This guide will show you how to create, test, and publish an activity using the HighWire Journal Template.

What are Templates? Templates are created by Rievent and added to your account for you to create CE/CME activities. Each activity type (journal, live event, enduring, RSS, webinar, and manuscript review.) will have its own template. 

Please note that an Activity Evaluation (as well as other evaluations) can be built into the template if the same questions are asked for every activity. If this is the case, Rievent can build the evaluation into the template and provide it as a checkbox option on the Activity Options tab. This saves administrators from having to create the same evaluation questions over and over for each activity. These "shared" or "built-in" evaluations are not editable by a customer, so if changes need to be made, please let us know.

Step 1: Creating a New Journal Activity

1. To begin, click the icon next to the Manage Your Program Menu.

2. Enter the Short Name for the activity. The Short Name is how the activity will be listed in the Manage Your Program menu and will not be exposed to learners. If you have not already decided, you will need some sort of naming convention for your activities.

When creating the Short Name, please keep in mind that it must be unique and should also include the Activity ID. For example, if your Activity ID is RD105, the Short Name might be in the format RD105 - Genetics and Type 2 Diabetes. 

3. During the pre-production stage, you have the option to add the activity to other administrative accounts and to upload any production-related files for storage (optional). Please note the files uploaded here are for storage only; this feature is not intended for content hosting. Files stored here cannot be accessed by learners. 

Adding the activity to other administrative accounts allows others to see and access the activity from the Manage Your Program menu in their own admin accounts. Click Pre-Production complete to continue.

4. Next, select the template for the correct journal publication.

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Production Wizard

The Production Wizard will walk you through the production process of creating and publishing a CME activity step-by-step, starting with the step of adding Activity Information. Once you've completed a step, you can go back at any time to edit what you've entered by clicking the appropriate tab in the Production Wizard. Always click the Save button for steps that include a Save button, and Next after making any changes.

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Activity information tab

5. From the Activity Information tab, enter the following information:

• Program ID: The Program ID and Program Name must be unique to the Rievent Platform. The Program ID is generally your internal program identification number or name, and the Program Name usually begins with the Program ID. The Program Name (same as the Short Name) field will already be populated for you.
• Activity Title: The name of the activity as you would like it to appear on learner certificates, transcripts, the overview page, and any emails (CME Confirmation email, Outcomes Invitations, etc).
• Release Date: The date entered into the Release Date field will be populated to the Overview page. This field is ONLY used to populate to the Overview page and does not control learner access to the activity.
• Start Date: Enter the date you learners can begin requesting credit for the activity.
• Expiration Date: Set the expiration date as the last full day that learners can request credit.

Next, you have the option to enter a Catalog Summary for the activity (not required). The text entered into the Catalog Summary field will be displayed to the learner on the CE Catalog. When you are finished, click Next to advance to the next screen.

For more information on uploading images, visit the FAQ: How do I use the Image Upload Tool?

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Journal Info

6. Next, enter the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for the journal article. The DOI allows the Rievent Platform to pull the article content from HighWire and display it to the learner in the activity. If you do not know the DOI, you can insert a temporary placeholder, but be sure go back and add the real DOI before publishing the activity.

You can also enter volume number, issue number, and the journal citation for the activity (optional). The text entered into these fields will be displayed on the learner’s CME certificate.

For templates that require multiple DOI’s, be sure to enter each one on a separate line.

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Classification

7. From the Classification tab, select the metadata associated with the activity. This information will help learners browse for courses in the CE Catalog. 

Go through the list and check the metadata tags you would like to assign to the activity. Once created, the list of metadata choices will be maintained by the Rievent Platform, so you do not need to recreate the list for each activity.

You can create new tags by clicking the Add button. To edit an existing tag, simply double click it, make the changes, then click Save. You can also remove a tag by clicking the Delete button.

The image below shows how the meta-data tags will be displayed in the CE Catalog. Only the metadata tags checked during production will show up in the CE Catalog.

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Credit Options

8. Next, configure the credit options that will be available in the activity. If the credit option you are looking for is not listed, you can create one using the Certification Management Tool. If there are many credit options listed, the Search box can help quickly locate the desired credit type.

