Migration to SoftChalk™ Cloud Guide
Updated January 6, 2023
Contents

Introduction
Advantages to Using SoftChalk Cloud
Guides and Resources
SoftChalk Cloud Migration Guide Web Link
Purchase a SoftChalk Cloud Account(s) or an Enterprise SoftChalk Cloud
Create a SoftChalk Cloud Account
Trial SoftChalk Cloud Users – Subscribe
Save Your Lessons to SoftChalk Cloud
Save Your Activities and Quiz Groups to SoftChalk Cloud
Option 1 – Save the Lesson to the Cloud and Then Save the Item to the Cloud
Option 2 – Save Library Items to the Cloud
Create and Modify Your Content in SoftChalk Cloud
Privacy Options
More Information on SoftChalk Cloud
Help
Copyright Information

Introduction

This guide is for Desktop SoftChalk Create users who want to migrate their content to their SoftChalk Cloud accounts. If you are brand new to SoftChalk Cloud (and do not have the desktop version of SoftChalk) or if you would like more details about SoftChalk Cloud, please see our SoftChalk Cloud Guide and SoftChalk Cloud Quick Start Guide.

Advantages to Using SoftChalk Cloud

You will see many advantages to using SoftChalk Cloud:

You can launch SoftChalk Create from within your Cloud account wherever you log in.
In addition to SoftChalk Create, you also have a feature called Create Online that is part of your SoftChalk Cloud account. Create Online allows you to create lessons and make edits to your lesson directly in a web browser, without downloading any software to your computer.
Your content is available wherever you have internet access because you can save your content to your SoftChalk Cloud account. (You have the option to save your content to your local computer as well.)
You can always update your lesson once in the Cloud but also link to the lesson in many places such as multiple courses within your Learning Management System (LMS).
With many LMS's, you can copy and paste the LTI hyperlink for your lesson into your LMS and your students' scores will go directly into your LMS gradebook. (For more details, view your learning management system guide on our support site.)
You can share and collaborate with other instructors on lessons.

The following pages give details for saving your content into SoftChalk Cloud from your SoftChalk desktop version. Again, this guide is for users who have a desktop version of SoftChalk and want to migrate their content to their SoftChalk Cloud account.
IMPORTANT: Once you finish saving your content to the Cloud, be sure to install SoftChalk Create from the Cloud - see the SoftChalk Cloud Quick Start Guide for instructions. Once you have installed Create successfully (it will look like the icon below), then uninstall your old desktop version of Create.

Guides and Resources

For more details on using your SoftChalk Cloud account and creating content, please see the:

SoftChalk Cloud Migration Guide Web Link

The web link for this guide is below. As we update this guide, the URL will remain the same. (You may want to bookmark this link in your web browser.)
https://softchalk.atlassian.net/wiki/download/attachments/129406657/cloudmigration.pdf?api=v2

Purchase a SoftChalk Cloud Account(s) or an Enterprise SoftChalk Cloud

If you want to purchase a SoftChalk Cloud account(s) with a volume discount or if you want to purchase with a purchase order, please contact sales@softchalk.com. Your institution can even purchase an[ Enterprise SoftChalk Cloud|https://softchalk.com/cloud/enterprise/]. If you have a credit card, you can purchase online – see the section Create a SoftChalk Cloud Account.
Please see the next section Create a SoftChalk Cloud Account.

Create a SoftChalk Cloud Account

For details on purchasing an account(s), see the section Purchase a SoftChalk Cloud Account(s) or an Enterprise SoftChalk Cloud.
For a free 14-day trial account click on Free Trial in the upper right corner at the SoftChalk website.

Go to https://www.softchalkcloud.com/join.

If you are creating a "Free Trial" account, please complete the online request form. You will receive an activation key via email.
If you are creating a licensed account, you will receive an activation key from SoftChalk, or from your school/institution liaison.

IMPORTANT: As mentioned previously, if you already have a 14-day trial account and you decide to get a yearly subscription, you do NOT need to create a new account. See the section Trial SoftChalk Cloud Users – Subscribe.

