Getting Started
Tablet and Mobile Templates
Quickly deliver training to mobile learners using dozens of new tablet and mobile templates in the Lectora intuitive rapid development environment. Lectora offers seamless publishing to mobile and tablet devices such as the iPad and iPhone.
Internal Content Organization & User Friendly Interface
Lectora’s layout and user-friendly interface enables you to maintain efficient content organization for faster development and file access. Customize your toolbars, dock or float the Title Explorer, and create a work space that maximizes efficiency.
Tip of the Day
Enhance your Lectora skills by reading a helpful tip each time you open Lectora.
Customizable Toolbars
Pick and choose which toolbars and toolbar icons you want displayed within Lectora and move them to your desired location.
Help Agents
Quickly learn Lectora with the new interactive video help guides that provide animated tutorials on the key features in Lectora to help you begin creating content immediately with virtually no learning curve.
Title Wizards
Choose from an array of professionally created Title Wizards to quickly create the look and framework of your title, thus saving time and providing you with a starting point for content creation. Each wizard serves as a content creation guide and will walk you through the steps needed to complete your course.
Template Gallery
Access more than 250 templates directly within Lectora, which are conveniently categorized and include helpful descriptions of each template. Makes creating a title easier than ever before!
External Content Organization
Lectora copies, organizes, and stores all necessary files into one easy-to-access directory, saving time in locating folders and files.
Help Guide
Provides instructional and user friendly information on Lectora and links out to the Lectora User Guide and Lectora Community Forum so you can find answers and advice on Lectora.
Helpful Wizards and Tools
New Flash Games
Keep your audience engaged and learning with new these new Flash games, including:
* Golf Hole in One
* Basketball
* Soccer Penalty
* Bowling
Flash & Games Library
Keep learners engaged by easily adding interactive flash animations and games to your courses. Choose from a library of customizable flash games and animations such as flash cards, jigsaw puzzles, million dollar question game, reveal game, hangman, word scramble, tic tac toe, text animations, male and female characters, industry-specific characters, digital and analog clocks, and more.
Clip Art Gallery
Adding high-quality, professional images to your course is a breeze with over 250 new clip art images added to the existing library of 6,000.
Symbol Library
Save time by easily importing symbols such as copyright and trademark symbols directly into text.
Shapes & Lines Designer
Choose from an array of shapes and lines, such as arrows, circles, squares, triangles, trapezoids, parallelograms, and more to enhance visual appeal.
Background Wizards
Choose from a gallery of 38 pre-designed backgrounds which are conveniently categorized by type or create your own custom background to enhance visual appeal.
Animation Wizards
Easily create more engaging courses by using the animation wizards which guide you through configuring and customizing Flash animations from the Media Library.
Button Wizards
Utilize the seven types of pre-designed and pre-defined buttons or four custom buttons. Edit button text, size,and colors or add animated GIF buttons or your own navigation quickly and easily.
Chart Creator
Save time by quickly creating a variety of charts, such as bar, pie, and line charts based upon standard spreadsheet formatted data. Charts will appear as editable images that can easily be recreated.
Rapid Development
Dynamic Titles
Instantly update the text within published titles by editing an associated published XML file. Makes updating published titles fast and easy.
Convenient Title Explorer Options
Save time by quickly opening chapters and sections in the Title Explorer all at once or easily collapsing them with one click of a button. Also collapse non-plate child objects such as actions at the title level and set your desired width of the Title Explorer to be saved and restored each time Lectora is launched.
“This Object” Action Target
For easy copying and pasting of actions to objects, utilize the target “This Object,” which eliminates the need to list a specific object name as your target.
Mute & Unmute FLV Media
Globally mute and unmute audio across a title for all FLV media.
Instant Opening of HTML Folder
Easily access your published folder with all your HTML files by simply clicking on Preview in Browser button .
Easily Accessible Properties Dialog
View an object’s properties quickly and easily. When selecting an object, that object’s properties will instantly display anywhere you choose. Move the window around, hide it, or keep it in your desired location.
Alignment Tools
Align and space multiple objects easily to ensure consistency.
Keyboard & Configurable Shortcuts
Create your own custom shortcuts, add new hotkeys to the standard set of tools within Lectora, or utilize preexisting keyboard shortcuts, which saves time and increases efficiency.
Time-Saving Page Layouts
Ensure consistency of the look of pages by utilizing any of the 25 predefined page layouts or create your own custom layout to save time and share with colleagues.
Easy Moving of Individual Objects Within a Group
Save time by quickly moving individual objects within a group by simply holding down the ALT key while moving the object.
