Forum Discussion
Are articulateusercontent links permanent?
Hi all,
I'm adding pdfs to a learning module. We dislike the look of the attachment blocks - they're very clunky. We'd like to add text links inside text blocks. I'm using a suggestion from elsewhere in this forum and it works but I have questions.
We're adding the attachment block, right click copying the url and using the url in a text link. Then we delete the ugly block.
1. This all works, but the url produced by the edit function looks temporary, not permanent. Are articulateusercontent links persistent? How long will they last?
2. Secondly, when you upload a new version of the same pdf, it seems to create a new url. This is an updating nightmare as has been discussed here before. Is there any way to overwrite a pdf file instead of creating a new link?
Thanks in advance,
Neroli
6 Replies
Hello NeroliW,
Happy to help!
The links generated when files are stored in "articulateusercontent" are only temporary. We don't know precisely how long the files stay inside that temporary storage (they are deleted within 24 hours) after an attachment block is deleted, but the links will eventually become invalid. Based on your use case, we recommend you upload your files to a file server instead to make the links permanent. Alternatively, you can host the files on Amazon S3. Lastly, there isn't a way to prevent the links from changing when you upload a new file version. Using a file server or hosting your files on Amazon S3 should address all these issues.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Hi Jose,
Thanks so much for your speedy and informative reply.
That's what I was concerned about. It's hard to describe to someone who doesn't do a lot of building.
Your answer is very clear and backed by Articulate. I'll take it back to my superdupervisor. He'll be thrilled lol. It's better to accept it now than to have things break once they're deployed.
There are several posts in this community that suggest usercontent as a workaround. At first I thought, 'Great!'. Then I thought it over. I hate to think of the confusion when things stop working.
Anyway, thank you so much again.
Neroli xxxHi Jose,
I do have another question.
Does leaving the Attachment block in the course get around this problem by including the PDFs in the SCORM package?
That would create links inside the host domain wouldn't it?
Thanks again,Neroli
Hi NeroliW!
Glad to see Joe has been helping you. Happy to jump in here!
Uploading a PDF to an Attachment Block, then publishing to LMS with the Block still included, will preserve access to the PDF for future learners. As you've shared, the PDF will be included in the 'assets' folder within the published output.
However, when publishing to LMS, the attachments and the links to that attachment, will change. Instead of using 'articulateusercontent', the links will change to point to the directory of the published output.
Please let me know if you need anything else!
Hi Steven,
Thank you so much for your reply.
It's great to have this confirmed.
When my employer continues to use the temporary links despite confirmation from you that they are, in fact, temporary, they won't be able to say they were not informed!
I'm leaving the organisation so will not be able to reply further but I am impressed with the speed and level of support you provided.
Thanks again,
Neroli xxx
Hi NeroliW!
You're welcome. That's great to hear!
Thank you for following up. Best of luck to you in your future career path!
