Assembling Language Lessons

Overview

This page explains how to prepare a lesson for publishing. At this point we assume that you've created a lesson XML file and have created audio for your lessons in WAV formatted files. You'll create a lesson ZIP file, then copy the ZIP and XML files into the Publish Staging folder.

These instructions assume that you are using our standard workflow. If you're not, you'll need to do some mental translation to adapt them to your situation.


Create MP3 Audio Files

Batch convert your WAV format audio files into a matching set of MP3 files:

• The WAV format files live in the lesson development folder's "wav" subfolder.
• The MP3 format files will live at the root of the lesson development folder. If you already have MP3 files at this location, delete them.
• Use a batch conversion program (we use Switch) to create an MP3 formatted copy of each file.
• Keep the WAV files where they are. Place the MP3 files at the root of the lesson development folder.

Zipping Up A Lesson

At this point your lesson development folder's contents should look something like this:


 

Create a ZIP formatted archive file consisting of a) the MP3 files, and b) the lesson XML file. (Don't include the "wav" subfolder.) 

All of these files should be at the root of the archive - i.e. the archive shouldn't contain any folders.

Name the archive file with the lesson ID plus a ".zip" file extension.


Copy XML And ZIP File Into the Publish Staging Folder

Once you've created your lesson's ZIP file, place this file and a copy of the lesson's XML file in the appropriate subfolder - within the appropriate library - within the Publish Staging folder.



We assume that you know what the appropriate library is, as you (or your organization) defined your library folder hierarchy. If you're not clear on what the appropriate subfolder is you can review these explanations on the Library Folder Setup page. If an appropriate subfolder doesn't exist, create one, then edit the library XML file so that its libraryContentInfo element contains information that corresponds to the new subfolder.


Updating Lessons

The process of updating lessons is explained on this page.


Questions?

If you have questions about the lesson creation process, please contact us on our Creating Lessons forum. We're here to help.


What's Next?

Next we'll show you how to create or edit the subfolder's lesson list XML file.