by Angela Smith
When I started at Nelson Croom, most of our building work was done on a desktop-based system called “Cobalt”. In the early days I loved Cobalt, as it was very similar in its functionality to the tools I had used in my knowledge engineer days and so had a security blanket feel to it. However, the changeover was already underway to move to the fully web-based Imago. At this point in time, Imago still had its training wheels on and pretty much all we could do in it was edit text; all structural and more “techy” bits of building had to happen in Cobalt.
Over time, our Technical Director Tony has been moving pieces of functionality from the old system to the new, improving it as he goes. I make this sound like a smooth and easy process, but in reality it has involved all sorts of complex techy Access gubbins and SQL wizardry that I couldn’t bore you with even if I wanted to. Anyway, the point is that this changeover is now very nearly complete and we are getting ready to take Cobalt down to the skip.
I’d love to get all nostalgic about Cobalt’s imminent trip to the vet’s, but (*stage whisper*) the truth is that with it out of the way, Imago will become more flexible than ever, both for us at Nelson Croom and for all you budding builders and editors who use the system “outside the building”.
One of the most recent features to move over from Cobalt to Imago has been the ability to add in text-entry boxes, radio buttons and tick-boxes to activities and quizzes. Until recently, this was only possible from a machine with Cobalt installed, which sadly limited our ability to build activities from interesting locations like our back gardens, the beach, or even by the pool.
However, with the most recent internal rollout, we can now build activities from start to finish using the glamorous new version of Imago’s WYSIWIG toolbar. Even more excitingly, if you are a subscriber to Imago Builder and Editor, we will soon be able to offer you this more sophisticated set of activity creation tools, which will enable you too to build activities from the pool-side (Wi-Fi permitting of course). Though sadly any training sessions are likely to take place in Vauxhall and work hasn’t even started on the Westminster Business Square pool…
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