Forum Discussion
New in Labs: Connected Packages
Connected packages is still in development and will receive updates as part of Labs. Functionality will change over time. Some options could be modified, while others may be removed based on feedback and feature stability. There is no guarantee that Labs experiments will become production features.
The Connected packages feature solves the ages-old headache of keeping your training up to date in your LMS. Now, instead of having to download a fresh package from Rise 360, then uploading it to your LMS every time you make a change, you can deliver updates to your content across LMS environments with just a few clicks.
Connected packages fulfills the dream of publishing once, then dynamically updating your content without re-uploading to your LMS!
Note: Currently, connected packages can only be exported from Rise 360 as SCORM 1.2 and 2004 files.
How to Use Connected Packages
Unlike with standard packages, connected packages let you quickly update your training and notify your learners of changes.
Publishing a Connected Package
Creating a connected package for training content is as simple as creating a standard LMS package.
- Open the content you want to publish from your Rise 360 dashboard. Then click Publish in the upper-right corner of the screen and select LMS.
- Choose an LMS standard. For connected packages, you must select SCORM 2004 or SCORM 1.2 (any edition).
- Select Connected package.
- Toggle the Notify learners option to display a banner to learners when you update the training.
- After selecting any tracking, reporting, and advanced options, click Download.
- Upload the package to your LMS as usual.
Updating a Connected Package
After you’ve published your connected package to your LMS, all future updates happen right in Rise 360.
- When you make changes to your content, an indicator displays on the Publish menu.
- Click either the View Updates button or you can select Connected package from the Publish menu to jump to step 4.
- Select Connected package. If you’ve published your content to Reach 360 or shared with Quick Share, you’ll be able to select those as well.
- Click Update now. Rise handles the rest!
If you toggle or have previously activated the Notify learners option, your learners will see an update banner the next time they refresh or log in to the training.
Note: You can also download a copy of the last-deployed LMS package by clicking Download again.
Notifying Learners of Changes and Resetting Learner Progress
If you update your content and want to notify learners but didn't select the option when you initially published your package, you can enable it when you publish changes.
- In your updated content, click Publish in the upper-right corner of the screen and select LMS.
- Toggle the Notify learners option.
- Click Update now.
With this option enabled, a banner displays for active learners whenever you update the training. Learners who've already completed the training don't receive any notification.
Sometimes, after making updates, you also need to reset learner progress so that active learners don't end up in a blank state when they resume the training. This functionality can now easily be enabled at any time when using connected packages.
- In your updated content, click Publish in the upper-right corner of the screen and select LMS.
- Toggle the Reset progress after updates option.
- Click Update now.
This operates the same as the Reset Learner Progress option in standard packages and does not reset the progress or cancel quiz scores for learners who've already completed the training.
Connected Packages FAQs
When I deploy training to my LMS via Connected Packages, is Articulate the host for my content? If so, in which regional data center does it reside?
Yes, training deployed to LMS via Connected Packages is hosted on Articulate's systems and is subject to the same security and data policies as other data hosted on the platform, as outlined in our Terms of Service.
While regional hosting isn't a consideration at this stage of development, Connected Packages should be available in your regional hosting location when launched for general availability.
What happens when I delete training in Rise that's been deployed using connected packages? Will training work in my LMS if I turn off the Labs feature?
Content deleted from your Rise dashboard will still function in your LMS until you permanently delete the source training. You’ll be able to restore it from the trash and continue to update via Connected Packages without manually uploading a new package to your LMS. When permanently deleted, the connected package is also deleted.
If you disable the Labs feature, all connected packages are deactivated and deleted, but the source content remains untouched.
Permanently deleting associated Rise content or disabling Labs, will cause the training in your LMS to stop functioning. To restore, manually upload a standard package as a new version of the same training.
Can I use the same troubleshooting steps with Connected Packages as I do with Standard Packages?
Yes, while your content is hosted by Articulate, the same troubleshooting steps, such as resetting learner progress and hiding the LMS interface, can still be applied as detailed in the Rise 360 user guide.
Do Connected Packages send information to Articulate from my LMS?
While the Connected Packages feature is in Labs, we use a third-party data subprocessor, Datadog, to track certain information in order to identify and debug issues as they arise. In particular: Course ID, Learner ID (based on the Subscription ID plus an LMS Learner ID, if one is returned by the LMS), and your subscription ID. This information is not captured for every Connected Package.
Additionally, Allow usage data collection is enabled by default for all content exported to an LMS. This option provides Articulate with the course ID launched and non-identifiable learner usage data, as shown in our data collection details. It can be disabled on a per-package basis.
If I collaborate with other creators, can they update training deployed to my LMS?
Only content owners and collaborator managers with the feature enabled can send training updates via Connected Packages.
What content is best suited to connected packages? Is there content I shouldn’t use with connected packages?
Connected packages is best used for content that’s updated frequently or that you plan to iterate on once it’s live. Due to the nature of updates, we don’t recommend using connected packages with content that requires strict audit trails, enhanced compliance procedures, or LMS version history tracking.
Can I download packages after initially publishing via connected packages?
Yes. There’s a Download button at the top of the LMS publish screen. Keep in mind that you have access only to the last-deployed version of the package.
Do connected package updates count as versions? Can I revert to a previous version of my training?
When working with connected packages, your LMS will only count as versions the files you manually upload, not the updates you make in Rise. While you can revert to a previous Snapshot, then update the connected package as indicated in the steps above to see restored content in your LMS, this isn’t considered a new “version” by your LMS.
