Release 5

New student dashboards and enhanced compatibility with global standards for even better digital learning experiences

Latest Features

New Student Dashboard

We have enhanced the Student Dashboard so that you can provide your learners with more functionalities and an even better learning experience. Now, the most recent course accessed by learners will be highlighted and pinned, while other active courses will remain underneath and automatically align themselves in an intuitive grid.

Also, we have added the option to quickly switch between courses that have and haven’t been completed yet.

Extended Compatibility

One Roster Standard Compatibility

Avallain Magnet is now compatible with the One Roster standard. This new function allows institutions to easily import lists of learners into the platform using our CSV User Upload feature.

LTI as SSO

We have enabled LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) as an SSO (Single Sign-On) mechanism in Avallain Magnet. This functionality allows making individual courses located in Avallain Magnet to be accessible from external learning platforms.

Please contact your Account Manager to obtain more details about how to correctly and safely implement this feature.

Upcoming Features

Seamless and Instant Publishing

By giving full access to Avallain Author and Avallain Magnet, the Magnet Professional package provides you with your own end-to-end e-learning suite. Content creation and structuring in Avallain Author as well as course delivery and learning, user and product management in Avallain Magnet are perfectly tuned to each other, working as one cohesive ecosystem.

This seamless integration and combination of Avallain Author and Avallain Magnet will become even better when it comes to content structuring and publishing.

Soon, you will be able to create structures of any complexity in Avallain Author’s intuitive structure tool and then, within the press of a button, publish them, together with all of their LOs, to Avallain Magnet instantly – either to an existing course or by creating a new course. With this new enhancement, we want to enable you to further streamline your publishing, structuring and course creation processes and, ultimately, support you to create marketable products even faster.

Built-in Messaging

This eagerly awaited feature will be included in Avallain Magnet’s upcoming releases.

And as part of your Magnet Professional package, you will be among the first to make full use of the built-in messaging tool once it is available. With it, you can enable your students and teachers to chat with each other directly and seamlessly within your learning platform.

Stay tuned!

Provide extended feedback to language learners with new Activity Type Options for the Activity Class

Avallain Author Release 42 comes packed with exciting features for authoring, project management and workflow automation, such as two brand new Activity Type Options for the Activity Class Input:Match:Voice (Pronunciation) to provide more detailed and personalised feedback to language learners.

Activity Classes

Extended feedback for the Activity Class Input:Match:Voice (Pronunciation)

In Avallain Author Release 42, language learners can receive extended feedback on their pronunciation with two new Activity Type Options for the Activity Class Input:Match:Voice (Pronunciation). 

Enhanced Pronunciation Feedback

If enabled, after submitting their answer, learners will see a dialogue box with detailed information about how well they pronounced each syllable in their audio recording compared to the text in the activity.

Also, when enabled, the new Activity Type Option Pronunciation Score determines if a syllable should be marked as correct or incorrect.

Pronunciation Score

The Activity Type Option Pronunciation Score enables content creators to define two score thresholds for customised feedback based on the learner’s performance. In addition, learners will be presented with an overall score on how well they pronounced the text in the activity.

NOTE: The overall score presented to learners by this Activity Type Option will not reflect the points received by the learner in this activity.

With these new Activity Type Options, content creators enable teachers to provide more detailed feedback automatically and language learners get a clearer understanding of their pronunciation and what to amend to improve their outcomes.

IMPORTANT:

• If you require help configuring this feature, please contact our Customer Success Team.
• This feature uses the Speechace API to provide extended feedback.
• Currently, this API only supports British and American English. For this reason, the Language Attribute for the LO has to be set to either en_US or en_GB.

AI

Generate keywords with AI for images in the Media Library

Avallain Author Release 42 introduces a new AI feature to generate keywords for images in the Common schema section in the Media Library.

With this new feature, content creators can open the Common schema section on the Edit screen of an image in the Media Library and simply click on the AI three-star icon to the right of the Keywords field. The AI functionality will automatically analyse the image’s content and generate related keywords.

NOTE: This feature must be enabled in the Admin Settings tab to be available in the Media Library. If you don’t have an Admin role, reach out to your project’s Admin to enable this option.

Backend

New Permissions tab in Project Settings

Project Managers can now manage access to certain functions of the current project by user role with a new tab in Project Settings called Permissions.

This new tab allows Project Managers to easily manage access to features for each role within a project. 

The following options are available:

• Access to Structures
• Across-project LO Copy Rights
• Bulk Metadata Editing Rights
• LO Import Rights
• LO Locking Rights
• Publishing Rights

NOTE:

The options Across-project LO Copy Rights, Bulk Metadata Editing Rights and LO Locking Rights are newly available with Avallain Author Release 42.

• Across-project LO Copy Rights: defines which user role can copy LOs from other projects.
• Bulk Metadata Editing Rights: defines which user role can use the bulk metadata Download button or set metadata by uploading a CSV.
• LO Locking Rights: defines which user role can use the Bulk Lock LOs option (introduced in this release).

Publishing Rights, Access to Structures and LO Import Rights options are no longer in the Global Options tab (or the Project Settings tab in the case of the option LO Import) in Project Settings. They are now only in the new Permissions tab. 

New Bulk Lock LOs function in the Actions menu

Project Managers can now select several LOs in the Work Packages page and choose Bulk Lock LOs from the Actions menu to lock them all simultaneously instead of individually. 

This new functionality allows Project Managers to prevent unauthorised changes to LOs more quickly and efficiently by locking them in bulk.

NOTE:

Project Managers can manage access to this feature by user role with the new Option LO Locking Rights in the Permissions tab in Project Settings.

UI updates and improvements

Avallain Author Release 42 continues with more interface updates and improvements per the latest UI and UX standards.

The updates to the user interface encompass, among other areas, the LO Editor screen and Work Packages, with new and more intuitive icons and buttons for tools such as Comments, now showing a speech bubble icon anywhere in the UI where it’s possible to open the Comments dialogue.

Design Package Option is now available in Content Profiles

It is now possible to add the Design Package Option to Content Profiles and enable it with Avallain Author Release 42.

The Design Packages dropdown becomes active when this option is enabled on a Content Profile. This way, Content Profiles can now be differentiated graphically by means of the Design Packages Option and the properties the selected Design Package offers.

