People have been asking general questions in comments on unrelated posts. If you have a general question, please post it as a comment here, and I’ll reply to it. If I help, consider showing your appreciation by buying me a coffee!
Alternatively, you can post a question in the SAP-hosted SAP Enable Now Community.
Hi Dirk,
I am creating trainings with book pages and simulations. Is it possible to generate a PDF of the book in which you can search the slides for keywords (Ctrl + F)?
Thank you!
Unfortunately not. All of the output document formats use a static image of the Book Page. Basically, they aren’t designed to be printable. Book Pages are designed to be interactive and/or animated and could have overlaying elements, so determining what should be shown is problematic. People are always asking for this capability, but I can’t see it being added any time soon. Sorry.
Still, if one wants to print a Book Page (designs as a single layer, no interactivities, no animations etc.), is there such a feature?
The only way to do it is to generate a Compound Document and make sure this is set up to include Book Pages. You may need to make some changes to the page layout to get it to look nice, though. And it will always include the Book Page Name as well (although you can hide that in the generated document). I do this a lot to generate PDF handouts for courses that don’t have interaction/animation.
Hi Dirk,
When I create a simulation in producer I would like to choose one of the templates that were created by the SAP consultant when he was helping on a project.
Problem is when I go to select on the creation of my simulation it is “greyed out” in the work area.
Your help would be appreciated.
I’m not sure what is “greyed out”, but… A ‘template’ for a simulation is basically just another simulation that you want to use as a starting point – maybe it has some intro steps, or some specific (project override) settings. When you create a new simulation (via Producer, I’m assuming…) and just select Simulation from the Objects tab you have the option to select a ‘template’ to use – you can actually go and select any existing simulation in your Workarea (by clicking on the Edit pencil to the left of the field (THIS is greyed out?). If you use the Template tab then this will show you only simulations that have been specifically designated as ‘templates’ (by having their Use as Template property selected [is this what your SAP consultant did?]) – but there is nothing else ‘special’ about them; they are still just simulation projects. And, again, using a simulation ‘template’ just gives you a starting point when creating a new simulation (instead of starting off with an empty project). Did that help? If not, reply and I’ll try again.
How does SAP sell Enable Now, in terms of functionality? I have a client that purchased the Author Option and Consumption Option and I am struggling on what is included and any limitations that the client may encounter based on their high expectations.
🙂
I’m assuming the client has an on-premise installation of Enable Now. The Consumption license basically allows users to see all/any content – whether this is content provided free by SAP as part of the product, or content developed (or enhanced) internally by the client. The latter (developed/enhanced) is where you need the Author license. With an Author license you can create your own content (any of the types mentioned before: simulations, courseware, in-app help), and you can also change any of the SAP-provided content (technically, you take a copy and then update that copy).
Hi,
I am trying to get a better understanding of the many ways that you can use Enable Now for my team. Can you list the common uses and some unknown but useful features, tools that can be used. Have you heard of any novel uses of Enable Now. Very curious to maximize our use of Enable Now.
Thank you!
Well, that’s quite an expansive question, and the answer depends upon what you’re currently using it for, but I’ll give it a go.
For me, SAP Enable Now provides three key features: (1) Simulations, (2) Courseware, and (3) in-application help. I’m assuming if you have SAP Enable Now already, you’re using at least one of these. The cornerstone for me is the simulation (although SAP would argue that that is ‘old technology’ and will push Web Assistant in-app help as the USP…). Typically you’d use these to provide a demo (I like mine to be completely automatic/hands-off, to the point that many users refer to them as ‘videos’), or an exercise – for use either in the classroom or as part of self-study. There are other modes, but they are mostly variations on these two (Test mode excepted – that’s useful for knowledge verification). You can also generate a variety of documents from the simulations, which is useful for cases where you need to provide ‘written’ instructions / hardcopy documentation. Over and above this, I have seen simulations used for testing (either officially via integration with HPQC or similar or just to generate printed test scripts), and even just for capturing what the testers are doing, so if the test fails you have a record of the steps necessary to replicate it and a record of the error messages – this can be essential in troubleshooting, even if the recording is never used beyond this point.
