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General

Editing Course Content

Bringing Content into your Course

Managing your Course

Graphics, Sound, and Other Multimedia

Tests

Questions

General

  1. WCB creates multiple files. Some end in .wct and some are .wcg. What are these files?
  2. Can I make the sidebar logo a link to a web site?
  3. Can I make changes to the generated course (HTML)?
  4. Can I change the color of my bullets to match the color of my sidebar?

Editing Course Content

  1. After I created a course, I went back to WCB to update the course. All I see is the course tree. How do I access my content?
  2. How do I move a bullet page, a Tell Me More article, or a chapter?
  3. How do I format the text (i.e. bold or italic)?
  4. How do I get a blank line between paragraphs? Can I put a blank line between bullet points?
  5. How do I get two or more spaces between words in a paragraph?
  6. How do I copy and paste between documents?
  7. How do I add sub-bullet points?
  8. How do I create a bullet point (other then using a dash) for sub-bullets?
  9. Can I modify the instruction page ("How to Use This Course" page) so I can use my customized instructions in all my courses?
  10. Can I specify a different font for the course?
  11. Can you have more than one Try This on a page?
  12. Can the welcome text on the Glossary page be changed?
  13. Can you put a line between the chapter summary and the chapter table of contents?

Bringing Content into your Course

  1. How do I add Dreamweaver pages to ReadyGo WCB?
  2. I added my Dreamweaver page but the graphics did not come over. What can I do?
  3. I added my Dreamweaver page to ReadyGo WCB. The background graphic on the page did not display. What can I do?
  4. I have an article I wrote in MS word. How do I integrate it into my course?
  5. I have an animated PowerPoint presentation. Can I play it in my ReadyGo WCB course?

Managing your Course

  1. How do I view a course I created?
  2. Can I post the course to a web server using FTP tools other than the one in WCB?
  3. Where should generated files be saved?
  4. When I generate a course, why aren't the course source files (.wct and .wcg) saved?
  5. How do I distribute a course on a CD-ROM?

Graphics, Sound, and Other Multimedia

  1. How do you convert a .BMP or other graphic formats into .JPEG or .GIF format?
  2. How do you embed sound files on a page in the course?
  3. How do I resize my graphics?
  4. The graphics on the page appear fine in Internet Explorer, but do not show up in Netscape when viewing course over the web. What is wrong?
  5. Can I display more than one image on a page?
  6. Can I use large video files (.avi) in a course?
  7. How do I make my sound file smaller?

Tests

  1. Can I specify that students can only take a test once?

Answers

General

  1. WCB creates multiple files. Some end in .wct and some are .wcg. What are these files?
    2. Answer
    WCB generates a course into HTML. It also saves the course in a Web Course Builder format. This allows you to edit a course or send a course (not HTML) to another course developer. WCB saves the text in a file that ends with .wct and all your graphics are stored in a file that ends in .wcg.
  2. Can I make the sidebar logo a link to a web site?
    3. Answer
    Yes. Choose Edit > Course Properties. Click the Graphic/Audio button for the sidebar logo. Choose Local Image + link to URL for the Graphic Element Type field. This is useful, for example, to give the student a quick link to the corporate web site.
  3. Can I make changes to the generated course (HTML)?
    4. Answer
    Any changes you make to the generated course will be overwritten the next time you generate the course so it is a good idea to make all HTML edits within WCB.
  4. Can I change the color of my bullets to match the color of my sidebar?
    5. Answer
    You can use your own custom bullet graphic for your courses. Choose Customize > Colors and Graphics from the menu bar, and select your own bullet graphic to replace the default bullet graphic. Select Page Bullet and click Select to find the file on your computer.