Reestablish Object Order
When selecting an object during editing, the object is brought to the top level so users can easily see and manipulate it. After editing, the object automatically goes back to the level it was originally placed.
Display HTML Page Names
Conveniently view the HTML page names within your title at the top of each page properties box.
Paragraph & Text Formatting
Format text and paragraphs similar to popular word processing programs by adding bulleted and numbered lists which can start at any number you choose, indent text, check spelling, highlight text, and much more. Save time by utilizing the font drop-down list that shows a visual representation of the font type and places the most recently used fonts at the top of the list.
Wrap Around Text Blocks
Text automatically moves and wraps around images, making the layouts of text boxes with images easy to design.
Edit Mode Navigation
Navigate between pages easily while in edit mode by utilizing the page up and down keys that enable you to quickly switch between pages.
Border & Margin Creator
Make text stand out by creating completely customizable text blocks with margins and borders that include graphic options such as 3D cutout and 3D ridge border.
Time-Saving Page Layouts
Ensure consistency of the look of pages by utilizing any of the 25 predefined page layouts or create your own custom layout to save time and share with colleagues.
Equation Editor
Create and edit mathematical formulas and equations.
Table of Contents
Generate an optional customizable table of contents instantly for easy user navigation.
Media Open Dialog
Conveniently play and preview all audio and video before adding it to your title.
Grids & Snap to Grids
Organize content on a page and easily space and align objects to the pixel, which saves time in creating the layout of pages.
Zoom
Easily edit content by zooming in or out.
“Paste As” Functionality
Paste in rich text, plain text, and different formats of images and conveniently keep your desired text format options when pasting from your clipboard, which saves time and effort.
Automated Menu Builder
Build customizable menus quickly and easily with optional borders, colors, and backgrounds. Align menu items and multi-line items to enhance the look of your menu.
Object Drop Visibility
While moving pages, chapters, or objects in the left hand pane, use the lines between objects to ensure accuracy.
Display Cursor Position/Color
Know exactly where your cursor is within a title with the ability to display the X and Y coordinates of the cursor. Also ensure graphic consistency by displaying the RGB value of the color where the cursor lies.
Eyedropper Color Selection
Change the color of text, shapes, or lines to ensure that they all have matching colors and maintain consistency. When using a custom color, save time by applying it to all color selections within your title.
Easy Object Moving
Easily move objects horizontally or vertically by holding the Shift key, thus saving time in designing or changing the layout of a page.
Automated Page Numbering
Number pages within a title, chapter, and/or section instantly to save time and effort.
Auto Update
Check for Service Packs automatically, keeping you up to date with the latest modifications.
Global Font Control
Change global font type, color, and/or size across an entire title to save time.
Specify Offsets for Objects
Inherit objects from all sides of the page, enabling you to quickly create headers, footers, and right or left side page navigation.
Search,Find & Replace Text
Search and find all text easily within a title, including question feedback, message display, menu text, action object URLs, and notes and easily replace the specified text if desired, saving time and effort.
Reference List
Generate a comprehensive reference list automatically at the end of a course, which can include author, title of work, web address, publisher, and date of publication to ensure attribution and copyright laws.
Group Objects
Create hide/show actions quickly and efficiently by grouping multiple objects together, thus saving time in creating interactivity.
Group Actions
Create an action group to trigger several actions at once, saving time and effort.
Object Search
Quickly find objects by utilizing the search function.
Fast Import and Filter
Easily import XML or run filters, such as the zip filter, without having to open a title first.
Defaulted Object & Action Name
Easily identify the objects you’ve used by defaulting to the name of the resource, saving time in locating objects. Also quickly locate actions by defaulting to the name of the “on” and “action” fields.
Resource Manager
Quickly locate any resource throughout your title for fast deletion, revision, or editing.
Easy Object Editing
X and Y coordinates show the width and height of selected objects so you can quickly and precisely edit the size and position of selected objects. Simply click once inside the coordinates and values will be automatically highlighted for fast modification.
Time-Saving Tab Key Navigation
Save time by quickly switching focus between objects in your workspace with the simple stroke of the tab key.
Optional Text Formatting Marks
For easy editing, display text formatting marks such as paragraph returns, spaces, page breaks, and more.
Object Icons
Locate objects in a list quickly by viewing icons for objects in your title.
Reset Objects to Original Size
When editing an image, animation, or button, easily reset the object to its original size in order to eliminate stretching and keep the initial quality of the object.
Adjustable Spacing and Line Height
Adjust line height within a text block and choose your own paragraph spacing.
Inheritance
Eliminate repetitive inserting of the same objects for high speed content development by easily inheriting specific objects throughout your entire title or specified chapters.
