IntelliTools-based Products FAQs

Look here for help with IntelliTools-based products and Goodies. Further answers may be found on the IntelliTools, Inc.® web site if the problem relates to the functions of IntelliTools Classroom Suite® rather than the specific Learning Magic activity. Click here to go to the IntelliTools Technical Help section.

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Q. I was using one of your templates, and suddenly it quit working correctly. I was seeing the wrong toolbars. I had used Sort Pages to go to a page where a Directions button should have appeared, but it was not there. It was working before that.

A. The problem is that you got to the page using Sort Pages. This is a shortcut, but it's like jumping over a wall instead of using the gate. Getting to the page via navigation arrows uses the normal gate that activates Page Actions. Many of our templates are set up so that on each page, all toolbars are hidden and then the ones appropriate for that page are shown. This process is controlled by Page Actions. If you sneak in over the wall, you bypass the alarm that trips these actions, so you see the toolbars as they were on the last page you were viewing. Notice that IntelliMations and Page Sounds also are not activated, since these also would be controlled by Page Actions.

Sort Pages is really an editing mode and is not ideal for navigation. It will work if the only Page Action on a page happens to be "Next Page", but if any other Page Actions are listed, some actions will be lost. What Sort Pages is intended for is exactly that: changing page order, adding and deleting pages, and renaming pages. It's also handy as a storyboard, if you take a screenshot.

One more handy thing about Sort pages is the very thing that caused your problem, failure to activate the Page Actions. Suppose you had the actions Play IntelliMation followed by Next Page as your Page Actions. When you went to that page, the IntelliMation would play and the page would turn automatically. But what if you needed to edit that page? The only way to stop on that page is to jump in using Sort Pages. In that case, neither the IntelliMation nor the Next Page action activates, so you can then edit the page.

Q. We have been seeing some crazy things with textboxes in IntelliPics Studio 3. Sometimes the scrollbars don't show unless the textbox is clicked. What would cause this?

A. There seems to be a bug in IPS3 in Classroom Suite v.3.2. One of the default Page Actions is Play IntelliMation and Page Sound. We have noticed that if you have that action in the page but no IntelliMation, sometimes the page opens without the scrollbars. If there is IntelliMation, scrollbars are hidden while it plays, then are displayed again as it ends. With no IntelliMation there, the action hides the scrollbars, but never finds IntelliMation to play, so they stay hidden. Remedies include:

1. If you do not need Intellimation OR Page Sound on a page, Control-click on the page background to see Page Properties. Click the Actions tab, and remove the Play IntelliMation and Page Sound. Warning: this will also inactivate any sound effect that should play when the page opens. It won't affect sounds played from buttons. 2. If you do need a sound effect, follow step 1 above, but then add the action Play Sound (Don't wait). This will play the page sound, but does not cause a scrollbar problem.

We also sometimes see this if there is Play Movie and no movie, so look for that action and remove it also if you are not using it

Q. Why can't I just copy the activities from the CD into the Classroom Suite Templates folder? Why bother to import them?

A. The answer is, because the product will not work properly if you do that. The Import function within Classroom Suite is a built-in installer. You wouldn't try to just copy components from other products, such as Microsoft Office®, into the hard drive; instead, you run an installer. The reason is the same for most applications: There are many linked files that have to work together, and these must be installed properly into the proper locations. All our products have linked overlays and folder icons, and many have attached movies. Just copying into the templates folder will not install these and preserve the links. You must IMPORT the activity into Classroom Suite by using the Import button on the Navigation Screen. Then the Import function can read the enclosed packing list to do the installation.

Q. Why won't my activity open from the desktop?

A. Since Classroom Suite has three components, clicking on an activity will not open it. You must IMPORT the activity into Classroom Suite by using the Import button on the Navigation Screen. For more help on both downloading and importing activities, click here.

Q. We are using the Exploring Nature Collection in our classroom. We are confused about in what order to introduce the books and writing activities.

A. ENC was developed using the pedagogy of Pati King DeBaun, and her model suggested that there be different levels of books, writing, and word play activities to accomodate students who were on different levels simultaneously, rather than having each student go through a progression of levels. The documentation for ENC follows this model. You may, of course, use the reading books and writing and word play activities in a progressive fashion if you wish. From easiest to most difficult, the reading books have the suffixes: EAS, BEG, and CSA. Writing and wordplay activities go from errorless to BEG to either Conv for conventional in writing, to a specific title for wordplay (ex. James and the Bug.)

Q. Sometimes graphics and text overlap on a page. How can I fix this?

A. Sometimes the particular settings will cause things to overlap. Drag the lower left corner to adjust the page size a little, and the overlap will disappear. If you have system setting set so that you can't adjust the page size by dragging it, go into the control panel and change this setting.

Q. I am installing the Cause and Effect and Beyond activities on a Mac. I got an error message saying one of the movies cannot be found. What is happening?

A. There is one movie attached to the Simple Story "My Summer Trip" that may have problems on older Mac systems. You need to rename the movie and relink it to the page. You can relink to the movie on the CD, but you will have to have the CD in the drive and repeat this process each time you run that story. Or, you can make the following changes, if you have the full version of IntelliPics Studio 3: Look in the Media folder on the CD in the Simple Stories folder, and find the movie entitled "in the clouds over n. canada". Copy this movie into the Media folder in the Classroom Suite folder. Rename the movie "clouds". Next, go ahead and import the activity. Open it, and go to page 9. Control-click to get into the invisible button, unlock it, and temporarily make it smaller, so that you can access the movie which is under the button. Control-click on the part of the page you uncovered by adjusting the button. This will open the movie dialog. Link to the renamed movie, click Okay. Then stretch the button back into place and lock it. Save as an activity.

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