Posts in Category "Training Sessions"

September 15, 2009

Variables, Text Entry boxes and .RDLs in Adobe Captivate 4

Among the long list of new features in Adobe Captivate 4, Variables in particular is one of the most useful new features, because it provides an easy way to replace and manage
text which repeats itself throughout a project with a simple variable, for example the course name. This is one of the most obvious use cases for how implementing variables in Captivate projects can quickly increase your productivity by speeding up your development process. 		 

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However, variables coupled with Text Entry boxes make for an even more powerful solution for developing and delivering personalized eLearning experiences.

For example in a Captivate project, on slide 1 you can insert a Text Entry box asking the Learner for his First Name. The Text Entry box can then be associated with a variable, which stores the Learner’s name. That same information can then be used to refer to the Learner by his first name in subsequent slides.

Furthermore, if you create Software Simulations in Adobe Captivate by recording the screen, you probably have noticed that Captivate automatically inserts auto-text captions throughout the recording based on your clicks.  What you may not know is that you can control the wording used by Captivate in the text captions by editing simple text files, located in the installation folder and which have an .rdl extension.

To illustrate how variables, Text Entry boxes and .rdl files can be used together to create personalized eLearning experiences, I recorded this short (12min) how-to video. I first posted this recording on Twitter awhile back and today it’s one of the most popular recordings I’ve done.

Click HERE to watch the “Variables, Text Entry boxes and RDLs” how-to. Please use your Adobe ID when prompted.

If hope you find this useful and if you have a second, please leave a comment and share how you may use these features in your own projects. You can also send me at Tweet @rjacquez.

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5:08 PM Comments (5) Permalink
August 31, 2009

Personalized Adobe Captivate 4 Software Simulations: An Advanced How-To Tutorial

 

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 In case you don’t yet follow me on Twitter @rjacquez, you may have missed many of the short how-to video tutorials I record and publish daily on practical ways to get the most out of the Adobe products you use, for example Adobe Captivate 4 and other products in the eLearning Suite and Technical Communication Suite.

The following tweet is one I posted recently on using Variables and RDLs for developing personalized Software Simulations in Adobe Captivate 4. Click the image below to launch the original tweet, which has the link to the recording:

In addition, here are few more tweets about the the top most viewed videos recently published. Once again, click each image below to launch the original tweet, which has the link to the recording.

 

 

Feel free to search my Twitter timeline for other similar how-to tweets, and follow me on Twitter to receive new videos and tips in real-time: http://twitter.com/rjacquez/

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2:53 PM Comments (2) Permalink
August 21, 2009

Using Adobe RoboHelp 8 for Knowledge base and Policies and Procedures Solutions: Live eSeminar

Description:
While Adobe RoboHelp is mostly used for creating context-sensitive Online Help systems for web and desktop applications, because of its ease-of-use and new dynamic linking support for Microsoft Word documents, RoboHelp is also very much ideal for non-technical users, who need to author and publish knowledge base systems, as well as Policies and Procedures on a company’s Intranet. In this eSeminar we will explore how to easily leverage your existing MS Word content for creating powerful online information systems, that are searchable and easily accessed by anyone using a simply web browser. We will also discuss how the new cross-platform Adobe AIR technology can be used as the ultimate delivery system for knowledge base solutions and Policies and Procedures.

 

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 Here are the specifics about this 90-minute live eSeminar:

When: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 1:00pm Pacific Time

Registration: Click Here to Register

Duration: 90 minutes to accommodate for questions

Login instructions: Once you register, you will receive a confirmation e-mail, which will include a URL for you to join the Connect Pro room the day of the event. I will conduct a series of audio tests as participants begin to join.

Click here to make sure your system is properly configured to participate in this Acrobat Connect Pro event.