Editing Course Content

  1. After I created a course, I went back to WCB to update the course. All I see is the course tree. How do I access my content?
    2. Answer
    To access a chapter, you will need to either click the corresponding chapter button on the toolbar or double-click the page you want in the course tree.
  2. How do I move a bullet page, a Tell Me More article, or a chapter?
    3. Answer
    In the course tree, click the element you would like to move, drag this element to its new location.
  3. How do I format the text (i.e. bold or italic)?
    4. Answer
    Click the text box containing the text you want to edit and click the Visual Edit tab on the left. You can then format the text using the text editing toolbar.
  4. How do I get a blank line between paragraphs? Can I put a blank line between bullet points?
    5. Answer
    Enter two carriage returns anywhere that you want a blank line.
  5. How do I get two or more spaces between words in a paragraph?
    6. Answer
    All browsers reduce extra spaces to one space between words. If you want to have multiple spaces, you can type in the HTML code for a non-breaking space. The HTML code for a non-breaking space is   The following example shows how you can have two spaces on your page.

    Example:  This will put two spaces after the colon. This will look like the following on your page:

    Example:  This will put two spaces after the colon.

  6. How do I copy and paste between documents?
    7. Answer
    To see the copy and paste menu, click your right mouse button. You can also use shortcut keys to cut and paste from an other application into Web Course Builder. The shortcut keys on a PC are as follows:

    Ctrl+c = copy Ctrl+v = paste Ctrl+x = cut Ctrl+z = undo

    To copy and paste from a document, select the text to be copied. Hold down the Ctrl key, and press the c key. In Web Course Builder, click in the destination area. Hold down the Ctrl key, and press the v key. Your text should now appear. Don't concern yourself with jagged lines. ReadyGo Web Course Builder needs to read two carriage returns to provide a line space.

  7. How do I add sub-bullet points?
    8. Answer
    ReadyGo Web Course Builder supports six levels of bullet points on bullet pages. You can change the graphics used for each bullet point by specifying graphic images in Appearance > Colors and Graphics (Bullet Pages tab).
  8. How do I create a bullet point (other then using a dash) for sub-bullets?
    9. Answer
    To identify a bullet point character, choose Start > Programs > Accessories > Character Map. Scroll through the various fonts until you find the one you want. Select it and then press the Copy button. Click in the destination location in Web Course Builder and press Ctrl+v (Hold down the Ctrl key and press the v key).
  9. Can I modify the instruction page ("How to Use This Course" page) so I can use my customized instructions in all my courses?
    10. Answer
    Yes. Make your changes to the HTML in the instruct.ht1 (instr1.ht1 if you are using style sheets) file located in Program Files\ReadyGo. All new courses will have your updated instruction page.
  10. Can I specify a different font for the course?
    11. Answer
    Yes. Choose Appearance > Fonts to change the fonts used for the course. You can also specify the fonts in a course style sheet.
  11. Can you have more than one Try This on a page?
    12. Answer
    To add additional Try This exercises on a page, add a custom sub-page and use the appropriate Try This graphic that matches the template you are using.
  12. Can the welcome text on the Glossary page be changed?
    13. Answer
    Yes. Choose Customize > Labels and Text from the menu bar. About half-way down the dialog box, you will see the text for the glossary page welcome. You can edit this text here.
  13. Can you put a line between the chapter summary and the chapter table of contents?
    14. Answer
    You can add a blank line by entering two carriage returns at the end of you chapter summary. If you want a horizontal line, enter the HTML code for a horizontal rule <HR> at the end of your chapter summary. Alternatively if you are using style sheets, you can add a bottom border to the chapter summary CSS rule in your course style sheet.

Bringing Content into your Course

  1. How do I add Dreamweaver pages to ReadyGo WCB?
    2. Answer
    From the course tree view, click to select the page above where you want to add the Dreamweaver page. Right-click and choose Import HTML File. Find the Dreamweaver file you want to include on your computer and click OK.
  2. I added my Dreamweaver page but the graphics did not come over. What can I do?
    3. Answer
    ReadyGo WCB attempts to bring over any graphics in your Dreamweaver file. Unfortunately, ReadyGo WCB can not identify all codes put into Dreamweaver documents for all possible graphic interactions. To fix any missing graphics, you may need to do one or all of the following:
    1. Add the graphics into Web Course builder. Choose Edit > Graphics Archive from the menu. Add the graphics associated with the Dreamweaver page into your course.
    2. In the Dreamweaver page you just imported, click the Advanced button. Delete any
      tags.
    3. In the HTML for the bullet page you just imported, add "../graphics" to the src path for all graphics on the page.
  3. I added my Dreamweaver page to ReadyGo WCB. The background graphic on the page did not display. What can I do?
    4. Answer
    If you background graphic did not display, you may need to do the following:
    1. Add the graphics into Web Course builder. Choose Edit > Graphics Archive from the menu. Add the graphics associated with the Dreamweaver page into your course.
    2. In the Dreamweaver page you just imported, click the Advanced button. and add "../graphics" to the src path for your background graphic.
  4. I have an article I wrote in MS word. How do I integrate it into my course?
    5. Answer
    In Microsoft Word, copy the article. In Web Course Builder, paste the article into a Tell Me More article on a bullet page. If you want a line break to appear between paragraphs, enter two carriage returns.