Sharing and Reviewing Content
Share & Store Media, Templates & Library Objects Online
Easily share media, templates, and library objects with any and all Lectora users – even those outside your own organization! This makes collaborating on courses fast and simple and eliminates the need to email, FTP, or store files on a network.
Course Notes
Enhance a collaborative authoring environment by adding notes to a course, which tracks the name of the author who created the note and the time it was created.
Notes Report
Print a report of all the notes in your title for a helpful quick reference.
Export to Word
Easily repurpose and share course content in a Word document by exporting the text from your title to Microsoft Word (.doc).
Save Title as Template
Save your Lectora title as a template to increase consistency and efficiency. Enables authors to share designs across an organization.
Contextual Printing
Conveniently print specific content within desired chapters, sections, or pages to easily review or share content.
Import/Export to Zip
Zip/Unzip a title to a single file to exchange files quickly and efficiently.
Media Library
Save time and stay organized by having one central location for all your media files which can include keywords and metadata to easily search through all media in your library. Enhance collaboration by making your media library accessible to multiple users.
Import from Existing Title
Share chapters, sections, or pages from existing Lectora titles, which promotes a collaborative authoring environment.
Interactivity
F4V Video Support
Get stunning video quality with lower file sizes with F4V video, now automatic when converting video to Flash in Lectora. F4V lets you combine video, data, graphics and sound as video for Flash Player 9 and above.
Forms
Create electronic forms by adding pre-created or custom form elements such as text fields, radio buttons, check boxes, pick lists, and drop down menus. Configure forms to receive real-time, two-way data. Save custom form elements for titles to ensure consistency. Save time and effort by using the same variable within multiple forms, thus conveniently populating previously entered form data.
Extensive Media File Support
Insert an array of media files such as images, audio, video and Flash. Edit the size and position of your media and add actions to enhance interactivity.
Page and Object Transitions
Make pages and objects more animated with transitions such as wipes, splits, checkers, strips, fly actions dissolve, circles, and boxes.
Hyperlinks
Easily add hyperlinks to text, which links to another page, section, web address or e-mail address. Conveniently change the default hyperlink color to enhance the look of a course.
Launch Programs & Documents
Engage end users by adding programs or documents, such as PDFs, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Simply drag and drop your desired files directly into Lectora and easily select any additional file from a dropdown list of previously added files, thus eliminating time spent inserting documents.
Flash Conversion
Automatically compress and convert all video and audio to Flash format prior to or upon publishing. Provides better compression for faster loading of content, high quality files, smaller file sizes to free up bandwidth space,complete browser compatibility, and the option to view videos in full screen.
Streaming Flash Videos
Eliminate the need for users to download videos within a course by streaming Flash videos from any location on the Web.
Streaming YouTube
Enable learners to conveniently play a YouTube video directly in a Lectora title.
Skinnable Flash Player
Easily change the color and style of your Flash Player by choosing from predefined Flash Player skins.
Replaceable Audio Graphic
Enhance the look of a course by replacing the speaker icon with any graphic of your choice.
Action Target
Quickly scroll to a specific object with the action target called current page, which is ideal for Section 508 compliant content because it enables viewers to skip over repetitive navigation.
Actions
Create interactive content without the need for Flash by utilizing an array of actions that can move, start, stop, show, hide, size and play objects or go to specific locations within your course.
Secondary Navigation
Enhance the user experience by enabling users to easily go back to the previous page they were viewing, just like a browser’s back button.
Pop-up Windows
Enhance interactivity and visual appeal by adding customizable pop-up windows to courses. Pop-up windows in HTML titles appear in a modern, browser-based window, eliminating all pop-up blocker and message error issues.
Media Pausing
Pause audio, video, or animation that can later be resumed so students can view and listen to media content at their own pace.
Move to/Size to Actions
When using move to or size to actions, your objects will automatically animate to the position or size you select and a slider will be added to enable users to adjust the speed of the animation, providing a better end user experience.
Embedded Objects in Text
Insert images, animations, or equations inside text blocks to add flair to content.
Vertical Text Block Scrollbar
Provide end users with the ability to easily view long text in a vertical scrolling text block that can be moved up and down for easy reading
Content Accuracy and Protection
Author Control
Prevent inadvertent revisions in collaborative authoring environments by password protecting portions of a Lectora title.
Auto Save
Save your work automatically every 5 minutes or the time interval you choose. Never worry about losing your work with the Auto Recovery option.
