e.g. If you have a trigger to show layer, followed by a trigger to change state, the trigger to show layer will execute and the change state will never happen.
Here and here are articles that will help you understand the importance, but as always just shout out if you need more help.
Hi, I am having the exact same problem. Button on base layer is still showing when slide shows the second layer. I have set the second layer properties to "hide base layer", but nothing I try will stop it showing. I've tried hiding the base layer, hiding all slide layers, tried using a text box instead of a button, tried using a shape instead of a button. I also tried to re-order the triggers on the base layer, but the triggers relating to the button cannot be re-ordered, the up/down arrows are greyed out. I cannot fix this. Please can someone help?
The built-in superpower of the hover state is that it changes to hover when you hover, and restores when you hover out. By creating your own trigger, you have caused a conflict with the built-in superpower, and it has not taken that kindly. I suspect that in this case one of those triggers restores the Normal state, then the other one tries to. Since you have put the button into Hidden state, the restore command changes it to Normal, making it visible.
Regardless, duplicating the built-in functions with your own triggers frequently brings spectacular, but seldom welcome results. Delete it, and see if you are happier.
The states with names on the drop down list are the ones that have built-in triggers.
I have a question about this scenario. I am new to eLearning design and to Storyline360. I have read in several places that the built-in states for hover, selected, and visited are not reliable (it is said they will eventually break if you use them). Supposedly, only the hidden and and disabled built-in states are reliable. Is this true?
I tried to create my own custom hover, selected and visited states (I called them "HoverState", "SelectedState", and "VisitedState") for a slide I created. I set up triggers to fire when each of 3 buttons are selected to show a layer of additional information. Everything works beautifully...EXCEPT the clickable button from the base layer still appears on the layer (no matter what I do to try to get it to go away). I also realize I may have overlooked something since I am new to Storyline.
If I use the built-in states of hover, selected, and visted instead...everything works perfectly. Of course I want everything to work perfectly, especially since this is my first course, and a compliance course (that I will be offering to individuals who must take the course to earn continuing education credits). Because I will be offering the course to learners who need it to maintain a license, and I am an approved provider of education for the governing body over those licensees, I cannot afford for things to "break" after learners start taking the course.
Is it safe for me to use those built-in states?? Thank you!
I'd be happy to help you troubleshoot this issue. Have you tried choosing to hide the objects on the base layer in the slide properties for those layers you created?
If that doesn’t do the trick, you can share your project file with us in a support case or in this discussion. Either way, we’ll take a look and share our findings with you!
Also, I haven't heard about any reliability issues regarding built in states, however if you or anyone else reading this thread encounters that please don't hesitate to let us know.
I'd truly appreciate it if you could take a look at this slide and tell me what I may be doing wrong that is causing the "clicked" button from the base layer to appear on the layer.
I also noticed another issue. I had expected the initial character state (the one that's on the base layer and appears first) would again show as the pose on the base layer when the learner clicks the last of the 3 buttons and returns to the base layer. Instead, the character pose remains from the last clicked button. I am sure I am missing something simple here (or at least I hope!).
And finally, I will want the slide to resume to saved state upon revisit so that the learner doesn't have to click the buttons again. When I set it up this way, the next button is no longer clickable when they use the previous button to return to the slide, and then try to use the Next button to again move forward in the course. I have read this is a "bug of sorts" that occurs when you have layers and need to set up resume state and calls for a variable to be set up to enable the next button on revisit. Could you walk me through that process as well, particularly with the best suited naming convention for the the true/false variable?
(I should reveal that I must restrict the menu and navigation to prevent the learner from jumping ahead in my course. Then I understand I need to adjust any slides individually in the properties to override what the next button, etc for any slides that aren't behaving as needed).
Hover, Selected, and Visited are reliable. They may break if they are misused. The worst results and the most frequent abuse of the built-in states is to create your own trigger to get them to perform their built-in action. Deleting those triggers restores the reliability of the states. Probably the second biggest problem is making the objects part of a group, which can frequently break the states. A cause of Selected state not working is to incorrectly, or not configure a button set. Visited frequently doesn't work as expected if you leave its slide and later return to it. A frequent cause of this is to incorrectly set the the Revisit property. Choosing Used properly, the built-in states are very reliable. The main impetus for creating custom states is needing functions beyond their scope.
If a slide is set to saved state on revisit. and a layer is open on leaving, it will still be open on returning. To avoid this, hide the layer before jumping to the succeeding slide.