    Alternatively, you can save the Word file as HTML, and then copy/paste the HTML into the course. Be careful not to copy the and tags when you paste the HTML into the course.

  5. I have an animated PowerPoint presentation. Can I play it in my ReadyGo WCB course?
    6. Answer
    Using Office 2003 or later you can save PowerPoint as a fully automated web presentation with audio.

    1) From PowerPoint, choose File>Save As.

    2) Choose Save as type: Web Page.

    3) Choose the "graphics" directory for the course where you have created your ReadyGo course as your output directory. Doing so will simplify the upload to the server.

    Note the name of the presentation as created by PowerPoint, e.g. Presentation1.htm. You will need this below. If you have multiple presentations that you are adding to your course make sure each one has a unique name.

    4) Select Publish. Within PowerPoint there is a menu to specify options for your presentation.

    5) Press the Publish button.

    6) On the page within the ReadyGo WCB course where you want the animated PowerPoint presentation to play type:

    "<iframe SRC="../graphics/name_of_presentation.htm" width=600 height=400>

    If you are adding the presentation to the main page, the FAQs page, or the "Help" page, omit the '../' before "graphics" in the link. That is, the code should look like:

    <iframe src="graphics/name_of_presentation.htm" width=600 height=480>.

    You can also set the width to be 80%, and the presentation will scale with the browser size.

Managing your Course

  1. How do I view a course I created?
    2. Answer
    There are a few different ways to view a course you created.

    1) Generating a course converts the material you are entering into HTML (what web browser need to read a web page). To generate a course, click the Generate Course button on the toolbar. You are asked if you want to view your course. Click Yes to open your course in your web browser.

    2) Once you have saved and generated your course, you can choose Publish > Browse Course from the menu bar to display your course in your browser.

    3) You can also find the course on your computer, and double-click index.htm to open the course in your browser. Can't find your course? Look in \readygo\courses\your-course-name.

  2. Can I post the course to a web server using FTP tools other than the one in WCB?
    3. Answer
    Yes. FTP all the generated course files to a destination directory on the server.
  3. Where should generated files be saved?
    4. Answer
    Keep a separate folder for each generated course.
  4. When I generate a course, why aren't the course source files (.wct and .wcg) saved?
    5. Answer
    By not automatically saving the course every time you generated it, you can preview the course in a browser (as the student will see the course) without making your changes permanent.
  5. How do I distribute a course on a CD-ROM?
    6. Answer
    ReadyGo provides you with a program called browse.exe that will open the course in the student's browser when they insert the CD into their computer on an MS-Windows PC.

    When you generate your course, WCB automatically places a copy of the files browse.exe and autorun.inf into the root directory of your course.

    To put your course on a CD-ROM: 1) Load the course into your CD-writer software. You must have the files index.htm, autorun.inf, browse.exe, etc., in the root directory of your destination CD.

    2) Set the root directory of the course to be the root directory of the CD.

    3) Burn the CD.

