/00 Field notes
Practical writing for working IDs.
SCORM hosting, xAPI, portfolio examples, freelancing economics, and the occasional rant about Articulate Review. Written by working instructional designers, edited by an ex-LMS-engineer who has feelings about cmi.completion_status.
How to actually host a SCORM file. Without an LMS.
If you've ever tried to send a SCORM 1.2 zip to a client and watched them email back asking "what app opens this," this one's for you. A walkthrough of the four real options, ranked by how much your client will hate each, with screenshots and the SCORM-API gotchas no one warns you about.
The four real ways, ranked.
- 1Purpose-built ID hostRecommended
- 2SCORM CloudSolid
- 3Self-host a playerIf technical
- 4A Loom recordingDon't
Free SCORM hosting that actually works in 2026.
Tutorial· 8 min read
The five "free SCORM hosting" tools, ranked.
We uploaded the same 240MB Storyline package to every free SCORM host on the internet. Two failed silently. One broke localization. Here are the only two we'd send to a client.
Read →
21 instructional designer portfolio examples we steal from.
Examples· 12 min read
21 ID portfolios worth stealing from.
Real freelance instructional designer portfolios with screenshots, what they get right, what they fudge, and the one structural pattern every great portfolio shares.
Read →
How to share a Storyline file with a client (the modern way).
Tutorial· 6 min read
Sharing Storyline files: the 2026 way.
Zip emails are dead. Articulate Review is paywalled. Here's how to send a Storyline package as a real, clickable link — including the SCORM API quirks that bite you.
Read →
A practical xAPI hosting primer for non-engineers.
Primer· 18 min read
xAPI hosting, explained without jargon.
What an LRS actually does, why your Captivate course "doesn't work" when you self-host, and the cheapest path to a working xAPI pipeline for a freelance ID.
Read →
Resume vs portfolio: what hiring IDs actually look at.
Career· 9 min read
Resume vs portfolio: what gets IDs hired.
We reviewed common ID interview pipelines over time. The resume gets you the call. One specific shape of portfolio gets you the offer. Here's that shape.
Read →
The best authoring tools for freelance IDs in 2026.
Review· 22 min read
Best authoring tools for freelancers, 2026.
Storyline vs Rise vs Captivate vs Camtasia vs iSpring. We built the same 90-second compliance module in each. Here's what each one actually felt like.
Read →
/16 The newsletter
One careful email every Tuesday.
Tuesday-morning notes for working IDs: new post, one tool I'm using this week, one portfolio worth stealing from. No threads, no upsells, no "are you taking advantage of AI yet?"
2,140 subscribers · 47% open rate · unsubscribe with one click