Create an External Link

You can create an external link for your Percipio learners. External links can be any URL you want. They can also be Percipio share links including those to chapters or sections of books and audiobooks.

  1. From the left navigation bar, choose Content > Content Items. The Manage Content Items page displays.
  2. Select Add Custom Content Item.
  3. Select External link(s). The Add Custom Content page displays.
  4. Enter the URL where the content is hosted.
    • This field is required.
    • The URL must include https://
    • Percipio automatically populates many of the fields when you enter the URL. The content completion and duration are always populated based on the URL you provide.
    • You can also add a Percipio share link in this field. This is helpful for example, if you want to add a book chapter to a channel, journey, or assignment. When you add a Percipio share link for a book chapter, the following happens:
      • The book title, chapter title, description, and thumbnail auto populate
      • When the learner selects the chapter link, the specific chapter or section opens inline and not in a new tab
    1. Enter a title for the content. This field is required.
    2. Enter a description.
    3. Choose an image.
      • Images should be in a 16x9 aspect ratio.
      • The recommended size for the image is 1920 x 1080px.
      • The file size must be 300k or less.
      • A .jpg format is preferred, but you can upload .jpg, .png, and .gif files.
      • If you do not have a custom image, you can select a royalty-free one from the image gallery or use the default Percipio image.
    4. Select a Content language. This field is required.

      This determines which language a learner must have set as their Percipio site language in order to see the link from Percipio.

    5. Select your content completion criteria:
      • The learner opens it: Once the learner launches the link, Percipio marks it as complete and places the status to Completed on the learner's Learning Activity page.
      • The learner marks it as complete: Once the learner launches the link, they can mark the content as complete using the Mark as completed option from the content card while viewing the card from a channel or journey or from Learning Activity page. If the learner views the content from search results, they do not see the Mark as complete option and must choose to mark the item complete from their Learning Activity page.
      • If the Learning time entry setting is selected for your site, learners can also add the amount of time they spend learning for this item. The time they enter is tracked in their learning activity and counts towards their learning goals. Learners can enter their time from the More actions menu on a content card or from the Activity page.
      • In some cases, like YouTube, tracking and completions options are included with the link.

  6. These details are visible to learners and determine how your content is classified in Percipio.

    1. Select the modality (learning style) that best fits your content.
      • Watch: usually a video
      • Read: usually an e-book, article, or blog post
      • Listen: usually an audio book
      • Practice: usually resources that can be edited for a user's purpose, such as Microsoft Word or Excel documents
    2. Select a Content type. Content type is a universally recognized classification that defines how the content will be consumed by the learner. Skillsoft uses the types: videos, courses, labs, live events, books, audio books, etc. We suggest you use these as a starting point, but also define some of your own such as web articles, presentations, and quarterly meetings.

      There is a default selection but you can select a different type from the drop-down or enter a new value. We suggest you use the type ahead feature to avoid replicating an existing entry. You do not want to have two or three entries for the same item; one with title-case, one with all lowercase, a one-word entry, a two-word entry, or a hyphenated word would all be considered different types.

    3. Select a content source from the list or enter a new value. We suggest you use the type ahead feature to avoid replicating an existing entry.

      Content Source is who owns the intellectual property; it is not the platform where the item resides, such as YouTube or SharePoint. Skillsoft uses source to distinguish brands and partner content like Wintellect and GoFluent.

    4. Enter a recommended duration, which is the average amount of time your learner can expect to engage with the content.

      5. To estimate books and content, use the average of 300 words per minute.

    5. Select the type of device for which the content is optimized.

      6. When learners attempt to access this content on a device not selected here (an “unsupported device”), a message directs them to access the content on the selected ("supported”) devices.

      When you add a link from YouTube, the default selection is all devices.

    1. Select an expertise level from the drop-down list.
    2. Enter the technology title and version.
    3. Select additional search terms from the list, or enter new terms.
    4. Optionally, enter an external ID. This is a unique identifier you can use to search for your custom content in Percipio Admin. The external ID does not display to learners in any search results or content cards.
  8. Select one of the following actions:
    • Cancel: Discard all changes.
    • Save as Draft: Save your changes for modification or publication later.

    • Next: Review content details: Progress to the final stage to review your settings and publish.

  9. Review the details of your external link. Select to edit any details if necessary, then choose one of the following actions:
    • Cancel: Discard all changes.
    • Save as Draft: Save your changes for modification or publication later.

    • Next: Publish Content: Publish the link to a Percipio server so that you can add it to a channel or journey.

  10. Select to Publish your external link or Save as draft for editing at a later date.

  11. To add the item to a journey, see Editing a Journey. To add to a custom channel follow these steps:

    1. On the Content > Channels page, select the name of the channel to which you want to add the custom content. The Edit Channel page displays.
    2. Select Add content from library.
    3. Enter item's title.
    4. Select search icon, gray magnifying glass.
    Note: If you recently published your item to Percipio's server, it may take several minutes to display in your search results.
    1. Locate the item and click add icon, white plus sign in a blue circle to add it to the channel.
    2. Select Done to save the channel.

      3. The number of assets in each modality updates in yellow. To see the newly-added item, click the appropriate modality tab.

      Channel page. The modalities bar is highlighted. The updated number of assests in a modality shows in yellow.

    3. Select Publish to publish the channel to Percipio.

      4. Learners can now find your custom content in the library or by searching.