Hi Catriona! So glad you like this template - but sorry to hear you've run into a bit of a snag here! Would you mind posting your question here in the Building Better Courses forum:
https://community.articulate.com/forums/building-better-coursesIf you post your question there, along with a link to your .story file so we can take a closer look ? Even if you just include the 2 slides in question, it would help. It's hard to know what's going on without looking at your file.
In terms of working with variables, I know it can be a bit tricky for newbies. Just keep using them and practicing and you'll get better with time!
You can check out this article I wrote that might help as well:
https://community.articulate.com/articles/troubleshooting-advanced-interactions Hope this helps :)