For courseware, SAP Enable Now provides Books and Book Pages. These are ‘equivalent’ to PowerPoint presentations and slides, but with a lot more flexibility and scope for re-use. Like PowerPoint, they are typically used for building/delivering training courses (as ILT or CBT), but their capabilities go way beyond this. You can use Book Pages on their own, as the ‘index’ page for simulations/groupings in the Trainer, for in-app help pop-ups, and even embed them in simulations. Typically, people think of them as being ‘units of static information’, but you can add a lot of interaction to them, include dynamic information from other sources (embedded videos or other files, properties pulled from elsewhere, etc.), and use them as launchpads for other content, indexes, and so on. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they can replace Web Pages (they are always a fixed (defined at creation) width/height) but you could conceivably build out an entire user interface using just Book Pages. I specifically like the fact that you can re-use Book Pages across multiple Books, and/or link to them independently – useful for when you need to just send out a single page of information. (And of course you can link to simulations (or other content) from a Book Page.)
For in-app help you have Desktop Assistant (for Windows applications), Web Assistant (for S/4HANA-Fiori systems) and Context Help Files (for SAP R/3 / ECC 6.0 systems). I’m going to assume you’re using at least one of these. Web Assistant is definitely the preferred choice if you are running S/4HANA or other Fiori-based systems (although it’s also an option for in-house applications [assuming you have access to the source code])- in which case you can make Web Assistant your entry point for all your ‘just in time’ training, as you can include (or link to) courseware/simulations directly from Web Assistant (or the DA) These aren’t necessarily either/or. Desktop Assistant and Web Assistant can both be running, and SAP Enable Now will switch from one to the other as content is available (WA takes priority). SAP are doing some good work on making the two visually similar.
In terms of ‘novel uses’ there’s hundreds of little things you can do that you might not initially think of – like using Text Units as Groups, or as containers for standard text you want to include in other places, or embedding text from a Glossary into a Bubble, or creative things you can do with Actions in Book Pages, etc. I tend to post out the less-obvious things I come across on my Twitter feed (@EnableNowExpert).
And I haven’t even talked about the Manager, consumption tracking, Workflow, publishing, …
Hi Dirk: Excellent answer to Ali’s question. One thing came to mind regarding simulations… I agree that they are the cornerstone of Enable now and you mentioned “Typically you’d use these to provide a demo (I like mine to be completely automatic/hands-off, to the point that many users refer to them as ‘videos’)”
I have just begun to create simulations after having worked on Books and Book Pages and I was wondering if you have a public gallery of simulations that you would be willing or able to share so that I can learn “Best Practices” from a true Enable Now professional. Do you have a public facing web site where we could see some true life examples of professionally created SIMS? I would like to see how you use embedded Book pages in your sims. Also, how do you make the demo sims completely automatic when Explanation bubbles require the user to click to continue?
In the absence of any outward facing website which showcases your simulations, would you be able to screen capture some examples and send them to me please. By the way, your book is a best seller amongst myself and my Government of Canada colleagues (there are about 12 of us who bought it).
Cheers
Shaun from Ottawa, Canada
macadam@rogers.com
Shaun: Thanks. (Esp. for the book purchases!) I’ve thought about posting some simulations as examples, but the problem I hit is that most of what I’ve done is for specific clients and they typically don’t want their content ‘out there’ for the world to see (it also makes it difficult for me to showcase examples as a ‘portfolio’ when seeking work..). I’ve been thinking about maybe doing a few generic non-client-specific simulations I _could_ post, if and when I find time. I’ll see what I can do.
Explanation bubbles only require the user to click Next to continue because of the Demo Bubble > Display Duration property, which defaults to -1 (“Forever”). Change that to any positive number and it will progress automatically. I assume you’re always checking your Display Durations on every action as a matter of course anyway, right?? 😉
Side story: I had a client ask for a ‘video’ of a demonstration (including voiceover). I suggested a simulation, but they weren’t having it. So I recorded a simulation, added audio, made the Demo mode completely automatic and published only that mode. They were happy, and said that was exactly what they were looking for. Came back a couple of weeks later and said “Oh, the users are asking for a printable version; anything you can do to transcribe the voiceover or something?”. Seconds later they had the Standard Document. 😀 Moral of the story: Clients don’t always know what they _need_ 😉
Thank you for the response, this has been helpful!
