we typically zip those separately and place them in the shared folder alongside the Articulate package.
Another designer who has access to that shared folder can then copy the files to a local folder on their own hard drive, unzip the package, and make changes to the course.
One approach that I like is to rename the zip file when I create an Articulate Package, and use that for versioning. For example if I create an Articulate package and it's called SafetyCourse_package.zip, I might rename the file as SafetyCourse_package_01-18-2012.zip if I'm creating daily versioning/backup files. Or maybe something like SafetyCourse_package_pilotversion.zip if I were basing the versioning on project milestones such as pilot dates, review dates, etc.
As far as numbering, we don't really get into a complex version-numbering scheme with the stuff we build. You might try starting a new thread in the forums to ask for community input on that specific topic - you'd probably get some helpful ideas!
3 Replies
Hi Payal!
When you want another developer to work on a course, it's important that you give them not only the PPTA file, but also the corresponding PowerPoint file and any Engage and Quizmaker files that are part of the course. Also, the PPTA and PowerPoint file always need to be kept in the same folder together, and the two files shouldn't be renamed (their filenames should be exactly the same; only their extensions should be different).
A shared folder in Dropbox is a nice way to go, but the challenge with that is, if you keep your active projects in a shared folder, there's always the risk that two people might open the same project at the same time, which can create conflicted copies and result in a bit of a mess.
Our team uses Dropbox a lot, and here's what we typically do:
Thanks Jeanette,
This is exactly what I need. This helps. Can you also share your version numbering scheme. It will help us define our own versioning scheme as well.
Regards,
Payal
One approach that I like is to rename the zip file when I create an Articulate Package, and use that for versioning. For example if I create an Articulate package and it's called SafetyCourse_package.zip, I might rename the file as SafetyCourse_package_01-18-2012.zip if I'm creating daily versioning/backup files. Or maybe something like SafetyCourse_package_pilotversion.zip if I were basing the versioning on project milestones such as pilot dates, review dates, etc.
As far as numbering, we don't really get into a complex version-numbering scheme with the stuff we build. You might try starting a new thread in the forums to ask for community input on that specific topic - you'd probably get some helpful ideas!
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