Admins and Project Managers can search options in Product Type and Projects settings

Admins and Project Managers can now search for options when adding or removing them from Product Types or Projects, making the workflow much quicker and easier. 

By inserting the full name of an option or only part of it, the results screen will show all the options that match the term, allowing Admins and Project Managers to quickly select or deselect them from the list of options included on a Product Type or Project.

Media Library now identifies the Copyright metadata from uploaded assets

In Avallain Author Release 42, the Media Library will identify the Copyright metadata from uploaded assets and automatically copy it to the Common metadata section. This way, the information added automatically can now be fetched and displayed in Learning Objects.

Global Options

Media Playback Limit

With Avallain Author version 42, the number of times a learner can play a media file set by the Media Playback Limit option is persistent however many times the learner resets the activity or LO. 

This way, the option prevents learners from replaying media assets even if they reset the screen or LO after reaching the limit set.

Check Answers Instant

Avallain Author Release 42 extends the support for the option Check Answers Instant to the Activity Class Order:Sort:Sorting. With this update, this option now supports 14 Activity Classes, and further extension of support is in planning.

Show Transcripts/Subtitles

The option Show Transcripts/Subtitles now has two more option values. With the value Show Transcripts, you can now show only the transcript of a video or audio asset and the Show Subtitles value displays only the subtitles of a video.

Digital Books

Extended support for Solution Reveal hotspots in Digital Books

Avallain Author Release 42 extends the support for hotspots in PDF Digital Books to the hotspot types Single Solution Reveal and Progressive Solution Reveal.

• Single Solution Reveal presents the viewer with all the respective solutions with one click.
• Progressive Solution Reveal allows content creators to combine several Solution Reveal hotspots into one. When learners click on the Progressive Solution Reveal hotspot, it shows them each Solution Reveal hotspot after another.

NOTE: PDF Digital Books offer many advantages over Image Digital Books. Considering that they now support the same hotspot types, we recommend updating all Digital Books to PDF Digital Books.

Content Profiles for Digital Books

With Avallain Author Release 42, Admins can create Content Profiles for Digital Books to set all available Global eBook Options, including the Design Pack Options (if it’s supported by the Book Design Pack in use).

Once an eBook Content Profile has been created and added to a Product Type, it can be enabled in the Publishing section of the Project Settings and applied to Digital Books, just as with regular Content Profiles.

NOTE: In MercuryBook, the Primary colour is used for selected controls, while the Secondary colour is used for dialogue titles, the volume bar and as a placeholder for several components.

New activity type Identify:Select:Clocks

Release 41 features among many other improvements a new Activity class Identify:Select:Clocks and introduces with generated Alternative Text a first integration of AI into the content production process as part of Avallain’s initiative to utilize AI in a safe and responsible manner.

Backend enhancements

Backend Design

The design of the Author Backend has been updated. In many areas the more compact design allows for additional information to be displayed. This includes the menus, the tiled list pages and other parts of the UI. 

Updated Author UI

Updating the Author UI is an ongoing process and future releases will continue to enhance the UI with a more modern and compact design.

Editor

Tables

Release 41 further improves working with tables by making it easier to add predefined table classes to a table. Such table classes are defined in the Design Pack and will become available through a dropdown menu in the Table Properties editor.

Table Properties with example table classes

Notes:

– If you require help in configuring this feature, please contact Avallain Support.

– This feature is not supported in Mercury.

Links

Links inserted into LOs using the Link dialogue in the richtext editor can now be adorned with a custom ARIA label. This label helps people using screen readers to find out more about the purpose of the link. 

Table Properties with example table classes

Media library

Generate Alternative Text field content

Release 41 adds functionality to Author allowing content creators to use AI to generate the contents of the Alternative Text field. This is part of the Avallain initiative to integrate AI into the content creation process where it is useful and safe.

Generate Alternative Text field content

To get an AI-generated proposal for the contents of the Alternative Text field, simply click the magic stars icon at the right side of the Alternative Text field.

VTT subtitles and transcripts

With Release 41, Author completes its support of the new subtitles format. The format is called WebVTT (or Video Text Track, VTT for short). It is similar to the already supported SRT format, but supports additional functionality to style and place subtitles.

Asset Metadata

Release 41 of Author improves the functionality of custom Asset Metadata schemas.

Fields using the same name as metadata items in the Common asset metadata section can now be overridden per project using custom metadata schemas. Fields present in both the Common metadata section and in the custom metadata schema will be greyed out in the Common section of the asset metadata.

Greyed out fields in the common metadata section

If the custom Project metadata schema contains subtitle or transcript fields, asset editors can view those entries in both Common schema and Project schema from a dropdown menu, but can edit only the metadata for the Project schema.

Selecting either Project or Common schema when editing transcripts / subtitles

Structures

In previous versions of Author it was only possible to fetch the table of contents from Author Digital books (together with the LOs and assets included in each of the sections) if Structures used free key/value metadata and not a pre-defined metadata schema. Now fetching this information is possible regardless of whether a schema or free key/value metadata is used.

Project Settings

The dialogue Set for All Objects found in the Design Packages area of the Project Settings now distinguishes between regular LOs and Digital Books and allows to target them separately when applying Design Packs.

Set for all objects dialogue with normal LOs / book LOs toggle

Activity classes

Identify:Select:Clocks

The new Activity Class Identify:Select:Clocks presents an analog or digital clock to the learners tasking them with setting the clock to a different time. The correct time is validated and two points are assigned: One for the correct settings of hours and the other for the correct setting of minutes.

This Activity Class complements the already existing syntax #clock# that allowed content creators to add a non-validated watch set to a specific time to an activity.

Activities using analog and digital clocks creating using the Activity Class Identify:Select:Clocks

Identify:Select:Linking Lines & Identify:Select:Linking Multiple Lines

Up to now there was no way to specify the order of items in any but the first column or row of linked lines. Now you can achieve this by using a special syntax extension for the linked lines Activity Classes in combination with setting the Activity Type Option Randomise to Off. The former functionality of Randomise:Off in the linked lines Activity Classes is now implemented using the option value Randomise: On except first set (LL/LLM).