Check the boxes of the credit type(s) you would like to include, then fill out the min, max, and credit increment fields. To set a static credit amount, without the option for learners to choose incremental credit, enter the same number for the min/max and enter "0" in the increment field. 

By default, all the selected credit options will be available for the duration of the activity (set on the Activity Info tab). However, under the More Details menu, you have the option to add a Credit Release and Credit Expiration date for individual credit options. This allows you to offer certain credit options for only part of the duration of the activity.  

Also under the More Details menu, is the Certificate Activity Accreditation Statement field. This field is for certificates that (1) have been created using the certification management tool and (2) that contain the Activity Accreditation Statement merge tag. The information provided here will override the existing credit accreditation statement and be merged onto the applicable certificate. More information on the Certification Management Tool and Accreditation Statement Merge Tag.

Click the Next button when you are finished.

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Overview

9. The Overview tab is where you will edit the default overview/disclaimer page that will appear first to the learner. The default overview page has been built into the template, but you must be sure to add any activity specific information, such as the learning objectives, to the page. Language that is standard for all activities, such as the instructions, will already be filled in for you.

For more information on uploading images, visit the FAQ: How do I use the Image Upload Tool?

When you are finished, click Next to continue.

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Activity Options

10. From the Activity Options tab, depending upon how your template was set up, you may have the option to include additional evaluations, such as an Objectives Evaluation (activity specific questions) or Outcomes Evaluation, in addition to the Activity Evaluation. The Objectives Evaluation is typically used to ask the learner activity-specific questions, while the Activity Evaluation contains the standard set of questions asked for all activities. Click Next to proceed.

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CME Test

11. Next, configure the CME Test (Pre-Tests are configured the same way). There are two different ways to enter the test questions.  You can enter them all at once using the Multiple Choice Parser, or one at a time using the wizard.

To configure multiple choice test questions individually, start by clicking the Add Question or Text button and then selecting the Choose One question type.

Next, double click the question to insert text. To add answer choices, click the icon and then double click to insert text. You can also delete questions and answer choices with the  icon.

To mark an answer choice as correct, click the icon next it and the icon will change to a . You can also add Answer Choice Rationale by clicking the  icon.

You may also edit the title displayed to the learner, minimum passing score, and the number of attempts the learner will be allowed to achieve the passing score. Awarding of credit and a certificate of credit is contingent on meeting this minimum passing score.

Next, add any hint links you would like to include (optional). Hint links allow learners to quickly and easily navigate back to the specific location in the journal article related to a particular question. When a learner clicks the link, they will be taken to the journal article where the exact text related to the question will be highlighted.

You have the option to add the hint links to 4 different parts of the question - (1) the question text, (2) answer choices, (3) question hint box, or (4) the rationale. Depending on how you want the links to display for you learners will dictate which place in the question you should insert the links. For example, if you would like to display the hint links while learners are taking the CME test, you would add the hint link code to the end of the question text, to the end of an answer choice, or in the question hint box. If you do not want learners to see the article hint links until AFTER they have completed the CME test, then you would insert the links in the question rationale.

When you are finished configuring the test, be sure to click the Save button at the bottom of the page before continuing.

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Objectives Evaluation

12. If you selected to include an Objectives Evaluation, you will create it now. For this example, the evaluation will be configured as a single rating question, asking learners to rate how well the activity met its stated learning objectives.

To get started, click the Add Question or Text button and then select the Rating question type. More information on configuring rating style questions.

When you are finished configuring the survey, be sure to click the Save button before clicking Next to continue.

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Outcomes Evaluation

13. Lastly, if an Outcomes Evaluation was selected from the Activity Options tab, use the same set of tools as the CME Test and Objectives Evaluation to build the Outcomes Evaluation. When finished be sure to click Save before clicking Next.

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Finished Tab

14. All the activity parameters have now been entered. Click Finished to create the activity and transition to the Review stage.

After the activity is created, you (along with any stakeholders) will have the opportunity to review. If any changes are required, you may return to the Production Wizard to edit the activity.

