G'day!
I have
been quite busy lately with projects for
customers, developing new products, and my trip around the world
last July through September - visiting customers in the US,
Europe, and the Middle East.
ToolBook
Decaf Version
I hope
that life has been better for you since the release of Decaf.
Reports from my customers are that support issues have gone down
substantially after converting to ToolBook 2004 SP 3. If
you haven't already upgraded, I highly recommend that you do so.
Also note that there is a
recently released patch
for ToolBook Instructor 2004 SP3 as well so be sure that you
have updated to that too.
But wait there's more... you will see
below that there will be
another patch/SP/update out soon.
Robin
McDermott and I conducted a Webinar for SumTotal Systems in
March that focused on several ToolBookDeveloper.com products
including Power Book Builder, the Audio Player Widget,
Question Feedback Widget, Quiz Randomizer and
the Quiz Summarizer. If you missed the Webinar, not a problem...you can see/hear the
entire recording on the STS ToolBook website.
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NEW FREEBEE! Eliminate the annoying Click
to Activate message in IE 6+
Just when
you thought it was safe to pick up the tech support phone (now
that your courses are decaffeinated :-)...
Ouch :-( Microsoft, having lost a
patent dispute with Eolas, has modified launching ActiveX
controls through Internet Explorer to require a
click for embedded content such as Flash, or Media like vector
graphics. Big deal...what does this mean to you???
Here is what it means...if your exported ToolBook project
requires ActiveX controls such as
Flash or perhaps draw objects that you have set to export as vector
graphics, when your users mouse over the item in Internet Explorer
they will
get this tool tip message:
"Click to activate and use this control". Or perhaps:
"Press ok to continue loading the content of this page".
And your user ins thinking..."Darn it, that's annoying!"
So, what is going on anyway? Basically, Microsoft lost a patent
dispute with Eolas (a software company), regarding embedding media in
WebPages.
So, ActiveX Controls can no longer be processed by
Internet Explorer that they used to be processed.
When your end users update their computers to the
latest MS updates, the Active X Control change will be updated on
their
computer and after that they will be required to click
for any interaction with embedded media. Wow! We are
supposed to be encouraging our users to take our training -
not discouraging them from it! So...What can you do?
-
One alternative is to
disable this feature by applying the
Compatibility Patch for Internet Explorer for Windows XP
Service Pack 2. This patch removes the IE
Active X update behavior installed with the April 2006
Security update.
-
SumTotal
Systems is working on a patch to address this issue and it should be
available soon. However, this patch will require you to re-export all of
your ToolBook projects. Not a problem with only one or two
books, but a nightmare with 20 or 30 books! But, never
fear...
-
Download and install my
Fix Eolas - Click to activate... FreeBee.
This FreeBee will fix this annoying
problem for all of your existing ToolBook projects!
AND...best of all...you will not have to re-export your
books because this fix gets applied AFTER you have
finished your export. Click
here for more information.
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This year
Chris and Jeff at Platte Canyon are broadening the scope of the
annual ToolBook Users conference
to include other aspects of e-learning in addition to ToolBook
and .Net. Tracks will include ToolBook (of course!), .Net,
Flash, and Managing E-Learning so there will be something for
everyone involved in on-line training. While neither Robin
or I will be attending TBCon this summer, we will be there in
spirit and hope to be back next year!
NEW Knowledge Base Tip!
Be sure you are viewing your courses the way that your users are viewing
them by using the Right Click Send To menu
If you have never paid much attention to the
Windows right click send to menu, I have some important reasons why you
should be using it and also some tips on how you can use it when you are
creating ToolBook projects. Click
here
for the article.
Lee Karns:
Contributor to the ToolBookDeveloper.com Knowledge Base
I would like to say a big thank you to Lee
for contributing to my Knowledge Base articles. Lee already has
four great articles about Simulations: How to and Tips. Click
here to read them:-)
Lee Jay Karns has a well-rounded background in
the planning, design, development and deployment of computer
based training applications.
He began using ToolBook in 1991 as a professional support staff
at Cleveland State University developing computer deployed
courseware for the Philosophy,
Biology, Anthropology, Speech, Business and Education
departments.
In 1997 Lee was hired by Asymetrix, now SumTotal Systems, Inc.
While at SumTotal Systems he served in a wide range of
capacities. His job titles included:
In 2004 Lee founded Vertical View Software Associates. VVSA is a
consulting network of Software Professionals specializing in the
process of Computer Based Training initiatives. Lee is recognized as an expert within the ToolBook community,
especially in the creation of Performance-based Software
Simulation training, and enabling developers by creating
sophisticated templates.
Click
here for more information about Lee's work with Tom Hall on
the ToolBook Rapid Development Suite.
The Toolbook Rapid Development Suite will be showcased at TBCON
2006.
You may also view examples of Lee's work at the
Vertical View Software Associates
website.
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Be sure to check out the newest
ToolBookDeveloper.com products:
Power Book Builder continues to be
my
number one selling product. If you have PowerPoints that
you need to convert into ToolBook, then you need Power Book
Builder...that is unless you have nothing better to do, don't
have a deadline for your project, and really like copy paste,
copy paste, copy paste, copy paste, copy paste, copy paste...you
get the picture.
Learn more about Power Book Builder and request a FREE
conversion sample.
Another Great
Knowledge Base Tip!
Get rid of that
pesky
image toolbar in your dhtml projects
If you have your have Internet Explorer 6 (IE 6), you may have
noticed that whenever your mouse pointer (or mouse cursor) moves
over an image, an image toolbar automatically pops up, giving
you the option to save that image, resize it, print it, send the
picture to someone in an email, etc. Much as this may
please some of your users, it annoys a number of fellow
ToolBookers who are not thrilled that IE encourages copyright
infringement by suggesting that it is acceptable to pilfer
pictures from our programs. If you feel the same way, you may be
comforted that it is an easy matter to prevent the toolbar from
showing over images on your site. This Knowledge
Base article will show you how. Click
here to access it.
Subscribe to the FreeBee Newsletter - It's...well, FREE :-)
If you are new to the FreeBee newsletter, please consider
subscribing. As a subscriber, you will be the first to receive
notice of new newsletters. In addition, some of my FreeBee
Tools (free utilities to make ToolBook development easier) are
available only to subscribers. Click
here to subscribe.
When you subscribe you will receive an automated e-mail with a
username and password for accessing the FreeBees.
Best regards,
Peter
Jackson
pjackson@toolbookdeveloper.com
www.toolbookdeveloper.com
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