Audio: The audio portion for the eSeminar will be available via your computer speakers ONLY, through Voice over IP (VoIP) and thus no phone number is provided

Drawing Giveaway: As a small token of our appreciation for your time, everyone who attends the live eSeminar, will be entered to win this Adobe-branded laptop bag, and one lucky winner will be randomly selected and announced on Twitter after the event, so be sure to follow me @rjacquez.

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3:25 PM Comments (3) Permalink
August 10, 2009

Recording: Maximizing your Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2 Investment

 

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 For those who missed the live eSeminar last Friday (8/07/09), on “Maximizing your Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2 Investment,” the recording is now available.

Thank you to everyone who registered and participated in the live event, and congratulations to
Laurin Marden
, who was the lucky winner of the Adobe-branded laptop bag, which I announced on Twitter after the seminar.

Click to watch the recording for “Maximizing your Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2 Investment.

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11:35 PM Comments (0) Permalink

Adobe eLearning Suite: Creating engaging eLearning – the Adobe way: Live eSeminar

 

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 For many years now, Adobe has revolutionized how Creative Professionals have used the tools in the Creative Suites to create some of the most compelling, engaging and expressive content in the world. And now with the new eLearning Suite, we are leveraging many of these technologies like Flash, Photoshop, Soundbooth and Dreamweaver, coupled with eLearning tools like Adobe Captivate and Adobe Presenter, as well as Suite-only eLearning extensions to enable eLearning Professionals to do the same by creating truly interactive, rich and engaging eLearning.

In this eSeminar, we will explore how you can leverage each of the 9 major Adobe applications in the eLearning Suite for rapid eLearning, courseware authoring, simulations, and media editing.

Here are the specifics and what we will cover during this 90-minute live eSeminar:

When: Friday, August 14, 2009 at 10:00am Pacific Time

Registration: http://bit.ly/XhqnM

Duration: 90 minutes to accommodate for questions

Login instructions: Once you register, you will receive a confirmation e-mail, which will include a URL for you to join the Connect Pro room the day of the event. I will conduct a series of audio tests as participants begin to join.

Click here to make sure your system is properly configured to participate in this Acrobat Connect Pro event.

Audio: The audio portion for the eSeminar will be available via your computer speakers ONLY, through Voice over IP (VoIP) and thus no phone number is provided

Drawing Giveaway: As a small token of my appreciation for your time, everyone who attends the live eSeminar, will be entered to win this Adobe-branded laptop bag, and one lucky winner will be randomly selected and announced on Twitter after the event, so be sure to follow me @rjacquez.

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10:54 PM Comments (2) Permalink
July 20, 2009

onDemand Resources for Adobe Captivate 4

 

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 Whether you are a brand new user of Adobe Captivate 4, or an existing user exploring the new features and how these can increase productivity, here are two onDemand resources to help you along the way.

Adobe Captivate 4 for New Users

Last Friday, 7/17/09, I hosted a live eSeminar on how to get started using Adobe Captivate 4 for new users, and I’m happy to report that it went well. In case you missed it, you can watch the recording by clicking HERE.

New Features in Adobe Captivate 4

This eSeminar was delivered back on
03/06/09 and to date, it’s one of the most popular recordings. In case you haven’t watched it, and are exploring the new features in version 4, you can click HERE.

Real-time Tips & Tricks on Adobe Captivate 4

If you would like to increase your knowledge on Adobe Captivate and other Adobe applications, please consider following me on Twitter @rjacquez, for real-time tips & tricks, such as these recent tweets:

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3:19 PM Comments (6) Permalink
May 1, 2009

Linking FrameMaker 9 Books in RoboHelp 8: Recordings Now Availables

By RJ Jacquez. Follow him on Twitter @rjacquez

I’m happy to report that today’s (05/01/09) live eLearning session on Linking FrameMaker 9 Books in RoboHelp 8 via the Technical Communication Suite 2, went extremely well and I thank everyone who participated!