If it were mine, I would replace the custom states with the built-in ones, and delete the triggers that refer to them. Everything you want is well within the scope of the built-in actions.
In regard to revisiting the slide from another, when you revisit a slide, the timeline restarts, whether you have it set to Resume, or Reset. Therefore, the Next button is hidden, even if all the rectangles have been visited. The solution is, indeed variables. States can become confused, especially if you have it set to Automatically decide.
Thank you for the great info! It's nice to see the explanations put that way in one place. I have found I have difficulty applying info presented in basic tutorials (on both the articulate site and YouTube videos I find on my own of various "superusers" of Storyline 360) into my own projects.
I so want to be able to use the built-in states! And to learn to use them properly! I don't expect to ever be developing elaborate, complex slides for my purposes, so the type of interaction I submitted yesterday will likely be the extent of it.
I have tried to use all of your advice about using the built-ins and removing any triggers I created associated with them. (Please see the attached set of 3 slides - the one before and the one after are simply there for testing out the next button).
Here's my dilemma:
I need to have the slide locked down and the learner must complete all items on the slide before being allowed to move ahead. Therefore, I have chosen to restrict the menu and restrict the navigation. This is a 2-hour course with lots of slides but very few of them have layers.
I do not want them to have to re-click on the buttons again upon re-visit (unless they want to...if that is even possible). I thought I had it figured out except...if they don't hit the "Back Button" to close out the last layer for the last button they select, the next button is opened up (I assume by rule of "Clicking = visited") and they can move ahead. I’m not overly concerned if they simply blow off reading the content on the last clicked button before moving on, as I suppose that’s the worst thing that could happen. But also, if they decide to go back to the slide and start clicking around on that last layer (that never went back to the base layer), the clicking around on that revisted slide eventually causes the next button to no longer be enabled and the learner is stuck (I've set the slide properties to Resume Saved State upon re-visit).
The problem with initiating a trigger action "When state of ..." is that it only fires at the moment the last of the listed unchanged states changes. Then if the Next button gets changed back, there is no way to change it again. I changed the trigger that disables Next when the timeline begins. That's reliable, because the timeline begins on revisit, whether it is set to Reset, Resume, or Automatically Decide. I changed it to enable Next if the conditions are met, and used an Else to disable it if they aren't all met.
I set slide 1.2 to use variables to do the changing. The disadvantage of that is a few more triggers. The advantage is that you can require an action on the last visited layer. You can't require reading, but at least action. You can use that action to hide the layer so a return is to the base.
I set slide 1.3 to use states to do the changing. The disadvantage is that if they click around and Next gets disabled, there is no way to advance. The advantage is fewer triggers. What may be either is that Next is available as soon as the last option is clicked. They don't have to return to the base to advance (advantage), but if they don't, if they do return the layer is visible, not the base (disadvantage).
Use whichever you think best. I am partial to variables, because unrelated actions can potentially change states, but my triggers are the only things that can change variables.
On thing I do suggest is changing "Back". You may be clear on what it means, but the learner may not be. they could think, for example, "I don't want to go back. I don't want to repeat something I have already done." I prefer "Continue" as it carries the idea of moving forward.
Most definitely! Love that you embrace "Each One, Teach One"!
I do have another issue that I'm struggling with, so apparently I'm still missing something with triggers and conditions. Hoping you might offer a quick explanation of what I'm doing wrong here. (I've uploaded my slides of a Drag & Drop Knowledge Check and a Multiple Choice Knowledge Check with a couple of placeholder "A" , "B" and "C" slides in between so you can see/test the Next and Prev buttons).
Again, restricted menu and resticted navigation required. Must get the Knowledge Check correct before moving forward and should not have to answer the question again upon revisit. (A results slide is not needed). I have set the slides to Resume Saved State upon revisit.
Issues:
1. If the learner submits the incorrect answer, clicks the Retry Button, they return to the question on the base layer. Nut...if they choose to hit the Prev Button to go back to look at earlier content before they give it a "ReTry", they the Next Button opens up and they are able to advance without answering the question/drag&drop correctly.
2. I've also noticed that at times, if you do nothing for a minute, the buttons will fire automatically, so somewhere I feel like I have something tied to the timeline erroneously too.
If you could point me in the right direction, I would be ever so grateful!
Everything looks good, except for this trigger from the Try Again layers:
You don't want to set the Submitted variable to true unless the answer is correct, otherwise, it will act as you described. Leave this trigger on the Correct layers, and delete it on this layer and Next will be activated on return only if the slide has been answered correctly.
