#eLearning #LIVESTREAM

#eLearning #LIVESTREAM is now weekly. You can watch the July 3rd edition at 18:00 UTC below.

If you missed the live event the same link above will show you the recorded event.

Prevent Responsive Text Pop-Outs from Appearing

Some Adobe Captivate 2017 users are reporting seeing the following icon/button on their published responsive design eLearning projects.

Pop out button from Adobe Captivate 2017

The button you are seeing at the bottom of your text container (smart shape or text caption) is actually by design in Adobe Captivate (2017 Release). It appears when a text container has more text than can be accommodated by your minimum font size and the size of the text container. For example, when displaying large paragraphs of text on a smaller display. Tapping the button will display a dark overlay with all the text in white, and if necessary, with a scrollbar when the amount of text is too much for the screen.  Once your learner finishes reading all the text, tapping the screen will return them to the full slide. Sometimes it seems as if the button is appearing for no reason. There are a few possibilities as to why this happens.

1. Your text container is right on the threshold of when the button will be determined to be necessary. In these cases, slightly increasing the size of the text container may solve your problem. Alternatively, you could also select a smaller minimum font size on your fluid box properties.
2. Another item to consider is the margins set for your text container. Decreasing the margins will allow more space for your text and perhaps just enough to accommodate the text on smaller device screens.
3. Lastly, consider where the text has been. If you copied and pasted this text from a word processor, it may contain unnecessary formatting codes, invisible characters, or extra line breaks that could be causing the pop out text button to appear.

Here is a video from my YouTube channel that shows you how you can get rid of the extra hidden characters that might be forcing your project to show these buttons when they are not actually needed.

If you found this article and video useful please share it with your eLearning colleagues. If you would like to see other tutorials like this one, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Designing with Fluid Boxes

I had some people comment that I hadn't created a tutorial on building a fluid box drag and drop interaction. I suppose they were looking for a master slide for a drag and drop interaction, similar to what you would find for quiz questions. I understand the confusion. It's important to understand that Adobe doesn't treat drag and drop like other question slides, regardless of what we might think about that. 

Anyway, I took up the call to action and created the tutorial based on what I think needs to be setup. Of course, some people might think I've done some things wrong or they would have made different choices. I encourage that you take what I've done and built upon it. That's what a community is all about. Feel free to share your comments on this process and let me know if you would do something differently.

I think the most important aspect of designing fluid box projects in Adobe Captivate is your planning stage. When I started to play around with fluid boxes after the launch of Captivate 2017, I quickly learned that the fluid box wasn't something you were just going to experiment with until you got it right. It requires planning. Whether you storyboard it or just spend time in a temporary project experimenting until you have what you want. My advice is to know what you want out of each of your slides before you start developing.

That's what this video above is all about. I knew what I wanted from this slide before I began the video and was able to quickly build it. What you're not seeing are the hours I spent preparing to create this video by planning all the aspects of each fluid box.

I'm already planning a part II for this video where I take it to the next level and build a custom feedback capability so that it isn't just your run of the mill drag and drop. Stay tuned.

Adobe Captivate 8 and 9 - Update June 2017

In this video, I show you how to update your copies of Adobe Captivate 8 or 9 with the June 2017 update. This fixes a vulnerability when reporting quiz results to a server.

How To LIVESTREAM on YouTube

I create different kinds of videos for different situations. Most of my videos are straight up single topic tutorials. I have used the Video Demo feature in Adobe Captivate to do these but more recently I have begun using Adobe Presenter Video Express for its mixture of screen recording and webcam which if very cool. In the last six months or so I have been conducting live streams several times per month. 

The advantage of a live stream is that you can get immediate feedback from your audience and know when it's time to move on from one topic to the next. Nothing beats viewer feedback.

Here is the process (more or less) that I use to setup and begin a live stream. YouTube makes it very easy.

How to Make eLearning More Effective

Here is an update on my previous presentation on making eLearning more effective. I live streamed this last week and I hope you enjoy it.

How Adobe Typekit Works

I did some research on this today as I have a client who had some questions about it and I learned a thing or two myself. Check out the recording I made on YouTube to address these concerns

Creating Custom Question Slides in Adobe Captivate (2017 Release)

This is my first premium video tutorial on Creating Custom Question Slides in Adobe Captivate (2017 Release). Unlike other video tutorials I have created, this 1 Hour 20-minute course will guide you in the creation of a responsive design interface using fluid boxes, and write advanced actions to perform the various functions of several types of multiple choice questions. You can purchase the full video and watch it from your Google account on YouTube. I'm presently exploring other ways you can access this if Google Wallet / Google Play isn't your thing.

LIVE STREAM - Adobe Captivate May 8, 2017

In case you missed my live stream from May the 8th. Here it is...

Paul Wilson - Ask Me Anything

This was just really an experiment into live streaming from a mobile device. In this case my iPad Mini. I might do this again if I'm on location somewhere, but as a serious live stream where I'm answering questions? I don't think so. You're welcome to watch it for fun though.