Changing text-entry colors?
Jan 16, 2015
On many websites, in the login box, there's a grayed-out "Username" or "Password" to indicate what you're supposed to type in the box. When you start typing, though, it's a dark text color.
I'd like to do a similar thing with my text entries: have the "type your text here" a lighter gray color than the dark color of what the student is typing. I thought about doing this with states, but since you can't change the state of a Text Entry field, that put the kebosh on that. Has anyone figured out a way to do this?
12 Replies
Yes! This is quite simple actually, so hopefully I can explain it easily.
Go ahead and set up your text box on your slide. And then click on it where it says 'type your text here'. Type whatever you want it to say, ie 'Username' or 'Password. You can change the font color to whatever you would like!
This will set this as the default text until the user types in something else! You can test this by going into preview mode and typing something over it!
I hope this helps!
Danielle, that actually doesn't solve my problem. I've already done what you're suggesting, which makes both the initial text ("Type your answer here") and the answer they input a very light color. I'm trying to change the color of what they type to be different from my initial text. If you have any suggestions on how to do this, please do share!
Oh I see what you are saying. I'm not sure if there is a way to do that but I might have a work around for you. It will take a bit longer, but it should work.
Basically you would leave your text box blank and make it transparent, changing the font to the color you want. Then place a shape underneath it (white or whatever color you want your 'text box' to be). This would serve as the base of the text box where you can type in 'username'.
You can then set a trigger to change its state to blank when they click the actual text box so it clears out when they type.
I hope that makes sense. D:
Hi, I’m not sure if you still have this problem but there is a very easy way to solve it.
If you need two different formats (one for “type your text here” and one for when they start typing) just add a space in front of the initial text. If you format that space the user will automatically use this format when he starts typing.
I hope that helps, i can explain it in greater detail if necessary.
Cheers
Marcus
Thanks for popping in to share Marcus. I'm not sure if the users here would still be looking for this solution either, but you most certainly could reach out to them directly. I'm sure your suggestion and solution can help anyone in the future that runs across this thread though :)
Hello Marcus
I am curios if that still working in storyline 360?? as it didn't work for me :(
Thank you
Hi Dalia,
I also tried Marcus' method for changing the font color in a text entry field, and it did not work in Storyline 360. I'll share this with my team so we can take a closer look at this behavior. If this turns out to be a bug, we'll get it reported and begin looking at next steps.
Hi Dalia,
your are right - it seems that it does not work in SL360 anymore. If you like i can give you a work around though. Just delete the "type your text here" text from the text entry field - format the entry field the way you like and put a text field on top of the entry field e.g. like this:
Then you can add a trigger which changes the state of text field to hidden when the user klicks on the entry field. I hope that helps as a quick solution.
Best regards
Marcus
Hi Alyssa,
thanks for looking into it. I want to achieve the same effect with two different font colors for the sample text and the actual input from the user.
Are there any news regarding this?
Hi Claas!
Thanks for checking in!
We've logged this bug with our team but it doesn't look like it's been prioritized for our current roadmap. When we have an update on either a fix or workaround, we'll be sure to let you know in this discussion.
This is a very good work around. Any way of hiding the text field AND selecting the entry field? This trigger deletes the text field on click #1 and the user must click a second time to activate the entry field.
Hi, Brian.
Since this is an older discussion, Marcus might not be subscribed, but you're welcome to contact them directly through their profile by clicking on their name and selecting Contact Me.
In the meantime, I believe the workaround should work the way you want it to, as long as you're changing the text box to hidden when the user clicks the text entry (instead of the text box):
I hope this helps!