I have been working on a project and all of a sudden, the characters and some of the pictures are not showing up on the page. I can see them in the scenes thumbnail, and most seem to show up on the preview, but they are not longer visible when I work on individual pages. The box surrounding it will show up when I click on the item, but not the image itself. Have I inadvertently changed some setting? It's frustrating me!
I'm sorry to hear about the images and characters disappearing. Unfortunately when we've seen this behavior there is no easy way to get them back. You may want to try importing it into a new Storyline file to see if that resolves the issues.
I don't know, but I think something may be seriously wrong. I can add a new slide and try to replicate what I had, and when I insert a picture, the box shows up when highlighted, it is labeled in the timeline, but there is nothing showing on the screen. I try to import it into a new file and all visual images disappeared. The text remained, but there were no images, no pictures I had imported, no storyline characters, only text. I have 73 pages. Is there a limit of any kind?
No limit that I know of to slide number or file size - can you let me know if you're able to add elements into a new file? It sounds like something is wrong with this existing file, and once a file becomes corrupt there isn't a way to save it. You may also want to conduct a repair of Storyline to resolve any odd behavior.
I just experienced a variation of this. But only on just one slide. The rest of the course seems "fine."
The images show in the timeline and I can select them and their bounding box shows, but there are "invisible" when editing, previewing or publishing. I had this file open overnight and closed it to reboot my PC this AM, closing the file from the slide in question.
I can add new images to the slide.
In this incidence, is this file still corrupted?
More important question--if indeed, this file became corrupted, what causes that and what can be avoided to avoid this happening in the future.
Identifying file corruption is always a tricky area - but one of the known causes is leaving the file open overnight or for an extended period of time. You may want to consider these other preventative measures to protect your project files:
1) Save and publish projects on your local hard drive. Working on a network drive or external USB drive can cause erratic behavior due to latency.
2) Save incrementally. If your app has an AutoRecovery feature, take advantage of it. If not, save a new version of your project every hour or so with a new file name each time. If a file becomes corrupt, you'll still have a working version available.
3) Install Dropbox. Snapshots of changes in your local Dropbox folder are kept for 30 days. If a file is damaged or deleted, you can restore a previous snapshot: https://www.dropbox.com/help/11/en.
If you can add new images to the slide, that's a good sign - but I'd also look at rebuilding it just in case. Additionally you may be able to find a working version of your project in your temp files. Here's how to check:
1) Open this folder in Windows Explorer:
%appdata%\Articulate\Storyline
2) Scan the contents of this folder for a file that starts with the name of your project. If you find one, copy it to your desktop. If you find more than one, copy the latest version to your desktop.
3) Change the file extension of the copy on your desktop from *.tmp to *.story.
4) Double-click the file to open it in Storyline.
This thread is also a bit older, and we haven't seen the same issue with images disappearing in Storyline 2 as we did in Storyline 1. If you'd like us to take a look at it, we're always happy to do so. You can share it here or send it along to our team here. Feel free to let us know if you need anything else!
I already do most of the things you describe. I create multiple versions and have my own NAS server for syncing changes/backups. So I'm awash in multiple versions. :) And I always save locally.
I was just going through a published version of the project and another strange issue emerged temporarily. All slides with videos on them, with the stock SL2 seekbar on them, are set to "Reset to initial state."
But the replay function of the seekbar was not working like it should when a slide is set to "Reset to initial state." Clicking the replay button only gave a blank slide.
So I went back to SL2 and previewed the affected slide and it worked perfectly. So I republished the course and now everything seems to be working fine.
But, still, to be safe, I'm now going to create a new course version by importing the slides from the old. Relinking everything afterwards, though, after that will be sheer hell.
One more thing on this issue, before stopping last night, I tried to save and got the message about I could not save because another process was using the file. So I had to a "Save as" to create a new version.
I'll also create a case as you suggest.
Sorry for the soapbox comment here. I love Articulate and I love Storyline. Been using and advocating your software since 2003.
But I'm bemused that strange things happen with your software that I've never experienced with any software program.
And each SL client project I do always seems to take longer than it should due to SL anomalies and UI challenges (like too many clicks sometimes). And the issues always seem to happen at the 11th hour of a project.
It's tough not feeling frustrated sometimes . . . .
No apologies necessary - I can certainly understand the frustration and time issues you've run into and how that is problematic. It sounds like this one file had some odd behavior overall - which you've also seen before, so taking a look at the .story file with the assistance of our Support Engineers will be a good next step. If you've submitted the case, please let me know the case number and I can follow along to share any relevant updates here in the thread.
Thanks again for sharing here and for being with us since 2003! That's a long time!
I've just had this same problem hitting me, after already having delivered my product to a client. VERY embarrassing. I'm already using Dropbox, though and I'm trying to see if restoring an older version will help.
