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I_have_no_idea1
Participant
February 6, 2017
Answered

Why is it that Adobe Captivate users have not embraced the Articulate community?

  • February 6, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 505 views

If you have been around awhile, then you clearly know about Articulate Storyline.  If you have taken a moment to check out the blog maintained by Tom Kuhlmann or the e.Learning heroes website, you will be astonished at the amazing community which exists there.  Tom has fostered a sharing community that encourages users of Storyline to share their ideas, innovations, workarounds, libraries, examples and courses.

When Articulate first came on to the market it was really nothing more than a PowerPoint plug in.  However, it now competes with Adobe Captivate at many levels.  I am saddened by the lack of cooperation, sharing, posting and discussion within the Captivate community. 

I simply pose this question to the other Captivate users out there to see if they have any thoughts or answers.  And, I also want to see if others are interested in creating such an innovative community for Captivate users. 

Ann Harmless

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer RodWard

    I personally have great admiration for Tom Kuhlmann and the way he has conducted his product evangelism for Storyline.  He doesn't waste his breath 'bashing' the competition.  He focuses solely on showing people what can be done with the product he showcases and endorses.

    Tom is not only a knowledgeable e-learning professional, he can 'talk the talk' and 'walk the walk' because prior to being employed by Articulate he's actually had to make a living building e-learning courses for companies, and that practical experience as a developer comes through well in his writing.

    I would agree that Articulate has done an excellent job in building their own community around Storyline, which is an excellent product in its own right.  However, one thing I would point out about the Storyline community is that Articulate is actively employing people to work on that community and contribute a lot of the content.  While Articulate welcomes submissions from anyone in the community (as does Adobe for the Captivate community), they don't expect the majority of the blog articles or expert content to be created for free.  In my personal view, this is an area that Adobe needs to focus on improving. 

    For the record, although I have used both Storyline and Captivate (according to the wishes of the clients I work for under contract) I still believe that overall Adobe Captivate meets my personal needs to a greater extent and that's why I continue using it.

    3 replies

    S
    StevePixel
    Inspiring
    February 6, 2017

    Hi Ann,

    I think Articulate does an excellent job of marketing their product. They have a really intuitive community forum and heavily support it with dedicated forum staff. That model serves them really well,  but their customers pay for it in their new subscription pricing. So in essence the customers are subsidizing the forum support. Clearly Articulate customers see this as fair trade as they still buy the product.

    Captivate's forum is purely based on "volunteer service of users" albeit with some support from Adobe staff and a pretty cool incentive program-not as polished or responsive as Articulate, but way cheaper. ($1000.00 a year vs $360)     

    I too have noted that Adobe's community is not as robust as Articulates, but it has certainly answered any question I have ever had and it is pretty impressive given that it is totally voluntary. The good news, is since we are a volunteer forum there is nothing stopping you from building that "innovative community" you speak of. Feel free to share your ideas, innovations, workarounds, libraries, examples and courses. Adobe provides the infrastructure we just need to provide the content.

    Cheers

    Steve

     

    Captiv8r
    Captiv8r
    Legend
    February 6, 2017

    Hi Ann

    I see that Rod has provided a response. And it's rather humorous to me, because Rod's response doesn't really seem to answer the question that was posed. Yet it is marked as the correct answer.

    Nothing against Rod at all. He provides lots of insightful advice and is well respected here.

    What I interpreted the question to be was to ask why there doesn't seem to be any Captivate communities that are similar to the Articulate communities.

    From my own vantage point, this forum right here where you posed the question is a pretty darned good example of such a community. Sure, it's not as well laid out and organized as what Tom Kuhlmann's blog. But Tom likely has way more flexibility than the folks at Adobe. There are also lots of contributors here that offer their own blogs and whatnot for Captivate. And those same users are always offering up tips and workarounds and ways to accomplish things in Captivate. Same or similar information as what you might find in Tom's blog, but organized vastly differently.

    So the sharing and caring is all there, it's just not as "well exposed" as it is on Tom's blog.

    Cheers... Rick

    Lilybiri
    Lilybiri
    Legend
    February 6, 2017

    I don't understand the question myself: except for general eLearning advice, why should Captivate users embrace the Articulate community? There is a Captivate community:

    eLearning | Adobe eLearning Community

    Would like to see it better structured, is a work in progress. But I like the lack of censorship as well.

    RodWard
    Community Expert
    RodWardCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    February 6, 2017

    I personally have great admiration for Tom Kuhlmann and the way he has conducted his product evangelism for Storyline.  He doesn't waste his breath 'bashing' the competition.  He focuses solely on showing people what can be done with the product he showcases and endorses.

    Tom is not only a knowledgeable e-learning professional, he can 'talk the talk' and 'walk the walk' because prior to being employed by Articulate he's actually had to make a living building e-learning courses for companies, and that practical experience as a developer comes through well in his writing.

    I would agree that Articulate has done an excellent job in building their own community around Storyline, which is an excellent product in its own right.  However, one thing I would point out about the Storyline community is that Articulate is actively employing people to work on that community and contribute a lot of the content.  While Articulate welcomes submissions from anyone in the community (as does Adobe for the Captivate community), they don't expect the majority of the blog articles or expert content to be created for free.  In my personal view, this is an area that Adobe needs to focus on improving. 

    For the record, although I have used both Storyline and Captivate (according to the wishes of the clients I work for under contract) I still believe that overall Adobe Captivate meets my personal needs to a greater extent and that's why I continue using it.

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