This checklist is a summary, which you can print out for easy reference. More detailed explanations are included in the numbered Topics.
Create outline and submit for approval.
When the outline has been approved, create the course title graphic (may be provided for you).
Start a new project
based on the template.
Do not open the template directly–you risk making accidental
changes to the template.
Complete Edit>Preferences>general.
Complete opening and closing slides – course title, Topic title and bullet points.
Copy bullets of opening and closing slides if necessary, and verify that the bullets line up.
Set application screen to “790x545 browser.” (See To size the application screen.)
Set up a white background – A blank Word document in draft mode works well.
Starting after opening slide, record steps in ‘Training simulation” mode, with 990 x 570 size (determined by template). The application screen goes in bottom right corner of capture area. Tip: it’s easier to re-position the application screen inside the red Captivate capture box than to re-position the capture box.
Tip: Take lots of extra captures, especially if you are capturing remotely, and save a copy of the project as “[name]_backup,” in case you need the additional captures later. If you do this, you can safely delete the extra slides, backgrounds, etc. from the active version.
Save project as "[name]_interactive."
Change name in title box at left of example slide, and import title graphic. (Set title graphic to "transparent" and background color to red.)
Verify that music has been applied to opening and closing slides.
Delete informational text in main text box in left column.
Copy logo, etc, including title boxes and text box in left column, to all slides except opening/closing slides. (You may need to do this twice–sometimes the "paste" doesn't take with all selected slides.)
Set all appropriate items to “rest of slide” (Ctrl-A selects all items in a slide.)
Review all slides and capture more frames if necessary.
Name slides and components.
Slide name is the step taken, e.g. "TableButton" (no spaces).
Component names are [slidename] + "audio" or "bg"
(for background), e.g. "TableButton bg."
Tip: To see which slide a background image is
used in, right-click and select "Usage."
Add any keystroke equivalents ("Select keys" button in Click Box dialog box.
Captivate doesn't have an "insertion point" function, but they can be created by inserting a small text entry box and turning off all options to "show text box frame," etc. It should be used only when it is absolutely necessary. Usually the static insertion point captured in the screenshot is enough.
Failure captions: Each user action (click box, etc.) must be set as seen here:
Verify that the ‘Include in Quiz” option has been cleared in click boxes and other user actions.
Change "On Success" and "If the user clicks outside..." options to "Next slide."
Write text for left
column boxes. The font should be black, and left-aligned.
Instructions should read “the next step is to click,” or similar, with
the actual instruction in bold, and the name of the element in single
quotation marks. The wording should serve for both the Interactive version,
where the user takes an action, and the Demo version, where the action
is taken by Captivate.
Example:
The next step is to click the 'Continue' button.
Review all items for position, options, etc. and proofread text. Spell-check in both US English and British English. (Edit>Preferences>Global>Change>Main Dictionary Language) Consider re-wording if necessary to use neutral spelling.
Apply appropriate skin.
Delete the slides you don't need. Exception: Don't delete the "results" slide - you'll need it for the exercise. Instead, right-click and hide it.
Test and proofread thoroughly.
Submit for approval and voice-over audio.
Voice-overs will be recorded in Interactive voice, which should also serve for the Demo voice-over.
Save copy of topic,
including voice-over, as “[Name]_demo.”
Caution: From this point on, you are working in two, then three different
versions.
Enable mouse for each slide, and verify that the mouse click position is correct..
Check timing of voice-over with other elements – e.g., highlights and mouse. The mouse should start during the “The next step is to …,” and take about two seconds to run.
In most cases, remove the "Continue" button.
In click boxes, remove option to “Pause project until user clicks.”
Test and proofread thoroughly.
Save copy of project as “[name]_exercise.”
Rewrite text in left column.
Remove highlights (Find and Replace).
Delete all audio except music from the Library list. (This will delete it from the slides.)
Change the settings
for user actions (click boxes, etc.) as follows.
On the Click Box tab: Allow user: 1 attempt
On the "Options tab: Clear the option for "failure caption"
Apply Reporting (10 points).
Apply to all.
Verify that any 'Continue' buttons have the "Include in Quiz" box cleared, and that they have "2 attempts" checked, and the failure caption in place.
Create a duplicate
to follow every slide with a user action.
See 7. Demo and Exercise for
more details of the following steps.
In original slides, change "on success" to "Jump to slide" and select slide following the duplicate. Do not use the "Apply to All" feature to do this–the original and duplicate slides have different settings. Verify that "After last attempt" is set to "Next slide."
In duplicate slides, clear the "Include in Quiz" box. (Do not use "Apply to All"–it will clear the scoring in the original slides as well.)
Verify that in duplicate slides, the "On success" and "After last attempt" are set to "Next slide."
In each duplicate slide, insert a call-out text box telling the use what to do.
Remove all voice-overs (delete the audio files) and add background audio to project.
Shorten the timeline for each slide to 10 seconds or less.
Delete closing slide and unhide results slide.
Remove unused components.
Test and proofread
thoroughly.
Tip: Go through each exercise with all correct answers, then again
with all incorrect answers. The first time should
result in a perfect score, the second with no score. This will verify
that the reporting is correct, and that all failure captions have been
removed and all call-out captions added.
Check that the links in the opening and closing slides (other topics) are correct and work.
Submit for final review of all sections.