Still, I have to agree with Gerry when (s)he says '[...] strange things happen with your software that I've never experienced with any software program.' And this is certainly one of those (regular) things. Files just "becoming" corrupted? Really? And Storyline regularly does things of its own accord, too. If this program were a teenager, I'd say it has a terrible attitude.
Thanks for reaching out here - and if you're seeing this occur on more than one file, we'd be happy to take a look as well. In regards to file corruption, it's unpredictable, and there's no straightforward way to determine what causes it. Common causes are environmental (disk errors, power outages, improper shutdowns), viruses, failed Windows updates, and even file size (i.e., very large files have a higher risk of corrupting).
Consider these preventative measures to protect your project files:
1) Save and publish projects on your local hard drive. Working on a network drive or external USB drive can cause erratic behavior due to latency.
2) Save incrementally. If your app has an AutoRecovery feature, take advantage of it. If not, save a new version of your project every hour or so with a new file name each time. If a file becomes corrupt, you'll still have a working version available.
3) Install Dropbox. Snapshots of changes in your local Dropbox folder are kept for 30 days. If a file is damaged or deleted, you can restore a previous snapshot: https://www.dropbox.com/help/11/en.
4) Don't leave the app open and unattended for long periods of time. Some users have reported file corruption after leaving their apps open overnight. It's possible that a malware scan or disk backup could run because the machine is idle, making your app vulnerable to crashing.
As for finding the temp file where it may have a copy of your project, here's how to check
1) Open this folder in Windows Explorer:
%appdata%\Articulate\Storyline
2) Scan the contents of this folder for a file that starts with the name of your project. If you find one, copy it to your desktop. If you find more than one, copy the latest version to your desktop.
3) Change the file extension of the copy on your desktop from *.tmp to *.story.
I just experienced the same issue... I was able to right click on the image - save as and open the image into an image-editing app. I then re-inserted the image into the source file. Not that this only occurred with images that were grouped in my slides. Once I imported the newly saved images, the issue corrected itself. Not sure if this helps, but hopefully it does!.
This issue is happening to me almost daily. Very maddening! :(
Sometimes I just leave a project open unattended for as little as 10 minutes and I come back and I see the issue on the slide I'm currently working on.
Usually it takes a few hours of a project being opened or overnight but 10 minutes takes the cake.
Thanks for sharing that info here, and if you're able or would like us to take a look you can share the .story file or the image file that was causing you issues and we're happy to take a look. You can also see the general information here in terms of how to prevent odd behavior in your files, and leaving it open and unattended for a long period of time is one of them, but it's typically much more than 10 minutes (like overnight).
We're also happy to take a look at yours as well - and again you're welcome to share here in the forums or feel free to upload here to our Support engineers.
THANKS for the offer. I submitted a case on this recently and am working with Cleo. Case #00739754. Have already sent her one project file.
Sent an update e-mail to her about two hours ago.
Again, seems to be happening over multiple projects (actually any project I open lately that I leave unintended) and have done two uninstalls/reinstalls of SL2 per the KB article on SL acting erratically.
17 Replies
Hi Donna and welcome to Heroes!
I'm sorry to hear about the images and characters disappearing. Unfortunately when we've seen this behavior there is no easy way to get them back. You may want to try importing it into a new Storyline file to see if that resolves the issues.
You'll also want to make sure that you're working with all local project files, as working on a network drive or USB is known to cause unusual and erratic Storyline behavior. Additionally, I would also suggest implementing a method to back up your Storyline files and there is some community members discussing their favorite back up methods here.
I don't know, but I think something may be seriously wrong. I can add a new slide and try to replicate what I had, and when I insert a picture, the box shows up when highlighted, it is labeled in the timeline, but there is nothing showing on the screen. I try to import it into a new file and all visual images disappeared. The text remained, but there were no images, no pictures I had imported, no storyline characters, only text. I have 73 pages. Is there a limit of any kind?
Hi Donna,
No limit that I know of to slide number or file size - can you let me know if you're able to add elements into a new file? It sounds like something is wrong with this existing file, and once a file becomes corrupt there isn't a way to save it. You may also want to conduct a repair of Storyline to resolve any odd behavior.
I just experienced a variation of this. But only on just one slide. The rest of the course seems "fine."
The images show in the timeline and I can select them and their bounding box shows, but there are "invisible" when editing, previewing or publishing. I had this file open overnight and closed it to reboot my PC this AM, closing the file from the slide in question.
I can add new images to the slide.
In this incidence, is this file still corrupted?
More important question--if indeed, this file became corrupted, what causes that and what can be avoided to avoid this happening in the future.
