I would like to embed both Word Documents and PDFs into a Storyline Project, but the learning material will be presented offline. What is the best method to convert a Word Document or PDF into a usable Web Object that is not hosted on the internet? I have looked at using Google Drive to share a document and then saving the page as an HTML file, but this provides a working document rather than a clean presentation. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
I would like to have it visible within a frame. Ideally the users would be able to scroll down through the document, or navigate a PDF within the frame.
Thanks for the response on the PDF, but what about a Word Document? The object type would be different, and I doubt that their is good support in Firefox and Chrome for MS Word. Do you know of a way to do this? Thank you.
Word documents are a different animal. The "P" in PDF stands for "Portable." Where as a .doc file is proprietary Microsoft extension. However, you can upload a Word doc to Google Docs (Google Drive) and Google will format it into an editable web-friendly format.
Although, you can only embed Google Doc templates. You could provide a link that pops open a new web browser window/tab though if that's an option in your design.
I am aware of the differences between a PDF and Word document, that is why I asked if there was another technique for loading the Word document. I have looked at simply embedding it within the course page itself and not placing it in Storyline. I know how to do this with the use of an IFrame. I like the idea of using Google Docs, but much of our course is proprietary. It will be hosted on a standalone network.
Okay, with a little memory jogging help from the ever so talented Jeanette Brooks... and the road map and original idea from the amazing David Fair.....
The Answer is: SkyDrive.
Get an account.
Load your Word Doc.
Set the permissions on the file to public.
Grab the embed code and create your HTML doc like with the PDF.
Insert as web object.
Boom Shakalaka!
Just tested it...works great!
You can just use the URL (versus embed with an html file) but I found it was opening in Chrome while also closing down the presentation. So...the html version works great! Just drop the iframe code into notepad, save as index.html and you're rolling.
Of course I just read your original post! If you're not wanting to host on the web and just want to provide a clean presentation of your word doc....you could just convert your Word docs to PDF. Or...save your word docs out as images and drop them into a scrolling panel on a slide.
I followed the instructions you've given above on embedding pdf into a storyline project. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Once the project was published, the field was just blank.
Did you try to embed the PDF file as an image within the scrolling panel? That is an option especially if you're not viewing this on the web. To do so, save the .pdf file as a .png file (or similar image file) and insert into the scrolling panel.
Sorry for the delay in responding (I've been gone camping).
Question, are you viewing the output locally on your desktop? If so, the PDF may not launch. You'll first need to load the output to the web and then try viewing.
If it's on the web, then we'll need to problem solve from a different angle. Please keep us updated and we'll help you out!
5. Make sure to change the name of the .PDF in the code to match your PDF doc
6. Save that notepad file as index.html
7. Place the index.html file in the same folder as your .PDF
8. In Storyline, insert a web object
9. Use the folder icon to the right of the URL entry field to browse to your folder. (you only have to select the folder, not the index file).
10. Publish. (your folder and two files will be a part of the published output)
11. Post Storyline output to the web
12. Voila!
Note: Mine didn't pull up locally when I viewed it post publish. But once it was on the web, it worked great.
Hope this helps!
Mike
I am new (and passionate!) to Storyline, but right away my first assignment must be done with iPad. I have read all the posts concerning PDF into the iPad and realize this feature was coming mid 2012. I have not read anything rmore recent.
Mike, you raised serious hope in me (thank you!) and I have used you method above which works well on the PC, but unfortunately not "completely" on the iPad: in fact, the PDF file gets launched on the ipad, but only page one: there is no way to continue onto the other pages.
Are you trying to open the PDF inside the Articulate Mobile Player? If so, the method above is not something that Articulate Mobile Player can currently can do (might be the object type in the index file). However, if you just use a PDF as a remote web object, you should be able to get it to work. See this example: http://articulate-community.s3.amazonaws.com/Mike/2013/Examples/PDF/story.html
In this case, I placed the PDF on a server, copied it's URL, and then used that URL as the web object. IT seems to load fine.
Mike
EDIT: I changed up the original response. Thanks to Articulate support (Miker Ang!) for showing me this method.
Hello Mike. I will try this this morning + your older post using the index.html method. My concern is the firewalls of the pdf documents are on our company servers. I was hoping to have the documents reside directly on the iPad, but this seems possible in iBooks, but without a link to Articulate.
More general question: what are the benefits of using Safari versus the mobile... since the app has less features?
Oh... being new to this community, I am not sure of the etiquette: pls let me know if that question should have been public instead of private!
You have done a great job! It really works when you are hosting your word file, but as Ashley suggested when working offline embedding the PDF or DOC file as image reduces the quality and the output is much more blurred.