The complete session is broken up into the following two recordings. It’s highly recommended that you watch both sessions in the right order to get the most out of the session:

Linking FrameMaker 9 Books in RoboHelp 8 via Adobe Technical Communication Suite
(Part 1 of 2)

Lesson 1: Getting Started in RoboHelp

Lesson 2: Linking your first FrameMaker book in RoboHelp

Lesson 3: Understanding the Conversion Process

Linking FrameMaker 9 Books in RoboHelp 8 via Adobe Technical Communication Suite
(Part 2 of 2)

Lesson 4: Mapping Styles

Lesson 5: Working with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

Lesson 6: Creating a Project Template using the new RoboHelp 8 Scripts

Hope you find these sessions informative and if you have any feedback, please leave a comment.

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8:35 PM Comments (6) Permalink
April 29, 2009

Linking FrameMaker 9 in RoboHelp 8 session: New Time

For those of you who were looking forward to last week’s (4/24) session on "Dynamically Linking FrameMaker 9 Files in RoboHelp 8 in Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2," unfortunately I had to postpone due health issues, so here’s take 2.

When: Friday, May 1, 2009 at 10:00am Pacific Time.

Where: http://my.adobe.acrobat.com/adobetechcommsuite/

Registration: No registration required.

Login instructions: Click the link above as early as 30 minutes before the start time, enter as Guest, type your Full Name (do not type Guest as the name) and click Enter Room.  For the audio portion of the meeting, you will need to turn on your computer speakers and adjust the volume appropriately.  I will conduct a series of audio tests as participants begin to join.

Click here to make sure your system is properly configured to participate in this eLearning session via Acrobat Connect Pro.

Duration: 90 – 120 minutes, with a 15-minute break in between.

For an agenda and complete details, check out the original post on this session, by clicking here.

In the meantime, here’s a short Captivate simulation, that I recommend you go through in preparation for Friday’s session. The simulation walks you through the overall steps for linking FrameMaker files in RoboHelp, as well as it guides you through how to display the Project Settings and other key dialog boxes:

 

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7:46 PM Comments (5) Permalink
April 13, 2009

Live eLearning: Dynamically Linking FrameMaker 9 Files in RoboHelp 8 in Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2

This session will be similar to the FrameMaker 9 User Interface the Captivate 4 new features and the recent Building Web 2.0 Help using Adobe AIR and RoboHelp sessions I did.

Here are the specifics and what we will cover during this 120-minute live eLearning session:

When: Friday, April 24, 2009 at 8:00am Pacific Time.

Where: http://my.adobe.acrobat.com/adobetechcommsuite/

Registration: There’s no official registration required, however in the 3 sessions I have done thus far, I ended up with a lot more participants that I was prepared for, so please RSVP your participation in one of two ways, either open and accept the MS Outlook iCalendar below, or by adding a comment through this blog letting me know you’ll attend.

Right-click here and save this MS Outlook iCalendar of the meeting on your Calendar.

Login instructions: Click the link above as early as 30 minutes before the start time, enter as Guest, type your Full Name (do not type Guest as the name) and click Enter Room.  For the audio portion of the meeting, you will need to turn on your computer speakers and adjust the volume appropriately.  I will conduct a series of audio tests as participants begin to join.

Click here to make sure your system is properly configured to participate in this eLearning session via Acrobat Connect Pro.

One more thing to do is to make sure you have the latest Flash Player installed, because the session will include practice simulations in the Flash format.  Click here to install the latest Flash Player.

Duration: 120 minutes, with a 15-minute break in between.

Session Description: This eLearning session will cover the following topics:

  • Understanding the difference between Importing and Linking FrameMaker files in RoboHelp
  • Understanding the overall process of linking FrameMaker files and books in Adobe RoboHelp 8
  • For Adobe TCS 1.x users, we will explore throughout the session what’s new in Technical Communication Suite 2
  • Editing content in FrameMaker and Refreshing the changes in RoboHelp
  • Mapping FrameMaker paragraph, character and table styles, as well as mapping and customizing cross-references and images to RoboHelp CSS styles
  • Using your own CSS file vs. the included RHStyleMapping.css file
  • Understand how CSS files are generated from FrameMaker files and how to consolidate multiple CSS files into a single one
  • Leveraging the new ExtendScript language in RoboHelp for further automation, for example for saving a RoboHelp project as a Project Template for future projects

As always, I’m looking forward to this eLearning session and I hope to see you there!