To predetermine the sequence of items in all rows or columns, set Randomise to Off and add a pipe character followed by a number representing the ordinal position to all but the first item in a set, e.g.: [rain*shower|3][sun*bright|1][snow*white|2]

Linking Lines activity with predetermined positions for the items

Author Digital Books

Release 41 brings another overhaul of the eBook Options dialogue. eBook options now lists all options previously available in the main eBook editor as well as all Activity Type options activated for the Project Activity Type based on Present:Present:eBooks. In addition the dialogue has been overhauled visually.

eBook Options dialogue listing all available options and settings.

Options

Digital Book Options

Resources

The new Activity Type Option Resources for Author eBooks enables a dialogue in eBooks that will show additional resources. The content of this dialogue is provided by the hosting platform. The option only governs whether learners will be able to open this dialogue through a button in the Author eBook UI.

Show Bookmarks Tool & Show Notes Tool

These two new Activity Type options for Digital Books allow content creators to determine whether learners should have access to the bookmarks and the notes tool.

Global Options

Timer

The new LO Option Timer allows learners to click a button to open up a dialogue allowing them to set their own countdown timer. Design Packs can choose to display the remaining time of the countdown time or can react to the moment the countdown has reached 0, e.g. by changing colours or playing a sound.

Setting the Timer and countdown timer in Mercury

Content Area Controls

This new option allows content creators to define the visibility of the content area (containing the interactive content). If set to Off, this option will not have any effect. If set to Show, the content area will be visible when the LO is launched. If set to Hidden, the content area is not visible when the LO is launched. To complement this feature, Design Packs can create controls allowing learners to hide or show the content area.

Note: This option requires Design Pack support and is not available in Mercury or AvallainBase.

Default Audio Dimension & Default Video Dimension

These two new options allow Project Managers to define a default dimension for the audio icon and video player respectively that will be used when inserting audio or video into a rich text editor in Author. Content creators can change the dimensions during insertion of audio or video assets. 

Note: The size of the audio player during preview depends entirely on the Design Pack. For the video player some Design Packs use the dimension defined during insertion of the video, while others (especially responsive Design Packs) will override these as well.

Check Answers Instant

The scope of Check Answers Instant has been extended to Order:Match:Text Gap and to Identify:Mark:Marking.

Annotation Tools

With Release 41, the Text Highlighter tool already in use in eBooks becomes available through the Option Annotation Tools for regular LOs as well.

Activity with Highlighter annotations

Activity Type Options

Randomise

For activities based on the Identify:Select:Linking Lines and Identify:Select:Linking Multiple Lines Activity Classes, Randomise now has a new option value called: On except first set (LL/LLM). This option implements the functionality that previously was available when setting Randmise to Off for such activities. It will use the sequence of items set by content creators for the first row or column and will scramble the order of other rows or columns in the activity.

Using a special syntax extension content creators can now predetermine the sequence of items in all rows or columns when setting Randomise to Off.

During the Release of Author 41, all activities based on Identify:Select:Linking Lines and Identify:Select:Linking Multiple using Randomise: Off have been switched to using On except first set (LL/LLM).

Mosaic: Beta

At this time, Mosaic is still in development. We are making this usable but not feature-complete version of Mosaic available to all Author users in order to collect feedback to steer its further development.

Mosaic allows content creators to drag and drop content from the PDF into a series of activities and LOs which can be exported to be fine tuned in the regular Author LO editor.

Usage

Mosaic needs to be activated by enabling the option Mosaic Editor in the Project Settings.

Once enabled you can start your Mosaic editor session using From PDF in the dropdown menu of the Create LO button.

Open Mosaic editor through Create LO button

Mosaic saves the work you do automatically in the background. If you need to return to the Mosaic editor session at a later time, you can re-open the editor through the Create LO button.

Importing PDFs

PDFs can be imported by uploading files from your computer or by selecting them from the Media Library.

Import PDFs

Once imported, the PDF needs to be post-processed to extract text and images from it. 

Extracting images and text from a PDF

This will take some time, but you can leave the editor to return to it later after the process has finished.

Extracting text and images from the PDF

After the PDF has been post-processed, content creators can select it. This will open the actual Mosaic editor. It consists of three main parts.

Mosaic Menu Bar

A menu bar at the top gives access to a Page Overview of the selected PDF and controls to export the created LO to Author or to delete it.

Mosaic Menu Bar

The Page Overview allows you to preview the pages of the PDF and mark pages as complete.

Mosaic Page Overview

Content Source Area

The right sidebar of the Mosaic editor is the content source area. It allows content creators to select a page from the PDF using the paging widget. Mosaic will then display the texts and images that were extracted from that page.

Content Source Area

To select either text or images, use the two buttons below the paging widget. Source elements can then be drag-dropped into the content assembly area.

Those elements that have already been used in an LO are clearly marked with a checkmark. However it is possible to use source elements from the PDF multiple times.

Content Assembly Area

The Content Assembly Area takes up the largest part of the Mosaic editor. It allows content creators to drag-drop elements from the PDF into the familiar parts of an Author LO such as Activity Title, Activity Rubric and Activity Content.

It is also possible to add new activities to your LO or to edit text content.

Content Assembly Area

You can add multiple source elements to each of the LO parts, but behaviour differs slightly from part to part. Adding new content elements to the Activity Title part will replace previously placed content, while adding new content elements to the Activity Rubric or Activity Content parts will add those elements to already existing content.

Source elements placed into either the Activity Rubric or Activity Content parts will usually be placed into their own subdivision recognizable by the light background.

Activity Content part with two subdivisions

Subdivisions containing text can be edited, deleted or moved, while subdivisions containing just images can only be deleted or moved. Controls to move, edit or delete elements become visible while hovering over the respective subdivision.

You can also add new elements to existing subdivisions by dragging source elements directly onto them.

Activity Content part with one subdivision containing multiple source elements

Exporting LOs from Mosaic

Once you have all the required source elements placed into your LO, you can export it to Author. You will be asked to provide a name for the new LO.

Exporting an LO from Mosaic

Once exported, the new LO becomes available for editing using the regular LO editor.

All activities in LOs exported from Mosaic will use Activity Types based on Present:Present:Present such as Presenting. You therefore need to make sure that such an Activity Type is present in your current project and that it has layouts assigned to it. You may see error messages when trying to export if those conditions are not met.

Tip: During export, the subdivisions in the Activity Content are mapped to separate content text boxes. It might be useful to make sure that all text and image content required for interactions is placed into the same subdivision for easier access when editing the LO later on.

