Behavior of Grouped Interactive Objects
Apr 23, 2014
When I group interactive objects, it seems the "hotspot" for the hover state is the entire group. And when I change the state of one object in the group, the entire group takes on that state.
I'm grouping the objects together so i can animate the entrance of the group, but when a user interacts I want them to work as independent objects.
Is there a way to change the behavior of a group of interactive objects.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about. http://envolvemedia.adobeconnect.com/groupingsample/
Slide 1: No grouping, the outer ring has three interactive objects (this is the desired user experience)
Slide 2: is identical to Slide 1, except the three outer ring objects are grouped and entrance of the group is animated. Here we get the hover state for all three happening at the same time, and if I visit one, all three take on the graphical treatment of the disabled state, but remain enabled (i.e. you can still click them and get the right layer to display).
I have some workarounds i can live with, but wondered if I'm missing something simple on this group behavior.
Thanks in advance
Pat
11 Replies
Hi Pat,
How have you set up each of the elements to be clicked on for slide 2, with a hotspot? Have you also enabled a hover state for the objects (as a group) and that's what we're seeing with the expansion of the object? This sounds like it's working as designed, as the hotspots wouldn't need to be a part of the group to still trigger an action (a layer you're showing?) based on just clicking on the hotspot, not the object itself.
If you're able to share that .story file here with us, we may be able to take a look at the set up and offer some other suggestions for ways in which you could set this up.
I'm not using any hotspot objects per se, I've just set the three ring objects with a hover state and a disable state. Each has an associated layer that is displayed upon click.
Slide 2 is identical setup, with the only difference being the three ring objects are grouped. The problem is the hover state for all three fires when I hover on any one of the objects. So if I hover over object 1, the hover state is revealed for objects 1, 2 and 3.
Is there a way to have to objects in a group, (for animation purposes) and have the interaction state work for each object independently. I can see how this behavior will be desired in some use cases, but not in others, Just wondering if there is an option to not have them behave as a group interaction.
Here is the Story file.
I've had this problem with a side bar menu which I am currently using so that if the buttons are grouped and the user hovers over one of them they all assume the hover state.
If I leave the menu ungrouped then the buttons 'fly in' at a slightly different angle than the rest of the menu and so look less solid.
I've tried to upload the story file but I seem to be having uploading to the forum for some reason.
Hi Patrick,
Since the objects are grouped, all the states would be combined as well and therefore when you hover over one of them, it's as if you're hovering over all of them. You could fake the states a bit, if you were to create a set up where the user hovered over a hotpsot on top of that portion, and ohovering would show an image that matches your hover state. You'll need to play with that layer a bit, to make the shape and image look like it's still sitting behind the circle, but I did a quick example on this version of your story for the "Assess Inventory" example.
This is literally one of the most frustrating, as designed, pieces of functionality that I have come across... How do we request a change? The idea of these states changing after grouping is clearly not inherent, otherwise people would not be trying to group them thinking they would have separate states. After they have been changed - unbeknownst to the ID - You cannot reset them back. This forces IDs to begin over with whatever triggers and images and states they had prior to the grouping.
Hi Jennifer,
I'm sorry that this has caused difficulty for you and thanks for sharing your thoughts here. You are also welcome and encouraged to share your thoughts here in the form of a feature request. Those go directly to our product development team for review.
I agree with Jen, it does not really make sense that inherent individual states should become a 'single' state when combined in groups. We basically want the parts of a group to still behave with their own states but be able to move/animate them as one group. Its impossible to build complex animations if we cannot make use of a simple 'grouping' function.
(SL2) This is frustrating, I myself built an object then grouped a complex button. I just wanted one element of the button to be interactive, not the other 4-5. I ended up placing a shape over the button and set it to 100% transparent, hiding the clickable interaction. I wanted my clickable effect at the end of the audio (or timeline) My 100% transparent object prevented the user from triggering/hovering the button until the timeline ended. A work around I guess.
Hi, I am having a similar issue. Five years later. I am shocked that this has not been addressed. It's a very nonsensical design decision. I'm also disappointed that although this was discussed, five years ago, and it was suggested that a we submit a design request, this issue continues to persist five years later.
Hi,
Unfortunately I'm having this issue a year on.
I fixed it by creating a new custom state and setting a trigger for that state individually (in my case to 'change to state x when mouse hovers over object'. Bit of a longer work around but came out just as I wanted it to!
Hope this helps the next person :)
So this is something that has been in Storyline for 8 years ?
I seldom used Groups before due to the impossibility to add elements in it after creation. When Articulate changed that...i started using them. Now i notice this behaviour... so you cannot use multiple UX elements in a group...come on Articulate...fix that.
The behaviour of ANY group should be exactly as before grouping. Multiple UX elements should behave as they did before. If a developer wants a 'Grouped' hover or trigger he can simply add a hotspot in it and that way a group can be easily controlled.
Do check my post here...
https://community.articulate.com/discussions/articulate-storyline/buggy-behaviour-of-buttons-and-checkboxes-in-a-group
And please indeed treat this as a bug and fix it !
https://360.articulate.com/review/content/d4e2610c-ef4d-4eca-84bc-97bed7c4a9f6/review