How to Use Articulate Rise 360: Creating, Designing & Publishing Courses

If you've been searching for a faster, smarter way to build responsive eLearning, you've likely come across Articulate Rise 360. And for good reason—it's the most widely used browser-based authoring tool for creating online training that looks polished on every device, from desktop to mobile, without a single line of code.

Download eBook Now: Rapid eLearning Authoring Tools

But knowing the tool exists and actually knowing how to use it effectively are two very different things. Whether you're trying to build your first course from scratch, create a microlearning module for a busy workforce, add scored assessments, or finally get your content into an LMS—this guide covers all of it.

How to Create a Course in Rise 360

Creating a course in Rise is not just about adding content blocks; it involves designing a logical learning journey that aligns with clear objectives. A well-structured course ensures that learners can progress smoothly, understand concepts effectively, and apply knowledge in real-world scenarios.

Step-by-Step Course Creation Process

Step 1: Plan Your Course Structure

Before clicking "Create," take five minutes to sketch out your course structure. Ask yourself:

• How many learning objectives do I have? If you have more than one, a full course is typically the right format. If you have a single, focused objective, consider microlearning (covered in Part 2).
• Is this content interdependent? If lessons build on each other, keep them in one course. If they can stand alone, a series of microlearning modules may serve your learners better.
• Who is my audience and what device will they use? Rise is inherently responsive, but knowing your audience helps you design for their context.

Step 2: Create a New Course

• From your Rise 360 dashboard, click the Create button in the upper left.
• Select Course (as opposed to Microlearning—we'll cover that separately).
• You'll be presented with three starting options:
  • Blank Course – Start from scratch with a clean slate.
  • Placeholder Content Templates – Pre-built course structures with guidance prompts where you insert your own content.
  • Real Content Templates – Fully written, ready-to-publish courses on common training topics that you can customize.

For most custom training projects, start with Blank Course or a Placeholder Template in your topic area.

Step 3: Set Up Your Course Outline

Once you've created the course, you'll land on the course outline view. This is where you organize your content using:

• Sections – Top-level groupings (think: modules or chapters). Add them by clicking + Add Section.
• Lessons – Individual learning units within each section. Lessons are where your actual content blocks live.

Best Practice: Name your lessons clearly and specifically. Vague lesson titles like "Module 3" hurt the learner experience, especially when learners return to review content.

Step 4: Choose Your Lesson Types

When you add a lesson, Rise 360 offers several lesson types:

For most lessons, you'll use the default Lesson type and build it using content blocks.

Step 5: Build Your Lessons with Content Blocks

This is where Rise 360 shines. Every lesson is built by stacking content blocks—modular units of text, media, or interactivity. Click the + icon anywhere in your lesson to open the block library.

Key Block Categories:

Text & Media Blocks

• Paragraph, heading, statement, numbered list, bulleted list
• Image, video, audio, file attachment
• Quote, divider

Interactive Blocks (the engagement powerhouses)

• Tabs – Organize related content into clickable tabs
• Accordion – Collapsible sections great for FAQs and reference content
• Flip Cards – Front-and-back cards ideal for term/definition pairs
• Process – Step-by-step sequential flows
• Timeline – Chronological content displays
• Labeled Graphic – Hotspot interactions on images
• Sorting Activity – Drag-and-drop categorization
• Scenario Block – Branching decision-making scenarios
• Knowledge Check Blocks – Unscored practice questions (covered in Part 3)

Design Tip: Resist the temptation to overload lessons with text-heavy paragraphs. Use interactive blocks to break up content, reinforce key ideas, and create "lean-forward" moments that keep learners engaged.

Step 6: Customize Your Course Theme

Rise 360 comes with several professionally designed themes—Rise, Apex, and Horizon—each with its own visual personality. To apply and customize a theme:

1. Click Theme in the upper right of your course editor.
2. Choose a base theme from the gallery.
3. Customize fonts, accent colors, button styles, and course navigation.

Navigation options to consider:

• Sidebar navigation – Best for longer, multi-lesson courses where learners benefit from a sense of progress and structure (compliance, onboarding).
• Compact navigation – Clean and modern; works well for visual-heavy content.
• Overlay navigation – Great for immersive, storytelling-style courses.