Exported LOs need to be edited to select the correct Activity Types, choose layouts and set the required options since this is not possible in the Mosaic editor.

Enhanced Tables, Media Library & More

Release 40 brings a smarter table editor, a more user-friendly media library, and advanced accessibility. Employ a new subtitle format and activity classes for engaging learning experiences.

Backend enhancements

Table Editor

Release 40 brings a new, easier to use table editor. The table editor has all the features of the previous version, but in addition allows content creators fine-grained control over display of borders and background colours both for individual cells and for the table. The new editor also allows you to select and edit the properties of multiple table cells simultaneously.

New Table Properties dialogue.

New Cell properties dialogue.

Using this new editor, you can create tables that present complex data to the learners, e.g. when demonstrating long division or when simulating a crossword puzzle. 

Example of table created with the new table editor.

Media Library

Download filename

With Release 40 of Author it is now possible to specify the download name of a file by entering it into the Download filename field of the Common schema section when editing assets in the Media Library.

Download filename for assets in the Media Library.

Note: When downloading a file directly from the Media Library, the file will use the value specified in the Title field, but hosting platforms can use this new property to change the name of the downloaded file.

New subtitle / synced transcript format

With Release 40, Author supports a new format for subtitles or sync’d text. The format is called WebVTT (or Video Text Track, VTT for short) and is the new web standard for displaying subtitles. It is similar to the already supported SRT format, but supports additional functionality to style and place subtitles.

To select Video Text Track as subtitle or transcript format, simply select it from the dropdown above the subtitle editor. To use SRT, select SubRip Text from the dropdown. 

Note: Cue titles are not supported in Author and VTT for Author should not contain cue titles or CSS referencing cue titles.

Video with styled subtitles in VTT format.

Accessibility

Accessibility

With Release 40, the icon audio player will also give access to the audio transcript should one be included in the metadata of the audio asset.

Icon audio player with transcript

Note: This feature is supported in the Mercury Design Pack.

Activity classes

Present:Present:Document

The new Activity Class Present:Present:Document can be used to embed PDF documents directly into an activity of an LO. The PDF will be shown in the content area of the Learning Object. Learners can interact with the PDF by scrolling through it, and they can navigate using page previews and the navigation widget or zoom in and out. In addition, users can annotate the PDF with text and simple drawings, but such annotations are not persisted.

Activity with embedded PDF file using the Activity Class Present:Present:Document

This Activity Class can be useful when you want to include a document in a course but prefer it to be treated just like any other LO incl. the same navigational buttons. 

Note: This feature is supported in the Mercury Design Pack.

Present:Present:Media

Similar to Present:Present:Document, this new Activity Class allows you to add media files (image, audio or video) to an LO. It is useful when you want your audio or video to contain metadata and completion to be tracked in the normal way. The user thus has a more seamless navigation experience than with media loaded into the course as simple files.

Activity with embedded video file using the Activity Class Present:Present:Media

Note: Full support for images in Present:Present:Media will be added with the next release.

Author Digital Books

Text Search

With Release 40 it is now possible to search for text in PDF Digital Books. The updated MercuryBook Design Pack shows a search field in the menu bar that allows learners to search for text in the PDF.

Text search in MercuryBook Design Pack

The found text snippets are highlighted in the PDF and learners can navigate from reference to reference using the widget next to the search field.

Found text references in MercuryBook Design Pack.

Global Options

Timer

The new LO Option Timer allows learners to click a button that opens up a dialogue allowing them to set their own countdown timer. Design Packs can choose to display the remaining time of the countdown time or can react to the moment the countdown has reached 0, e.g. by changing colours or playing a sound.

Note: This feature is supported in the Mercury Design Pack. Support for Mercury and AvallainBase will be added with the next release.

Show Transcripts/Subtitlesv

This new option allows content creators to disable transcripts and subtitles. This might be useful if these assistive technologies should only be available to those learners who require them. If disabled, audio or video players will not show a subtitles and / or transcript button.

Special Characters

The Special Characters option now offers an additional palette that allows learners to insert Italian accented characters into any text field.

An LO with Special Characters – Italian enabled.

Default Audio Dimension & Default Video Dimension

These two new options allow Project Managers to define a default dimension for the audio icon and video player respectively that will be used when inserting audio or video into a rich text editor in Author. Content creators can change the dimensions during insertion of audio or video assets.

Note: The size of the audio player during preview depends entirely on the Design Pack. For the video player some Design Packs use the dimension defined during insertion of the video, while others (especially responsive Design Packs) will override these as well.

Captions and Long Descriptions for images

Release 39 introduces two new types of metadata for images: Caption and Long Description. Together with such metadata as copyright information or alternative text, these two new types of metadata give content creators all the tools necessary to provide a rich experience for learners when working with images.

Backend enhancements

Captions and Long Descriptions for images

Release 39 introduces two new types of metadata for images: Caption and Long Description. Together with such metadata as copyright information or alternative text, these two new types of metadata give content creators all the tools necessary to provide a rich experience for learners when working with images.

Just like Alternative text, Caption and Long Description metadata are available through the metadata editor of the Media Library, but can also be edited when inserting an image into an LO.

Caption metadata, which consists of plain text, is intended to be displayed close to the image and to be immediately visible as the image caption. Long Description metadata allows for limited formatting of text (e.g. bold or italics) and is intended to be shown after the learner clicks a button. Mercury implements these new features already, but other Design Packs will have to be adapted.

Captions and Long Descriptions for images

Release 39 introduces two new types of metadata for images: Caption and Long Description. Together with such metadata as copyright information or alternative text, these two new types of metadata give content creators all the tools necessary to provide a rich experience for learners when working with images.

Just like Alternative text, Caption and Long Description metadata are available through the metadata editor of the Media Library, but can also be edited when inserting an image into an LO.

Caption metadata, which consists of plain text, is intended to be displayed close to the image and to be immediately visible as the image caption. Long Description metadata allows for limited formatting of text (e.g. bold or italics) and is intended to be shown after the learner clicks a button. Mercury implements these new features already, but other Design Packs will have to be adapted.

When updating Caption and Long Description metadata of assets in the media library (either manually or via bulk import of metadata), LOs using these assets will also be updated automatically. This is the same behaviour as already implemented for the Alternative Text metadata.