User is attempting to open Instant Producer and all options are in German. Profile and settings are set to English. What else needs to be changed ?
In Instant Producer, they should be able to go to the Project Explorer, select Settings, and on the General tab they can select their Primary Language. If they can’t understand enough to get there, then the options are Projekt-Explorer oeffnen, then select Einstellungen, go to the Allgemein setting and change the Sprache field.
In (full) Producer a user’s language can be set in Tools > Settings > Producer > General. There’s two settings: Primary Language and Secondary Language. Try getting the user to set them both to English. That may not make a difference if they only ever access via Instant Producer, but you may want to send them to Manager for one-time set-up, where they can go to Settings > User Info and check their Interface Language is set to English (this should be set automatically when the user’s Logon is created, but maybe it isn’t being passed for this user (or via your SSO authorization provider)
Finally, in the Manager (as an Admin) go to Administration > Server Settings > GUI > Fallback Interface Language, and make sure this is English. This setting will be used if a user’s Interface Language isn’t defined anywhere else. It’s probably this setting that is causing the problem; change this and it should fix everything.
Hi, I am trying to create a guided tour but I am running into a road block. I have the enable edit mode button on the right side of the carousel. When I press enable edit mode button to get the “+” button to add a guided tour the entire carousel closes. When it closes I waited a minute to see if it would pop back up in edit mode but did not. The only way to get the carousel to open again is to press the “?” button to end enable now and then press it again to reopen it. Do you know of anything that could be causing this?
I’m assuming this happens with all Carousel content and not just GTs? The only time I have seen this happen is when you don’t have write access to the underlying Workarea. Just having the ‘Edit’ button isn’t necessarily a sign that you do. Check this first. Make sure you are pointing to your own Workarea (you’re using WPB or EXT) and not just the default SAP one, and that you have Author access to this. If you do (and assuming SSO), open Producer at the same time, just so a connection is open. What are you using for SSO? If Azure/Okta, try adding the parameter newWindowSAML=true.
Another thought – if you are not using SSO for authorization, log on to Manager in a tab in the same browser window, and then try again.
1) We have found when generating Desktop Assistant, a simulation will only appear based on the specific browser that the simulation was recorded in. For example, a simulation is recorded in Google Chrome. If an end user is using Google Chrome and opens Desktop Assistant, the simulation appears. However, if an end user is using Internet Explorer and opens Desktop Assistant, the simulation does not appear. Is there a step in the process or specific setting that needs to be enabled that would remove this issue, allowing the simulation to appear no matter what browser you are in?
2) We have found when generating Desktop Assistant, a simulation will only appear based on the specific environment that the simulation was recorded in. For example, a simulation is recorded in a UAT environment. If an end user in a UAT environment and opens Desktop Assistant, the simulation appears. However, if an end user is in a Production environment, the simulation does not appear. SAP Enable Now is detecting the specific URL that is within the simulation and is using it as a key. Is there a step in the process or specific setting that needs to be enabled that would remove this issue, allowing the simulation to appear no matter what environment you are in?
Kenneth:
It doesn’t use the URL, but it does use the executable (chrome.exe vs iexplore.exe). That’s easy to fix, though. Open the Guided Tour for editing, select the Application ‘step’, then click the Record Compatible Application button at the top of the Property Sheet and select the other browser.
HTH, Dirk
Hi, I am working in Enable Now. I only have access to he Standard Content and cannot create my own. Are there any Guided Tours that I am able to access to see how they work?
I’m assuming you’re talking about Web Assistant? You just want to see a working example, or you want to look at the ‘source’ behind it to see how they’re built? For the former, there should be plenty of access in the Standard Content you can look at (or go to the free SAP Fiori Cloud Trial – that certainly has some). For the latter, there’s not really a way to do this unless you have write access, and there’s not much to see, anyway (and not really much that you couldn’t see from my book, in terms of the mechanics of editing).