You can also control whether learners can skip ahead or must complete lessons in order—a critical compliance training setting.

Step 7: Leverage AI Assistant

Rise 360's built-in AI Assistant (available to Articulate 360 subscribers) can dramatically accelerate content creation. Use it to:

• Generate first-draft lesson content from a source document or outline
• Rewrite content at a different reading level or tone
• Create quiz questions based on course content
• Suggest block types for a specific topic
• Generate custom images in a consistent visual style

To activate, click the AI Assistant icon (sparkle icon) within any lesson.

Step 8: Preview and Review

Before publishing, always preview your course:

• Click Preview (eye icon) in the upper right to see the learner experience.
• Use Review 360 (if on an Articulate 360 Teams plan) to share a live link with stakeholders and collect in-context feedback directly on the course—no PDFs or email chains required.
• Click the Settings gear icon to configure course-level settings: title, cover image, completion tracking, and exit behavior.

How to Build Microlearning Using Rise 360

Microlearning isn't just a short course. It's a focused, single-objective learning experience designed to be consumed in minutes—not hours. Think: a quick refresher on a policy change, a 3-minute onboarding tip, or a bite-sized performance support tool.

In Rise 360, microlearning is a distinct content type with its own template library, navigation behavior, and publishing considerations. Importantly:

• Microlearning contains only one lesson—no multi-lesson structure.
• It uses Stepped Navigation, which presents content one block (or group of blocks) at a time.
• Quiz scores are not reported to an LMS in microlearning format (only completion status is tracked). If you need scored assessments, use a full course.

When to Use Microlearning vs. a Full Course

Step-by-Step: Creating Microlearning in Rise 360

Step 1: Start a New Microlearning

• From your Rise 360 dashboard, click Create.
• Select Microlearning (not Course).
• Choose from:
  • Blank Microlearning – Start fresh.
  • Microlearning Template (Placeholder) – Guided structure with writing prompts.
  • Real Content Microlearning – Ready-to-publish content on common topics.

Step 2: Add and Arrange Blocks

Build your microlearning lesson the same way you'd build a standard lesson—by adding and stacking blocks. However, because you're focused on a single objective, discipline yourself to:

• Include only content that directly supports the one learning objective.
• Aim for a total reading/interaction time of 3–7 minutes.
• Use multimedia (video clips, images, short audio) to keep things dynamic without adding length.

Step 3: Configure Stepped Navigation

This is what makes microlearning feel like microlearning. Stepped navigation displays content one step at a time, guided by the dot navigation on the right side of the screen.

By default, each block = one step. To adjust:

• Go to Theme > Navigation settings.
• In Stepped Navigation, you can Connect multiple blocks to display as a single step.
  • Example: Connect a header block, a short paragraph, and an image so they appear together as one screen.
• Or Disconnect blocks to give each its own dedicated step.

Best Practice: Group closely related blocks into a single step (so learners don't feel like they're clicking through needlessly), but keep each step focused on one idea.

Step 4: Use Mobile-First Design Principles

One of Rise 360's biggest strengths for microlearning is responsive design—your content automatically adapts to any screen size. To maximize mobile learner experience:

• Keep block content concise. Long paragraphs that look fine on desktop feel overwhelming on mobile.
• Use image blocks thoughtfully—wide landscape images may crop on small screens.
• Preview your microlearning in mobile view (use the responsive preview toggle in the editor).
• Avoid heavy use of horizontal scroll interactions on small screens.

Step 5: Test with Real Users Before Publishing

Because microlearning is often consumed independently (not as part of a mandatory path), a poor experience has no safety net. Before publishing:

• Preview on your own mobile device.
• Share a Review 360 link for quick stakeholder sign-off.
• Time yourself going through it—if it takes more than 7–8 minutes, trim it.

Microlearning Design Best Practices

One objective. One lesson. Done. Every microlearning should answer the question: "After completing this, the learner will be able to ___." If you can't fill that blank with one specific, measurable behavior, you have scope creep.

