Executive Summary

This report reviews the importer in Connexions. Although the importer is capable of importing Microsoft Word files, OpenOffice Writer files, XML Spy/Authentic, plain XML, and zip file, this report is specifically focused on importing Microsoft Word files and zip files.

First, it gives a workflow chart of importing Word document and zip files. Then it gives a more detailed description of the procedures of importing a Word/zip files and editing the imported document; then it summarizes the pros and cons of the Word/zip importer.

On the whole, the Word and Zip file importers are of great value to Connexions. The availability of the Word importer makes authoring possible for those who do not know XML. The availability of the zip file importer enables users to upload many files at once, which saves users a significant amount of the time.�

However, a few places still need further improvement. For both Word and zip file importers, they are buried among other functions so that it is not so easy that users will notice it immediately. Therefore, it might be worthwhile to make it more obvious to users. For the Word importer, first, the warning of overwriting the existing module is not obvious enough, which may result in unwanted loss of users� previous work. Future design can consider providing a pop-up window with the warning message when users click the �import� button. Second, the Word importer does not provide convenient tools (as those in Microsoft Word) for users to edit the format of texts and images. Users can change the format before they import it to Connexions, but after that they cannot change the format if they do not know how to edit a XML file. It is very common that users need to change the format of texts or images from time to time. Therefore, future design can consider incorporating most frequently used formatting tools in Edit-in-Place. Third, as the developers have disclaimed on the site, not all types of the Word document can be imported correctly. To increase the likelihood of importing files correctly, they actually provide the styling instructions. However, the instructions are not mentioned in an obvious place and it is not easy for users to notice them. Therefore, future design can put the styling instructions in a place where users are more likely to see and at the same time the developers can make the importer to have a more flexible criterion in importing Word files.

Workflow chart of the Importing a Microsoft Word file or a Zip file

Import a Microsoft Word document

Step 1.

Once users create a blank module, they have the option to import a Word document. What they need to do is to select �Microsoft Word� from the drop-down menu and click on �Import� button (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Screenshot of the interface to import/export document.

Step 2.

Users will be prompted with a window (see Figure 2) to give the path of the Word document. Of course, they also get some warnings of what will happen during the import, which include that the current content in the module will be overwritten and that some format of the Word document might be lost. Users are also recommended to follow the styling instructions.

Users can click on the �Browse� button to choose the path of the file and then click on the �Import� button. By clicking the �Import� button, there are two possible results: a. the Word document is imported successfully; b. the Word document cannot be imported with an error message that the document cannot be converted or parsed.

For the unsuccessful import, it is mostly because the importer cannot recognize some of the format in the document. If users will read the texts before they go to the �browse� button, they can find that there is a link for �styling instructions.� If they click on that, they can see how to create a document that can be imported successfully. However, this link is a bit too invisible to users.

Figure 2. Screenshot of importing module content from Microsoft Word

Step 3.

If users successfully import the document, they will be shown the interface shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Screenshot after users import a Word document.

Edit an imported Word document

Once the document is imported, users can edit it by using Edit-In-Place or exporting the corresponding XML file to a local computer (and then edit it).

For Edit-In-Place (see Figure 3), this is the place where users can click on the elements (such as a paragraph and an image) to edit.

For instance, if users want to edit a paragraph, they can click on any place within the paragraph. Then there appears a big editable text area (see Figure 4). Users can revise the texts inside. Once the revision is finished, users can click on the �Save� button. If they want to delete the paragraph in total, they can click on the �Delete� button.

Figure 4. Edit-In-Place screenshot for editing a paragraph

In addition, users can also insert a paragraph, list, equation, image, etc. in a certain place.

For exporting the XML files, they can first specify the exporting format and then click on the �Export� button. The available formats are XML Spy/Authentic, plain XML and zip file. For users without any knowledge of XML, they might have trouble understanding this without explanations.

Figure 5. Screenshot of the import/export interface.

Import a zip file

To import a zip file is similar to import a Word document. This makes it easy to import a bunch of files at a time. However, it will ignore the subdirectories in the zip file.

Edit a zip file

After a zip file is imported, users can click on the �file� tab to see the imported files. Users can select any of the files to be edited.

The pros of the Connexions importer

As for the two functions of the importer described in this report, the function of importing Microsoft Word makes authoring possible for those who do not know XML and who do not want to learn XML; the function of importing zip files saves users a lot of time to upload images. Therefore, this is an excellent aid for users. With regard to the importing procedure, it is very easy to follow and several clicks will fulfill the task. To sum up, this importer functions fairly well for Word document and zip files and therefore it is satisfactory on the whole.

The cons of the Word Importer

1. Neither the function of importing Microsoft Word nor the function of importing zip files stands out among Connexions importing / editing tools.

The Word importing is supposed to be the easiest approach for users to create modules. However, this function is not obvious enough. The zip file importer can import a bunch of files at once, which can save a lot of time compared to importing files one by one. However, these functions are not obvious to users. Users need to read the texts carefully and find it out. It might be better to create distinct icons for the Word and zip file importer.

2. For the Word importer, users might miss the warning of overwriting the current module content.

There are two text warnings of overwriting the current module content: one is before users specify the document to be imported and the other is shown immediately below the �browse� textfield. However, in case users do not read the texts at all, it is worthwhile to give users another type of warning (such as a pop-up window) when they click on the �import� button.

3. For the Word importer, it does not provide convenient tools for users to edit text/image formats in Edit-In-Place, e.g., making the text bold, resizing the image, etc.

It is very likely that users need to change the formats of some texts. However this kind of function is not available currently. The future development can consider adding functions provided in Writely.com.

4. For the Word importer, the styling instructions are not obvious to users.

Since Word documents have a great variety of formats, it is not likely that the importer can handle all types of formats or styles. Therefore, it is a good idea to provide styling instructions. However, they are put in a place that is not so visible to the users. Future design can put the styling instructions on the first page users see the Word importer function.

5. For the zip file importer, it cannot keep the subdirectories of the folder.

To keep the subdirectories of the folder would be ideal, since users usually do not want to place a thousand images together with actual documents �instead, they want to organize them in several subdirectories.