6 Effective Ways to use the Lightbox Feature in Storyline 360

The lightbox feature in Storyline 360 gives course designers an elegant way to present any type of additional content as a pop-up over the current slide. But you might be wondering: when does it make sense to lightbox a slide? Great question! Let’s take a look at six different ways to use this feature effectively in your Storyline 360 projects.

1. Provide Optional Navigation Instructions

Since learners can vary in their technical expertise, making navigation instructions optional is a solution that works well for everyone. This navigation instructions example by Trina Rimmer showcases a way to lightbox a navigation help slide so that it’s accessible from the course player at any time.

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2. Show Additional Content

The last thing you want is for learners to get lost after clicking on a slide for more information. Allison LaMotte created this custom lightbox tabs template that you can use to show learners additional content without navigating away from the slide, allowing them to easily close out and go back to the starting point. 

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3. Keep Videos Organized

Lightboxes are great for showcasing video (and photo) galleries. It helps your media stand out by dimming the background and bringing the video front and center, giving learners an organized and smooth learning experience. To see an example of what that might look like, check out this template I created: 

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4. Allow Learners to Take Notes

At every e-learning conference I’ve attended, I’ve seen people with their computer or notepad and pen in hand, relentlessly taking notes. That’s because active note-taking can help you focus and better understand concepts. Why not provide a similar option in your e-learning course? This example by Adam Gavarkovs includes a lightbox slide that allows learners to jot down their thoughts throughout the course.

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5. Make an Interactive Video Quiz  

There are many options for building quizzes in Storyline 360. And what better way to fully immerse your learners than with an interactive video quiz? This example by Montse Anderson shows two different ways to test learners’ knowledge. If you want to provide a simple knowledge check, then using layers will do the trick. But if you need learners to take a quiz that tracks their score and reports it to a Learning Management System (LMS), then using lightboxed slides is a great solution! 

View example

6. Display Contact Information

Depending on your organization, it might make sense to include contact information so learners know where to go for help. If you have a specific place you want to direct learners for troubleshooting issues or further questions, then creating a custom tab in the player that lightboxes a contact slide might help streamline that support process. Here’s an example I made that shows what that might look like:

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In Summary

I hope these examples inspire some new ideas for using lightbox slides in your own Storyline 360 projects. Of course, there are so many more ways to use the lightbox feature. 

For more information on how to create lightboxes in Storyline 360, check out these articles to get started:

• How to Create Lightboxes in Storyline 360
• All About Lightboxes in Storyline 360

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