The New Features of LeaderGuide Pro v15
LeaderGuide Pro has long been the premier tool for developing facilitator guides and participant workbooks for instructor-led training & VILT. Our newest version has only raised the bar even higher.
Our goal with Version 15 of LeaderGuide Pro is to provide enhancements to create instructor-led & virtual ILT easier, lower the software's learning curve, and add many user-requested updates. Throughout these updates, we maintained our commitment to helping you develop your guidebooks with more consistency, reduce your creation time, and allow you to meet your style and branding needs
New & Updated Collections
With the use of visual cues being paramount to the creation of an at-a-glance guidebook, we added five new collections with new icons.
And we updated the three original collections to include the new virtual ILT content blocks.
New Content Blocks
Thirteen new content blocks were added to each collection. These content blocks are geared to make the development of VILT guidebooks easier. In addition to the new content blocks, a Resources & References icon has been added for the Module page in a facilitator's guide.
We renamed two content blocks to make it easier to understand what actions they cover. The Projection block was renamed PPT Slide, and Speaker Notes was changed to PPT Notes.
New Content Block Interface
The addition of 13 new virtual ILT content blocks meant that the Content Block group on the ribbon had to be reimagined.
Instead of having all the icons in the small Content Block group, we split the majority into three groups.
Instructor-led
Virtual ILT
Custom Blocks
Content Block group
Now you have the choice to drop down each group and select the content block from the list.
Or you can launch the task pane for the specific content block group you need, i.e. Instructor-led, Virtual ILT, or Custom Blocks.
Numbered Process Steps
One of my favorite new features are the Numbered Process Steps. They are located in the Text/Table Formatting group.
The unique Numbered Process Step content blocks allow developers to create processes that require sequential steps while taking advantage of the visual cues in column one. Pair these content blocks with a strategy of annotated screenshots and a corresponding numbered list, and you can create easy-to-use technical training or job aids. Here is an example.
Apply Custom Styles
Using your unique Word Styles has never been easier. The Apply Custom Styles feature in the Text/Table Formatting group allows you to load up to ten unique styles from the style guide in your Collection. They can now be applied without searching for them in the Styles Box.
Merge or Split
You can now mix and match the 2-column and 3-column layout in a LeaderGuide Pro document. The Merge or Split function allows you to use both content block layouts to divide your training material so that it is easy to use and takes up less space. All while retaining the ability to export the material to another guidebook.
Example of a LeaderGuide Pro Lesson page with a mix of two-column and three-column Content Blocks.
Learning Curve
One of the major items that we wanted to include in version 15 was an easier learning curve. Mastering a new piece of software is never easy, but simplifying things can make the process so much smoother. Here are some of the changes that make using LeaderGuide Pro easier.
Start a New Document
Start a New Guidebook dialog in LeaderGuide Pro v15
When you go to create a new document, we have simplified the process. We have removed the option to choose the width of your lesson table. All LGP documents now have the widest table, giving you the most amount of page space to work with.
We have also changed the terminology from Express to Exclude TAG in the Collection section of the dialog box. The function still remains the same; it creates a facilitator guide that does not include the Training-at-a-Glance.
Different Colored Fields
LeaderGuide Pro documents have many reference fields, some that are just a prompt for the developer while others are used by LeaderGuide Pro to push or pull information. In earlier versions, all of these field boxes were gray. We have now changed some to yellow. The fields that are in gray are updated by LeaderGuide Pro as you add content to key spots in your document. For example, the Program Name field is updated with the training program name that appears on your Cover page. The fields that are in yellow are sticky prompts for the developer.
Can you Upgrade?
Are you eligible to upgrade now?
If you have a monthly license, an annual license with extended support, or a permanent license with active upgrade support, you can upgrade to version 15 right now.
If you have an annual license with standard support or a permanent license without upgrade support, please reach out to me, and I can help you through what is needed to upgrade.