SmartBuilder features
Everything you need to create powerful elearning, faster
Key benefits
Unique action block authoring
Traditional authoring tools use popup windows and menus to create logic. SmartBuilder’s action blocks require no popups and fewer clicks. Here’s how it works:
- Select an object directly on the page
- Grab an action block for the selected object
- Snap the block into your action statement
- You’re done!
![Action Blocks Moving Together GIF Action Blocks Moving Together GIF](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Action_Snap.gif)
![Blocks combined into an action Blocks combined into an action](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/fewer-clicks.png)
Fewer clicks for faster authoring
Combine multiple triggers, conditions and responses into a single action. Go from creating dozens of actions in other tools, to just a handful in SmartBuilder – a huge time saver.
Responsive output
Create layouts for different screen sizes so your content will look great on any device.
![Template Wizard Panel Template Wizard Panel](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/responsive-elearning-authoring-tool-smartbuilder.png)
![Course Interface Course Interface](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/unique-course-interfaces.jpg)
Create unique course interfaces
Make your elearning stand out from the crowd with course interfaces that meet your unique needs and branding. With SmartBuilder masters, you can:
- Freely layout navigation elements and resources
- Place page content above, below or in-between masters
- Associate multiple masters with any page
- Create triggers on pages which invoke responses on masters, and vice versa
Arrange your workspace however you like
- SmartBuilder’s new interface lets you undock panels and arrange them however you prefer
- Work efficiently on two monitors
- Open multiple lessons at the same time for easy copy and paste
![SmartBuilder's Flexible Authoring Environment](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/arrange-your-workspace.png)
![Template Wizard Panel Template Wizard Panel](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Beginners-can-build-too.jpg)
Beginners can build too
SmartBuilder is the only tool that allows authors to create wizard-based templates using the tool itself. So, the library of wizard-based templates is always growing. Have a request for a new template? Give us a shout – in many cases we can build it for you at no charge, and if your organization has technically advanced users, you can also create your own wizard-based templates.
Power that advanced users crave
This one is for the geeks out there. SmartBuilder is the only authoring tool that provides the power and time savings of programming logic, without requiring external scripting. SmartBuilder supports:
- Variables
- Arrays
- Tags
- Text manipulation (split, join, replace, etc.)
- Looping (“for each item”,“while”, etc.)
- Stored procedures
![Advanced Action Featuring Many Action Blocks Advanced Action Featuring Many Action Blocks](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Even_more_power_and_speed_image.jpg)
![Buttons and Shapes with various styles Buttons and Shapes with various styles](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/palette-and-styles.png)
Professional-looking content
Choose from a palette of professionally designed pre-built styles, or configure shapes and buttons with your own shadows, gradients, images and icons.
Author on PC or Mac OSX
![PC Windows and Apple Logos PC Windows and Apple Logos](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/logos.png)
Animations & motion
Timeline
- Create timed presentations using a visual timeline
- Control the timeline with a customizable player bar
- Create multiple show-hide ranges for the same object
Motion
Use action blocks to move objects:
- on a custom drawn motion path
- in a specific direction
- to a specific XY coordinate
- to snap to another object
Animations
Choose animations such as fade, slide and shake. Apply animations when objects are shown and hidden, or to call attention to an already visible object.
Layout & design
Change designs quickly using styles and themes
- Create custom styles and themes for different projects.
- Change the look of all objects in a single step to rebrand a course.
- Use format copy-paste to change the look of individually selected objects.
![Object Alignment Panel Object Alignment Panel](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/smartbuilder-button-and-text-styles.png)
![Object Alignment Panel Object Alignment Panel](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/alignment.jpg)
Alignment and spacing tools
Align objects to other objects or to a grid. Quickly space objects evenly.
Custom window backgrounds
Create courses with a modern look by using background graphics that fill the browser, or with no edges by matching the color of your course background and window background.
![Custom Window Background for a lesson Custom Window Background for a lesson](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/custom-backgrounds.jpg)
![Pre Loader Pre Loader](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/custom-loader.jpg)
Custom pre-loader
Import any GIF as your pre-loader, such as an animated company logo.
Layers
Use layers to show and hide multiple objects at once. Layers themselves can also be grouped for quick and easy displaying. This is a huge time saver for multi-step tasks.
![Stacks and layers in the cast panel Stacks and layers in the cast panel](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/layers.jpg)
![Lesson Interface Lesson Interface](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/unique-course-interfaces.jpg)
Masters
Make your elearning stand out from the crowd with course interfaces that meet your unique needs and branding. With SmartBuilder masters, you can:
- Freely layout navigation elements and resources
- Place page content above, below or in-between masters
- Associate multiple masters with any page
- Create triggers on pages which invoke responses on masters, and vice versa
Templates
SmartBuilder is the only tool that allows authors to create wizard-based templates using the tool itself. So, the library of wizard-based templates is always growing. Have a request for a new template? Give us a shout – in many cases we can build it for you, and if your organization has technically advanced users, you can also create your own wizard-based templates.
