If you are an instructional designer or technical writer, you have no doubt spent years attempting to perfect the art of teaching programs using fewer and fewer words. If you are in the business of educating, you know how difficult this job can be.

These days, interactive lessons that can be viewed over the Internet or from a CD are all the rage.

There are many programs that can be used to capture a computer's screen, mouse action and audio. Unfortunately, the resulting movies can be huge--a five minute lesson could easily gobble up nearly 100mb of storage space on a hard drive. Downloading a file that large will take a lot of time, even if a user has a fast Internet connection. Large file sizes are just part of the problem. The movies may not be cross-platform (they may not work on both Macs and PCs). Interactivity is a feature most of the "mouse capture" applications do not support. And there are few of these programs that allow images to be imported.

In short, the technology for creating interactive lessons WAS bad. But not anymore. Using Captivate, you can capture screen shots on your computer and quickly turn them into lessons (movies). The movies you create can be interactive--you can add images, captions, rollovers, clickable areas, typing areas and sound effects.

Introducing Captivate

Start Adobe Captivate 3 and Set General Preferences | Open and Close Existing Projects  | View Project Information and Open Slides  | Preview a Project  | Zoom Closer to a Slide  | View the Library and Timeline

Recording

Step Through a Script | Set the Recording Type and Options | Record a Project Manually | Record a Demonstration | Record an Assessment Simulation | Record a Training Assessment | Record a Custom Project

Text Captions and The Timeline

Duplicate a Slide and Hide the Mouse | Insert, Resize and Move Text Captions | Change Text Caption Properties | Change an Object's Slide Position and Size | View the Timeline | Change a Slide's Display Time | Change Timeline View Settings | Use the Timeline to Set Text Caption Display Times | Show/Hide Timeline Objects | Use Options to Control Object Timing | Set Mouse Properties | Check Spelling | Align Slide Objects

Images

Insert and Delete Slides | Insert an Image | Set Image Size and Slide Position | Use the Library | Manage Unused Images | Create an Image Transparency | Create an Image Watermark | Replace an Image | Set Image Timing Options and Transition Effects | Work With Image Stacks | Add a Visual Mouse Click and Click Sound

Pointer Paths, Buttons and Highlight Boxes

Change the Pointer Path | Change the Pointer Type | Edit a Slide and Object Display Times | Insert a Text Button | Set a Button's Options | Insert an Image Button | Insert and Format a Highlight Box

Converting Demonstrations into Simulations

Hide the Mouse | Replace Phrases | Insert a Click Box | Set Click Box Options | Change a Slide's Display Time | Set a Text Caption Transition | Insert a Text Entry Box

Rollovers and Zoom Areas

Insert a Rollover Caption | Set Rollover Area Properties | Insert a Rollover Image | Insert a Zoom Area | Insert a Rollover Slidelet | Set Rollover Slidelet Properties | Format and Position a Slidelet | Insert a Caption into a Slidelet | Insert an Image into a Slidelet

Slide Labels, Notes and Audio

Add a Slide Label | Add a Slide Note | Add a Sound Effect to an Object | Add Background Music to a Project | Calibrate a Microphone | Record a Slide Note | Edit an Audio File | Insert Silence

Animation and Flash Video

Change a Project's Frame Rate | Add Animation to a Slide | Change an Animation's Slide Position | Insert Text Animation | Add Flash Video

Importing and Branching

Import PowerPoint Animation | Import PowerPoint Backgrounds | Resize a Project | Import Project Slides and Objects | Label a Slide | Use Buttons to Create a Branch | Explore the Branching Tab | Export the Branching View | Create a Slide Group | Work with a Slide Group

Skins and Templates

Apply a BMP Playbar | Apply a Skin | Edit and Save a Skin | Delete a Skin | Add a Loading Screen | Create a Project Template | Create a New Project From a Template | Record Additional Slides | Edit a Template

Compliant Movies, Bandwidth and Publishing

Enable 508 Compliance | Add Accessibility Text | Add Closed Captions | Link to a Web Site | Set Project Information | Check Bandwidth | Publish a Flash (SWF) | Publish Word Handouts | Export Captions | Perform a "Round Trip" From Word

Creating Quizzes

Set Quiz Preferences | Insert a Question Slide | Add an Image to a Question Slide | Reuse a Slide Background | Format the Question Title | Use the Slide Grid | Format the Progress Indicator | Create and Rename Question Pools | Add Questions to Question Pools | Insert Random Question Slides

MenuBuilder

Publish a Standalone Project | Create a MenuBuilder Project | Add Text Items to a Menu | Format Styles | Edit Text Items | Export a MenuBuilder Project

RoboHelp is the industry standard for Help authoring. It's the preferred program if you are a Help author, technical writer, or programmer tasked with creating Help systems for desktop or Web-based applications.