Will connected packages be available for other LMS export standards? Is it coming to Storyline 360?
We would love to hear your feedback on what export format you’d like to see next for Connected Packages! And while Storyline support isn’t planned at this time, if it’s something you’d like to see, please let us know.
Share Your Feedback
For this initial Labs release, we want to hear how connected packages perform across real LMS environments and whether the experience feels as intuitive. Your feedback will directly influence development, so consider sharing your thoughts on the following topics:
- Uses: Does the "publish once, update anytime" workflow sync with how you manage training content?
- Bugs. Is anything not working as expected? Do the updates behave as you’d expect with your specific LMS setup?
- Improvements. How could this feature be better? What changes, if any, would you like to see?
- Insights. How does this new publish-to-update workflow fit into your day-to-day?
You can enable and disable this feature from the Labs page in account settings. Share your thoughts in this Labs forum or use the feedback form directly within the feature.
122 Replies
Hey!
I'm having issues with publishing microlearning course. Links that lead to the package (I've tried pushing few) have a button, but it doesn't start the downloading of a package.
Am I doing something wrong?This feature is really exciting and everything runs smoothly. The only bug we’ve hit is that the Exit LMS button in the top‑right corner shows “object not found”. Wondering if there’s a way to resolve it.
Hey ChristineT-gwx Thanks so much for sharing this! This is a known issue and we plan to fix this before we bring this feature to all users (and out of Labs).
Hi ChristineT-gwx! We had a similar issue with the Exit button and I've reported the issue to Articulate. We're using Docebo and it'll show a 404 Not Found graphic for a split second and then return the user to the LMS. What LMS are you using?
What if the Rise file contains Storyline blocks? Like for web objects. Will it still work?
Sportsphoto5466 Storyline blocks are supported when added to a Rise course distributed as a Connected Package. One known limitation to be aware of: the fullscreen button within Storyline blocks doesn't currently work in Connected Packages, we have this tracked and a plan to repair it. Everything else should function as expected, but since this is still in Labs, if you run into anything else please reach out to support or share it here!
Will this work in Success Factors? Do any connections need to be set up?
Sportsphoto5466 Connected Packages work with any LMS that supports SCORM standards, including SuccessFactors; no special connections or configuration needed. Just download the Connected Package from Rise and upload it to your LMS to give it a try.
Since this feature is still in Labs, we'd love to hear how it goes. If you run into anything unexpected, please share it here!
Hi - I am having problems. I can get my smaller courses to work with this but larger courses are not working with the eroor saying check internet connect or speak to admin. Is there a size limit on the course?
I have tried 1.2 and 2004
Hey LeighMartin Could you try again and let me know if the issue is persisting? There is no size limit. Could you also screenshot the error if it's still happening?
We've just started to use the Mighty add-on with our account. When we used the connected publish feature, the Mighty blocks did not download with the SCORM. Does this add-on not work well with this new feature? Thanks!
Hey UpTraining Thanks for the question! The Mighty add-on by Maestro Learning is a third-party tool that isn't created or supported by Articulate, so we're not able to guarantee compatibility with Rise 360 features, including connected packages. For the best experience, we'd recommend sticking with Articulate's native features. For help with the Mighty side, you'd want to reach out to Maestro Learning directly.
Is there any way to turn this on for all our existing courses in our lms OTHER than going to each course in Rise, turning on Connected Package, exporting, and then re-uploading into the LMS again?
JenniferSweeney No, you'd have to re-upload a new Connected Package file to your LMS to get the "connected package experience".
Hi this sounds like a really good feature. Does this only work for courses deployed on Reach? Or, does it work on other LMSs?
It works in other LMSs - we just tested in ours and it's not Reach, and it worked perfectly!
The notify learner notification does not advise what has been update, what happens if a module they have previously completed is updated. How would the learner know to revist the module. Is the expectation to reset the learners progress.
Could you have a notification icon within the menu or more details in the banner message.
Hey TomWhite-c03a2e, great feedback! You're right that the current update banner lets learners know a course has been updated but doesn't detail what changed.
The decision of whether to have learners revisit is really in the hands of the course author: if you want in-progress or completed learners to restart, you can toggle on Reset Learner Progress when publishing the update. If you leave it off, any lessons already completed will remain completed and learners won't be required to redo them.Your idea about a notification icon or richer banner message is a good one, I'm noting it as a feature request!
Hi catganim, just to add to Tom's initial feedback. I agree it isn't clear to the learner what has been updated.
One solution would be to have a pop-up window that acts almost as release notes/what's new. Allow the author to include a quick summary of the changes when they are publishing so the learner can then make an informed decision to go back to a completed lesson.
Greetings,
It's excellent to have this new option, it really is.
I'm not sure if I missed it, but I'll ask: in the case of grades, what happens when a packet is updated? Is the student's grade retained in the LMS?
Iberoamerican University - UNIBE. Dominican Republic.
JosePeralta-abf Great question! By default, grades and scores are retained in the LMS when you push an update to a Connected Package, learners who have already completed the course keep their scores and don't need to redo it.
The one exception is if you toggle on Reset Learner Progress when publishing an update. That's an intentional setting for cases where you've made structural changes to the course (like adding or removing lessons or quizzes) and want learners to start fresh. In that case, scores would be reset if they are in-progress, but completions would remain untouched.
