Forum Discussion
Embedded PDFs won't load
Hello,
I have created e-learning content which has embedded PDF files when you click on a button. When uploaded to the LMS, it works on Google Chrome and IE but a blank page appears when on Edge. This is using the Articulate Storyline application. I published it using SCORM 1.2.
Has anyone had a similar problem and know the solution on how to fix this?
Thank you in advance,
Chloe
12 Replies
Hi Chloe!
I can understand how frustrating it is to not have PDF files properly displayed in all of your browsers.
In order to better assist you I have a few questions:
- Can you navigate to the PDF directly using Edge? This would be the case if it is hosted online and it shows a URL in the browser.
- I would recommend testing the course in SCORM Cloud to rule out any LMS issues. As a reference point, this article touches on troubleshooting tips when your course does not play as expected.
If you would be able to share your .story file in this thread, I'd be happy to take a look!
Thanks so much!
Hi Luciana,
Thank you for your help and guidance.
The PDF are not stored online, when I click the button on the course it does show a URL but the page does not load. It is loading some of the PDF files on both Edge and Chrome but not all. I have used the same triggers to upload all PDF documents onto the Articulate Storyline.
Will SCORM Cloud explain that there is a problem? I have never used this application before and it is weird how some PDFs load and others don't!
Thank you,
Chloe
Hi Chloe,
Thank you for sharing more details about the PDF functionality when viewing in different browsers.
It sounds like how you are linking to the PDF's needs to be revisited.
Could you please share:
- if all the PDFs are linked from the same local folder/directory?
- if the problematic PDF files contain any special characters or long titles?
- if you are experiencing the same links never loading?
If you are still having trouble, we'd be happy to take a look at your file and troubleshoot with you in this thread or privately in a support case. Whatever you are most comfortable with.
Have a great afternoon!
Hi Luciana,
Thank you for your help. I will privately submit a support case for this as it would be great to get further assistance on this.
Kind regards,
Chloe
Hi Chloe!
Wonderful, thanks for letting us know. Our support engineers will be happy to assist you!
Have a great start to your week,
Luciana
I am having an issue with the attached interactive. On slide 1.24 (Article) I have an embedded PDF. When I publish it to the web it works fine, but when I upload it to Canvas via SCORM the slide is blank. I need the PDF to open in the slide so learners will not have to navigate out of the interactive. I am uploading it as a gradable assignment in Canvas. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can make this work. I know that I have it embedded correctly but if you have any suggestions as to another way I can accomplish this it would be greatly appreciated. I did try embedding it with a direct link to the article but that did not work either. Here is the direct link to the article if you can figure it out https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14752409221115857.
Thanks!
Jerry Pitts
Hello Jerry,
Happy to help!
It looks like you have a webpage embedded instead of a PDF in Slide 1.24.
You'll notice in the file path that the embedded object is something called index.html and not a PDF. If you would like to display a PDF on the slide, you'll need to do the following:
- Host your PDF file on a file server. If you don't have access to one, please reach out to your IT staff to see if they could set one up for you.
- Add this PDF file as a web object in the slide.
If the PDF embedded is in the web page, unfortunately there isn't a way to modify this behavior since the browser settings determine if a link will open in a new tab or in a new window. You'll be able to control how a link opens via triggers:
But not when the hyperlink is part of an embedded web page. I'll let other members of the community chime in to see how the addressed a similar requirement!
here is a fix with a real embeded web object (incl. some css patched for scaling)
https://360.articulate.com/review/content/735b9010-2283-44b2-b85b-ff37991ec1a0/review
I have now seen - on Chrome there will be the internal pdf name visible in the pdf viewer
this has to be fixed in the web object (-> index.html + name of the pdf)
if you have a suitable (short) name for the pdf, i can integrate it
Thanks! That's exactly what I need to happen if it will work in Canvas. This is not the article I need though. That was a previous article. Could you possibly swap it out for the attached article or send me instructions on how you did it? https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14752409221115857
Thanks!
here is the new version of the updated WebObject (incl. fallback, if the pdfViewer is disabled)
https://360.articulate.com/review/content/735b9010-2283-44b2-b85b-ff37991ec1a0/review
how to change the pdf
- replace the pdf in "webobjectV2/pdf/" with a new pdf file
- update in "webobjectV2/index.html" line 60 + 63 the name of the pdf
- open the storyline file
- delete the old webobject (webobjects cannot be updated)
- import the updated webobject -> path to folder "... /webobjectV2/"
- correct the size of the imported webobject (10, 10, 700, 520) -> (0, 0, 720, 540)
Thank you. I will work on this today and let you know if I have any issues.