On the Create My SoftChalk Cloud Account page, paste the key provided to you by SoftChalk or by your institution.

Fill in the rest of your profile, select the two checkboxes at the bottom, and click Join.

If you have a trial subscription and decide to purchase an account, you don't have to create a new account (see the section Subscribe).

If you have a trial SoftChalk Cloud account (or if you had an account awhile back), you do not need to create a new account in SoftChalk Cloud. Instead, you can use your same account (i.e., same username) and Subscribe. See the steps below.
(If you are brand new to SoftChalk Cloud, see the previous section Create a SoftChalk Cloud Account.)

Log into your SoftChalk Cloud trial account (go to the SoftChalk Cloud website and click Login in the upper right corner).
Once you are logged in, at the top right corner of your screen, click the Subscribe link (see below).

If you are logged in and you do NOT see the Subscribe link (see below), then you have already entered your activation key for your account.

Enter the activation key that was purchased by your institution (and sent via email from SoftChalk to the purchaser at your institution).

IMPORTANT: Please note that the SoftChalk Cloud Activation Key is NOT the same as a desktop SoftChalk Create License Key. (The desktop SoftChalk Create License Key consists of two parts and is entered through the Help menu within the desktop application.)

Click Upgrade.

Save Your Lessons to SoftChalk Cloud

IMPORTANT: As mentioned previously, once you finish saving your content to the Cloud, be sure to install SoftChalk Create from the Cloud - see the SoftChalk Cloud Quick Start Guide for instructions. Once you have installed Cloud Create successfully, then uninstall your old SoftChalk Create for Desktop.

Start your SoftChalk Create for Desktop version of SoftChalk by double-clicking on the SoftChalk Create icon on your desktop (see below).

Next set up your account information. Choose File/Manage Publish Accounts. Click New (see below).

Choose SoftChalk Cloud and click OK (see below).

Enter your username and password. If your institution has an Enterprise SoftChalk Cloud, check the box for an Enterprise Cloud and then enter the URL for your enterprise cloud (see below).

Click Close at the next screen (see below).

Open a SoftChalk lesson that you want to save to your SoftChalk Cloud account. (Within SoftChalk Create, choose File/Open. Locate your lesson folder and double-click on it. Double-click on any .html file to open your lesson.)
Choose File/Save to SoftChalk Cloud (see below).

Click Save (see below). If the Save button happens to be disabled, be sure to select a folder at the right where you can save your content.

You may need to wait a few seconds after the 100% screen appears (see below).

Click OK at the save confirmation screen (see below).

At the right you should see your saved lesson (see below). Click Close to return to your main editing window.

For details on editing and replacing your lesson, please see the section Create and Modify Your Content in SoftChalk Cloud.

IMPORTANT: As mentioned previously, once you finish saving your content to the Cloud, be sure to install SoftChalk Create from the Cloud - see the SoftChalk Cloud Quick Start Guide for instructions.
Once you have installed Cloud Create successfully, then uninstall your old SoftChalk Create for Desktop version of Create.

Save Your Activities and Quiz Groups to SoftChalk Cloud

You may have an activity like a crossword puzzle or a group of questions that you would like to use in more than one lesson. You can easily save this item (an activity or group of questions i.e., Quiz Group) to your SoftChalk Cloud account and then insert this item into your lesson. You have two options for saving an activity or a Quiz Group into your SoftChalk Cloud account:

Option 1 - Save the lesson to the Cloud, open the lesson in the Cloud and then right-click on an item and choose Save to SoftChalk Cloud.
Option 2 – If you have already saved items to your SoftChalk Library using your SoftChalk Create for Desktop version of SoftChalk, you can save items from your SoftChalk Library to your Cloud account.

