Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Tabs Interaction in Storyline

Creating a tabs interaction (also known as a click-and-reveal) is one of the most basic and most commonly used interaction types in e-learning. Not sure exactly what I mean by a tabs interaction? Usually it’s a slide that has clickable items the learner can select to reveal additional content. Here are a few examples of a tabs interaction.

View Example | Download File

View Example | Download File

Tabs are a great way to present a lot of content on one slide without overwhelming the learner with too much material at once. Plus, they can be used in a multitude of project types. For newbies working with layers or triggers, rest assured they’re intuitive and easy to use. And if this is your first time building a tabs interaction, simply follow the steps indicated below to learn how to do it yourself.

Create a New Slide

Start by inserting a new blank slide in your project and adding a simple title across the top of your slide.

Add Tabs

The next step is to add tabs onto your slide. Your tabs can be any shape or object, but to keep it simple for this example, let’s add three rectangles, placed horizontally under the slide title. You can insert a rectangle shape, then select it and start typing directly in it to add text. Add a title to each tab: “Tab 1,” “Tab 2,” and “Tab 3.” Your slide should look something like this:

Create Layers

Your next step is to create layers, which hold the additional content or information you want to share with your learners. The slide layers panel is located on the right-hand bottom side of your slide. That’s where you can insert a new layer. In this example, we have three tabs, so we will create three layers. In this example, each layer has some simple text on it.

Remember, by the time you’re done, you should have three layers.

Add Triggers

The last step is to add a trigger to each tab that displays the corresponding layer. The trigger panel is located right above the slide layers panel. Select the first tab and add a new trigger on it that displays the corresponding layer. Your trigger wizard should look like this:

You’ll also want to add that same trigger to your other two tabs, but that show Layer 2 and Layer 3, respectively. After this you can preview your final product to make sure the tabs are working as they should.

Ready for more? To take your tabs interactions to the next level, consider learning how to use button sets. Find out more in these articles:

• A Great Storyline Timesaver: Button Sets
• The Most Straightforward Way to Build a Tabs Interaction for Storyline (with Download!)

Did you think it was pretty easy to build your first tabs interaction? Let me know how it went by leaving me a comment below.

Want to try something you learned here, but don’t have Storyline? Start a free 30-day trial of Articulate 360, which includes Storyline 360 — the latest version of Storyline with continuously updated new features. And come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning. If you have any questions, please share them in the comments.