Use Wimba to create HTML web documents

Wimba screenshot

Wimba Create (formerly Course Genie) converts Microsoft Word documents into sets of web pages (e.g. learning units) effortlessly. The application is available to all members of staff both on thin and thick-client PCs.

You may also wish to see our extra Wimba Create guidance and examples in the right hand column.

To install and use Wimba Create

Please select one of the options below depending on whether your computer is thick or thin client. IT Services have instructions on how to determine if your computer is thick or thin client.

1. Thin-client users

You will have to:

2. Thick-client users

You can choose one of two options:

Automatically install Wimba Create over the UWE network

Automatic install only applies to UWE computers on-campus.

You can automatically install it over the UWE network by following the instructions below:

  1. Go to Start
  2. Select Settings and follow through to the Control Panel
  3. Select Add or Remove Programs

    Add Wimba Create over the UWE network
  4. Select Add New Programs (you will then have to wait for the 'Add programs from your network' box to load' - this could take several minutes)
  5. Scroll down to wimbaCreate and select the Add button

Wimba Create should now be installed.

Install Wimba Create manually onto a thick-client or a home/laptop PC

You will need to:

Unable to get Wimba to work?

Here's what you should do if you start Wimba Create and get the following error message: "The macro cannot be found or has been disabled because of your macro security settings":

Unable to get Wimba to work?

The problem may be because the new Word 2007 installation is looking for the Wimba Create macro in the wrong location. To remedy this you can:

  1. Go to Control Panel
  2. Select 'Add or Remove a program'
  3. Select 'Wimba create' or 'Course genie' and remove it
  4. Follow our instructions and download and reinstall Wimba Create above (you have to use a UWE computer to download this)
  5. Check our guide to using Word 2007 and Wimba Create below for more help if you're still having problems

Please contact Mark Shand if you're still having problems.

Getting Wimba Create to work with Word 2007 and Word 2010

With the user interface changes, and new security mechanism introduced with Office 2007/Office 2010 and Word 2007/Word 2010, the way you install and access Wimba Create commands and menus have changed slightly:

Wimba and Macro Security in Word 2007 and Word 2010

After you have installed Wimba Create you run Word you may have to alter the Macro security settings. You may be presented with following ‘Security Warning’ information bar that tells you the Macros have been disabled.

(These screenshots show Word 2007, but Word 2010 should be similar).

Security warning bar pop up

Click the ‘Options’ button to show the following screen:

Security alert macro pop-up

Choose ‘Trust all documents from this publisher’ option and click the OK button. This will instruct Word to let the Wimba Create macro run.

Note: Unless the Wimba Create Digital Certificate has been installed and trusted for all users then each subsequent user will have to all the Macro to run in the same way as described above.

Wimba Create and the Office 2007 User Interface

Word 2007 introduces a new interface known as the Ribbon which replaces the menus and toolbars found in previous versions.

With this new interface all Add-in created menus and toolbars (such as those added by Wimba Create) are created in the ‘Add-ins’ Tab on the Ribbon.

Here you will find the Start/Stop Wimba Create commands that would usually be found on the Tools menu in previous versions of Word.

Blank Word Add in bar

If Wimba Create is still not showing in the Add-ins tab

Wimba Create may still not show in the Add-ins tab because a file called WimbaCreate.dot has been placed in the wrong folder. To fix this you (or the computer administrator) will need to:

  1. Close out Microsoft Word
  2. Click on Start > My Computer and go to C:\Program Files\WimbaCreate\resources
  3. Copy the WimbaCreate.dot file
  4. Then go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office[version number]\STARTUP
    Replace Office[version number] with Office version number shown in the table below:
     Version of Microsoft Office on your computer
    		 Office[version number]
     Office XP
    		  Office10
     Office 2003
    		  Office11
     Office 2007
    		  Office12
     Office 2010
    		  Office14
  5. For Office 2010 you would go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\STARTUP
  6. Paste the WimbaCreate.dot file into the STARTUP folder. Replace the file if you are prompted to do so
  7. Start Word again and see if you are able to access any of the Wimba Create menu options

Using Wimba Create with Word 2007 and Word 2010

Starting Wimba Create

To start Wimba Create click on the ‘Wimba Create’ drop-down menu in the ‘Add-Ins’ tab and select ‘Start Wimba Create’

Start Wimba in Add-Ins

Wimba Create Menus (All Versions)

Wimba Create will display a ‘Welcome’ splash-screen; click ‘OK’ to continue. You will then see the ‘WimbaCreate’ menu and toolbars added to the ‘Add-Ins’ tab. The main Wimba Create menu will be added above the menu used to Start and Stop Wimba Create.

Create drop down

Wimba Create Styles

Words styles can be found on the ‘Home’ tab on the Ribbon by clicking the little arrow icon in the bottom right corner of the styles pane.

 

Create Styles drop down

This will display the list of styles in a new floating window (which can also be docked at the side of the window). See picture on the left below.

Create Styles 2

By default the styles are just show by name, you need to click the ‘Show Preview’ checkbox at the bottom of the styles window to enable to usual style display. See picture on the right above.

General help guides and tutorials

Here is a list of user guides and tutorials for Wimba Create:

 

Examples of Wimba Create use

The following links will show you 2 Word documents ready to be converted with Wimba Create and the resulting HTML learning units. The first document is a guide on Wimba Create features and the second one is a demo document of the self-assessment questions that can be easily embedded in Course Genie:

Page last updated 31 May 2012

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