"Online presentations aren't supported"

I just got a new laptop and had this same issue (Articulate updates wouldn't even install on my old one anymore). This worked for me:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/files-save-to-onedrive-by-default-in-windows-10-33da0077-770c-4bda-b61e-8c8e8ca70ac7

I followed these instructions to turn off automatic OneDrive backup. Then I opened my ppt presentation, saved it as a new file in the Documents folder, and was able to use the Articulate features in my ppt.

Like all others here, I back up my work constantly to OneDrive - that's fairly common and considering I work on courses that contain significant amount of work - it's important that I back up the files. 

According to this MS article, even though files are stored online/ on One drive, when we double click and open them, they become locally available i.e. they are downloaded to the local machine and are not on OneDrive anymore (not online files by definition). 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/what-do-the-onedrive-icons-mean-11143026-8000-44f8-aaa9-67c985aa49b3#:~:text=OneDrive%20icon%20with%20sync%20pending,seen%20online%20in%20OneDrive.com

Despite the above, and after saving a copy of the presentation on my "Local" drive in c:\documents', and pausing OneDrive syncing - still seeing the 'Online presentations aren't supported error'. 

Since support for presentations stored on OneDrive doesn't seem to be coming any time soon, can you suggest a way to work around this problem?

Also, to be fair, Articulate continues to make maintenance updates/bug fixes to Presenter. But the last major feature released for Presenter (that I count) was the addition of the Content Library in April 2019. That is definitely a significant one, but compared to Storyline it's been quite a while. I just wish it had things like "export to MP4" and the Modern Player as well as the ability to work with files in OneDrive desktop folders.

To better answer your question: 

Is there a folder that I should be using that will create a "local" file?

Basically anywhere not being backed up by OneDrive. For example, you might have to go to your root C: drive and create a folder there if everything in your user profile is being backed up. C:\Projects for example.

You said, "but it is a local (C:Drive) file." That is correct, but it is a local (C:Drive) file that is being synced with OneDrive. This is considered an "online file" by Articulate. It doesn't help that the error message is inaccurate when it says "Save a copy to your local drive to continue." What Articulate really means is, "Save a copy somewhere on your local drive not syncing with OneDrive to continue." 

And this is the crux of the problem. You can't edit/modify PPTX files using Articulate if they are being backed up by OneDrive. This is very counterintuitive as most people naturally now want to back up everything, and OneDrive is the method of choice. It means having to store all of your Articulate presenter projects in a space on your Hard Drive that is vulnerable to being lost. (Or using another tool like SyncToy to make up for this). 

What you are saying is exactly why I want Articulate to fix this. I would also argue that If the file AutoSave is turned off, there is no reason that Articulate should prevent you from using Presenter. But Articulate just ignores this setting. I can understand how things might get messed up if your file is syncing (autosaving), but I really think Articulate could make an exception if you turn off AutoSave. 

Having said this (beware of rant), when was Presenter last updated anyway? Are there any resources dedicated to making updates to it now? I still use it frequently when I get a PowerPoint file with lots of animations I don't want to recreate by hand in Storyline. For presentations that don't have branching/high complexity it is still my tool of choice. But sometimes I wonder if that is a mistake because it seems like the orphaned older brother these days.

I am trying to develop a PPT as a storyboard before going into Articulate Storyline. Since my 360 Subscription also gives me access to Presenter/Characters, I'm trying to pull a few into the storyboard. However, I keep getting the message that "Online presentation aren't supported". I have saved the presentation to my C: drive on my desktop, and it still will not allow me to use Characters. What am I doing wrong? 

Hello there, Will!

Even though there is a OneDrive folder on your local drive, it looks to be synching up to the OneDrive network. Disabling the syncing or saving the files to another folder on the C: drive should do the trick.

Also, we've had a few folks run into the same error in Presenter '13. This article outlines the steps to publish an online presentation with Presenter.

I hear your use case, though, and submitted a feature request on your behalf so that we can take it under consideration. If we make changes to this area in the future, we promise to let you know.

As always, thank you for your insightful contributions!