Lead with the "what's in it for me." Open with a compelling hook—a scenario, a problem statement, or a provocative question—before diving into content.

Use templates strategically. Rise 360's real content templates aren't just training wheels for beginners. They're excellent for recurring training topics (cybersecurity awareness, DEI fundamentals, workplace safety) where you can customize branded content on a solid foundation.

Build a library, not a single asset. The real power of microlearning comes from a series of short modules that build knowledge over time—not a single isolated piece. Plan your microlearning as part of a curriculum or learning path.

Part 3: How to Add Assessments in Rise 360

Rise 360 supports two distinct assessment formats:

Understanding this distinction will save you hours of troubleshooting later.

Knowledge Check Blocks (Ungraded)

Knowledge check blocks are embedded directly in lessons and are used to reinforce learning in the moment—not to formally evaluate performance.

Available Knowledge Check Types:

• Multiple Choice – One correct answer from a list of options
• Multiple Response – One or more correct answers (checkboxes)
• Fill in the Blank – Learner types a word or phrase
• Matching – Drag-and-drop pairing of terms and definitions

How to Add a Knowledge Check Block:

1. Open the lesson where you want to add the check.
2. Click the + icon to open the block library.
3. Select Knowledge Check category.
4. Choose your question type (Multiple Choice, Multiple Response, Fill in the Blank, or Matching).
5. In the block editor, enter your question text and answer choices.
6. Mark the correct answer(s).
7. Optionally add custom feedback for correct and incorrect responses.

New in 2025: Rise 360 now allows you to require knowledge checks for progress, meaning learners must answer before moving forward. You can also set maximum retries to control how many attempts learners get.

Feedback Options:

In the block's Settings tab, you can configure:

• Whether to show correct/incorrect feedback immediately after submission
• Custom feedback text for correct responses
• Custom feedback text for incorrect responses
• Whether the correct answer is revealed after incorrect attempts

Best Practice: Place knowledge checks at natural pauses in your content—after every 2–3 blocks of substantive material. This creates a spaced practice effect that significantly improves long-term retention compared to a single end-of-course quiz.

Quiz Lessons (Graded Assessments)

Quiz lessons are standalone lesson types that live in your course outline. They send a score to your LMS along with pass/fail status.

How to Add a Quiz Lesson:

1. From your course outline, click + Add Lesson within the appropriate section.
2. Select Quiz as the lesson type.
3. Name your quiz (e.g., "Module 2 Assessment" or "Final Quiz").

Adding Questions to Your Quiz:

Inside the quiz editor, click + Add Question to choose from:

• Multiple Choice
• Multiple Response
• Fill in the Blank
• Matching

For each question:

1. Enter the question stem.
2. Add answer choices (click + Add Choice for additional options).
3. Mark the correct answer(s).
4. Optionally add a rationale—explanatory text shown after the learner submits their answer.

Quiz Settings:

Click the Settings icon (gear) at the top of the quiz to configure:

• Passing score – Set the percentage required to pass (e.g., 80%).
• Shuffle questions – Randomize question order for each attempt.
• Shuffle answer choices – Randomize the order of answer options.
• Number of allowed attempts – How many times learners can retake the quiz.
• Show results screen – Whether learners see their score at the end.
• Pass/fail messages – Custom text displayed based on whether the learner passed or failed.
• Answer colors – As of late 2024, quiz answer colors can be set independently from the course theme color.

Using Question Banks

For high-stakes assessments or large-scale deployments, Question Banks allow you to build a pool of questions and draw from them randomly—so each learner sees a unique set of questions.

Creating a Question Bank:

1. From the Rise 360 dashboard, click Question Banks in the left navigation.
2. Click New Question Bank and name it.
3. Add questions using the same types available in quizzes: Multiple Choice, Multiple Response, Fill in the Blank, Matching.
4. If you're on an Articulate 360 Teams plan, you can share question banks with your team for use across multiple courses.

