Save Content Package
Although the content package (as held in c:\cp\testpkg\) is now complete and valid, we still need to save it and store as a zip.

- Saving the content package is simple - press the Save Icon, or select Save from the File menu. You effectively defined the filename (package location) at the start of the session. You can view the manifest again now: select the imsmanifest.xml file in the Resources Pane, and click on the view file icon in the Resource Pool toolbar. You will see the same structure that you can see in the resources pane, along with all the metadata.
- Saving the Zipped Content Package is simple too. Click the 'Zip Content package' Icon (or select 'Zip Content Package' from the File Menu. in the dialogue that appears, type a filename (including extension - .zip) and choose a directory - c:\cp (ie the level above the content) is convenient.

Use Windows Explorer to navigate to the c:\cp directory. Find the file and open it with WinZip.

Save As Content Package
You can save a duplicate of your content package by using the 'Save As …' option in the file menu. The main reason you might want to do this is if you want to create a package with the same structure as your current one, but wish to have different Unique Identifiers for 'identifier' attributes.

Save Content Package Preview
A new feature in Reload v1.2 allows you to save not just the Content Package, but a copy of the resource you have created for preview - ready for presentation in a Web Browser. Normally, Content Packages are imported into software (Learning Management Systems or Repositories) which interpret information held within the manifest and create a navigational structure for the content. Sometimes, you may wish to utilize the content you have organised outwith an LMS or repository, perhaps as a simple web site. For this, it is useful to have the navigational structure generated by Reload for Web Preview included.

To save a copy of the Web Preview, click File, Save Content Package Preview …

Choose an appropriate folder in the dialogue box which appears (you may wish to create a new folder at this point). When you click 'Select', all the files necessary for preview are copied into this folder. Using Windows Explorer, have a look at the content. Clicking on the file 'ReloadContentPreview.htm will launch it in a web browser. All the files in the folder you created are required to display the content correctly with navigation.

It is important to stress that the Content Package Preview is not in itself a 'Content Package'. This is because it doesn't include the necessary imsmanifest.xml. In fact it is no more a 'Content Package' than any collection of web pages.

A preview of the content is very useful however and it is possible to store the preview within the Content Package itself. If you choose the Content Package folder after 'Save Content Package Preview …' then the Preview files are saved inside the Content Package folder. Now, when you zip up the Content Package for storage, the Preview files are also included (though they DO NOT appear in the manifest). By including the extra Preview files, the Content Package can be quickly previewed by a third party who does not have access to a Package viewer like MS LRN or Reload itself.

It is permissible for files to appear in the zipped Content Package which are not referenced from within the manifest, however, other software which reads and imports Content Packages may object to the extra files as it won't know what to do with them.

Help Home :: RELOAD Home :: Page Last Updated 13th July 2004, CM