Revision of a course : how to keep the same Manifest ?

So does this mean you can't make minor updates to course content (spelling mistakes etc . . .) - without articulate generating new IDs?

The new manifest is generated because it's the safest way to prepare a course for an LMS and not break it. Most, if not all, course tools will do that by default.  The tool doesn't know you are only updating a course already uploaded. It is doing as it is supposed to, generating a unique manifest.

But it doesn't matter in simple cases. An LMS treats the manifest as a packing list and needs it ONLY when you are first uploading a course, or when you are replacing/versioning the course (the exception to this is if you are on an LCMS). If you try to replace the manifest without versioning, an LMS is supposed to block it.

However, for a simple swap out of an asset, that does not impact navigation or logic, I have found the easiest solution is just to drop the asset into the exact directory on the server so it overwrites just that file. This goes for images as well as html (as long as changes to the html are only cosmetic).

As long as you are only changing flat assets, and not disrupting the flow of the course (which would mess up bookmarking), it should be transparent to learners.

The LMS, in this case, doesn't care that you replace a static file. it simply points to it. I have often used this method for simple changes without issue on SumTotal, Oracle, Scorm cloud and others.

Most of the time, I am too lazy to look for the one file in the output, so if I know for a fact that nothing else has changed, I will just drop the whole structure, minus all the xml files, into the directory overwriting everything even though the majority of files have not actually changed.

Mind you, this is not a substitute for versioning a course, changing the navigation/logic in a course or adding/removing pages. For that, you should upload the whole package with new manifest. This shortcut is only for simple asset replacement where there is no impact to the course flow.

I have been at companies where IT (or whoever admins the course server) will push back on dropping a file into a directory. But I can usually get cooperation when I compare it to updating an image or text on a simple webpage.

I hope that helps.

Russ

Hi Russ, thanks for your well thought out answer - some good stuff to think about.  I was hoping to avoid having to ssh into the server directly as using a LMS and authoring tool was supposed to give ownership of content to the content team rather than relying on devops involvement.

For the record we went and uploaded a new SCORM file after the content editor had removed any structural changes to a quizz (leaving just some text updates) and MOODLE seemed to handle this fine without orphaning/deleting the scoid tracking. 

But it was a bit of a tense start to the day and maybe SSHing into the server is preferable to potentially losing 5000 users worth of results :)

Ahhh. I forgot to mention that I usually insist on direct ftp access to the server myself.

That way I can drop files wherever they need to go, without involving IT.

But it sounds like you worked it out, so glad for that.

Hi Russ - I have a follow up to your post.  Where is the line between a small change and the point it becomes too big?  I have a 2 spelling errors, one in notes and one on screen and an audio file replacement.  From your notes it looks like the visuals are okay - how about the audio file?  if the timing changed and a few triggers changed with it would that bee too much?  what if there are no trigger changes and only the audio file changes - with the same timing and triggers?  Thanks in advance.

Hi Valeria,

In my earlier response, I was speaking specifically of the impact to the "imsmanifest.xml" file, which is read by an lms when you first load or "version" a course in an lms.

However in all situations, if you are going to replace any kind of single simple asset, you need to be very careful that the new version has the exact same name. This is because the html pages and javascript (.js) files won't find your new image/audio/video file if the name is different. Again, the imsmanifest won't care (because you have already imported the course), but you could break your course or end up showing the old asset, if a page or script can't find your new file by name.

And the name that it has to agree with, is whatever Storyline calls it in the publish folder. What I mean is, when you insert an object into Storyline and then publish it, Storyline often changes the name. This is especially true for any media that the program is compressing (i.e. making smaller according to your publish quality preferences). You need to give it the same name Storyline gave it the last time in the publish folder.

Lastly, with your audio file, if you have any triggers or actions associated with it, especially ones that are based on media complete or on different markers that you may have set up in the program (if you use those), you need to decide for yourself if it matters that your audio file might be a different length. If so, then a simple asset swap may not be the best option.

I hope that helps, Russ

We have a client who needed us to update a quiz question.... would that greatly affect the manifest file or could they possible use the existing/old manifest file and upload the rest of the SCORM package contents into the folder to replace the current version of the course?

I'm using SL3.  I've just deleted a question from a bank on an established course.  My LMS is SumTotal.  I've read the chats above but I'm still unclear how to get my course into the LMS and not override my existing user data.  The course is schedule for a large company launch on Monday.  urgent advice is requested.  Thank you! - F

Hi F L,

It sounds like you need to make a change to the original Storyline file, then you need to republish it. The new output will be treated as a new copy/version of your course, and it will have a new identifier. I'd suggest reaching out to the team at SumTotal LMS for their suggestions for overwriting a course.

Keep in mind that when you overwrite existing course files in your LMS, learners who previously started the course won't be able to resume where they left off. They'll start over at the first slide in the updated course. 

This seems to be a very old issue but it is still an issue with me and Ilias (Yes that German Open Source LMS that almost no one uses). Ilias has a button that says PUBLISH A NEW VERSION and it fails every time on the change " INFORMATION MESSAGE INCOMPATIBLE MODULE! PLEASE MAKE SURE IMSMANIFEST.XML IS NOT CHANGED"

This is still super annoying.