You use the VMware Lab Platform Content Engine interface to import and manage manuals used with hands-on labs.

Instructional content

Typically, a technical course instructor or a subject matter expert (SME) create instructional content for a lab using an authoring tool such as ScreenSteps or Microsoft Word. After the content is created and in some scenarios content is translated, you use the Content Engine interface to import the technical content into VMware Lab Platform.

After you import your manual and manual translations, you can make modifications with the Content Engine editor.

Language support

You can use the Content Engine to make multiple, translated drafts of a manual and add them to your customer account. When an end user starts a lab, the lab console defaults to the language version according to the user’s language preferences. Language preferences are set using the My Profile option on the lab console. For more information on language preferences, see the VMware Lab Platform User Guide.

Content Engine workflow

To add a lab manual:

  1. Create a lab manual project. Think of a lab manual project as a kind of container for lab manuals.

  2. Upload or import instructional content. The result is an instance with an imported status. You can upload instructional content from your local machine or import it from the ScreenSteps authoring tool.

  3. Optionally, upload or import additional content in different languages. This language support is one of the most useful features of the Content Engine.

  4. Promote an imported instance to be a draft. A draft is an intermediate status that allows you to check instructional content before publishing.

  5. Publish drafts to make them available to your administrator. Once available, an administrator can then use the Admin UI to associate a manual to a lab.

For more information on how to use the Content Engine interface, see the VMware Lab Platform Content Engine Guide.