The elearning community was greeted with a major announcement last week by Articulate with the release of Storyline 2 (SL2). With all the excitement about the new features, there are a few things to consider when it comes to your workflow and working with .story files created in Storyline 1 (SL1).
There’s a tremendous amount of information, tutorials, and community support to get you up and running over at the Elearning Heroes Forum. However, with all the attention focused on SL2’s new features, the small print isn’t widely known. I’ve listed the three most popular questions I get asked along with links to the related Product Support page.
Storyline 2 is a new install; not really an upgrade
Whether you install SL2 for the first time or purchase an upgrade from SL1, you’re not really upgrading the actual software. SL2 will be a new install either way. In fact, you can run both SL1 and SL2 at the same time on the same computer.
Storyline 2 Product Support page here.
Opening SL1 (legacy) .story projects in SL2
If you have both Storyline versions installed and open a SL1 project by double-clicking from Windows Explorer, the file will open in SL2. It’s best to launch SL1 first and then navigate to open legacy .story files.
When opening a legacy SL1 .story file in SL2, the software will recognize the file was created in an older version. A prompt will launch asking if you want to upgrade the SL1 file to SL2. As Articulate states on the prompt, “Don’t worry, we’ll make a backup of your original file.”
Storyline 2 Product Support page here.
Storyline 2 is not backward compatible
Due to all the added features and updates, you will not be able to save *back* to a SL1 .story file from SL2. This is important. As noted above, if you choose not to make a copy of your .story file, you won’t be able to open the file in SL1 again.
Remember, to open a project in SL1, launch the software first and then browse to your project .story file.
Storyline 2 Product Support page here.
Extra: Suggestions for optimal performance
You may need to keep both versions of Storyline for a while until project lifecycles run their course. In some cases you may want to run both versions at the same time. Here are two workflow tips to ensure optimal performance:
- The simplest and most inexpensive way to have smooth development workflow is to upgrade your computer’s RAM (random access memory). Articulate recommends 2 GM minimum, but a bit more RAM is an inexpensive investment. In my experience, 4 GB minimum; 8 GB recommended; 16 GB optimal.
- Storyline 2 Product Support page here.
- When working on a project or publishing work from your local C: drive. Also, always publish to the default “My Articulate Projects” folder or another directory on your local C: drive.
- Storyline Product Support page here.
Extra: Suggestions for managing SL1 and SL2 assets
- Create two main directories. One each for SL1 and SL2. This will ensure you’re working on the correct .story file in the correct version.
- Add “SL1” or “SL2” to your .story filename(s). e.g., SL1_MyProjectName.story, MyProjectName_SL2.story, or similar.
Over time this convention won’t be as prevalent. However, if you have multiple projects in both versions it’s best to develop a set of workflow protocols to manage assets from both versions.
Final thought:
If you’re a SL1 customer with a Platinum Membership Plan (PMP), upgrading to SL2 is free. If not, consider becoming a member for a free upgrade when SL3 becomes available!
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