Custom Glossary Interaction in Articulate Storyline

Click here to view the e-learning example

Got a great question in the forums this week from a user who wanted to create a custom glossary interaction similar to Wikipedia. Storyline's built-in glossary works really well, but there may be times when you want more control over the design and functionality. With Storyline’s Text Entry, Slide Layers,  and conditional Triggers, you can design the glossary that suits your course.

Let’s look at how to put one together in Articulate Storyline.

Step1: Insert a text entry box

Beginning with a new slide, create the search box by going to Insert > Data Entry > Text Entry and clicking once on your slide to insert the box. You can customize the text entry’s colors, font styles, border color, and size.  

Step 2: Create slide layers for your glossary terms

In this example we’re working with a single slide interaction to hold our glossary terms. That means we’ll use layers for each of your terms. Create a slide layer for each term you want to include in your glossary.

Create an additional slide layer that learners see when they misspell a word or search for a word that’s not included in the glossary. Name the layer something meaningful so you don’t confuse it with the terms and move this layer to the top of your layers panel.

Note: If you’re worried about running out of slide layers, ask Articulate Super Hero Phil Mayor about his Periodic Table interaction.

Step 3: Add triggers to show your slide layers

The first trigger we insert is a catch-all trigger that sends your learner to the error slide.  Add a new trigger for your first glossary term. This time you’ll add a condition to the trigger that shows the glossary term layer only when the search term matches the slide layer.

Note: Your catch-all trigger should be the first trigger in your triggers panel. Storyline’s triggers are fired top to bottom so we need to check for errors first.

Going forward

That’s really all there is to it. I kept this template simple so you can use it in your own projects. If you get stuck or have questions about other interactions, just let us know!

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Francesca Pellacani