Option 1 – Save the Lesson to the Cloud and Then Save the Item to the Cloud

Save your lesson to the Cloud (see the section Save Your Lessons to SoftChalk Cloud). Once your lesson is in the Cloud, log into your Cloud account at https://softchalkcloud.com. The login link is in the upper right corner. (If your institution has an Enterprise SoftChalk Cloud, you will go to that URL rather than https://softchalkcloud.com.)
Choose My Content / Lessons. Click on the name of the lesson you want to edit (see below).

Scroll down to the Lesson Actions area at the bottom right. Click Edit Lesson and select Edit in Create (see below).

If you are using SoftChalk Create for the first time from your SoftChalk Cloud account, you will be asked to download an installer for Windows or Macintosh. If you need help with the installation, please see the section Step 2 – Install SoftChalk Create in the SoftChalk Cloud Quick Start Guide.
Once your lesson is open, right-click on a quiz group or an activity and choose Save to SoftChalk Cloud (see below).

Type a Name. Click Save (see below). If your Save button happens to be disabled, select a folder at the right.

The item you just saved went into your Learning Objects folder.

You can insert an item from this folder within your SoftChalk Create main editing window and choosing Insert/SoftChalk Cloud Item.

Option 2 – Save Library Items to the Cloud

As mentioned previously, if you have already saved items to your SoftChalk Library, you can save items from your SoftChalk Library directly to your Cloud account. (For details on saving activities and quiz groups to the Library, see the section Library in the SoftChalk Create Guide.)

Start your desktop version of SoftChalk by double-clicking on the green SoftChalk icon on your desktop (see below).

Choose Tools/Library.
At the left, select an item that you want to publish. At the bottom right, click SoftChalk Cloud (see below). IMPORTANT: If you want to upload a Quiz Group, you must select one or more QuizPoppers at the left (or select a folder that contains only QuizPoppers).

You may be asked to enter a description. Click OK and fill in the information within the Description area. Click OK.
At the right, select a folder such as Learning Objects. At the bottom left, click Save or Publish for earlier versions of Create (see below). If your Save or Publish button is disabled, be sure to select a folder at the right. If you don't see a SoftChalk Cloud account listed, see the previous section Save Your Lessons to SoftChalk Cloud on how to enter your account information.

IMPORTANT: If you happen to get error messages when saving your activity or quiz group, please make sure that you have the latest update. Within SoftChalk, go to the Cloud menu and choose Check for News… (see below).

You should get a message that your item was saved or published (see below). Click OK.

Create and Modify Your Content in SoftChalk Cloud

For instructions on creating and modifying your content in SoftChalk Cloud, please see the SoftChalk Cloud Quick Start Guide – see in particular the Create Your First SoftChalk Lesson and Edit Your Lesson sections.
For more details, please see the SoftChalk Cloud Guide.

Privacy Options

When you save your content into your SoftChalk Cloud account, content is saved with Personal privacy option. There are three privacy options available. You designate the privacy option when you save your content. (You can edit these options for content within your SoftChalk Cloud account as well.)

Privacy Option	Description
Public	Anyone can find your item in the SoftChalk Share content repository and copy the Embed code or Hyperlink for it and/or copy your content to modify it. You can attach a Creative Commons license to your content (see the section Creative Commons Licenses in the SoftChalk Cloud Guide).
Personal	The item is NOT searchable in the SoftChalk Share content repository. (You, however, can find the Embed code or Hyperlink and pass it out to students or colleagues inside an LMS or outside an LMS.)
No Access	There is no hyperlink or embed code for your item. Only you (or others who share access to your content folders) can view or edit the item.

More Information on SoftChalk Cloud

If you would like more information about using SoftChalk Cloud such as how to:

Manage Your Content
Deliver Lessons to Your Students
Collaborate with Other Instructors on SoftChalk Lessons
Create Polls and Ratings

Please see our SoftChalk Cloud Guide and SoftChalk Cloud Quick Start Guide. For more information on SoftChalk Create, please see our SoftChalk Create Guide.

Help

Please visit our SoftChalk Support webpage. For purchase information, please contact sales@softchalk.com.

Migration to SoftChalk Cloud Guide