As to the automatic advance, I couldn't replicate it, so have no advice :(
15 Replies
Hi Kyle
I changed the order of triggers - see attached updated file.
Hi Wendy!
Thank you so much for your expertise.
Are there any unwritten rules about triggers to ensure everything happens the way it is supposed to?
For example: I see the order you put them in are “Change state first, show layer second”
Was trying to see if there was anything else like that to keep in mind for Storyline Triggers.
Thank you again!
Hi Kyle
trigger order is queen! SL executes in order.
e.g. If you have a trigger to show layer, followed by a trigger to change state, the trigger to show layer will execute and the change state will never happen.
Here and here are articles that will help you understand the importance, but as always just shout out if you need more help.
Hi, I am having the exact same problem. Button on base layer is still showing when slide shows the second layer. I have set the second layer properties to "hide base layer", but nothing I try will stop it showing. I've tried hiding the base layer, hiding all slide layers, tried using a text box instead of a button, tried using a shape instead of a button. I also tried to re-order the triggers on the base layer, but the triggers relating to the button cannot be re-ordered, the up/down arrows are greyed out. I cannot fix this. Please can someone help?
This trigger is the problem:
The built-in superpower of the hover state is that it changes to hover when you hover, and restores when you hover out. By creating your own trigger, you have caused a conflict with the built-in superpower, and it has not taken that kindly. I suspect that in this case one of those triggers restores the Normal state, then the other one tries to. Since you have put the button into Hidden state, the restore command changes it to Normal, making it visible.
Regardless, duplicating the built-in functions with your own triggers frequently brings spectacular, but seldom welcome results. Delete it, and see if you are happier.
The states with names on the drop down list are the ones that have built-in triggers.
I have a question about this scenario. I am new to eLearning design and to Storyline360. I have read in several places that the built-in states for hover, selected, and visited are not reliable (it is said they will eventually break if you use them). Supposedly, only the hidden and and disabled built-in states are reliable. Is this true?
I tried to create my own custom hover, selected and visited states (I called them "HoverState", "SelectedState", and "VisitedState") for a slide I created. I set up triggers to fire when each of 3 buttons are selected to show a layer of additional information. Everything works beautifully...EXCEPT the clickable button from the base layer still appears on the layer (no matter what I do to try to get it to go away). I also realize I may have overlooked something since I am new to Storyline.
If I use the built-in states of hover, selected, and visted instead...everything works perfectly. Of course I want everything to work perfectly, especially since this is my first course, and a compliance course (that I will be offering to individuals who must take the course to earn continuing education credits). Because I will be offering the course to learners who need it to maintain a license, and I am an approved provider of education for the governing body over those licensees, I cannot afford for things to "break" after learners start taking the course.
Is it safe for me to use those built-in states?? Thank you!
Hello Sonya! Welcome to using Storyline!
I'd be happy to help you troubleshoot this issue. Have you tried choosing to hide the objects on the base layer in the slide properties for those layers you created?
If that doesn’t do the trick, you can share your project file with us in a support case or in this discussion. Either way, we’ll take a look and share our findings with you!
Also, I haven't heard about any reliability issues regarding built in states, however if you or anyone else reading this thread encounters that please don't hesitate to let us know.
Hope this helps. Thanks for reaching out!
Thanks for the follow-up!
I'd truly appreciate it if you could take a look at this slide and tell me what I may be doing wrong that is causing the "clicked" button from the base layer to appear on the layer.
I also noticed another issue. I had expected the initial character state (the one that's on the base layer and appears first) would again show as the pose on the base layer when the learner clicks the last of the 3 buttons and returns to the base layer. Instead, the character pose remains from the last clicked button. I am sure I am missing something simple here (or at least I hope!).
And finally, I will want the slide to resume to saved state upon revisit so that the learner doesn't have to click the buttons again. When I set it up this way, the next button is no longer clickable when they use the previous button to return to the slide, and then try to use the Next button to again move forward in the course. I have read this is a "bug of sorts" that occurs when you have layers and need to set up resume state and calls for a variable to be set up to enable the next button on revisit. Could you walk me through that process as well, particularly with the best suited naming convention for the the true/false variable?
(I should reveal that I must restrict the menu and navigation to prevent the learner from jumping ahead in my course. Then I understand I need to adjust any slides individually in the properties to override what the next button, etc for any slides that aren't behaving as needed).
Thank you so much!
