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Elizabeth Washington
Elizabeth Washington
(Gainesville - United States)

Customizing the Content Display

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When to Customize the Display

Certain features that help you change the appearance of your resource are not yet available when you create the resource.  These features include:
 

  • Inserting custom captions that may be different than the Description entered during Information Setting
  • Inserting custom Alt Text for images
  • Setting Start Files for Archives to allow the content to be played directly from Curriki’s server, rather than requiring it to be downloaded and un-zipped first.
  • Customizing the display of web links

To take advantage of these features, you must be logged in, then follow these steps:
 

  1. Create your resource (see How to Create Resources for details) or find the resource in the Contributions tab of My Curriki, or in the Curriculum tab of your Group space.
  2. Click “edit” for the resource to open it in Edit mode.
  3. Use the features available for that resource type to customize its display.
Specific details about each of these features are available in the next few sections of the Customizing the Content Display section of the Help Collection.
 

You may also want to watch the following video tutorials:

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Customize a Caption

When you first create a resource, you are asked to enter a description of the resource. By default, this description appears as a caption above each media player (i.e. a video).

In some cases, though, you may wish to add details that only apply when viewing the resource and should not be included in the description. You can do this by following these steps to customize the caption display:
 

  1. Click “Edit” for the resource you would like to customize. This link is available to the right of the title in My Curriki and in Groups, or at the top right of the Content tab display when viewing the resource.
  2. Check the box next to “Create a Custom Caption”. A text entry box will appear below the check box.
  3. Enter you’re the text you would like to appear in the caption location. If you want to use part or all of the default description as a starting point, you can reference it by rolling over the resource title.
  4. Add a revision note then click “Save”. Your new caption will appear in the display.
If at any time you wish to remove the customized text and restore the default, simply select all of the text from the “Create a Custom Caption” field, delete it, and save the resource again.
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Customize Alt Text

When you first create a resource, you are asked to enter a title for the resource. By default, this title appears as the Alt Text (sometimes known as Alternative or Hover text) for an Image resource.

In some cases, though, you may wish to add details that only apply when viewing the resource and should not be included in the title. You can do this by following these steps to customize the alt text display:
 

  1. Click “Edit” for the resource you would like to customize. This link is available to the right of the title in My Curriki and in Groups, or at the top right of the Content tab display when viewing the resource.
  2. Check the box next to “Customize the Alt Text”. A text entry box will appear below the check box.
  3. Enter you’re the text you would like to appear when hovering over the image. If you want to use part or all of the default title as a starting point, you can reference it at the top of the page.
  4. Add a revision note then click “Save”. Your new alt text will appear in the display when you hover over the image.
If at any time you wish to remove the customized text and restore the default, simply select all of the text from the “Customize the Alt Text” field, delete it, and save the resource again.
 

For more details specific to Image resources, watch the How to Edit the Display of an Image Resource video tutorial.

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Upload Replacement Files

When working with attachment resources such as document, images, and audio or video files, you may need to update the file from time to time.
 

For most resource types, you can upload a replacement file by following these steps:
 

  1. Click “Edit” for the resource you would like to update. This link is available to the right of the resource title in Contributions listings in My Curriki and in Groups, or at the top right of the Content tab when viewing the resource.
  2. Check the box next to “Upload a Replacement File”. A text entry box will appear below the check box. (Skip this step if replacing a video file.)
  3. Click “Browse” and select the new file from your computer.
  4. Add a revision note then click “Save”. Your new file will appear in the display. (For video, you amy need to wait for uploading and processing before the new file becomes available.)
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Revision Notes

The Revision Note field in the edit resource display is an optional field that allows you to better describe the changes you have made.  

The content that you enter in the Revision Note field will be displayed in the resource’s Revision History. To see the history:
  1. Select the resource you would like to view.
  2. Click the Information Tab
  3. Click “Revision History” at the top right of the tab display.
The page will reload to display a table of all the changes made to the resource. If you have entered a Revision Note, it will appear in the “Note” column. If you did not enter a revision note, a generic note is created by the system. We recommend that you use this field, particularly when collaborating with other users or editing other members content, in order to better detail out the changes that were made to the resource.
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Working with Archives

Archive resources have additional features on Curriki that allow them, when properly formatted, to be viewed directly in the browser.  For a visual presentation of these details specific to Archive resources, watch the How to Edit the Display of an Archive Resource video tutorial.


Show Files
Any true “.zip” archive can display the individual files included in the archive simply by pressing the “Show Files” button when viewing the resource.  If an archive is corrupted or has a different extension, you will not see this option, but will still be able to download the archive to your computer.

Set Start File
If you have a set of files that are designed as a set of web pages (a web site archive) or as a “Learning Object” for which there is one main menu (i.e. an “Index.html” file), you can set a Start File that will launch the archive in a new window. For instance if you have a SCORM Learning Object such as this one, you can use it without having to download it and install it in your Learning Management System (LMS). Please note that because Curriki is a repository and not an LMS, assignments and assessments in the files do not capture outcomes when played from Curriki’s server.

You will be able to take advantage of the Start File feature when you see a “Show Files” button for your archive. If you do not see the “Show Files” button, it means the system cannot read the archive or it does not have a “.zip” extension.  If you do see the button, you can set the Start File by following these steps:

  1. Click “Edit” for the resource you would like to set the start file for. This link is available to the right of the title in My Curriki and in Groups, or at the top right of the Content tab display when viewing the resource in its source display.
  2. Check the box next to “Set a New Start File”. The archive tree will display the files within the Archive below the box.
  3. Select the file that should appear when a user first clicks “Start”. This may be the first image you would like displayed as an example of the contents of the archive, or it may be an index file for certain types of archives.
  4. Add a revision note then click “Save”. You will now see a “Start” button in the display.

 


Customize the Archive Type
For advanced archive users, this feature is available to better help you find the type of archives you are looking for.  Archive Type is not currently displayed in view, but may be added soon.

To set this value:

  1. Click “Edit” for the resource you would like to update. This link is available to the right of the title in My Curriki and in Groups, or at the top right of the Content tab display when viewing the resource in its source display.
  2. Check the box next to “Customize the Archive type”. A dropdown list will appear below the box.
  3. Select the type of archive that best describes your resource. If you are not sure, select “Zip: Generic Archive”.
  4. Add a revision note then click “Save”.
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Working with Links

In addition to customizing the caption of an External Link resource, you can also customize the display of your link.

To enter text that will appear in place of the Real URL (i.e. hyperlink text that is different than the actual hyperlink), follow these steps:
 

  1. Click “Edit” for the resource you would like to set the start file for. This link is available to the right of the title in My Curriki and in Groups, or at the top right of the Content tab display when viewing the resource.
  2. Check the box next to “Customize the Link Display”. A text entry box will appear below the check box.
  3. Enter the text you would like to appear in place of the URL
  4. Add a revision note then click “Save”. Your new text will appear in the display in place of the link.
If you need to update the URL, you can do so from this edit interface as well. Be sure to check that there is a single “http://” at the beginning of the field or else the link will appear broken. If you typed the URL into the field, make sure there are no spaces between characters.
 

For more details specific to Web Link resources, watch the How to Edit the Display of a Web Link Resource video tutorial.