Multiple Saving Options
For added security, use the Save As option in the File menu to create a copy of your current title. After the title is copied, the newly created copy of the title will be opened, ensuring that any changes you make are saved to the latest version. In addition, you can also choose ‘Save A Copy’ to save a copy of your title to a location you specify and the existing copy will remain open for you to continue working on it.
Spell Check
Ensure spelling accuracy of all content in English, British, and Canadian English variants, including questions, by automatically checking all text within a title for errors. Choose to spell check automatically as you type or wait to check your course later.
Auto Error Check
Make any necessary corrections on the fly with Lectora’s automatic error checking feature and conveniently print content located in your error check dialog box.
Published Content Protection
Protect published content and make it nearly impossible for students to copy and paste from course pages.
Lock/Unlock All
Make your content safe and secure by locking and unlocking the size and position of multiple items at once.
Warning Message Preferences
Create your own custom warning messages. This enables you to eliminate certain warnings, such as warnings for resource sizes, Macintosh content, and/or unused resources/variables.
Metadata Security Levels
Define course security levels within the metadata field which can be used by your LMS to ensure security clearance for specific content.
Version Editor
Switch to editing copies of titles that are saved in different directories, enabling changes to be easily made to files saved in different locations without affecting your original copy.
Tests and Surveys
Change Contents for Questions
Questions can now be the target for a change contents action, enabling questions to update on the page with the new answer. This is especially helpful when creating interactive, custom questions which inclue media.
Reset Questions
Automatically reset individual questions on a page so they automatically return to their original states, which is ideal for repeating a question until it is answered correctly.
Assignable Unit Prerequisites
Create custom learning paths quickly and easily by specifying requirements for moving to a specific part of a course.
Grading and Results Tracking
Submit assessment scores and results instantly via e-mail to multiple addresses, CGI, XML, AICC, or SCORM. Provides seamless integration with any standards-based learning management system.
Customizable Questions and Tests
Control the color and layout of tests and assessments by including a wide array of multimedia and interactivity. Also, create weighted questions for enhanced flexibility and specify whether you would like to round up or down in order to round the scores of tests, combined tests, and surveys involving numbers.
Bulk Question Importer
Import already existing questions and files stored in access databases, excel spreadsheets, or flat files, saving time and effort in creating questions.
Certificate Tool
Reward users for a job well done by quickly creating certificates for test or course completions. Simply use certificate templates that you can easily customize with desired colors and fonts as well as specified names and dates.
Immediate Question Feedback
Engage students by instantly displaying question feedback after each question is answered, but before the answer is submitted.
Progress Bar
Learners easily see how much time they have left to take a test or survey or view how far they are through a course, providing them with the added convenience of being able to pace themselves.
Customizable Multiple Choice Questions
Display multiple choice answers in a drop down list or in a list box, providing greater customization and a more diverse look.
Separate Grading
Include more than one correct answer for multiple choice and hot spot questions and have each answer graded as a separate question.
Custom Likert Responses
Create custom responses for Likert questions by specifying your own desired number of choices and using your desired text.
Print Test Results
Print test results when published to HTML or CD-ROM, providing you with a hard copy of the results to file for future use and/or distribution.
Likert Tables
Save time by creating multiple Likert questions in one table format rather than having to create each Likert question one by one.
Publishing
HTML5 Support
Offer rich training experiences on the widest range of handsets, including PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad or Android 2.2. With single click publishing to virtually any device, you can offer video in MP4 format, audio in MP3 format, or integrate iPhone specific media types like M4V video or M4A audio into your courses.
Multi-Language Publishing
After translating your title into mulitple languages you can easily publish courses to all your desired languages at the same time, saving time and effort.
Single-Click Publishing
Publish to the Internet, CD-ROM, Single File Executable, AICC, SCORM, CourseMill, or any standards-based LMS with the simple click of a button. Enhances ease of use and serves as an added time saver.
Publish to iPhone
Stay on top of cutting edge technology and provide learners with multiple ways to access courses by choosing from ten templates and two wizards to conveniently publish Lectora titles to iPhone and iPod Touch.
Preview/Test in Browsers
Ensure course compatibility with multiple browsers by conveniently previewing and testing each page on multiple browsers. Use the pull-down on the Preview button to choose the browser in which you want to preview your published title.
Render Text as Image for HTML
Convert text to graphics to ensure that all end users see your content as you intended upon publishing. Also prevents your proprietary information from easily being copied.
HTML Text Tags
Easily save the headers of text blocks as pure HTML, which enables the header to be read by search engines. This is ideal for websites that you would like to be found by Google, Yahoo, and other major search engines.
HTML Preloading
Enhance speed by providing quick HTML page loading.
