Automatically restart timeline upon revisit but don't reset states.

Sep 22, 2020

Brian Shearer
By Brian Shearer

I have a course where I want the timeline on the each slide to start automatically upon revisiting slide (whether revisited through menu or next/previous interaction) while maintaining the state of objects.

For example, on slide two, there is an introduction animation and narration and then the learner must click on a series of button interactions to listen to six instructions before the "Next" button is activated to advance to the next slide.

If the learner progresses through this slide and on to slide three, four, etc. and then returns to slide two to review, I would like to have the slide replay the timeline with narration and animation without requiring that the learner listen to the six audio instructions again before advancing.

I've been able to get the slide to save the states of those interactions so the learner can move forward without listening to them again, but I can't get the player to default to play the main timeline automatically upon revisit.

Any suggestions?

 

1 Reply
Judy Nollet
over 3 years ago09/23/20 at 1:45 pm (UTC)

Hi, Brian,

It'd be easier to troubleshoot if you uploaded the .story file. But I'll give it a try anyway. 

First, verify that the SLIDE Properties include "Reset to initial state" when revisiting. 

Second, be sure that none of the instruction layers are showing when revisiting. The easiest way to do this is to have a blank layer, and put a trigger on the base that shows that layer when the timeline starts. Otherwise, you need to have separate triggers to hide each layer when the base timeline starts. 

You could also try putting the main animation and narration on a layer, and always having that layer show when the user revisits the slide. And, of course, set those LAYER Properties to "Reset to Initial State." 

If none of that works, I suggest you upload your file. Or, at least, a copy with just the slide you're talking about, plus one Next slide after that. That'd allow someone on the Forum to look for other possible issues.

Finally, l'll say what I've said to Articulate: "Reset to initial state" and "Resume saved state" are HORRIBLY named in a way that misleads people about what they do.

  • "Reset to initial state" simply replays the timeline from the start.
  •  "Resume saved state" resumes playing the timeline from wherever it was when the user left the slide (which often means the end of the timeline, so nothing replays).
  • Neither directly does anything to object states. States will only change via triggers. So if a trigger on the timeline or one connected to a button changes the state of an object, that object will remain in that new state even if you replay the timeline. 

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