Hello Dirk: The company that I work for is now on lock down and we are being asked to work remotely. We are also restricted on when we can access SAP Enable now via the VPN. What are the best methods to work offline and then ensure that we are able to upload any offline created material without fear of overwriting. Is there a specific sequence to follow when you re-connect to the server after being offline?
Thanks
Shaun from Ottawa
Yes, that is a problem with cloud-based software – it relies on a (stable) internet connection. If you lose your connection, you can keep on working in your local Content folder, you just can’t save it to the server. Anything new you create will be OK because the UID will be unique so you won’t have the problem of overwriting each other’s stuff when you are back in business. The issue is with existing content (on the server) that you need to keep working on. The bottom line is you need good discipline from your Authors – maybe maintain a spreadsheet somewhere everyone has access to (you can export your Workarea to facilitate this) and insist that Authors note in there when they start working on objects – kind of a manual Write Token. If you know who will be working on what, you might want to explicitly assign content to Authors and then have each of them Check Out Assigned Objects when they can connect – they can then keep working on this content remotely when they are not connected. Are you using SSO? If so, this might cause additional problems. I have found that if you leave Producer open, you can keep working on your local content even if you lose connection to the Server – as long as you don’t try to reach the server. If manual logins, you should be OK. Actually, if you have manual logins and you are on cloud, there should be no reason why you can’t access SAP Enable Now via your own (personal) PC and just bypass your company’s network and VPN altogether (subject to your company security protocols, of course!). HTH > Dirk
Hello Dirk: I created a Book which contains about 20 book pages. At the end, I want a quiz to fire and am confused between a quiz as a project and a quiz made up of Book pages. I created a short 2 question project quiz and it has the submit buttons and generates correct or incorrect responses when I run it in the editor but it dose not “fire” at the end of my course. On the other hand, I then created the same 2 question quiz out of book pages and it does appear when I view my published output but it is lacking the submit button as well as the responses (it looks like I have to add those items manually). Which method should I use? I like the fact that the project has everything I need but it does not display in my course even though it is in the same folder structure in my workarea. Is there something that I need to do so that the project quiz appears at the end of my Book project?
Typically you would want to use a Quiz when you need to have a tracked ‘assessment’ for a course (typically with the result recorded in an LMS – but also possibly just in the SEN Manager). For this purpose it is better implemented as a stand-alone Learning Object so it can be used as a pre- or post-course assessment. By contrast, a ‘Book Page’ Question is typically used for in-course knowledge checks. These are ‘untracked’ because SAP Enable Now can’t feed back any ‘completion score’ and only knows that the page has been looked at.
If you use the latter (Book Page) option, yes you need to provide all of the elements (submit button, feedback, etc.) yourself – that’s what the various question-object Actions are for. This is usually quite a lot of work, so your best beet is to get hold of an existing set of Book Page questions (SAP has a set – one per question type), customizing these to to meet your specific needs, and then using these customized versions as templates for the actual question Book Pages. Again, quite a bit of work for a one-off, but worth it if you’ll be using this approach often.
Is there any way to put a quiz (tracked assessment) at the end of a course? For example, the user needs to read a couple of book pages and then answer a few questions correctly in order for the LMS to register the completion. I know I can do this if the book and quiz are separate, but it would be a much better user experience if they were grouped together.
Assuming you launch the Quiz from a Book Page, and both the Quiz and the Book Page are included in the same SCCORM package yes, it should work – but it depends on the specific LMS and the tracking settings used in SAP Enable Now. The way it is designed to work in that situation is the is required to display all Book Pages AND complete all projects (in all of the available modes – this is important). But tracking of completion is notoriously fickle (SCORM isn’t as much of an enforced ‘standard’ as you’d think) so test it fully in multiple scenarios if you can (and run traces / debug mode if you have that option) to see exactly what is being received/sent by the LMS.
All that said, though, I personally prefer to keep my Quizzes as separate SCOs and group them into a ‘course’ in the LMS, with ONLY the Quiz set as ‘required for completion’ – that way users can ‘test out’ of a course if they pass the Quiz. Of course, this requires the Quiz to be a full knowledge verification ‘assessment’ and not just an easy exercise, but it provides more flexibility where people are maybe moving into a new job that requires this course and may already have the skills, or they’re an experienced hire, etc.