Form Element Labels
Screen readers recognize form elements by automatically associating text objects with particular form elements, thus providing it with a label and linking the object and the text. This is ideal for Section 508 Compliant content.
Convenient Printing Options
Print specified pages, actions, or objects in a course or print storyboards and title outlines to present ideas when a computer isn’t available, to edit hard copies, or keep a physical record of a title.
Total Error and Warning Display
Warnings and errors displayed during publishing are totaled so you can quickly view the number of warnings and errors, making it easy for you to know how many items need to be fixed in your title before publishing.
Customized Icons
Add custom icons to create association with your brand or for easy recognition when publishing as executable files.
Adjustable Image Compression
Decide how much or how little you’d like to compress images in a course when they are converted during publishing.
Internet-Ready Images
Convert supported image types to Internet-ready formats, enabling anyone to view the images via the Internet.
Automatic ALT Tags
Use the first 128 characters in a text block as the Alternative Tag (ALT Tag) when the text is published as an image, eliminating the need for you to type in a description by hand.
eLearning Standards & 508 Compliance
Enhancements for Screen Readers
Lectora has been enhanced for screen readers in the areas of questions and forms.
508 Documentation
Learn to create your own 508 compliant content by utilizing the 508 documentation which also references courses and templates for developing 508 content.
FLV Closed Captioning
Easily make your FLV videos 508 compliant by adding closed captioning. Simply supply the text and Lectora does the rest.
Screen Reader Functionality
Buttons work seamlessly with popular screen readers, such as JAWS.
508 Checker
Use the 508 Compliance Checker to conveniently check your title for consistency with Section 508 accessibility guidelines and receive helpful feedback on how to resolve any issues in your title that do not meet these guidelines.
SCORM Compliance
Lectora has been tested and conforms to the latest SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 specifications.
AICC Compliance
Lectora is an AICC certified Authoring System which has been tested by AICC independent test labs to comply with AICC guidelines and recommendations.
Specialized Features
Error Reporting Functionality
If a Lectora program failure occurs, instantly report error information to Trivantis to review for possible Service Pack releases.
Configurable Runtime Verbiage
Customize the test results window that appears after a test is completed, enabling you to quickly reword or translate result messages into another language.
Cross-Domain Redirector
Eliminate the need for the signed applet, thereby enhancing AICC communication.
Comprehensive Metadata Support
Create and manage metadata by enabling search engines and learning, content, and knowledge management systems to identify, track, and source content. IMS metadata is turned on by default.
Import External HTML
Objects Increase the dynamics of your course by easily importing scripts, applets, meta tags, ASP and JSP scripts, and additional HTML code created outside of Lectora. Also provides added support for ColdFusion and ASPX.
Integration Packs
Add additional “Publish To” options that provide advanced compatibility. Enables Lectora to seamlessly publish directly to systems such as Blackboard, SumTotal Systems, and more.
Variables
Build advanced dynamic functionality and tracking such as elapsed timing, logical branching, advanced results tracking, browser checks, and more. When modifying variables, save time with the Subtract from Variable modification type which enables you to remove all instances of a character string from a variable’s value.
Conditions
Set your own rules and prerequisites for running actions within Lectora, enabling you to only run certain actions based on your specifications.
Empty Relationship Variable
Check to see if your variables do not contain content by using relationships for conditions which determine when a variable is empty.
Random Value Variable
Set random value variables to enable a response to happen from a pool of options.
Lectora Pro Suite Multimedia Features
Screen Capture Tool
Save time in creating software tutorials, presentations, demonstrations, and more by easily capturing, cropping, editing, and importing screen shots in Lectora.
Screen Camera
Produce animated software simulations and application tutorials, which can be saved to Flash format.
Video Editor
Edit video files within Lectora and save to Flash format, saving time.
Audio Recorder and Editor
Record and edit audio files instantly using a built-in or external microphone, which can be saved to Flash format.
Image Editor
Edit photos and graphics effortlessly with the built-in image editor.
RealPlayer Media Native Support
Play RealPlayer media content natively within Lectora, enabling the audio editor, video editor, and screen camera to seamlessly work with the selected media.
QTI Question Import/Export
Import/export questions compliant with QTI standard and republish with full standard support, providing enhanced compatibility.
Screen Camera WMV File Support
Never worry again about how recorded audio and video will be handled on the Internet due to WMV/WMA format support for recordings, which is a highly compressed format suitable for the web.
Synchronized Actions with Audio and Video
Easily synchronize actions with events included in the audio and video used on a particular page for tighter sequences and interactions involving audio and video files.
Application Network
Link internal or external video, audio, images, text, and other editing applications to form a single authoring network as the central hub, saving time and effort.