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9:33 AM Comments (2) Permalink
March 27, 2009

Web 2.0 Documentation using Adobe AIR and RoboHelp 8 OnDemand Recording

By RJ Jacquez. Follow him on Twitter @rjacquez

Once again, I’m happy to report that yesterday’s (03/26/09) live eLearning session on Building Web 2.0 User Assistance using Adobe AIR and RoboHelp 8 went extremely well and I thank everyone who participated!

BTW, this session is also applicable to eLearning Professionals, who would like to learn how Adobe AIR and RoboHelp 8 can create powerful Performance Support Systems.

During the session, we went over the following 5 Lessons:

Lesson 1: The ABCs of Adobe AIR and Web 2.0

Lesson 2: Building your first Adobe AIR application in RoboHelp 8

Lesson 3: Customizing AIR RoboHelp Projects

Lesson 4: Understanding Updates, Bookmarking and Commenting

Lesson 5: Using the Adobe Help Viewer to Combine multiple RoboHelp projects using .RHA and XML files

The recording also provides a download of a sample AIR application and also the ability to test the auto-update feature.

I copied and pasted below a few of the comments I received through the chat pod during the session, regarding the question What does Web 2.0 mean to you?

“3D Capabilities”

“Collaboration”

“Interactivity between document and user”

“interactive experience”

“More collaborative tools such as Twitter, podcasts, forums, blogs, wikis”

My point was to make the connection between Web 2.0 and what users are expecting to find in Documentation and here’s what I think the impact Web 2.0 experiences has on Technical Documentation, more on the recording:

Finally, here are some excerpts of some of the feedback I received from those who participated in the live session, I especially like the first one and more specifically the text in bold:

“Excellent session. I was a complete novice about AIR. I’m impressed.”

“Very interesting session showing the future of interactive documentation and online help. RoboHelp 8 is a great update of RoboHelp 7.”

“Presentation was clear, organized, thorough, and blew me away. What a wonderful product! Thank you.”

“Yes, very useful, as it’s a shown up a couple of possibilities that we hadn’t considered, and fixed a couple of misconceptions and confusions.”

“For us, as I suspect for many others, internal review will be our first application, and so has to work. Once we have this successful ‘proof of concept’ we would demonstrate what we can do internally to visiting user groups, and then discuss how they might want this sort of technology implemented on their own sites. It’s clear the AIR help proposition has moved on since I first saw it, and I’d love to use the technology as a driver for updating our Adobe software across the board, perhaps with TCS2.”

“Excellent presentation! Will you be showing this at WritersUA?”

I hope you enjoy the recording, and please take a few minutes to share your thoughts about the recordings and Adobe AIR in Tech Comm in general.  If you are already building AIR applications using RoboHelp, click here to share your experience. 

This same for is available at the end of the recording and you can click on it to launch it and provide feedback.

Click here to launch the Building Web 2.0 User Assistance and EPSS with Adobe AIR and RoboHelp 8 recorded session.

TIP: when you are watching any Acrobat Connect Pro demonstration (including the ones in this recording), something you may want to try is to click the “Scroll” button at the bottom left of the Connect Pro window, which will help you zoom in closer and follow the action around the presenter’s mouse.  To the right is what the button looks like in all Connect Pro recordings.

I have already started working on the next eLearning session,
“Natively reusing FrameMaker 9 documents in RoboHelp 8 in the Technical Communication Suite 2.”

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7:43 PM Comments (2) Permalink
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