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DavidStafford-2's avatar
DavidStafford-2
Community Member
3 months ago

Embedded Online pdfs displaying inconsistently in Rise block

Hi there, 

I notice with an embedded online pdf in a Rise block, sometimes it will display, other times it won't. This is unhelpful to the students. Is there some way I can mitigate this? I know I can use an attachment block, but I'd like the students to be able to navigate the pdf in the Rise course. 

Thanks!

  • Hi Kendal,

    The real pickle here is it's not consistent. The pdf might load, it might not, but load next time the course is accessed, or it might never load. it might load for me, but not for you. It happens with multiple different online pdfs.

  • I'm having this issue too. It works but not consistently. We just tested all our courses in our LMS and 3 of the PDFs wouldn't show but if you click of and clicked back it did show. Which isn't great. If they find a fix that works 100% of the time let me know!

    • DavidStafford-2's avatar
      DavidStafford-2
      Community Member

      That's the main issue. Embed load failure isn't consistent in whatever browser I am using, on whatever device I am testing on. I have cleared caches and cookies, reinstalled browsers and tried it with and without using iframe code, but the results are the same. They may load, they may not.

  • Hi David,

    I think Victoria Blacik provided the answer in a previous post. Here it is:

    Just figured out a bit of a cheat to embed a pdf in a course.

    1. Upload your PDF as a file attachment to your Rise course.

    2. Right click on the download link in the file attachment box and copy the link address.

    3. Insert an "Embed" block and use the copied link as the url.

  • David,

    Then I am not sure what issue you are having. I tried it with a Rise course and it worked perfectly for me the first time.

    Other quick thoughts are:

    Is there might be a security setting on your PDF that requires a password to view?

    Is there something in the naming convention of your PDF that is causing an issue?

    To test both of these, you might try creating a simple pdf and just naming it "PDF" and try again, if you haven't already tried something like this.

    Otherwise, perhaps you will have to submit a support request to Articulate.

  • Hi David, 

    Great call opening a support case regarding the PDF's you'd like to include in your Rise course! I see that you're working with my colleague Luiza. You're in excellent hands! 

    We'll continue the conversation over in your case!

    Have a great start to your day!

  • I'm having this issue, too. I can confirm it is inconsistent, it happens on multiple browsers and devices, and none of the following approaches seem to help:

    • Using the direct URL
    • Using an iframe wrapper
    • Using Kendal's cheat (above)

    Until there's a fix, I've just added a button link directly above the embed directing learners to the page if it doesn't display. It disrupts the flow of the lesson page, but is the best alternative I have for now. Looking forward to a fix!

    • KellyAuner's avatar
      KellyAuner
      Staff

      Hi Jules,

      Thanks for reaching out and I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing this issue. Although you've come up with a workaround, I've opened a support case on your behalf so we can take a closer look at what's going on. You'll be hearing from one of our Support Engineers soon via email!

      • EmilyStrickl371's avatar
        EmilyStrickl371
        Community Member

        Hi :) Has there been a resolution to this issue yet? I also have a need to display a pdf within a course so that learners can read and accept a policy. It's been an ongoing issue for years and I'd love to see this resolved. Thanks, Emily

  • Hi all,

     

    The only temporary work around I have been able to implement is to convert my PDF into a JPEG. This can be done via Adobe

     

    https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/acrobat/pdf-to-image?x_api_client_id=adobe_com&x_api_client_location=pdf_to_image

     

    I then insert a picture block and upload the JPEG (s). Just note if your PDF is more than one page then you just need to insert as many pictures as there are pages. The image is a little on the blurry side but not terrible. It might improve quality if you have Adobe Pro. Hope this helps :)

     

  • EmilyStrickl371 

    Hello Emily,

    I'm sorry to hear that you're also experiencing this PDF issue. I recommend trying out the steps below so we can dig deeper into this problem.

    1. Please clear your browser cache and cookies, then reaccess the course.
    2. Use Incognito mode to rule out possible browser extensions that may be causing the problem. This step worked with Jules' case, but only on the first load.
    3. Use a different browser; ensure your browser has the latest updates and JavaScript is enabled.

     

    If this doesn't improve things, could I have you connect with us in a case so we can determine what's happening? We'll reach out soon after we hear from you!