Drawing from a Question Bank in a Quiz:

1. Inside your quiz lesson, click + Add Question → Draw from Question Bank.
2. Select the question bank.
3. Configure the draw:
   • Random draw – Rise randomly selects a specified number of questions from the bank.
   • Specific questions – Choose exactly which questions to include.
4. You can exclude individual questions from the random draw by hovering and clicking Exclude from draw.

Drawing from a Question Bank in a Knowledge Check Block:

1. Open your lesson and click + → Knowledge Check → Draw from Question Bank.
2. Select your bank and configure the draw.

Note: If you later update the source question bank, the changes are not automatically reflected in existing draws. Open the draw settings and click Edit → Update Draw to pull in the latest questions.

Assessment Design Best Practices

Align every question to a learning objective.

If a question can't be traced back to a stated objective, cut it. Misaligned questions create cognitive noise and undermine assessment validity.

Use scenario-based questions over recall-only questions.

Instead of "What is the definition of X?", ask "Your colleague does Y. What should you do?" Application questions are harder to write but far more effective at measuring real competency.

Set a meaningful passing score.

For compliance training, 80% is a common standard. For more consequential certifications, 85–90% may be appropriate. Consult your L&D stakeholders.

Don't make the quiz a punishment.

Unlimited retakes with immediate feedback encourage learning. Locking learners out after two attempts creates anxiety without improving outcomes.

Use question banks for any course with more than ~50 learners.

Randomized draws reduce answer-sharing and keep assessments fresh across cohorts.

How to Publish Rise 360 Courses to an LMS

Understanding Your Publishing Options

Before you hit the Publish button, you need to know where your learners will access the course. Rise 360 supports several publishing destinations:

For most corporate L&D environments, you'll be publishing to an LMS.

Choosing the Right LMS Standard

This is the decision that trips up most first-time publishers. Here's a breakdown:

General Rule of Thumb:

• If you're unsure, go with SCORM 1.2—it works with virtually every LMS ever made.
• If your LMS is modern and supports it, SCORM 2004 (3rd edition) offers better reporting.
• Use xAPI only if you have an LRS configured and need granular activity tracking beyond simple completion and score.

Step-by-Step: Publishing to an LMS

Step 1: Open the Publish Dialog

1. From your course in Rise 360, click Publish in the upper right corner of the screen.
2. Select LMS as the publish type.

Step 2: Choose Your LMS Standard

From the LMS dropdown, select your standard: xAPI, SCORM 2004, SCORM 1.2, AICC, or cmi5.

For xAPI: If you're using a custom identifier, avoid special characters. Leave the pre-generated identifier unchanged unless you have a specific reason to modify it.

Step 3: Configure Tracking

Under Tracking, choose how Rise 360 reports completion to your LMS:

• Track using course completion – The course is marked complete when the learner views a specified percentage of the content (e.g., 100%). This is the most common setting.
• Track using quiz result – Completion and pass/fail status are determined by a quiz lesson within the course. If your course has multiple quizzes, select which one to use for tracking.
• Track using Storyline block – If you've embedded a Storyline 360 interaction, completion can be driven by that block's own reporting settings.

Step 4: Set Reporting Options

If you're tracking by quiz result, configure the Reporting setting:

• Passed/Failed – Sends a pass or fail status based on the quiz's passing score threshold.
• Complete/Incomplete – Sends only completion status, regardless of score.

Most compliance-heavy LMSs expect Passed/Failed when a quiz is involved. Check with your LMS administrator if unsure.

Step 5: Configure Additional Settings

• Exit Course Link – Toggle this ON to display a "Close" button that returns learners to the LMS. Highly recommended for a clean learner experience.
• Hide LMS Interface – If your LMS shows Suspend/Continue/Close buttons that conflict with Rise's own navigation, toggle this to hide duplicates (SCORM 2004 only).
• Only Load in LMS – Prevents the course from being launched outside the LMS context (useful for content security).
• Reset Learner Progress – If you've deleted lessons or significantly restructured the course, toggle this before updating in your LMS to avoid blank pages for learners who previously started the course. Note: this resets progress but retains quiz data.