Hi Gerry,
Identifying file corruption is always a tricky area - but one of the known causes is leaving the file open overnight or for an extended period of time. You may want to consider these other preventative measures to protect your project files:
If you can add new images to the slide, that's a good sign - but I'd also look at rebuilding it just in case. Additionally you may be able to find a working version of your project in your temp files. Here's how to check:
This thread is also a bit older, and we haven't seen the same issue with images disappearing in Storyline 2 as we did in Storyline 1. If you'd like us to take a look at it, we're always happy to do so. You can share it here or send it along to our team here. Feel free to let us know if you need anything else!
Thanks, Ashley! :)
I already do most of the things you describe. I create multiple versions and have my own NAS server for syncing changes/backups. So I'm awash in multiple versions. :) And I always save locally.
I was just going through a published version of the project and another strange issue emerged temporarily. All slides with videos on them, with the stock SL2 seekbar on them, are set to "Reset to initial state."
But the replay function of the seekbar was not working like it should when a slide is set to "Reset to initial state." Clicking the replay button only gave a blank slide.
So I went back to SL2 and previewed the affected slide and it worked perfectly. So I republished the course and now everything seems to be working fine.
But, still, to be safe, I'm now going to create a new course version by importing the slides from the old. Relinking everything afterwards, though, after that will be sheer hell.
One more thing on this issue, before stopping last night, I tried to save and got the message about I could not save because another process was using the file. So I had to a "Save as" to create a new version.
I'll also create a case as you suggest.
Sorry for the soapbox comment here. I love Articulate and I love Storyline. Been using and advocating your software since 2003.
But I'm bemused that strange things happen with your software that I've never experienced with any software program.
And each SL client project I do always seems to take longer than it should due to SL anomalies and UI challenges (like too many clicks sometimes). And the issues always seem to happen at the 11th hour of a project.
It's tough not feeling frustrated sometimes . . . .
Hi Gerry,
No apologies necessary - I can certainly understand the frustration and time issues you've run into and how that is problematic. It sounds like this one file had some odd behavior overall - which you've also seen before, so taking a look at the .story file with the assistance of our Support Engineers will be a good next step. If you've submitted the case, please let me know the case number and I can follow along to share any relevant updates here in the thread.
Thanks again for sharing here and for being with us since 2003! That's a long time!
Thanks, Ashley. :)
Case submitted: 00684653
Yeah, I'm a Articulate old-timer . . . er, codger . . . er, geezer . . . er, old f??t . . .
Best!
Thanks Gerry for the case number and I included some comments for our team based on this thread.
You said old timer, not me...but now I won't admit where I was in 2003... ;-)
I've just had this same problem hitting me, after already having delivered my product to a client. VERY embarrassing. I'm already using Dropbox, though and I'm trying to see if restoring an older version will help.
Still, I have to agree with Gerry when (s)he says '[...] strange things happen with your software that I've never experienced with any software program.' And this is certainly one of those (regular) things. Files just "becoming" corrupted? Really? And Storyline regularly does things of its own accord, too. If this program were a teenager, I'd say it has a terrible attitude.
Hi Jordi,
Thanks for reaching out here - and if you're seeing this occur on more than one file, we'd be happy to take a look as well. In regards to file corruption, it's unpredictable, and there's no straightforward way to determine what causes it. Common causes are environmental (disk errors, power outages, improper shutdowns), viruses, failed Windows updates, and even file size (i.e., very large files have a higher risk of corrupting).
I just experienced the same issue... I was able to right click on the image - save as and open the image into an image-editing app. I then re-inserted the image into the source file. Not that this only occurred with images that were grouped in my slides. Once I imported the newly saved images, the issue corrected itself. Not sure if this helps, but hopefully it does!.
This issue is happening to me almost daily. Very maddening! :(
Sometimes I just leave a project open unattended for as little as 10 minutes and I come back and I see the issue on the slide I'm currently working on.
Usually it takes a few hours of a project being opened or overnight but 10 minutes takes the cake.
Hi Katie,
Thanks for sharing that info here, and if you're able or would like us to take a look you can share the .story file or the image file that was causing you issues and we're happy to take a look. You can also see the general information here in terms of how to prevent odd behavior in your files, and leaving it open and unattended for a long period of time is one of them, but it's typically much more than 10 minutes (like overnight).
Hi Gerry,
We're also happy to take a look at yours as well - and again you're welcome to share here in the forums or feel free to upload here to our Support engineers.
Hi, Ashley!
THANKS for the offer. I submitted a case on this recently and am working with Cleo. Case #00739754. Have already sent her one project file.
Sent an update e-mail to her about two hours ago.
Again, seems to be happening over multiple projects (actually any project I open lately that I leave unintended) and have done two uninstalls/reinstalls of SL2 per the KB article on SL acting erratically.
Thanks Gerry - and Cleo is pretty awesome, so you're in incredibly capable hands! I'll check in on your case as well.
This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.