![Template Wizard Panel Template Wizard Panel](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Beginners-can-build-too.jpg)
![Template Wizard Panel Template Wizard Panel](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/smartbuilder-powerpoint-import.jpg)
PowerPoint import and conversion
- Convert each slide to a SmartBuilder page
- Convert text to SmartBuilder text
- Convert most PowerPoint shapes to SmartBuilder shapes including matching fill and line styles.
- Import PowerPoint images
Powerful charts
Set up charts to use static data, or dynamic data such survey responses, scores, progress, etc.
![Template Wizard Panel Template Wizard Panel](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/smartbuilder-chart-object.png)
![Lesson Content looks the same on desktop computer and on tablet Lesson Content looks the same on desktop computer and on tablet](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/WYSIWYG-1-1.jpg)
WYSIWYG text (What-you-see-is-what-you-get)
Text is positioned and wraps the same on all browsers and devices, so you can rest assured that text appears exactly as you authored it.
Testing & tracking
Question templates
Use out-of-the-box templates for common question types such as multiple choice, multiple response, fill in the blank and drag-and-drop. After templates are applied, they are fully customizable and extensible so you can, for example, add images or audio for feedback.
![Question Template Thumbnails Question Template Thumbnails](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/question-templates-1.jpg)
![Lesson with custom question featuring hotspots and timed response Lesson with custom question featuring hotspots and timed response](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Custom-questions.jpg)
Custom questions
Score and track any custom interaction; you don’t need to use a standard question format.
Drag and drop
Use templates to quickly set up typical drag-and-drop interactions. Or, get under the hood and configure a custom drag-and-drop with almost any behavior you can imagine.
![Drag and Drop in a lesson Drag and Drop in a lesson](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/drag-and-drop.jpg)
![Randomization icon](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/randomization-1.jpg)
Randomization & pooling
Randomize radio buttons, check boxes and dropdown with a single click. Randomize and pool questions using special question randomization templates.
Interactivity
Action blocks
Traditional authoring tools use popup windows and menus to create logic. SmartBuilder’s unique action blocks require no popups and clicks. You can also combine multiple triggers, conditions and responses into a single action – a huge time saver.
![Action Blocks moving together in a GIF Action Blocks moving together in a GIF](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Action_Snap.gif)
![SmartBuilder Objects Panel SmartBuilder Objects Panel](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/objects.jpg)
Objects
Objects such as buttons, videos and checkboxes are the building blocks that you’ll use to create cool learning experiences. Each object can communicate with other objects, so the variety of what you can create is almost unlimited.
Programming logic
This one is for the geeks out there. SmartBuilder is the only authoring tool that provides the power and time savings of programming logic, without requiring external scripting. SmartBuilder supports:
- Variables
- Arrays
- Tags
- Text manipulation (split, join, replace, etc.)
- Looping (“for each item”,”while”, etc.)
- Stored procedures
![Complicated Action with many action blocks Complicated Action with many action blocks](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Even_more_power_and_speed_image.jpg)
![SmartBuilder flow chart showing branching SmartBuilder flow chart showing branching](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/SmartBuilder_Branching_Feature.png)
Branching
- Visually lay out different learner paths
- Group related pages into to subflows to visually organize and quickly reorder pages of your course
- Create actions to jump to any page based on any trigger or condition
Software simulation templates
Quickly set up logic for simulations with different interaction models including:
- Show me
- Let me try
- Step by step challenge
- Whole task challenge
![SmartBuilder flow chart showing branching SmartBuilder flow chart showing branching](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/smartbuilder-software-simulation-templates.png)
Publishing
![HTML5 Logo on a tablet screen HTML5 Logo on a tablet screen](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/html5.jpg)
HTML5
SmartBuilder HTML5 output plays on all modern browsers and platforms including Windows, OSX, Android and iOS. No apps or players are needed.
SCORM, AICC
SmartBuilder automatically generates the files required by an LMS to import content and track results using SCORM 1.2, 2004 or AICC standards.
![SCORM Logo SCORM Logo](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/scorm-logo.png)
![xAPI Logo xAPI Logo](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/xAPI-logo-smartbuilder-elearning-1.jpg)
xAPI (AKA Tin Can)
SmartBuilder question templates will automatically generate xAPI statements.
SmartBuilder also allows you to send and retrieve custom xAPI data, all without messing around with JavaScript.
You can even test your xAPI data calls with SmartTracker while authoring, saving lots of time!
Section 508 compliant accessible output
SmartBuilder allows interactive objects to be visible to screen reading software and saves you time with automatic tab ordering based on position – top to bottom, left to right. Alt tags for images and closed captions for video are also supported.
![xAPI Logo xAPI Logo](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/smartbuilder-508-1.png)
![Sharing Feature with links to uploaded lessons Sharing Feature with links to uploaded lessons](http://www.smartbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/SmartTracker-Logo-1.png)
Deliver and track courses with SmartTracker™
If you don’t have your own LMS, SmartTracker provides a quick, easy, and cost-effective way to host and deliver SmartBuilder content.
Run a variety of reports to analyze question results, learner activity, or custom data.
A free SmartTracker plan is included with your SmartBuilder license.