[Xerte] Hyperlinks in Xerte 1.17

[Panke, Stefanie]

Hello!
I am currently working on understanding / documenting the whole topic of
hyperlinks in Xerte. Here is what I understood so far:

- Standard external hyperlinks are pretty straightforward HTML (a
href=""). Their formatting can be manipulated by a CSS stylesheet that is
referenced in the learning object. This allows you to define the color and
style for links, otherwise they will appear as plain text. However,
advanced CSS features (e.g., setting icons for PDF, external links through
CSS classes) do not work. I also found you do not need the target=blank
attribute to force a new window ­ is there a reason to have it anyway?

- Relative hyperlinks: To reference resources connected to your Xerte
project, for example further reading material in PDF format, you may want
to create a directory parallel to the "media" folder and address it with a
relative link e.g., <a href="../pdf/story1.pdf"> to address
my_xerte_project/pdf/story1.pdf. This does not seem to work, though people
on the listserv said it would - am I doing something wrong?
 
- Internal hyperlinks within a Xerte learning module: To address a
specific node, you have to reference the node number, e.g., <a
href="asfunction:_level0.pageLink,2"> will link to the second page in your
current Xerte learning object.

- Hyperlinks between Xerte Modules: I cannot find a way to link from one
Xerte learning object to specific pages in another Xerte learning object.
Is this possible? This point critical for me. For my current project, I am
facing an impasse: The material comprises around 150 nodes that are
organized into 8 chapters. My approach was to split the material and
create one Xerte module for each chapter. However, there are
cross-references between the chapters. So for instance module 1 links to
module 3, page 5. This kind of cross-referencing seems like a very valid
thing to have between different learning objects, but I do not know if and
how Xerte can handle this.

- Table of contents: Xerte automatically creates a navigation menu.
Currently, there is only a one-level hierarchy possible for the table of
contents menu. - Is this true? I would consider to create on large 150
nodes learning module, if I could structure the navigation menu into
chapter overviews and subpages.


- Another way to create internal hyperlinks are decision paths, where
users can continue from one page in different ways. This is currently
achieved through page wizards "routed pages" and with Xerte 1.18 will be
achieved through connector pages.


- Glossary terms can be used to create pop-up windows with definitions.
Currently, brackets and apostrophes cannot be part of a glossary term.
Other options for creating pop-up windows are not possible.(is that true?)


Best,
Stefanie



--
Stefanie Panke, PhD
Instructional Analyst
School of Government
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Campus Box 3330, Knapp-Sanders Building
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3330
Tel:  919.962.0592
Fax: 919.962.2707





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