Guidelines for Migrating Content

Migrating a storyboard into the eddy LMS requires transforming content and ideas from a Word file into an interactive and captivating digital learning experiences for students.

To support you in doing this effectively,  this topic will guide you though:

• Best practice when transferring content from Microsoft Word to the Content Management System (CMS).
• Mastering HTML formatting, including headings and lists, to enhance content readability.
• Seamlessly integrating HTML Snippets to bring content to life with interactive elements.
• How to apply various content types using HTML.

Key functions of the eddy CMS

Our CMS streamlines the content creation process, promotes collaboration, and ensures that students have access to structured and organised learning materials.

Here are some key functions and roles of the CMS in the eddy ecosystem:

• Content Creation: Course developers craft and contextualize course content using the CMS, creating an engaging and effective online learning experiences.

• Content Organisation: The CMS helps structure content logically, ensuring that it's easy for learners to navigate and digest. Our online course content is structured using Modules, Topics and Subtopics.

• Version Control: It keeps track of content versions, preventing confusion during updates and revisions.  A list of revisions is available to allow you to track differences between multiple versions of your content, and revert to older versions.

• Asset Management: The CMS stores and manages various assets like images and documents, ensuring they're readily accessible when needed.

• User Management: It enables user roles and permissions, allowing the right people to access and edit content. Editing permissions are limited to Digital Producers / Learning Designers and Course Development managers.

Best Practice

Copying content from a Microsoft Word file storyboard to the CMS is a crucial step in the content creation process. To ensure a seamless transition and maintain content quality, here are some best practices to follow (we will go through each of these in more detail as you make your way through this topic):

1. Use Plain Text: When copying content, paste it as plain text (paste the text into 'Source'). This ensures that no unwanted formatting from Word (such as font styles, sizes or colors) interferes with the CMS's default styling and creates messy HTML code.

2. Heading Styles: Maintain consistency in heading styles. Use CMS-specific heading styles (e.g., H3, H4, H5) rather than Word's formatting. This ensures that the content structure remains intact and visually consistent. 

3. Lists and Bullet Points: Recreate lists in the CMS using its built-in list formatting tool in the menu options. Lists can either be bulleted or ordered/numbered. Avoid copying and pasting lists directly, as Word's formatting may not translate correctly.

4. Hyperlinks: Re-establish hyperlinks in the CMS using its link insertion tool in the menu options. Copying and pasting hyperlinks from Word can sometimes lead to formatting issues or broken links.

5. Images and Media: Instead of copying and pasting images directly, upload them to the CMS file manager separately. This ensures proper file management and allows you to control image placement within the content. Always include alt-text.

6. Tables and Data: Recreate tables manually within the CMS, as copying and pasting tables from Word will result in formatting discrepancies. Be sure to check you have included all rows and columns and no information is missing from the table.

7. Clean Up Extra Formatting: After pasting, review the content to remove any unnecessary formatting artifacts that may have been carried over from Word. This includes any unnecessary tags, classes and/or attributes and extra spaces (extra spaces will appear as  )

8. Consistent Fonts and Styling: Always check the Learning Management System (LMS) after content in the CMS is saved/published. Ensure fonts, text sizes, and colours match the LMS's default styling. Consistency in text appearance is essential for a polished look.

9. Check Special Characters: Pay attention to special characters (e.g., em dashes, ellipses) and ensure they render correctly in the CMS. Sometimes, these characters may need manual adjustments. & is a common one to look out for, especially if used in a Topic title.

10. Accessibility Considerations: As you migrate content, keep accessibility in mind. Ensure that headings are appropriately tagged (e.g., H3 for main headings, H4 for subheadings and so on), alt text is added to images, and the content is structured for screen readers.

    Note: H1 and H2 are automatically applied to the Topic Title and Subtopic Title and do not need to be formatted manually, hence, when formatting migrated content, the main heading level in the text is H3.

11. Preview and Proofread: Always review the content within the LMS to ensure it looks as intended. Proofread for any content errors that may have occurred during the migration process.

12. Version Control: Use version control features in the CMS to track changes and maintain a history of edits. This is especially useful when multiple team members are working on the same content.

13. Collaboration: Collaborate and communicate with team members involved in the content migration process. Consistency in the approach and alignment with best practices are easier to achieve with clear communication.

By following these best practices, you'll ensure that content copied from a Microsoft Word storyboard to the CMS maintains its quality, consistency, and accessibility, resulting in a polished and effective online learning experience.

Description

An accordion is a menu composed of vertically stacked labels that reveal more details when clicked on. Each section’s label describes what is hidden inside that section.

They are used to:

• condense noncritical details into hidden sections, giving the student a choice of if and when they click to see more
• help organize content on pages to keep them shorter
• group information into distinct and logical areas with clear themes
• give students an action to complete (clicking) other than just scrolling through text on a page.

Best practice

Common uses include the following.

When to use

Accordions are best used in content-heavy topics where the student will not need to read all of the information but the information is still relevant enough to include.

The most critical information should be placed in the accordion labels, with less important information hidden in the accordion content.

When not to use

Avoid using accordions when the student needs to see all or most of the content.

As each section needs to be clicked on by the student to open and read, do not use accordions to present important details.

If each section in an Accordion is only going to contain a sentence or two, don’t use it. There’s no reason to make learners click and reveal a sentence when you can just include it on the page.

Questions to consider when choosing to use an accordion:

• Does the student need to access this information?
• Will a student be disadvantaged if they don’t read all of the hidden information?
• Does this Accordion enhance the natural flow of learning, or does it disrupt it?
• If each Accordion is going to contain a large volume of content, would it be best to just make each into a their own subtopic?
• Is there enough detail to include in an accordion?
• Would a simple list on the page be sufficient and more logical?

Accordions can help make your content more visually appealing, organised, and easier to navigate.

Tutorial

How to build an accordion