There will be a short delay after clicking Finished while the Rievent Platform communicates with HighWire Express (HWX) to confirm the journal article is in queue. Once that has been confirmed, a pop-up window (see image below) will prompt you to reload the page. Be sure to click the Reload button.

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Step 2: Reviewing the Activity

From the Review stage, you will have the opportunity to test the activity from a learner’s perspective, as well as add the activity to other administrative accounts.

At the top of the screen, you’ll notice a Recent Notifications Window; this indicates the status of communication between HighWire Express and Rievent. If there are any errors during production, such as an incorrect DOI, the system will present a message in the Recent Notifications window. More info

It has always been the case with article CME on HighWire that courses cannot be published until the print version goes live. During this time, the publisher can preview the unpublished course via the Rievent administrative dashboard. The publisher can verify various aspects of the course, including a virtual view of the article (abstract, full text, and/or pdf) and highlight links (if applicable and available. Highlight linking is not possible for PDF-only articles). However, since the associated issue content is under embargo, the view of the article that you are able to see is the last published / most recent version of the article, which could be the publish ahead of print (PAP) version. It is not the current embargoed version (print issue).

The Rievent application uses a citation service call to create a virtual view of the article within the Rievent application. This service is designed to call the most recent version of the article. The purpose of this virtual view is to enable the publisher to preview the end user's experience, including the test, its links to the article, and if available, the highlighted sections of text that are related to specific questions (subject to the same limitation as above - that highlights are not available for PAP). However, as previously, the course cannot actually be published until the print version goes live.

Notification Messages

Notification messages display the status of communication between HighWire Express (HWX) and the Rievent Platform to validate the DOI, which allows the Rievent Platform to display the article content and sidebar links in the CME activity. A table of messages and their meanings are listed below:

Managing Administrative Access

Click the Assign to Administrator... button to manage activity access for other administrative accounts.  Adding the activity to other administrative accounts allows them to see and access the activity from the Manage Your Program menu in their own admin account. 

Testing the Activity

The Draft Review Links will walk you through the activity as a learner, from start to finish.  To review the activity, click the Request for Credit Launch Activity link. This will allow you to participate in the activity exactly how a learner would see it. If an outcomes evaluation was included, you can review it by selecting Outcomes Launch Activity link.   

You can also preview individual pieces of the activity using the Preview Program Component links at the bottom of the screen. This can be useful for reviewing a specific component without having to run through the entire activity. 

Step 3: Publishing and Locking the Activity

When you have finished reviewing and are satisfied with the activity, click the Complete Draft Review and Lock Activity button. This locks the activity to prevent any accidental changes from being made and transitions you to the Publish stage. You can always go back and unlock an activity to make edits. 

Once the activity is locked, the Share Activity “friendly” URLs for accessing the activity are provided. If you haven't already done so, be sure to also delete any test records that were created during the review process.

To publish the activity to the CE Catalog, click the Publish button. Once an activity is published, it will appear in the CE Catalog. 

After clicking the Publish button, there will be a short delay while the Rievent Platform communicates with HighWire Express (HWX) to validate the journal article.

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Configuring “Hint” Links to Articles

Hint links allow learners to quickly and easily navigate back to the specific location in the journal article related to a particular question. When a learner clicks the link, the exact text related to the question will be highlighted.

When configuring a CME Test, you have the option to add the links to 4 different parts of the question – the question text, answer choices, question hint box, or the rationale. Depending on how you want the links to display for your learners will dictate which place in the question you should insert the links. For example, if you would like to display the article hint links during the taking of the CME test, you would add the code to the end of the question text, to the end of an answer choice, or in the question hint box. If you do not want learners to see the article hint links until AFTER they have completed the CME test, then you would insert the links in the question rationale.

To add hint links to test questions, add the code (format shown below) to the desired part of the question (question text, answer choice, rationale, or hint box). Be sure to include the double brackets on either end of the hint code.

Code format for adding hint links to questions:

[[ "highlight starts at this text" : "highlight stops at this text" | link text displayed to the learner ]]