Publishing Guidelines for SCORM and LRS Repository

Navigating the intricacies of content importation is pivotal for campus managers utilizing the Manager's Dashboard. Efficiently managing this process not only ensures a seamless workflow but also mitigates potential issues that may arise.

In this article, we delve into the essential steps to understand and master the content import process while equipping managers with effective strategies to address any challenges encountered along the way.

To navigate directly to your section of interest, simply click on the corresponding link in the table of contents below:

1. Process Overview
2. Updating an existing Course 
3. Incorrect Activity IDs
4. Duplicate IDs
5. Activity ID Formatting Guidelines 
6. Folder
7. Add New Trigger
8. Publish
9. Publish: Entire Project
10. Player Properties
11. Quality
12. View Project
13. ZIP
14. ZIP Naming Recommendations
15. FIle Storage

Process Overview

1. Upload content via Manager's Dashboard.
2. Content initially written to the campus server for preview and playback.
3. After 24 hours, content is copied/imported into the Content Repository.
4. Content linked to the item in the Repository.
5. Content served from Repository upon next launch.

Updating an existing Course 

When a course is initially created, it is assigned a new and unique Activity ID. This Activity ID is exclusively associated with that particular course and should remain unchanged, even if revisions are made to the content.

However, if an existing course is utilized as a template for creating another course, such as duplicating a course like "Hand Washing" and modifying it to be in Spanish, the newly created course MUST be assigned its own distinct Activity ID. This is essential because, despite being based on the original course, the duplicated course is technically considered a separate entity.

Ensuring each course has its own unique Activity ID helps maintain clarity and organization within the system.

📌 This is the recommended way and reduces how many dormant courses live in your campus.

Troubleshooting course errors with Activity ID when loading a SCORM course. 

Incorrect Activity IDs:

• Cause: Improperly formatted Activity ID
• Symptoms: Failure to add course to Content Repository, inaccurate activity recording in LRS (Learning Records System).
• Resolution: Ensure Activity IDs are properly formatted URIs. Republish courses with correct Activity IDs. 

Duplicate IDs:

 

• Cause: Course added multiple times or repurposed with identical Activity ID.
• Symptoms: Duplicated courses, confusion in content management.
• Resolution: Republish courses with new and unique Activity IDs. Validate IDs against existing courses to prevent duplication.

Other Best Practices to follow:

Activity ID Formatting Guidelines: 

• Activity ID should ideally be a web address controlled by your organization or content vendor (http:// or https://).
• It should be meaningful and clear, aiding in activity identification.
• Example: https://yourdomain.com/xapi/activities/get-the-activity-right-10142015

Example of the where in Storyline you can validate and/or adjust the Activity ID, so it's unique…

Folder

Use the My Articulate Projects folder on your drive.

Alert: Folder: Use the My Articulate Projects folder on your drive. NEVER publish a course to a network drive or use a long file path or to a USB or other external drive.

Next confirm a “Complete course” trigger on the final slide of the course. You can put triggers on multiple slides if needed.

Add New Trigger

Complete Course

Fill in Trigger Wizard

Best to set as a slide trigger and when timeline starts to assure the trigger executes.

Also, make sure to set as the first trigger for the slide

Next, select the Publish button from the Home tab or click on File and Publish from the menu tab in the ribbon or F10.

 

Publish

Choose: LMS/LRS > Title & Location> Title: Enter Course Title. This title is what appears on the browser tab.

Publish: Entire Project

Tracking: Complete course trigger

Output options: Report to an…

LMS: Checked and Select xAPI

LRS: Checked

“Reporting and Tracking…” button:

Reporting:

LMS: xAPI, Do NOT change any of the information in the fields , especially if updating a course.

LRS: Same as for LMS

Tracking: Check “using triggers”

Publish button: publishes the course

Player Properties

Player: Select Modern Player.
Note: Only HTML5 is supported for Modern Player so it will be selected automatically.

Player:

Features: Turn off all checkboxes in Player “Tabs”, “Features”, “Logo”, & “Controls”.

Other: Browser Settings: all off, Resume: “Prompt to resume”, Text Labels: Language – change as needed for courses not in English.

Menu, Resources, and Glossary only as needed

Quality:

Custom optimization – see Publish Quality image for settings

After publishing is complete, the following pop-up window appears.

View Project

This launches your course in your web browser so you can view your output.

We recommend  to always “VIEW PROJECT”! Confirm you published it correctly according to the approved settings before you create the zip file to upload to the LMS.

ZIP

This creates a zipped file of your output in the location you specified on the Publish window. Make sure there are no spaces in the filename.

Important: If you exit without creating a zip file you will have to republish to get the option to create the zip file. The ZIP file is what is required for the LMS.

ZIP Naming Recommendations

We recommend using this format for naming the zip file that will be uploaded to the LMS so you always know if you have the latest version posted:

English courses:
YYYYMMDD_xAPI_CourseName - 20230101_xAPI_FoodSafetyAwarenessEmployees

Spanish courses:

YYYYMMDD_xAPI_SP_CourseName

Example: 20230101_xAPI_SP_UsingSMARTGoalsToTargetSuccess

Note: SL will add the “.zip” file extension automatically and don’t use spaces or special characters (!@#$%/\^&*? etc) in zip filename. Use underscore (_) for spaces and use CamelCase for course name. We recommend keeping file names short and file size under 500MB.

File Storage

We recommend keeping the latest story file on your shared drive at all times - especially if more than one person on your team will be using the files.

A final step should be copying the story file from your hard drive to your shared folder.