Changing State from Hidden to Normal and Timeline

Hi Sandra! I've figured out a way using a condition and a variable, but there may be other ways. 

1. Create a T/F variable for the <object> that starts later. Let's name it "smiles." Set it to False.
2. Create a trigger that states "Set 'smiles' to True when the timeline reaches 5 seconds." Or at whichever second your object starts. 
3. Set the <object> to a hidden state. 
4. On the button, create a trigger that states "Change state of <object> to Normal when user clicks if 'smiles' is equal to True." 

I've attached my example, hope it helps! 

EDITED TO ADD: For #2, make sure this trigger is attached to the object that starts later. 

Hi Sandra

hope I understand what you're saying.

when you have an object that has a hidden initial state , you can leave it at the beginning of the timeline and utilise triggers and cue points to change its state. E.g. Change state of object X to normal when timeline reaches cue point 1 (which is set at 3.5 secs). If you have the object in hidden state and on the timeline starting at 3.5 secs I have experienced issues with this method.

Hi Wendy-

basically I'm trying to create Closed Captioning that's truly timed with the audio and visuals on the slide, that you can toggle on /off on the slide with a CC button. 

I've tried your idea, I changed the state of an object when time line reaches a cue point if varX=true.  VarX = true when learner clicks CC button. However that doesn't seem to be consistent either because the trigger seems to execute at the exact cue point. So if the learner clicks the CC button after the cue point, the needed text box may not display correctly either. 

S. Yu- I'll give your idea a try to see if I can get it to work. 

Sandra,

When an object is on the timeline, but its time hasn't come yet, the system has actually put it into a hidden state, so when you change the state it becomes visible.

I recommend you put the CC at the beginning of the timeline in a hidden state. Create a button to show CC, and set it to appear later in the timeline. Then after it shows, the user can click it or not and have the CC show.

FYI: Best practice on CC seems to be to create a T/F Variable (CCVisible, or something of that nature), set to false, and three triggers on a button to control it.

Create a CC layer with a text box, and in it the name of a text variable (%CCText%), and a series of triggers to assign values to the text box. Control the triggers according to the timeline. That way, the text in the textbox is always in synch, even if it isn't visible.

Three triggers to control visibility:

1. Show layer CC  when user clicks button, if CCVisible is False.

2. Hide layer CC when user clicks button, if CCVisible is True.

3. Adjust variable CCVisible =NOTAssignment when user clicks button.

Check the attached sample.

Hi, Sandra -- Thanks for reaching out and it looks like you have received lots of great feedback here! Please let us know if you are all set, or if you need more project-specific advice, you are welcome to upload your file using the ADD ATTACHMENT button in the bottom left of the reply box. 

Thanks Walt for your suggestion. 

I initially I worked with  layers just as Walt suggested and it seemed to work. Where I encountered problems is on slides where the learner is turning on the CC. Since the CC layer plays independently of the baselayer timeline, any textboxes wouldn't be timed right, since the layer starts when clicking the CC button. 

Unfortunately, I may have learners that, even though not hearing-impaired, may choose to toggle back and forth between CC and audio depending on where they are taking the learning. 

I know I could include a scrollbar for the CC textbox on the layer, but I think that's really annoying for a learner to have to manually scroll through the text, while trying to keep up with what's going on on the slide. 

I tried S.Yu's suggestion, and I think it would work.

Unfortunately, for me it's just too time consuming to develop it that way. My current project is over 30 slides, and many text boxes would be required. And my next project will be software training. I don't even want to think about how much time it would take  to program all the triggers to time textboxes properly with the screencasts. 

I think I've decided for now to simply place the CC text into the Notes section. Anything else becomes too time consuming to develop. 

Of course- turns out that won't work with light-box slides. ;-)

When I realized you were trying to do CC, I also thought my suggestion was going to be too time consuming. FWIW, CCs are something I have attempted multiple times without a great solution, so you're not alone. Best of luck with your project! 

Sandra,

The sample I sent is not dependent on the timeline of the layer. Triggers on the base layer change the content of the variable, so it is always current, whether it is visible or not. The CC button either shows it or hides it, but nothing is connected to the timeline of the layer.

It's pretty easy to get it to work with other layers, too, but if you are not needing that ability, I won't confuse the issue with it.

Hi Walt, 

thanks so much. I finally got it to work with your solution! Labor intensive, but it works. So thanks for your suggestion :-)  

I am trying to achieve the same sort of thing, but struggling. I've attached the slide (made in Storyline v2, we don't have v3 yet).

Click each of the 4 buttons sets s14_s1_clicked to be true (or s14_s2_clicked, etc). When all 4 have been clicked, I need the s14_all_clicked variable to become True, and have it change of the state of the Next button. Or just skip to unlocking the Next button if that's easier (so ditching the all_clicked variable).

If anyone can tell me what I've done wrong, I'd be grateful.

It would probably be easier to add a Visited state to the four buttons and 'enable' the Next button when all four states are Visited, but since you used variables have a look at the attached and see if that works for you.

Thanks for fixing the variables ones, that worked. But I figured out the States way quicker when putting it onto the live package, so they are easier.

Walt - I just spent half a day trying to figure this out and researched everything about triggers, variables etc. I was close to giving up when I found this post. Thank you so much :)

Hi Anna and welcome to E-Learning Heroes :)

So glad that you were able to find what you needed to help you out here. Thanks for popping in to share.

Great stuff - got a feeling I'll be using Walt's variable technique a lot!