Prompt to Resume on Presentation Restart

[TMHouck]

My presentation has the option selected to prompt the user to resume on presenatation restart. For some reason I am no longer getting prompted to resume where I left off. It is working for my other team members, just not for me. I had been using the trial version. This is only happening to me on new versions of my presentation that I have published since purchasing Articulate.

I double checked my settings and made sure that I had the right template selected when I published. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

I am also curious as to how this option works as I have not seen any cookies in my Temp Internet Files.

Thanks!

[Spectre]

AP does not write a traditional browser cookie...it writes a "Flash cookie" which cannot be cleared by deleting your cache. This different type of cookie resides in a directory like "C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects" (at least for me in XP).

This cookie stores your auto-resume settings. Once you delete it, any record of you previously viewing the presentation will be gone.

HTH,
Phil

[TMHouck]

Thanks for the info Phil! It helps answer some quesitons we had around here!

[cyrelle]

The prompt to resume dialog box does not work for me in either Firefox or IE 6. I have that feature checked in the player template builder. It was working before I installed the latest update to Articulate Presenter--but I am not sure if this is a coincidence or related.

When I open a presentation after having run it before, no prompt to resume dialog box appears. The presentation simply begins playing from the beginning.

Any suggestions about what to test to find out what the problem is?

Thanks.

[Spectre]

Hi cyrelle. I'm wondering if something is blocking Flash cookies (which are used by AP for "prompt to resume") from being written. Perhaps firewall software or anti-spyware could be causing this.

First, I would check to see if any Flash cookies are being written. These cookies normally reside in a directory like C:\Documents and Settings\your Windows username\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects.

To test:

1. Delete all of the folders/files in the #SharedObjects folder.
2. Run the presentation.
3. Look in the #SharedObjects folder again for any folders that may have been written.

If no folders exist here, the Flash cookie is not being written...I would then look into the firewall software or anti-spyware software...or perhaps the browser settings itself. BTW, what browser are you running?

Of course, this troubleshooting would only apply to a individual playback machine. If you are dealing with multiple machines with similar configurations, a universal fix could be quite difficult.

HTH,
Phil

[cyrelle]

Phil,

Thanks. I followed your instructions and the prompt to resume worked after I deleted everything from the shared folder. The next time I opened the presentation, a new folder was created in the shared folder and then when I re-opened the presentation I got the prompt dialog.

BTW, I had the problem in both IE 6 and Firefox.

My next question, the exit button works in IE but not in Firefox. Perhaps I should post this in another thread.

Cyrelle

[Spectre]

Originally Posted by cyrelle

Phil,

Thanks. I followed your instructions and the prompt to resume worked after I deleted everything from the shared folder. The next time I opened the presentation, a new folder was created in the shared folder and then when I re-opened the presentation I got the prompt dialog.

BTW, I had the problem in both IE 6 and Firefox.

My next question, the exit button works in IE but not in Firefox. Perhaps I should post this in another thread.

Cyrelle

Glad it worked for you. Perhaps the original Flash cookie for the presentation was corrupt...and hopefully that was an isolated incident.

In regards to the Exit button, I would definitely create a new thread. I personally don't enable the Exit button...I instruct users to simply close the browser window. But that's only my personal preference.

Phil

[bcwenhardt]

Phil,
I have a slightly different problem with "Resume your presentation". I don't want the "prompt to resume on presentation restart" dialog box to appear when a learner returns to this particular course... I want the course to just start from the beginning each time.

I have gone into the Template Builder and unchecked "Prompt to resume on presentation restart" under Navigation and saved the template; republished the presentation and posted it to our LMS; deleted all flash cookies as per your previous thread recommendation.

Unfortunately, when I run the course again the "prompt to resume..." dialog continues to appear. Is there something else I need to do to prevent the "prompt to resume" box from appearing when I don't want it to?

Thanks

Brion

[Spectre]

Hmmm...interesting. It sounds like you are doing it right. Have you tried accessing the content from other machines to see if the problem is consistent? I'm wondering if something funky is still resident on your machine.

If the problem exists on the other machines as well, I think I would next try republishing the course--giving it a different title--and publish that to the LMS.

Please let me know how that works for you.

Phil

[Justin]

The prompt to resume is feature is a bit misleading. If you uncheck that option you are simply disabling the flash cookie method of resume. If your course is in an LMS then Presenter is sending suspend_data calls to your LMS to prompt to resume whether or not the prompt to resume is checked or unchecked. Typically we recommend that you leave this option unchecked when publishing for an LMS. However, the suspend_data will force you to resume in an LMS. This is not something you can disable.