Hierarchical metadata

To better support analysis of the usage of your learning materials, Avallain Author now supports hierarchical metadata schemas. In such schemas, metadata items can be placed inside a nested hierarchy of groups. This allows you to attach arbitrarily complex metadata to any LO or activity.

For such complex metadata schemas, Author will present a new metadata editor that supports hierarchical navigation as well as search for metadata items.

HLS URL in the Media Library

Author can convert uploaded video to HLS if required. With Release 39, the Media Library can now show the HLS video URL. Contact Avallain Support to set this up for your Author instance.

Bulk LO Import

With Release 39 comes an improved solution for importing LOs into another Author. Importing LOs is not as fast as the Copy LOs feature, but it is more versatile. Importing LOs is possible across Publishing Groups or even between different Author instances.

To import LOs, simply select all the LOs you want to copy to a different Publishing Group (or different Author) and publish them using Scorm1.2 W/O Assets as target. This will result in a zip-file containing zip-files of the LOs you selected. Alternatively you can collect your LOs from multiple projects and Authors and include them all in one zip-file for import.

Once you have your zip-file containing your LOs ready, simply navigate to the target project and use the LO Import button to select your zip-file for import.

The LOs will be imported into your root Work Package.

Activity Types

New Activity Class Present:External:Non-Scorable

Activities using this new Activity Class can incorporate external dynamic and static content. Such activities will not be scored, just like some of the other Present Activity Classes such as Present:Present:Slideshow.

Similar to the Activity Class Present:External:Scorable, instead of authoring content in the content area of the LO editor, content creators simply upload zip-files containing the external content to the Media Library and then use the file selection widget in the content area to select one of the zip files with external non-scorable content from the Media Library.

Adding external non-scorable content to an activity.

In order to enable managing third party content for such such activities, the media library now has a new filter called 3rd Party Non-Scorable. Use this filter to show what assets are available for Present:External:Non-Scorable activities.

You also need to activate this filter before you upload your content. This tags your content as external content and ensures that the required post-processing of external content is taking place. If you mark already existing content as 3rd Party Non-Scorable, this will not happen and your content will not be usable.

Improvements to Present:Present:Slideshow

The Activity Class Present:Present:Slideshow is now fully supported in the responsive Avallain Design Pack Mercury (see below). In addition, Slideshow now supports full screen viewing, and will hide the additional image button if no additional image has been included. 

Slideshow with all available controls in Mercury.

Author eBooks

LO Options

While Author eBooks are LOs, they differ from regular LOs in many ways. One major difference is that they do not consist of multiple activities. Instead their only activity usually consists of multiple pages. Because of that, Author eBooks do not support many Global Options. But there are a number of LO Options that would be useful in the context of Author eBooks. With Release 39, selected LO Options are now available in Author eBooks. The button to open the LO Options can be found in the top right corner of the eBook editor.

Among the options now available is the option Design Package Options which allows one to customise the colour scheme of the Author eBook when using the MercuryBook Design Pack.

LO Options in an Author eBook.

Textbox tool

In order to enhance the usefulness of the annotation tools in Author eBooks, a new Textbox tool has been added. It functions similarly to the sticky notes tool, but the text is not placed over a colourful background, but rather is placed directly onto the pages of the eBook. The Textbox tool offers limited formatting options such as selecting a text colour and a text size.

New Textbox tool in an Author eBook.

Options

Resources

The new Activity Type Option Resources for Author eBooks enables a dialogue in eBooks that will show additional resources. The content of this dialogue is provided by the hosting platform. The option only governs whether learners will be able to open this dialogue through a button in the Author eBook UI. This feature needs Design Pack support and is not yet available in MercuryBook.

Passing Score

Release 39 introduces a new LO Option: Passing Score. Content creators can use it to assign a passmark, or mastery score, to a Learning Object. In order to successfully complete the LO, the learner needs to score higher than the Passing Score. Setting Passing Score only affects reporting. Learners will not be informed about whether or not they have passed. To inform learners about whether they have achieved a passing score, content creators can use the #passmark# syntax on the End Result Screen.

Publish Activity Thumbnails 

The new project-wide option Publish Activity Thumbnails allows Project Managers to define whether published LOs will include activity thumbnails. The option can be disabled (default) or set to First Activity or All Activities. If set to First Activity, thumbnails will only be included for that activity, otherwise for all activities.

There will be two thumbnails per activity: one showing the activity on a desktop computer and the other showing a mobile view. Hosting platforms can use the activity thumbnails to show a preview of the LO / activity.

In addition, the thumbnails will be automatically generated and no longer rely on user action (editing and previewing the LO). The thumbnails will also be versioned so that published content can still access older versions that were current at the time of publishing.

An LO published with Publish Activity Thumbnails set to First Activity.

Mercury

Font selection

The LO Options Design Package Options for Mercury now includes a font selection widget that allows one to select the font to be used in the LO. Content creators can choose from the following fonts: Manrope (default), Lexend, Montserrat, Roboto, Open Sans, Quicksand, Hahmlet, Sora.

Font selection in Mercury and some font examples.

Newly supported Activity Classes

With Release 39, Mercury supports two new Activity Classes: Present:Present:Slideshow and Identify:Select:Catch.

Present:Present:Silideshow in Mercury.

Identify:Select:Catch

Present:Present:Silideshow in Mercury.

Pro editing features, more accessibility, and better interactivity!

Release 38 focuses on improving performance, accessibility and customisation but also brings you a new mobile-friendly version of Avallain’s gamified Crossword activity type as well as new video player options, improved source editing and other exciting features.

Backend enhancements

Source formatting

The HTML source view of any rich text area in Avallain Author will now show a formatted source with syntax highlighting. This makes it much easier for skilled content creators to work with the source view. Furthermore, syntax highlighting will allow content creators to spot errors more quickly.

Remember to enable the option Source Button in Project Settings – Global Options to be able to see the HTML source in any rich text area.

Reports

In order to provide a fuller picture of the LOs in your project, both the Project Report and Full Project Report now contain an additional column listing the selected Design Pack of the LO.

This will allow Avallain Author users to filter and sort the reports by Design Pack and quickly find all LOs using a specific Design Pack.

LO & Global Options

New option: Video Speed

The new Global Option Video Speed works similarly to the existing option Audio Speed. If enabled, learners can adjust the playback speed of the video. 