Mike Enders said:
Ray,
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner on this. Here's what I'd do...
5. Make sure to change the name of the .PDF in the code to match your PDF doc
6. Save that notepad file as index.html
7. Place the index.html file in the same folder as your .PDF
8. In Storyline, insert a web object
9. Use the folder icon to the right of the URL entry field to browse to your folder. (you only have to select the folder, not the index file).
10. Publish. (your folder and two files will be a part of the published output)
11. Post Storyline output to the web
12. Voila!
Note: Mine didn't pull up locally when I viewed it post publish. But once it was on the web, it worked great.
Hope this helps!
Mike
Ashley Terwilliger said:
Hi Hazel and welcome to Heroes!
Did you try to embed the PDF file as an image within the scrolling panel? That is an option especially if you're not viewing this on the web. To do so, save the .pdf file as a .png file (or similar image file) and insert into the scrolling panel.
I don't know how I just saw this - but it's always ok to post your questions in the forums! We're happy to have you share what you're experiencing so that all community members can help you and benefit from the help you receive. If you need anything else, just let us know!
Hi Mike,Thanks for your valuable tips!I have build a course which has some PDF's attached externally by Trigger (Jump to file). But while viewing offline on Ipad, the PDFs doesn't open. I thought your trick would be helpful but it failed on LMS.Is there any way to achieve this in LMS , so that it may work for offline viewing on Ipad.Please let me know.
For the method Mike shared here, it's linking to a web object and it also sounds like you're trying to use the offline feature within the mobile player? Which a few posts above this one, Mike shared it won't work within the mobile player. There is more information in this comparison chart about what works in Flash, HTML5 or the mobile player.
Yes, I am using offline feature within the mobile player. Mike's way works for Web output. But my requirement is to achieve the same in LMS output which would be used on IPAD.
All i want is while viewing the course offline on IPAD, user must be able to open the PDFs linked to course.
I am thankful to you for your help and suggestions.
In regards to the jump to URL/file trigger, it won't work within the mobile player as detailed here in the comparison of Storyline's output for HTML5, and Mobile. This thread is another set of examples of what users did to access it as a web object, and they've also reported it working offline - so it may be the LMS that is causing your issue since it works as expected in the web publish option.
47 Replies
Ray,
Describe "embed". Are you looking to have the document visible within a frame, or are you just wanting to link to a document that the user downloads?
Mike
I would like to have it visible within a frame. Ideally the users would be able to scroll down through the document, or navigate a PDF within the frame.
Ray,
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner on this. Here's what I'd do...
1. Create a folder.
2. In that folder, place your PDF document.
3. Open up Notepad.
4. Paste the PDF embed code from this site: http://pdfobject.com/markup/index.php into notepad
5. Make sure to change the name of the .PDF in the code to match your PDF doc
6. Save that notepad file as index.html
7. Place the index.html file in the same folder as your .PDF
8. In Storyline, insert a web object
9. Use the folder icon to the right of the URL entry field to browse to your folder. (you only have to select the folder, not the index file).
10. Publish. (your folder and two files will be a part of the published output)
11. Post Storyline output to the web
12. Voila!
Note: Mine didn't pull up locally when I viewed it post publish. But once it was on the web, it worked great.
Hope this helps!
Mike
Mike,
Thanks for the response on the PDF, but what about a Word Document? The object type would be different, and I doubt that their is good support in Firefox and Chrome for MS Word. Do you know of a way to do this? Thank you.
Ray,
Word documents are a different animal. The "P" in PDF stands for "Portable." Where as a .doc file is proprietary Microsoft extension. However, you can upload a Word doc to Google Docs (Google Drive) and Google will format it into an editable web-friendly format.
Although, you can only embed Google Doc templates. You could provide a link that pops open a new web browser window/tab though if that's an option in your design.
I am aware of the differences between a PDF and Word document, that is why I asked if there was another technique for loading the Word document. I have looked at simply embedding it within the course page itself and not placing it in Storyline. I know how to do this with the use of an IFrame. I like the idea of using Google Docs, but much of our course is proprietary. It will be hosted on a standalone network.
BOOM! Got it!
Okay, with a little memory jogging help from the ever so talented Jeanette Brooks... and the road map and original idea from the amazing David Fair.....
The Answer is: SkyDrive.
Get an account.
Load your Word Doc.
Set the permissions on the file to public.
Grab the embed code and create your HTML doc like with the PDF.
Insert as web object.
Boom Shakalaka!
Just tested it...works great!
You can just use the URL (versus embed with an html file) but I found it was opening in Chrome while also closing down the presentation. So...the html version works great! Just drop the iframe code into notepad, save as index.html and you're rolling.
