Publish final product on flash drive, not web

[Sandra_Rosen]

Is it possible to publish a completed project (or several that are linked)  that can be copied and distributed on a flash drive rather than the web? I am using a MAC and my end-users will be using MACS or PCs. I don't want the end-users to get the .cptx file that they can modify. I am not a techie and I don't have a server on which to store the product for people to access. I don't know if this is possible with Captivate? IF not, can anyone recommend another software? I had originally done the project using Adobe Director 12 which is no longer available and am just trying to find a software system that will let me update the original.

[alfredmack]

Yes this is possible, You can publish your project as HTML5 or SWF which doesn't require server environment to run.The copy your exported file to your portable flash drive.You can go forward and create a HTML page as a landing page for your program, In this case some knowledge in HTML or WYSIWYG tools is required.

It is not good practice to share your source files with learners,only the published contents are meant to be shared.

[RodWard · Accepted solution]

Your end users would NOT be getting your CPTX file in any case because that's the project file, not the output format.  But you're going to run into problems with this USB delivery approach no matter what you do.

SWF has no long-term future because Adobe will not support it beyond 2020.  Even now more and more browser manufacturers are imposing so many restrictions on SWF that it has become too problematic to rely on as a delivery media.  User's are continually being harassed by the browser to allow Flash content for each and every domain or web page.  It's a death of a thousand cuts.

HTML5 is the future of e-learning but it is really designed to be delivered from a web server, not from a local drive. Browser security is now getting to the point that almost any multimedia content trying to run off a USB or local drive will get blocked at some point.  We continually get people logging issues on this forum because they are trying to run HTML5 output from a local drive and it won't work as expected, but works fine once they upload to a web server.

So distributing content on a USB is 'problematic' and not recommended.

[Sandra_Rosen]

This is very helpful. Thank you. I don't know anything about web servers. Can I just publish as HTML5 to my computer and then upload the whole folder to something like box.com or dropbox or are these not "servers?" As you can see, I am not at all technologically knowledgeable. Also, when I publish in HTML5, I can't ID what file to click on in the folder created on my MAC to start playing the project. I know these questions are embarrassingly elementary, but I am a true beginner.....

[Lilybiri]

No, uploafing to dtopbox will not work.You can install a webserver on your system (look for WAMPP or XAMPP).

[RodWard]

If you are a rank newbie then I strongly suggest you invest in some Captivate training delivered by a reputable trainer, preferably one who has previous professional experience in using Captivate to build e-learning courses for clients.

There are many different kinds of 'servers' in the IT world.  The main two you will need to become familiar with when it comes to delivering e-learning are web servers and Learning Management Systems (which are actually database-driven web applications that run on web servers with the goal of tracking e-learning interactions).

DropBox and other similar systems are really more like a web-based file server.  They are designed as a storage place for files that someone might want to individually download or share with other users. 

Web servers and LMSs are different in that they preserve relationships between files that need to work in a group (e.g. websites and e-learning modules), so that when an end user requests one of these files, it also sends them all the other dependent files that are required for everything to function correctly

[Sandra_Rosen]

Thanks for the help!