Step 6: Publish and Download

1. Click Publish (upper right corner) again to generate the package.
2. Rise 360 will flag any errors (such as blank lessons) and give you the option to fix or continue.
3. A .zip file will download to your computer.

Step 7: Upload to Your LMS

The process varies by LMS, but the general steps are:

1. Log into your LMS as an administrator.
2. Navigate to the course/content management area.
3. Create a new course or content item.
4. Upload the .zip file directly—do not extract it.
5. If your LMS asks for a launch file, point it to index.html (for SCORM) or indexapi.html (for xAPI).
6. Configure enrollment, assign to learners, and set any completion due dates.

Common Mistake: Some LMS platforms require you to specify the launch file manually. For SCORM packages from Rise 360, the launch file is always index.html. For xAPI, it's indexapi.html.

Updating a Published Course

When you need to update content after a course is already live in your LMS:

1. Make your edits in Rise 360.
2. Re-publish using the same settings.
3. Download the new .zip file.
4. In your LMS, update/replace the existing content package (don't create a new course).
5. If you deleted lessons or restructured significantly, use the Reset Learner Progress toggle before re-publishing to prevent blank pages.

Note: Learners who completed the old version won't have their records affected by a content update unless you reset progress.

SCORM vs. xAPI: Which Should You Use?

Use SCORM if:

• Your LMS is well-established (Cornerstone, Moodle, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday Learning, etc.)
• You need simple completion + score tracking
• You want maximum compatibility without LRS configuration
• You're not sure what your LMS supports

Use xAPI if:

• You need to track activities outside a traditional LMS (mobile apps, simulations, offline learning)
• You have a dedicated Learning Record Store (LRS) configured
• You need granular, statement-level tracking (e.g., which specific interactions a learner completed)
• Your organization has invested in a modern learning analytics infrastructure

For the vast majority of corporate L&D teams, SCORM 2004 (3rd edition) or SCORM 1.2 gets the job done cleanly and reliably.

The End-to-End Workflow

When used effectively, Rise supports a seamless learning development lifecycle.

• Course creation establishes a strong structural foundation
• Microlearning design ensures relevance and engagement
• Assessments validate learning outcomes
• Publishing enables deployment and performance tracking

This integrated workflow allows organizations to move beyond content creation and focus on delivering measurable learning impact at scale.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need Articulate 360 to use Rise 360?

A. Yes. Rise 360 is part of the Articulate 360 subscription suite, which also includes Storyline 360, Review 360, and other tools. You can start a free 30-day trial at articulate.com.

Q: Can I use Rise 360 without an LMS?

A. Absolutely. You can publish courses as a web package (HTML) and host them on any web server, share via Quick Share links, or use Articulate's own Reach 360 platform for delivery and tracking.

Q: Can I embed Storyline 360 interactions inside Rise 360?

A. Yes. The Storyline Block lesson type in Rise 360 allows you to embed published Storyline output directly into a Rise course. This is the go-to approach when you need custom branching scenarios or highly complex interactions that Rise's native blocks can't replicate.

Q: Can multiple people work on the same Rise 360 course?

A. Yes, with an Articulate 360 Teams plan. Co-authors can edit different lessons simultaneously in real time. However, only one person can work in a microlearning course at a time (since it's a single lesson).

Q: Why isn't my quiz score being reported to the LMS?

A. This is almost always a configuration issue. Check that: (1) you selected "Track using quiz result" in your publish settings, (2) the correct quiz is selected if you have multiple, and (3) your LMS is configured to accept score data from your chosen standard (SCORM vs. xAPI).

Q: Can microlearning send quiz scores to an LMS?

A. No. Microlearning in Rise 360 only reports completion status to an LMS—not scores. If you need scored assessments reported to your LMS, use a full course format with a Quiz lesson.

Final Thoughts

Articulate Rise 360 has genuinely lowered the barrier to producing high-quality, responsive eLearning—but great courses still require intentional instructional design. The tool won't make the decisions for you: how to structure content, which interactions will drive retention, what passing score makes sense for your context, or whether SCORM or xAPI is right for your LMS.

This guide gives you the foundation. The rest comes from building, iterating, and learning from your learners' experiences.