Free Downloads: What Does The Community Need?

GREAT idea- and I plan on contributing.  Here are a few I can think of:

As always, core graphic items that would apply to many situations:

• icons
• characters
• backgrounds

I think the biggest challenge is when there are decent graphics, but not deep enough a set for coordinating across a large set of courses or screens.

Interaction designs that can be adapted for many situations are also great:

• tabs interactions
• diagram interactions
• timeline interactions
• chart interactions
• video player (nod to David A's recent template)
• branching scenario interactions
• game interactions (maybe a bit more than a tarted up quiz with a Jeopardy style skin- some real decent games- we've seen some solid examples built by the community)
• Custom UI/Nav may be another area (I've done a few), but I think the most likely areas for custom UI to really benefits is something designed specifically for smaller mobile devices.

Some are these listed are fairly simple to think up a great design and make flexible for interaction, but as things become more complex, it is hard to build something that may be flexible enough for wide application.

The last thing I can think of- and this is getting into the "wicked problems/opportunity" zones are features and functionality templates- like Stephanie H's Notes interaction (I've used that one more than once), and a few of the progress meter/interactive chart type interactions I have seen that take custom inputs from a file and render the data.  Any time you really need to get under the hood and adapt variables, it's another level, but honestly, these are the requests I see the most from businesses.

Count me in- you will see some items being offered up in the next few months (going to split off and genericize some items I have in development with a major project).

David is on fire! I've got a few in the pipeline as well.

I have to agree with David on all his points - such a detailed response. I would like to see the progress meter and interactive chart type interactions - I think these are extremely helpful for the end user particularly when developing career development resources.  Also I think templates developed similar to the Comstar wellness program would be helpful - clean, fresh simple user interfaces for the end user.

Alternative Articulate Player Templates anyone? :)

I'd like to see some interesting treatments for tables.

Yep, digging under the hood with an SDK would be nice. :)

Another great idea Nancy. I built an interactive table for a client once. I should pull it out of that course and see if I can make a re-usable template from it. 

That would be great Kevin. I am working on something now that has  bunch of tables and looking for fresh ways to present the info while still retaining the table format.

Rigger Mortis by Jerson Campos is extraordinary! The Storyline is awesome/lucid and can be mutated easily. Scenario templates would be extremely helpful :)

I just did a count and I have over 500 Storyline files that I have downloaded over time from this generous community. The problem, of course, is that I am overwhelmed and find it difficult to find a file that could be useful in developing a project I might be working on. It would be wonderful to have a utility that would organize Storyline files with a viewer and notation ability. To illustrate more concretely what I mean, see the attached picture which represents the choices inside the 'Top interactions' template. Perhaps I should start on a Storyline project that does this - although it would be very time-consuming indeed. In my dream world, perhaps Articulate could provide such a utility as a Storyline add-on. Anyway, just my two cents worth.

Hey Kevin, ever thought of creating your own templates that you can access your files similar to the screenshot you shared?

I've done this for larger projects where there were a lot of interactions and quiz slides that all needed the same look/feel as the course. 

• Open one .story file interaction you have
• Insert .story file as a new slide
• Keep adding until you have a dozen or so
• Save As .storytemplate

This will automatically load that 'scene' in the dropdown selection when inserting a new "Basic Layout" for slides. Now just skim through your interactions and select the one you want for a new project you're working on.

@David Glow - AWESOME! Thanks for your detailed response, and that great list of ideas. 

@Nancy - Thanks for sharing your ideas! You may already know these exist but in case you don't I have posted several interactive table templates, as well as a few articles about it:

• Article: Use interactive tables to spice up your e-learning!
• Download: Business template with interactive table
• Download: Simple clean designed interactive table
• Download: Elegant table with interactive columns

I'll try to create some more along those lines.

Thanks all, keep the ideas coming!

I'd like to see some game interactions :))

@Ashi - thanks for the compliment. I'm glad you like the Rigger Mortis story so much even though I felt like I rushed it a bit. 

Another item that some might find useful are documents that may help ID's with their workflow. Something like a spreadsheet that tracks version history, assets, track change requests from clients and other items during development. 

Great idea, Kevin!

Thanks a lot, Kevin, for that suggestion. I'm going to give it a try as it would accomplish much of what I wanted to have.

I would love a 'submitted by users' category. So that all freebies get collected. I know this isn't the case in the current downloads section and I'm pretty sure there are some hidden gems out there.

Since graphics is something many developers struggle with you might want to supply some of those. I recently stumbled across the super clean icon set in the downloads and they are amazing. Icons, User interface examples and that kind of stuff would be great for quick course development. I know you have some amazing designers working for Articulate, lets bring them to the party!

Hi - I haven't done a lot of looking around yet but I would really love to get some images that have corresponding states - Things like Door open & door closed. That kind of thing would be super useful. Thanks!

Not sure if this qualifies but some help with javascript/codinng downloads would very helpful. This is one feature of SL that is underexploited because most people do not have the requisite knowledge.

As a Captivate user, I'm envious of the strong community you folks have built here. Adobe just expects everyone to pick up the next iteration as if it is a sure thing. Finding it's mere mention in the Adobe.com website is a chore without going to their search function.  While I love the tool, the online support for it compared to in here is just embarrassing.

If Articulate offered a monthly subscription? I'd be on that like white on rice. But now? It's just too cost prohibitive for me to get a license for (and I've already expended my trial).

Seriously Articulate. Open it up to monthly licensing. You'd have a flood of subscribers/converts. Including yours truly.  Pretty please?

Agree with the comment about Comstar.  I would have loved to download a template with a similar web design clean UI and different interactions within.