Using this option might require changes to custom Design Packs.

Extended coverage: Try Again with Free Writing

The option Try Again has been extended to also work with Free Writing (Activity Class Input:Creative:Free Writing). If enabled, learners can use the Try Again button to change their answers in a Free Writing activity after the LO has been submitted.

Content creators should choose Clear all to remove learners’ answers from Free Writing activities when pressing Try Again. Other option values will keep learners’ answers.

Try again with Input:Creative:Free Writing

Design pack

Mobile-friendly version of Crossword

Avallain’s Design Pack Mercury now features a mobile-friendly version of Crossword (Input:Completion:Crossword). If you are using a custom Design Pack, contact our Customer Success Team to find out how to opt into using this mobile-friendly version.

Mobile-friendly version of Input:Completion:Crossword.

Boost your creativity and efficiency

Discover new features and options to enhance your content creation projects including a new attachments editor, new Result Screen options, Show Forward after scrolling, bulk renaming of LOs, and much more!

Backend enhancements

Bulk Renaming of LOs

With Avallain Author Release 37, it is now possible to to use the LO renaming functionality to remove parts of the LO name or LO title. 

Previously the Replace with field required a value with a length of at least two characters.

New Attachments editor

Avallain Author Release 37 introduces a new attachment editor. The attachment editor provides a better overview of all the properties of an attachment and in addition allows content creators to add simple formatting (i.e. bold, italics, underline or strikethrough) to the attachment label.

LO Metadata

LO Metadata is now stored with an associated attribute that describes the position of the metadata item in the original metadata schema. The order attribute is provided for all elements in the metadata schema that have an enumerable position within it. 

In other words, group and item elements will always have an order attribute and value elements will have order attributes if its value is selected from a list.

Consumers of the metadata (e.g. the hosting environment of the LO) can use the order attribute to display metadata in the same order as in the original schema.

Project Options

New option: Access to Structures

The new Project Option Access to Structures allows Project Managers to define which roles have access to the Structures tab. The new option mirrors the functionality already available to restrict access to publishing.

Until now, all roles had access to the Structures tab. This new option has been added to all Product Types and all Projects and all roles have been given access. Project Managers can restrict access if they so choose.

LO and Global Options

New Options: Results Screen & End Results: Default Screen

In order to provide more flexibility for displaying scores and other analytical data, Release 37 introduces two new options that allow content creators to define multiple end result screens displaying different sets of data.

Up until now, the last activity of an LO was automatically the End Result Screen if the option End Result Screen had been enabled. Now, the new Activity Type option Results Screen allows content creators to mark multiple Present:Present:Present activity as End Result Screen. 

Which End Result Screen is used depends on the new LO Option End Results: Default Screen. If set to 1, the first End Result Screen is used, if set to 2 the second is used etc.

Using Content Profiles, or overwritable options, hosting environments can switch between End Result Screens, thereby showing different information in different circumstances.

New option value After Scrolling for Show Forward

Avallain Author already offers many different ways to restrict when learners can move to the next activity. Learners can be forced to answer all questions in an activity (by using Show Forward with After all answers) or they might be required to press Check Answers first (by using Show Forward with After Check Answers).

With Release 37, content creators have an additional choice: They can prevent learners from accessing the next activity unless the learners have scrolled to the bottom of the current activity by using Show Forward with the new option value After Scrolling. 

This can be useful for activities whose content does not fit into an activity without scrolling, such as long texts where learners are expected to finish reading before moving on to the next activity. This can also be useful if an activity contains more questions than can be displayed without scrolling. Disabling the Forward button until the learners have scrolled to the bottom of the activity will ensure that learners at least see all the text or all the questions of the current activity.

Syntax

Avallain Author Release 37 introduces three new syntax tags. One of these tags (timeout) is for the Intro screen, one for the End Result Screen (passmark) and one can be used in both the Intro and End Result Screen (submissions). 

Timeout

The new syntax tag timeout can be used in the Intro screen. It will display the time allocated to learners for completing the LO using LO option Exams Timer. 

Passmark

The new syntax tag passmark can be used in the End Result Screen. 

It allows content creators to define a threshold score and a text to display if the learner has passed that threshold and another if not.

The syntax tag can be used both as a standalone tag with the threshold score referencing the score achieved for the whole LO or it can be used within a foreachinteraction loop with the threshold applying to the score of each activity.

Submissions

The new syntax tag submissions can be used in both the Intro screen and the End Result Screen. 

It displays different texts to the learner depending on how many submissions remain for the current LO. Content creators can display one text if the learner has more than one submission left, another text if the learner has only one submission left and a third if the learner has no more submissions left. 

The number of remaining submissions can be shown using a special keyword within the text.

Boost the power of content creation even further with the all-new Design Package Mercury Vertical, custom design package colours per project or LO, new LO and Global Options for configuring the behaviour of visual elements, and more. 

Star Feature

Brand new Design Package Mercury Vertical

Avallain Author Release 36 further expands the possibilities of user experience with the new Design Package Mercury Vertical, with which learners can scroll through all activities in an LO top to bottom. 

This new design package is particularly useful for mobile-first learning experiences, and it’s fully compatible with all layouts and devices.

And we have very good news for all clients that use Avallain Magnet, our all-in-one learning management system and learning experience platform: Mercury Vertical will be fully supported for use in your Magnet-powered platform by the end of June.

Please note: If you want to use Mercury Vertical and it is not available yet in your projects in Avallain Author, please get in touch with your contact person at Avallain.

Backend Enhancements

New process to create users in Author

From Avallain Author Release 36 onwards, admins will be able to create new users by simply entering their email address, username, first name and surname.

New users will receive an email with a link to activate their Avallain Author account and enter the password they wish to use. After completing this process, users will be able to log in immediately. 

In addition, as a measure to further increase the security of the tool, the system will only allow the creation of passwords with at least 8 characters, one digit and one capital letter. 

This new method to create users benefits both admins and content creators, and further enhances the security and privacy of each user’s data. 

Step 1: Create a new user and insert their full name and email address

Step 2: Users receive an email with a link to activate their account and assign a password to it

Step 3: Users activate their account and assign a password, following the system’s requirements

Design Packages

Design Package colours can now be configured per project or LO

Avallain Author Release 36 enables content creators to apply Design Package colours either on a project level from the Project Settings/Global Options, or for LOs individually directly from LO Options in the Edit screen.  

