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Kevin Barcroft
Inspiring
April 29, 2015
Question

Why are paid widgets required for basic functions

  • April 29, 2015
  • 2 replies
  • 162 views

Not intended as a negative gripe with the software but a question.

Although I agree Captivate is one of the best programs out there for e-learning, this still leaves a very basic qustion.

Why when the software is so expensive do we still have to pay extra money for third-party paid widgets... (like the great ones on offer from cpguru.com to mention just one)? 

It's not as though these widgets are for unusual features or anything special

  • Printing in landscape
  • Decent e-mail reporting
  • Many more...

As far as I'm aware, these types of widgets deal with common, well known shortfalls with the native features of captivate; shortfalls that have been highlighted on these very forums for many years but are still falling short... even in version 8

Am I being overly picky in highlighting this question...?

I can only say thank God that we have people like Michael at cpguru and of course all the other captivate superhero's and other users on these forums that offer generous and useful help in answering technical questions. 

Finally I must repeat that I really do love this software (albeit not the price) and think it's the market leader in terms of e-learning, by balancing ease of use (most of the time) and generally feature rich functionality.

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    Lilybiri
    Lilybiri
    Legend
    April 30, 2015

    Adding to David's long and accurate comment: I don't think the examples you are giving are really basic functionality. I never did need them in eLearning courses, nor the email reporting, nor the printing.

    You'll find less widget developers now, with the much more complicated way of having to create widgets both for SWF and HTML5 output. Whenever possible I still use some great widgets from the external developers, but if you follow the evolution, no more widgets appear now. Even the included Learning Interactions (new name for widgets in the CP-box) do still have quite a lot of issues when using them for HTML5 output. Personally I totally agree with David, the way to go now is with JS and I hope the new common JS Interface will be extended and improved in next versions.

    TLCMediaDesign
    TLCMediaDesign
    Inspiring
    April 30, 2015

    I started with Authorware in 1997 ($2700) so I think Captivate priced nicely There was a very robust community on LISTSERV, where everyone came for help. There was also a large community of add-in developers to enhance the product, of which Macromedia was very supportive.

    I think there is a very fine line between the Software company adding in "widgets" that were developed by the community to the software and letting the community engage in commerce. The "community" is the life-blood of the software.

    Many of the Widget's are not one-size-fits-all, so the Software company doesn't really want the headache, i.e. email reporting. Too many variables with server types/languages.

    If all conceived functionality was included in CP the price would invariably go up. All users/designers eventually push the limits of what this type of software can do. Remember, software of this nature is designed so that you don't need a coder.

    Flash didn't start out with an open coding window where you script the whole project. Authorware, eventually included a JavaScript window and had full access to Windows controls and dll's.

    CP including the common JS Interface was the next logical step, as all programs of this type eventually give the option of free-form coding.

    There are some who are not happy at all with CP's new widgets and some who are. The should and always will be a need for add-ins as long as instructional designers have an imagination.

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