Trivantis Enewsletter April 2007

Using Flash Commands

Using the Flash command action provides the option to manipulate a Flash object in Lectora, which can be highly beneficial for games and interactivity. These Flash command actions provide a way to set/receive variables, go to particular frames, stop, pause, and play the Flash object. See sample.

Move To Action

A new 2007 feature of Lectora is the "Move To" action. This action moves a particular object (image, text block, etc.) to different coordinates on a page. See sample.

To view the coordinates of a location, you can use the "Cursor Position" option located in the Status Bar options of the View menu.

Another option is to move the object to the desired ending position in Edit mode. Once the object is placed, access the properties and click the "Position/Size" tab, which will show you the coordinates of the object.

Lectora's Layering Order
Lectora's objects are layered according to the order of the left-hand pane, starting from the topmost object. Therefore, the first image beneath a page in the left-hand pane will be the furthest back, since it is the first to show.

A new Lectora user group is forming in the San Francisco/North Bay area in California. Erik Jagger and Lisa Gonzalez are currently seeking members for the North Bay Lectora User Group (NBLUG) for Lectora users in the San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, and East Bay areas.

Erik and Lisa work for GreenPoint Mortgage in the Learning Center. Erik is the Visual Design Lead and has over 12 years’ experience in visual and graphic design. He’s spent the last seven years working specifically in elearning, first at DigitalThink in San Francisco, and now at GreenPoint. Lisa is the Senior Instructional Designer and has over eight years’ experience in elearning. She's worked with a variety of corporate and educational organizations, including Cisco, Qantas, the Lawrence Hall of Science, and Red Hill Studios.

They’d like to schedule the first user group meeting prior to the Lectora User Conference, so if you’re in the area and interested in participating, send an email to Erik at erik.jagger@greenpoint.com or leave a comment on the blog: http://nblug.blogspot.com/.

Lectora User Groups operate independently of Trivantis Corporation. Trivantis is not involved in any way in the preparation, planning, support or promotion of any user group event.

Get Involved
Participating in a user group is a great way to connect with other Lectora users and to see how other trainers and developers are using the software. Look for a user group in your area or learn how to start one with Trivantis' help.

Enhance your Lectora experience by getting the latest Lectora update. Lectora Service Pack 2 for Lectora Publisher and Lectora Pro Suite was released on April 13. If you are interested in learning more about what this update covers, visit the Service Pack 2 More Info page.

Automatic Updates

Your copy of Lectora will automatically be updated if you are connected to the Internet when you use Lectora on or after the April 13 release date. Or, you can manually download Service Pack 2 from the Trivantis Support page.

If you have questions about this release or encounter difficulties downloading the update, please feel free to call our support team at 877.929.0188 or contact them via email at support@trivantis.com.

When the Learning and Development department at PHH Mortgage tasked the elearning team to create a training game based on the popular TV game show The Family Feud, Joel Catindig, a senior multimedia developer at PHH Mortgage, saw this as a great opportunity to have some fun with Lectora. To integrate the game with the company’s culture, the game was renamed the PHHamily PHHeud.

“We have developed a gamut of online courses. Anything from refresher and certification courses to our larger initiatives such as the LoanSpan Loan Origination course and PHH Time* systems course that over 5,000 team players currently use for time management,” said Joel. Creating a game like Family Feud in Lectora allows us to stretch creatively and develop training tools that are not only fun to use but also aid the learning experience.”

The training consultants use a variety of gaming techniques in both instructor-led and online training. They wanted the PHHamily PHHeud game to look and sound similar to the game show. Joel developed the game so the training consultants have the ability to update the questions, answers and scores on their own. “We built in flexibility so that the training consultants could adapt the questions to the training needs,” Joel said. “We chose Lectora because of its ease of use and ability to integrate a wide array of formats such as Flash, video and audio into our courses. Being able to publish AICC and SCORM compliant courses was an added benefit.”

Elearning has become an integral part of the company’s operations aiding team players in the field as well as across internal departments such as HR, IT, Legal, Pricing, Marketing, Learning and Development, and Sales. As the company has grown, so has its elearning needs. In 2005, PHH officially created an elearning team which currently manages the company’s learning management system (LMS), online collaboration tools, courseware and other online initiatives.

To learn how Joel created PHHamily PHHeud, download his instructions.

See the game in action - Download the executable file.

Want to see more? Download the awt (zip) file.

*The elearning team won second place for the 2006 Pennsylvania Distance Learning Association (PADLA) Excellence in eLearning Award.

About Joel Catindig

Joel has held various positions throughout his career including graphic designer, multimedia designer, and web designer before assuming his current position as senior multimedia developer. He began his career at PHH developing online courseware in the Learning and Development department. He has created an array of online courses using Lectora, Flash, Captivate, Illustrator and Photoshop. In 2004, Joel and his project team received a Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning award for an Interest Only course they developed. You can contact Joel at joel.catindig@mortgagefamily.com.

About PHH Corporation

Headquartered in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, PHH Corporation is a leading outsource provider of mortgage and vehicle fleet management services. Its subsidiary, PHH Mortgage, is one of the top ten retail originators of residential mortgages in the United States and its subsidiary, PHH Arval, is a leading fleet management services provider in the United States and Canada. For additional information about the company and its subsidiaries, please visit www.phh.com.