The new option can be found as Design Package Options, and replaces the former Themes option. Primary, secondary and tertiary colours can be indicated in the panel using HEX colour codes. 

Important:

• The number of colours available and the effect this configuration has on the LO will depend on each Design Package. For example, in the Design Package “Mercury”, the primary colour in Design Package Options will correspond to buttons and other interactive elements, and the secondary colour will determine backgrounds and navigation bars. The tertiary colour will affect some additional icons in the interface. 
• When using this new option, the colours indicated in Design Package Options will be superimposed on the colours defined in the platform where the LOs are published. 

This is an example of the design package default colours

In the LO Option Design Package Options you can insert the HEX codes

This is how the LO looks with the custom design package colours applied via the new LO Option

LO & Global Options

New LO Option Confirm Before Submit

The new LO Option Confirm Before Submit allows content creators to decide whether to display the Submit confirmation dialogue before submitting an LO, without relying on the Design Package to determine this behaviour. 

This way, content creators can select to always display the confirmation dialogue, to disable this notification entirely, or to show it only when there are unanswered questions in the LO.

New LO Option See Answers Automatic

Avallain Author Release 36 introduces a new Global Option called See Answers Automatic, which enables content creators to show the answers of an activity without the learner needing to click a button.

This means that, for example, when the Global Option See Answers is set as On, and the new LO Option See Answers Automatic is enabled, learners will see the answers of the activity after clicking Submit or Check Answers. 

Further streamline your online authoring operation with enhanced tools and features like the new Background Jobs tab for Administrators, the new option to share all media assets from one project to another, and the brand new Global Option Reading Speed.

Backend Enhancements

New Background Jobs tab for Administrators

In Avallain Author Release 35, users with the role of Administrator will have access to a new tab called Background Jobs, which provides an overview of all the jobs taking place in the background; for example, Design Pack compilations, Learning Object copying and publishing jobs.

In this new tab, Administrators will be able to find the ID, description, as well as the status of each background job, thus offering an even greater and more centralised control of the tool’s operation. 

Watch the video to find the new tab

Media Library

New option to share all media assets from one project to another

Avallain Author Release 35 introduces a new and much anticipated Media Library feature, with which it is now possible to share all one project’s assets with another project.

To do this, users only need to click on the Share all assets button on the left-hand side of the screen. This will open a pop-up window, where it is easy to choose the destination project for the assets. When ready, simply click on Share, and all the media assets contained in the source project will be shared with the target project.

Watch how to do this

LO & Global Options

Brand new Global Option Reading Speed

Avallain Author Release 35 introduces the new Global Option Reading Speed, which provides the ability to estimate the time required for a student to read the text in, and complete, an activity. Users can configure the Design Package or LMS, and display this information to students.

This functionality can be configured by Administrators and Project Managers, by setting the number of words a learner in a set demographic group can read per minute, thus providing valuable insights into the learning process.

Along with the new Global Option Reading Speed, Avallain Author Release 35 adds a new setting called Duration Multiplier, available in the Master and Project Activity Types tabs, depending on the user role.

To obtain the estimated time required to read the text in an activity, Avallain Author performs the following process: 

• All words in the activity are automatically counted.
• You need to define a value for Global Option Reading Speed. To do this, go to Project Settings and then to the Global Options tab. There you will find a field next to Global Option Reading Speed to insert the desired value. 
• The total number of words in the activity is divided by the value previously defined for the Global Option Reading Speed. 
• The result of this is multiplied by 60, and then by the value indicated in each Activity Type in the Duration Modifier option.
• Finally, the system adds the duration in seconds of the audio and video files contained in each activity. The result obtained is the estimated time required to read and complete the entire activity.

An example of this process would look like this:

1. An activity contains 250 words of text as well as a video of 100 seconds duration. In this case, the Reading Speed is set to 200 in the project, and the Duration Modifier of the activity is 1.5. 

2. The time estimate would be calculated like this: ((250 / 200)* 60)* 1.5)+ 100= 212.5 seconds of time estimate.

3. The time estimate is stored in each activity, and can be displayed through additional configuration to the platform or the Design Package in use. 

For more information on how to implement this feature, please consult Customer Success.

Watch how to set the value for the Global Option Reading Speed and the Duration Modifier

New custom text on LO Option Feedback Bands

Avallain Author Release 35 introduces customised text for each submission in the LO Option Feedback Bands, increasing the personalisation of the teaching and learning experience.

With Feedback Bands, users can include feedback text in the End Result Screen, customised according to the score obtained in the activity.

The new feature can be used when there are more than one submission. It makes it possible to add text customised according to the number of times each activity was submitted as well as the score.

To do this, set the LO Option Submissions to two or more submissions. A dropdown menu is enabled below each Feedback Band text, which allows custom text to be inserted for each submission.

Watch how to set up custom text for Feedback Bands

Enhanced Preview behaviour of LO Option Close After Submit

In Avallain Author Release 35, when the LO Option Close After Submit is enabled, the Preview iframe screen will simulate the same behaviour of the LO when using the Submit button in an LMS, such as Avallain Magnet. 

When Submit is clicked, the LO Preview in Author will now close, providing greater visibility to users whether the behaviour of the LO Option Close After Submit is as expected.

Watch an example of this behaviour

Thumbnails can be displayed in the Copyright Information dialogue

As part of the new features included in Avallain Author Release 35, it is now possible to configure Design Packages to display thumbnails in the Copyright Information dialogue.

For more information on how to configure and edit a Design Package, refer to Customer Success. 

New Global Option SCORM Review Mode

Avallain Author Release 35 introduces the new Global Option SCORM Review Mode, which allows specifying whether a LO published via any SCORM publishing target should follow the standard SCORM behaviour or not when reopening the LO in Review mode.

By setting the Global Option to the value Do Not Restore, the LO will follow the standard SCORM behaviour and will not restore any user data when opening the LO in Review mode. In the case of setting the LO Option to the value Restore Answers, the LO will restore user data such as scores and progress when opened in Review mode.

Exceed the standards of eLearning content creation with powerful new Author eBook features, extended management capabilities, and major performance and responsiveness optimisations.