Ray,
Of course I just read your original post! If you're not wanting to host on the web and just want to provide a clean presentation of your word doc....you could just convert your Word docs to PDF. Or...save your word docs out as images and drop them into a scrolling panel on a slide.
Mike
Boom Shakalaka!
Will the notpad-index.html method work for publishing to LMS? Cannot get mine to work. Web object is just black
Thanks! This works great!
Hi Mike,
I followed the instructions you've given above on embedding pdf into a storyline project. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Once the project was published, the field was just blank.
Hi Hazel and welcome to Heroes!
Did you try to embed the PDF file as an image within the scrolling panel? That is an option especially if you're not viewing this on the web. To do so, save the .pdf file as a .png file (or similar image file) and insert into the scrolling panel.
Please let us know if that works for you!
Hi Hazel,
Sorry for the delay in responding (I've been gone camping).
Question, are you viewing the output locally on your desktop? If so, the PDF may not launch. You'll first need to load the output to the web and then try viewing.
If it's on the web, then we'll need to problem solve from a different angle. Please keep us updated and we'll help you out!
Mike
Hi
this works for PDF, but when I open it in iPad player, I only see the first page of the document, and cannot scroll/paginate through the entire doc.
Here is the link to my test - http://sweetrush.com/misha/storyline/resources_embed%20output/story.html
You need to check the first two pages on the iPad player to see what I mean. It shows fine on PC
Any advise?
Thank you.
Thank you
I am new (and passionate!) to Storyline, but right away my first assignment must be done with iPad. I have read all the posts concerning PDF into the iPad and realize this feature was coming mid 2012. I have not read anything rmore recent.
Mike, you raised serious hope in me (thank you!) and I have used you method above which works well on the PC, but unfortunately not "completely" on the iPad: in fact, the PDF file gets launched on the ipad, but only page one: there is no way to continue onto the other pages.
Any advice to progress in my project?
Thanks in advance,
Louise
Hi Louise,
And welcome to the community!
Are you trying to open the PDF inside the Articulate Mobile Player? If so, the method above is not something that Articulate Mobile Player can currently can do (might be the object type in the index file). However, if you just use a PDF as a remote web object, you should be able to get it to work. See this example: http://articulate-community.s3.amazonaws.com/Mike/2013/Examples/PDF/story.html
In this case, I placed the PDF on a server, copied it's URL, and then used that URL as the web object. IT seems to load fine.
Mike
EDIT: I changed up the original response. Thanks to Articulate support (Miker Ang!) for showing me this method.
Hello Mike. I will try this this morning + your older post using the index.html method. My concern is the firewalls of the pdf documents are on our company servers. I was hoping to have the documents reside directly on the iPad, but this seems possible in iBooks, but without a link to Articulate.
More general question: what are the benefits of using Safari versus the mobile... since the app has less features?
Oh... being new to this community, I am not sure of the etiquette: pls let me know if that question should have been public instead of private!
Louise
ok... it WAS public after all!
Hi Mike,
You have done a great job! It really works when you are hosting your word file, but as Ashley suggested when working offline embedding the PDF or DOC file as image reduces the quality and the output is much more blurred.
Hi Louise,
I don't know how I just saw this - but it's always ok to post your questions in the forums! We're happy to have you share what you're experiencing so that all community members can help you and benefit from the help you receive. If you need anything else, just let us know!
Hi Mike,Thanks for your valuable tips!I have build a course which has some PDF's attached externally by Trigger (Jump to file). But while viewing offline on Ipad, the PDFs doesn't open. I thought your trick would be helpful but it failed on LMS.Is there any way to achieve this in LMS , so that it may work for offline viewing on Ipad.Please let me know.
Hi Sahil and welcome to Heroes!
For the method Mike shared here, it's linking to a web object and it also sounds like you're trying to use the offline feature within the mobile player? Which a few posts above this one, Mike shared it won't work within the mobile player. There is more information in this comparison chart about what works in Flash, HTML5 or the mobile player.
Hi Ashley,
Thanks for your support!
Yes, I am using offline feature within the mobile player. Mike's way works for Web output. But my requirement is to achieve the same in LMS output which would be used on IPAD.
All i want is while viewing the course offline on IPAD, user must be able to open the PDFs linked to course.
I am thankful to you for your help and suggestions.
Hi Sahil,
Does your LMS support the offline viewing?
In regards to the jump to URL/file trigger, it won't work within the mobile player as detailed here in the comparison of Storyline's output for HTML5, and Mobile. This thread is another set of examples of what users did to access it as a web object, and they've also reported it working offline - so it may be the LMS that is causing your issue since it works as expected in the web publish option.