Hover, Selected, and Visited are reliable. They may break if they are misused. The worst results and the most frequent abuse of the built-in states is to create your own trigger to get them to perform their built-in action. Deleting those triggers restores the reliability of the states. Probably the second biggest problem is making the objects part of a group, which can frequently break the states. A cause of Selected state not working is to incorrectly, or not configure a button set. Visited frequently doesn't work as expected if you leave its slide and later return to it. A frequent cause of this is to incorrectly set the the Revisit property. Choosing Used properly, the built-in states are very reliable. The main impetus for creating custom states is needing functions beyond their scope.
If a slide is set to saved state on revisit. and a layer is open on leaving, it will still be open on returning. To avoid this, hide the layer before jumping to the succeeding slide.
If it were mine, I would replace the custom states with the built-in ones, and delete the triggers that refer to them. Everything you want is well within the scope of the built-in actions.
In regard to revisiting the slide from another, when you revisit a slide, the timeline restarts, whether you have it set to Resume, or Reset. Therefore, the Next button is hidden, even if all the rectangles have been visited. The solution is, indeed variables. States can become confused, especially if you have it set to Automatically decide.
See the attached sample.
Walt,
Thank you for the great info! It's nice to see the explanations put that way in one place. I have found I have difficulty applying info presented in basic tutorials (on both the articulate site and YouTube videos I find on my own of various "superusers" of Storyline 360) into my own projects.
I so want to be able to use the built-in states! And to learn to use them properly! I don't expect to ever be developing elaborate, complex slides for my purposes, so the type of interaction I submitted yesterday will likely be the extent of it.
I have tried to use all of your advice about using the built-ins and removing any triggers I created associated with them. (Please see the attached set of 3 slides - the one before and the one after are simply there for testing out the next button).
Here's my dilemma:
Thank you again for helping me learn this tool!
The problem with initiating a trigger action "When state of ..." is that it only fires at the moment the last of the listed unchanged states changes. Then if the Next button gets changed back, there is no way to change it again. I changed the trigger that disables Next when the timeline begins. That's reliable, because the timeline begins on revisit, whether it is set to Reset, Resume, or Automatically Decide. I changed it to enable Next if the conditions are met, and used an Else to disable it if they aren't all met.
I set slide 1.2 to use variables to do the changing. The disadvantage of that is a few more triggers. The advantage is that you can require an action on the last visited layer. You can't require reading, but at least action. You can use that action to hide the layer so a return is to the base.
I set slide 1.3 to use states to do the changing. The disadvantage is that if they click around and Next gets disabled, there is no way to advance. The advantage is fewer triggers. What may be either is that Next is available as soon as the last option is clicked. They don't have to return to the base to advance (advantage), but if they don't, if they do return the layer is visible, not the base (disadvantage).
Use whichever you think best. I am partial to variables, because unrelated actions can potentially change states, but my triggers are the only things that can change variables.
On thing I do suggest is changing "Back". You may be clear on what it means, but the learner may not be. they could think, for example, "I don't want to go back. I don't want to repeat something I have already done." I prefer "Continue" as it carries the idea of moving forward.
Gosh, I can't thank you enough! I opted for the variable method and it works like a charm!
Most definitely! Love that you embrace "Each One, Teach One"!
I do have another issue that I'm struggling with, so apparently I'm still missing something with triggers and conditions. Hoping you might offer a quick explanation of what I'm doing wrong here. (I've uploaded my slides of a Drag & Drop Knowledge Check and a Multiple Choice Knowledge Check with a couple of placeholder "A" , "B" and "C" slides in between so you can see/test the Next and Prev buttons).
Again, restricted menu and resticted navigation required. Must get the Knowledge Check correct before moving forward and should not have to answer the question again upon revisit. (A results slide is not needed). I have set the slides to Resume Saved State upon revisit.
Issues:
1. If the learner submits the incorrect answer, clicks the Retry Button, they return to the question on the base layer. Nut...if they choose to hit the Prev Button to go back to look at earlier content before they give it a "ReTry", they the Next Button opens up and they are able to advance without answering the question/drag&drop correctly.
2. I've also noticed that at times, if you do nothing for a minute, the buttons will fire automatically, so somewhere I feel like I have something tied to the timeline erroneously too.
If you could point me in the right direction, I would be ever so grateful!
Thanks!
Everything looks good, except for this trigger from the Try Again layers:
You don't want to set the Submitted variable to true unless the answer is correct, otherwise, it will act as you described. Leave this trigger on the Correct layers, and delete it on this layer and Next will be activated on return only if the slide has been answered correctly.
As to the automatic advance, I couldn't replicate it, so have no advice :(