Star Feature: Author eBooks

New MercuryBook responsive design package

Avallain Author Release 34 brings one of the most anticipated new features for users, introducing the fully responsive eBook design package, MercuryBook. 

The implementation of this new design package further extends the capabilities of the learning content created in Avallain Author, making Author eBooks fully responsive and compatible with any touch device such as tablets and phones. 

In this way, Author eBooks gains even more ground in the eLearning field, offering full functionality and flexibility in responsive learning environments and platforms, such as our highly rated platform Avallain Magnet and the powerful Avallain Unity.

Structures Generated From Author eBooks

Author eBooks continues its development and expansion of capabilities by now offering the possibility to create structures in Avallain Author from the eBook content. 

With this new functionality it is possible to automatically generate courses from Author eBooks by creating a structure based on the eBook content. This structure can then be published on platforms compatible with Avallain Author structures, such as Avallain Magnet and Avallain Unity. 

How does it work?

When creating or editing a structure in Avallain Author, it is now possible to select the Fetch eBook option, located at the top right of the screen. Thanks to an intuitive menu, you can easily choose the eBook from which to generate the structure. 

Structures created from an eBook read the table of contents and automatically generate folders that reflect the pages referenced in the table of contents. All LOs, audio files, and videos in the eBooks that use hotspots will be included in the respective folder of the structure in the order in which they appear in the eBook. 

At the end of the process, the structure can be published directly or downloaded, in the same way as any other structure created in Avallain Author. 

Note: In order to enable this functionality to work correctly, make sure to set the Structure metadata value to “Key+value pairs only” in the Metadata tab in Project Settings.

Watch how to generate structures from Author eBooks.

Backend Enhancements

Visual and functional optimisations for locked options

Avallain Author Release 34 comes with visual and functional enhancements for locked options to provide further information to users and further streamline content creation and editing management at the project and LO level. 

Options locked by Content Profiles

As part of the improvements made, now if an option has been locked due to a default content profile setting, it will display a red lock icon. Users will be able to hover over the icon, and it will display a tooltip with a detailed explanation of why the option is locked. 

In case a default content profile has not been selected, users will also be able to see in the tooltip the current value of the option in the project settings. 

Locking options in the Project Settings

Starting with Avallain Author Release 34, those options locked in the Project Settings will show a grey lock, making them easily distinguishable from options locked by a default content profile. 

In addition, when locking options from Project Settings, a dialogue box will appear informing users that this will not change the option in existing LOs.  

Locking options while using the Apply dialogue

Furthermore, it is now possible to lock options from the Apply dialogue in Project Settings by enabling the checkbox “Lock option to this value”, located to the right side of the screen.

Note: Options already locked will not show this checkbox.

Media Library

New “Asset bulk edit limit” setting

Avallain Author Release 34 further enhances the efficiency of asset management in the Media Library. To this purpose, a new Admin setting called “Asset bulk edit limit” limits the number of assets that can be edited at the same time when using the bulk asset metadata editor.

By defining a limit to the number of bulk editable assets, possible performance issues for the user, which can occur when editing large numbers of assets at once, are prevented.

LO & Global options

LO Option Close After Submit now works with Submit and Send Scores buttons

As part of the further enhancements to arrive along with Avallain Release 34, the LO Option Close After Submit, which already works with the Submit button, has been extended to work with the Send Scores button, as well. Close After Submit now works the same with both buttons.

So, just as with Submit, if Send Scores is clicked, the LO will be submitted and the scores sent, and then the LO will close.

Note: Remember that this functionality cannot be previewed in Avallain Author.

A new line weight selector can be added to Global Option Annotation Tools

Avallain Author Release 34 extends the options available in the Global Option Annotation Tools: it is now possible to include a line weight selector for the pen tool. 

Note: To enable these updates on the Annotation Tools Global Option, it is necessary to make adjustments to the Design Pack. For more information, please refer to the User Guide or contact our Customer Success Team. 

Design Packages

Further responsiveness compatibility with Activity Classes

Avallain Author Release 34 introduces optimisations to responsive design packages, extending their compatibility and performance to Activity Classes Identify:Mark:Wordsnake (Activity Type Wordsnake), as well as to Identify:Select:Linking Lines (Activity Type Linking lines), and Identify:Select:Linking Multiple Lines (Activity Type Linking Multiple Lines):

• Identify:Mark:Wordsnake ( Activity Type Wordsnake) contains now a resizeable canvas on which the wordsnake is displayed.
• Identify:Select:Linking Lines (Activity Type Linking lines) and Identify:Select:Linking Multiple Lines (Activity Type Linking Multiple Lines) have been further optimised with a new configuration option to allow design packages to override the option “Link Behaviour”. Now it is possible to enable “Touch” behaviour for touch-screen devices and “Drag” for others.

New design package compilation process

To further enhance the performance of the system and the user experience, starting with Avallain Author Release 34, design packages are no longer automatically compiled as a background operation with Preview. 

Now, design packages will be manually compiled on the Design Packages page using the Compile action button. This allows the Admin user to update design package tags and compile in the same place. 

This change will significantly improve the performance of Avallain Author when previewing an LO, especially for design packages with a long chain of inheritance. Now, when users preview an LO, no automatic compilation will take place and, with this, LOs will no longer be blocked by this process, ensuring no delays and further improved performance and reliability for editors. 

How does it work?

There are additional features for Customised Design Packs. When Admin users click Compile, the dialogue will show a list of projects containing customisations. Users can then choose to compile some, all or none of the customisations. If customisations are left uncompiled at this point, then the system will notify when a new version is ready for compilation by showing a notification on the Work packages screen of those projects. Depending on the user’s role, the following applies:

• All standard and customised parent and children design packages can be compiled by Admins from the Design Packages page, using the Compile button to the right of the screen. 
• Project Managers can only compile customisable design packages, by clicking on Customisation in the Design Package page, and after validating any customisation made to the design package. 

New validation feature in Design Package Customisation

As part of the newly established compilation process, Avallain Author Release 34 introduces a new feature with which the Design Package Customisation option validates all custom CSS code added to the design package. 

With this new functionality, the system will detect and notify the user of any error in the code, including the line where it was found, giving users the possibility to quickly and easily resolve the issue. 

Once the CCS code has been validated and saved, users can compile it and see it reflected on the design package. 

Watch how to validate and compile custom design packages as a Project Manager.