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. Simply put, HTML is a formatting language. You put codes (markups) inside text files so that they can be read by browsing software. Currently, the most popular browsing program is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

RoboHelp 7 HTML has the letters HTML in its name; therefore, many people think that RoboHelp HTML is strictly an HTML authoring tool—it is not. Although you can create terrific Web sites with RoboHelp HTML, its primary mission is to let you quickly, and easily, create Help systems.

Course Content:

Introduction to RoboHelp

Create an HTML Help Project | Explore the Panes and Toolbars | Explore the Project Pane | Change Project Settings | Edit and Add Topics | Edit a Topic Headline | Rename and Delete Topics | Create a TOC Book | Add, Delete and Rename TOC Books | Move TOC Books | Add Pages to TOC Books | Generate a Project

WebHelp and Topic Formatting

Create a WebHelp Project | Import an HTML File | Import a Word Document | Rename Topic Titles | Create Project Folders | Auto-create a TOC | Apply a Style Sheet to a Topic | Apply Styles to Selected Paragraphs | Create a New Style Sheet | Create a Font Set | Use Inline Styles | Spell Check | Use Multi-File Find and Replace | Generate 508 and W3C Compliant WebHelp

FlashHelp, Links, PDFs and Pop-Ups

Generate FlashHelp Output | Insert Hyperlinks | Change Hyperlink Colors | Import a PDF Document | Add Popups | Create Custom-Sized Popups | Use Link View | Resolve Broken Links

Graphics and Multimedia

Add Graphics to a Help Project | Change Image Margins | Rename an Image | Add a Background Image | Add Hotspots to a Graphic | Add Sound to a Topic | Import and Format Topics | Import an Adobe Captivate Demo | Use RoboScreenCapture to Pull a Screen Shot

Build Tags and Variables

Create Conditional Build Tags | Define a Build Tag Expression | Create a User Defined Variable | Insert and Edit a User Defined Variable

Tables and DHTML

Insert a Table | Format a Table | Add a Horizontal Line | Insert a Symbol | Add a Bulleted List | Format a Heading with a Fade in DHTML Effect | Apply Fly in DHTML Effects | Work with Positioned Text Boxes | Create a Trigger

Indexes, Glossaries, Printed Docs and PDFs

Run the Smart Index Wizard | Remove an Index Entry | Add Index Entries “On the Fly” | Add Keywords with the Topic Properties | Add Subkeywords to the Index | Create a See Also Keyword | Add a Link Control to a Topic | Add Glossary Terms | Generate a Report | Generate Printed Documentation | Generate a PDF

Forms and Frames

Create a New Topic | Insert a Form and Form Element | Add Radio Buttons | Edit a Topic’s HTML Code | Add a Check Box | Insert a Drop-Down Menu | Add a Multi-line Text Field | Add Submit and Reset Buttons | Set Form Properties | Import HTML Files | Create a Frameset | Modify Frameset Attributes | Link Topics into Frameset Regions

Skins and Templates

Use a Skin | Create a Custom Skin | Publish a Project | Create a Topic Template | Edit a Template

Windows, Browsing and Help

Create a Custom Window | Create a Browse Sequence | Review a Web Application’s Source Code | Publish a WebHelp Project | Review CSH Source Code | Create a Custom WebHelp Window | Create a Map File and Assign Map IDs

In this class you will learn how to:

• Fix the 10 most common grammar errors and receive a quick guide to the 30 most often misused words.

• You will get a clear explanation of the difference between which and that.

• Learn when to use a semicolon.

• Find out why “This is she” is correct and “That’s him” is wrong.

• Learn whether it is ever good to start a sentence with and.

• You will also get the answers to specific grammar questions that you bring to the class.

• Along the way you will review the parts of speech, meet the famous dangling participle, and learn to recognize the elusive squinting modifier.

As a participant in this class you will receive a copy of our "Abram’s Guide to Grammar" book.