Graphics, Sound, and Other Multimedia

  1. How do you convert a .BMP or other graphic formats into .JPEG or .GIF format?
    2. Answer
    If you have a recent Windows system such as Windows 95, 98, or 2000, you can convert a .BMP using Microsoft(R) Paint. You can also use other graphics software.
  2. How do you embed sound files on a page in the course?
    3. Answer
    Click the Add Graphic button and choose "Plug-In/<EMBED>" as the Graphic Element Type. You can leave the Plug In Type field blank. Specify the size of the media player on the page by including the height and width. We recommend 150 by 200 pixels.
  3. How do I resize my graphics?
    4. Answer
    You can specify a height and width for the graphic when you click the Add Graphic button or you can resize the image using any graphics software.
  4. The graphics on the page appear fine in Internet Explorer, but do not show up in Netscape when viewing course over the web. What is wrong?
    5. Answer
    The most likely cause is that there are spaces in the graphic file names. Remove any spaces in the file names, add the graphics back into your course and generate the course.
  5. Can I display more than one image on a page?
    6. Answer
    Yes. Use the HTML code: <IMG SRC="../graphics/graphic_name.gif"> on the page summary area or bullet text area in WCB. Make sure you copy your graphic file to the graphics directory for the course.
  6. Can I use large video files (.avi) in a course?
    7. Answer
    Large .avi files in courses built with ReadyGo Web Course Builder: Issues and Recommendations.

    Issues

    1. When you save a course with a large video file (5MB or larger), the software appears still for a while. This is because it takes a while to write 5MB of information to the archive, but it's a necessary step in course generation. If the software window is closed at this point (after you choose File > Save, but before the hourglass disappears), the archive file is not completed and when you try to open the same course, you will get an error message or the course will not open.

    2. A properly saved course will take a while to open when you have large video files in the course. This is because files are retrieved from the archive and written into a "tmpxxxx" directory for processing changes to the course.

    3. Windows 98 takes much longer than other operating systems to complete the archive write procedures for large video files.

    Recommendations

    1. If you are not creating a course for CD-ROM delivery, make sure that the bandwidth your students will have is adequate to view the files of the size you are including. Test the prototype course over the connection that your students will use as follows:

      - If you are preparing the course for the local network, run the course over the network to verify adequate performance

      - If you are preparing the course for the web, post the prototype course on the web server and view it over the same connection that your students will most likely have (56K, DSL, T1, and so on)

    2. While ReadyGo Web Course Builder is closed, delete all the "tmpxxxx" directories in the ReadyGo installation directory (this is typically C:\Program Files\readygo).

    3. To avoid long periods of archive writings: a) Complete your course development and then add any large videos you want to the course. b) Generate the course with the large videos. c) In WCB, remove any large videos from the course. c) Save the course (without the large video files). This leaves you with a course that has the videos in it and a source file that has all your work except for the large video files (no write waiting).
      Note: If you want to make changes to the course now and regenerate the course to the same directory where you have your current course files, the video files that you removed will no longer be in the course. You need to make any changes and repeat this procedure to add your large video files back into the course and save the course source files without the large video files.
  7. How do I make my sound file smaller?
    8. Answer
    The easiest way to make your sound file smaller is to open it in Microsoft® Sound Recorder and save it in a format that will reduce the file size.

    1) Choose Start > Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Sound Recorder.

    2) Open the sound file whose size you want to reduce.

    3) Choose File > Save As.

    4) Click the Change button next to the Format field at the bottom of the Save As dialog box.

    5) Click the Attributes arrow and choose 11kHz, 8bit, Mono.

    6) Click OK.

    7) Click Save.

    This will probably reduce the size of your sound file by half with minimal quality loss. If you are serious about your sound file quality and you want the file size to be smaller, then you might want to convert your file to MP3 format using sound editing software of your choice.

Tests

  1. Can I specify that students can only take a test once?
    2. Answer
    Yes it is possible to limit the student to taking each test only once if you are using ReadyGo Server-Side Testing (SST). However, it is worthwile to consider the effect of this. What if the person inadvertenly clicks the Submit button? How will you allow them to re-take the test?

    Our recommended approach is to allow students to take the tests as many times as they want. When the reports are created, you are given both the first score and the best score. You (the course administrator) can then choose which value to use.

    To enable limiting the number of times a student can take a test, go to the test page for each test. Click the Test Configuration button. On the right side there is an area called SST Generated Only. In the Maximum number of times the test can be taken field, specify the number of times students can take the test.