This article covers the steps to add your own custom resources, including SCORM packages, to your account by using Content Engine. The custom resources you add to your account are for your own use and are not available to other accounts.

Any user in an enterprise account can add custom resources and manage the custom resources they add. However, only administrators can publish the custom resources to make them available in courses.

This article contains the following sections:

What Is a Custom Resource
About Uploading Video Resources
Security when Uploading Custom Resources
How to Add Custom Resources
How to Publish a Custom Resource
How to Find Where a Custom Resource Is Used
Archiving a Custom Resource

What Is a Custom Resource

A custom resource is a file you create and upload through Content Engine. When you create a video custom resource, the experience for the learner is very similar to that of doing a delivered lesson from our training library. However, custom resources do not have to be videos; other kinds of files can make good resources as well.

You can add custom resources to your custom courses to help in training your own employees. The custom resources you add are available to users in only your own account.

A custom resource can be a .zip file of SCORM content or any text or image file. In addition, the following file extensions are allowed:

.doc
.docx
.pdf
.xls
.xlsx
.mp4
.mov

For security, the system converts all files except for movies into PDFs, as you see in the image below:

When learners view the resources in the QA PDF reader, they'll have access to several document tools to search, zoom, and download the PDF. If the PDF is part of a course, a Mark as Complete button appears in the upper right corner. The learner can click the button after reviewing the resource to move on in the course. SCORM and other non-text-based resources do not show this button.

A custom resource can also be a SCORM package. When you upload a SCORM package, you choose the SCORM Content tab on the screen where you add the custom resource, as shown in the graphic below:

When you upload a custom resource, you indicate which skills the content reinforces. You can publish the custom resource to your entire company or to only the teams you select. After you've updated the custom resource, you can include it when you create a custom course.

About Uploading Video Resources

If you upload a video as the content of your custom resource, the video should meet the following specifications for best quality:

Resolution: 1080P (1920 x 1080)
Format: H.264 mp4

The system will allow you to upload lower-quality videos, but the user experience of consuming lower-quality videos is much worse.

Note: Your account is limited to uploading 2 hours' worth of content per month. If you attempt to upload more than that, you will receive an error. For this purpose, the month starts at the beginning of the 14th day of the month in UTC, so your account can upload 2 more hours' worth of video starting on the next month's 14th day.

Uploading and processing video resources takes some time, and all file formats upload at approximately the same speed.

To make your video resources available faster, the system processes a lower-definition version of the video first. The low-definition version is available while the system continues processing the high-definition version. Once the high-definition version is available, the system defaults to using that version.

Security when Uploading Custom Resources

When you upload a file to be a custom resource, the platform scans the file. The scan should take only a few seconds, but you cannot save the custom resource until the scan is complete.

If the scan detects a problem with the file, use the following steps:

Remove the file and re-add the same file again.
If an interrupted connection or other temporary issue caused the problem, simply trying again should fix it.
Check the file on your own system and correct any issues you find before trying again. Try running a virus scan on the file.
You might need to ask for support from your IT department.
Contact your Customer Success Manager.

If the file seems to be correct after checking and the platform still won’t accept it, contact your CSM or support@cloudacademy.com for further assistance.

How to Add a Custom Resource

Any user in an enterprise account can add custom resources in Content Engine, but only administrators can publish the custom resources. Use the following steps to upload a resource through Content Engine:

From the dashboard, click the building icon in the upper-left corner to open the management dashboard.
Click Content Engine from the menu on the left, and then click Custom Resources.
The Resources screen appears.
Click the Create button in the upper right corner. A form appears where you upload your custom resource and enter information about it.
Complete the fields:
- Title: Enter the name that identifies the custom resource.
- Content duration: Enter the number of minutes that you expect a user to need to complete the resource.
- Attachment: If you are uploading a SCORM package, click the SCORM Content tab. For all other resources, stay on the General tab. Choose the icon on the left to select a file to upload from your computer or enter a link to a file. Then choose or link to the file.
  Note: When you include a link, the platform uploads the file at that URL. If you want to make the link itself into a custom resource, such as a link to a publicly available website, you can put the link into a text document. Then you can upload the document as a custom resource.
- Full Description: Enter the text to appear on the custom resource introduction page.
- Card Description: Enter the text to appear on the card that users see in the user dashboard and in the library.
- Difficulty: Choose the level of difficulty to appear below the resource title in the training library. You can choose one of the following options:
- Skill Objectives: Type a skill name in the field to search for skills. Choose the skills that this resource builds. If you need a custom skill added, you can click the Request a custom skill objective link to contact customer support. Adding a custom skill objective requires at least 24 hours.
- Advanced Settings: Click this heading to open a section where you can change the Cover Image of the custom resource. Click the Browse button to choose a different cover image.
Click Save when you are done.
Note: Once the resource is published, it's no longer possible to switch the file types between General and SCORM. For example, you won't be able to replace a PDF file with a SCORM file within the same resource. We recommend double-checking this before publishing your resources.

How to Publish a Custom Resource

The following procedure picks up at the end of the How to Add Custom Resources procedure. You must be an administrator of an enterprise account to complete this procedure. Use the following steps to publish custom resources:

Open the Drafts bucket in Content Engine.

Find the custom resource you want to publish and open it.
If the uploaded resource is a video or a SCORM package, Content Engine needs to process it before publishing. Click the Actions button and then choose Start Processing from the menu that appears.

Your video resource appears in Processing status.
When processing is complete (time to process depends on the file size), Content Engine publishes it. Click the Published bucket to see a list of published custom resources.
Double-check that your custom resource is listed as published. Published status means that the custom resource is available to include in your custom course.

How to Find Where a Custom Resource Is Used

When you have a custom resource open in Content Engine, you can use the List parents option on the Actions menu to see where the resource has been used.

A window appears showing the content items that include the resource.

Outdating or Archiving a Custom Resource

You cannot delete custom resources in Content Engine, but you can outdate or archive them. Open the custom resource and choose Outdate or Archive from the Actions menu.

Outdate: The custom resource is available from direct links, such as a users' Completed Content dashboard tab or a browser bookmark. However, the resource disappears from the Continue Studying section on the Activity dashboard tab and it is not available to find in the training library.
Archive: The resource is no longer available for learner to consume or for administrators to change. Note: You cannot reuse the resource name of an archived resource.

Whenever possible, you should outdate your resources rather than archive them. Outdating keeps the resource available to the historical and analytical functions of the platform.