Creating and maintaining training materials for enterprise software is time-intensive. You need to develop how-to documentation, classroom training slides, and LMS course materials. You spend hours taking screengrabs only to have to redo them when there is a change in the software or your processes.
If this frustration sounds familiar, you should consider adopting the COPE method: Create Once. Publish Everywhere. Utilizing this method, you can create the content in one format and then export it for publishing in all the relevant channels.
In this post, we’re going to cover:
What is the COPE Method?
COPE (Create Once. Publish Everywhere) developed out of media and marketing company workflows. People had one message they wanted to get out and several different channels to use. So if they could create the message once inside a content management system, the system could then integrate and deploy to all those channels.
For example, a business magazine company might need an article to appear in a print issue, on their website, on the social channels, and inside an email newsletter.
Using COPE, editors could upload the article once, and the system would pick out the relevant data such as headlines and photos to use for each medium instead of having to enter the copy and graphics for each channel manually.
What are the benefits of using COPE?
Utilizing a COPE methodology can significantly ease the burden of content creation. Some of the benefits include:
- Faster publishing times. COPE keeps you from having to recreate or reformat content for each different channel.
- Easier updates. Updating content is simpler because you only have to change it in one place.
- Increased accuracy. COPE helps with version control and updates by creating one source of truth. You won’t have to guess which version of a document is the most up-to-date.
How can Apty help in creating LMS and training content?
So how can you create once and publish everywhere when developing your LMS and training content? Apty’s Digital Adoption platform enables COPE style publishing for enterprise software training materials.
Apty works by making enterprise software easier to use. One of the ways we do that is through on-screen guidance that shows users how to complete a task step-by-step. These interactive workflows become the basis for your COPE strategy.
Begin by making an Apty workflow for your process. It’s simple with our code-free editor. You just have to walk through the process once telling Apty where to add pop-up balloons and what step to take next. Once you’re done, you’ll publish the workflow. Publishing makes it available to end-users inside your application. When they get stuck, they can ask Apty for help, and the workflow will start guiding them through the process. Workflows are even smart enough to detect what step a user is on and will pick up the process from that point.
After creating and publishing your workflow, you’re now ready to create your documentation and LMS content. From inside the Apty Admin portal, you’ll find your workflow, and you can export it in two formats: PDF documentation or a SCORM-compliant object.
And remember those screengrabs you hate taking? Apty does that automatically.
Need to update your process? Just update the workflow, and you can republish it inside the app, in your documentation, and to your LMS using the same steps. No need to start from scratch. You can change just the steps that need updating in the workflow and then export.
Save time and money on content creation
COPE is an effective strategy for making your content creation process more efficient. One of our clients had two full-time people dedicated to creating and maintaining their training materials and documentation for just one application. By adopting a COPE strategy using Apty’s tools, they decreased to one person spending a quarter of their time maintaining training content. If you want to see how Apty could help in your content creation process, schedule a demo today.
