Yesterday's captivate file not preview properly (text boxes, elements not showing up)

[jsmlee2019]

I discovered this 3 days ago. I just began working on Captivate 9 last week - I'm definitely a novice. I've got my predecessor's old Captivate files to look at. I'm not using anything I currently don't fully understand (he used JavaScript). My first project is very simple - just buttons jumping from slide to slide. Text and photos. Size is very small - just over 7,200KB and I'm using a theme I saved from his old project.

After redoing work 2x, this is how I’m currently handling the situation:

Process of “fixing” the Captivate file

1. I open yesterday’s file – last one saved end of day. I see that the filmstrip is sometimes not previewing properly. I see that the slides are not previewing properly – sometimes just basic boxes appear, but nothing the Master Slides handle

1. I DO NOT “Reset Master Slide” as this sometimes changes things

1. I begin to go slide by slide, “activating” each box to make sure they work. Here’s the step-by-step

- I begin by clicking on the Master Slide dropdown and select the Master slides (under Properties) appropriate to the current slide

- I then go to the Timeline and from the bottom up, click through each element. Tedious, but this way, I can see just what’s there – in case something really does disappear (currently not the problem – just not previewing/loading/whatever you call it)

- I save between each slide in case the whole thing blows up.

I’d really like to not do this EVERY MORNING when I go back into my last project. Is there something I’m doing wrong?

IT support at my work is very understanding and has re-installed Captivate 9 here. I just put a call in for another look - perhaps it's a "cache" problem? I've saved 15 versions of this project over 2 days. Is that part of the problem? Should I just be "saving" and not "saving as"?

Please HELP?!!!

[RodWard]

Sounds like you need to have some basic training in Captivate.  The behaviour you describe is not normal for Captivate, but sometimes people describe this type of behaviour when they don't understand how the Captivate timeline works and they don't understand how interactive objects pause it, causing things later in the timeline not to show up.

Have you had any training or watched any of the Adobe basic training videos that are provided with Captivate?

[jsmlee2019]

Hello!

Thanks for your response. I am indeed a beginner. Because I'm quite familiar with Adobe Creative Suite, and Captivate's an Adobe product, I'd jumped into this project thinking I'd be able to grasp things as I go along. Big mistake. I'm working with Captivate 9 and specifically only in non-responsive mode, so I won't be using the more recent Captivate elements - at least unless the company I'm with begins to pay the subscription (we have 1 paid-for license). I've been looking at Paul Wilson's tutorials as well. And I've been reading the Adobe User Guide too. But perhaps I will need a one-stop-shop course like the Captivate 9: Essential Training & Advanced Techniques, by Pooja Jaisingh, on Lynda.com. Since time is short - and that Lynda course takes up 7 hours, any recommendation for alternative courses would be appreciated.

Thanks! -JL

[Lilybiri]

Totally agree with Rod, that it looks like you have issues with the most important feature of Captivate: Timeline and also with Themes (Master slides are only one component of a Theme).

I have blogged a lot about both topics. Here is one link:

http://blog.lilybiri.com/pausing-captivates-timeline

[jsmlee2019]

Thank you for your response!

I was thinking it was something to do with the Theme I was using. But as I admitted to RodWard, I'm a beginner who'd assumed too much! I have come across your blog - specifically the one about Captivate 9 - and I found it quite informational. Aside from perusing your blog, and watching tutorials on specific topics, do you recommend any one course for me to grasp the program quickly? I won't require working with responsive design (at least, not yet), nor will I need to work with more recent elements (fluid boxes - which only came in with 2017, right?, VR, AR, etc.).

-JL

[Lilybiri]

Even if you can drive a car, can you learn to fly a supersonic airplane in a couple of hours? Sorry for the metaphor but even for CC applications you cannot just jump in one applcation and start using it without any training. I have been teaching a lot of software apps (25 years of Photosho training).  Especially Captivate which has (sometimes limiteid) features of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign Animate CC, Audition, Dreamweaver, Framemaker, but on top of that the interactivity (where InDesign's Interactivity is looking ridicuous). and reporting functionality to LMS. I am not  talking about the most recent features added in CP2017/2019.

Especially in your case, where it may be a Theme problem, because that feature will not be treated even in trainings on LinkedIn. I really suspect it is linked with upgrading files, and the problems may be linked with so many features of Captivate: not only themes, but difference between SWF (formerly the standard) and HTML5 output, quizzing master slides (have changed a lot, part of the theme) to mention only some. Even a basic training of 7hrs may prove totally useless. Reading the manual of your car will not allow you to fix a problem that only an experienced mechanic can.

This is off topic, but these main stumbling blocks are not even covered in the LInkedin basic training:

Challenges for Starters - Captivate blog

Beware: I am not sure that your problem is linked with one of them (except the theme upgrade maybe).

[jsmlee2019]

Thank you. Yes, learning curve definitely steep here. While I can't assume to try to be an expert after running a few hours of an online course, I am going through it (how else to begin learning?), and will be going through your blog (for expert advice!), reading through forum questions, etc.

The "problem" with my Captivate project was solved when I included a slide at the beginning of the project - it was pre-loaded with JavaScript (from my predecessor's recent file). It loads after I preview it through HTML5 Browser. That action - while it still doesn't "see" my project in the browser - actually triggers the file and loads up the slides on my stage. So, yes, project "fixed," but I'll be recreating everything from scratch now - and attempting not to use my predecessor's items... at least until I understand how to use JavaScript within Captivate.

Thanks for your patience.

[Lilybiri]

That makes it certainly more complicated, if JS was included to do very basic things (like loading slides). I avoid JS whenever possible, because I mostly do consultancy. It is a lot more complicated to explain a JS script than advanced or shared actions to a client.

Glad you could solve this problem. My blog has some basic articles, but most are either based on use cases for advanced/shared actions or about the stumbling blocks no one seems to recognize.

You can download several tables for free as well: events, statements, system variables, learning interactions.....

You don't have to look for CP9, even 10 years old articles ares still daily visited. Maybe the screenshots will be outdated, but not the content. I am busy with rewriting a lot of them for the present versions. Published one in the eLearning community about Displaying time, which is such an updated blog... this time with JS which works a lot better for HTML5 output than it did for SWF output.