Collapse right-hand panel of triggers / slide properties

May 01, 2015

Can Storyline's right panel be suppressed for a wider view?

15 Replies
Brett Rockwood

In Storyline 2 you can undock the triggers and slide properties panels which gives you a wider work screen. I use two monitors and frequently move them over to the second screen. Click the little icon to the right of the pallete name, e.g., Triggers, Slide Layers, etc. You can also tear off the Timeline/States/Notes panel and the Scenes panel. This only works in SL2.

Sam Carter

It would be nice if the Triggers/Slide Properties could collapse just like the timeline on the bottom.  However, they don't reveal the display space for viewing the way the timeline collapse does.

Instead, it is necessary to undock the panels like Brett suggested which clutters other displays. Much rather just collapse them to reveal display space.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Sam,

I'm unsure what you mean by "However, they don't reveal the display space for viewing the way the timeline collapse does."  When I collapse the timeline and the trigger panel both to the bottom or right, I can expand my overall slide size to have it appear larger and easier to work with. 

Can you maybe share a bit more information or example of what you're seeing? 

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Sam,

No, I don't think we're understanding each other correctly. I tried to add a new video of the difference in Storyline 2 - but my system is having difficulty uploading that. That arrow will only collapse so that you can see more of the slide layers vs. more of the triggers - whereas the arrow on the timeline/states/notes collapses it to the bottom. You can achieve that same behavior with the trigger/slide layer panel by clicking on the far left edge of the panel and dragging it to the right.  That way it appears as a thin bar on the right hand side just as the timeline/states/notes section is a thin bar on the bottom when collapsed. 

Were you able to watch the video I shared above? It's the behavior in Storyline 1, but the same set up applies in Storyline 2. 

Brett Rockwood

Wow! I didn't know you could collapse it like that either. That's quite good to know.

And Sam, I don't think you're a UI dummy at all (or I must be one too). I think this is a UI oversight. When you look at the Timeline/States/Notes panel there is a small arrow pointing down to indicate that it can be collapsed. And when collapsed there is an arrow pointing up letting you know you can expand it. But the Triggers/Slide Layers panel is inconsistent with the Timeline as there is no arrow indicating that it can be collapsed or expanded. I would suggest that the arrows be added so it's more obvious and consistent with the behavior or the other panels.

I also didn't realize you could collapse the Scenes panel completely in the same way. It doesn't have the arrow indicators either.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Brett and Sam,

I don't know that it's a UI oversight, and I'm definitely not an expert in terms of UI design - but I suspect the rationale of the set up is that the Triggers/layers panel has two ways of being collapsible, whereas the others only can collapse one way. The dragging works across the board for all of those sections, and since the scenes panel doesn't have anything else to toggle (i.e. the slide layers vs. triggers) that's why it doesn't have an arrow. 

As always, your thoughts here are shared with our team, and you can share directly here. 

Hope you have a great weekend! 

Brett Rockwood

Hi Ashley,

Maybe oversight is the wrong word but the dragging to collapse isn't easily discoverable. I've been using SL almost daily since the first beta and today is the first time I've seen it. I think part of what makes it difficult to discover with the Triggers/Layers panel and Scenes panel is the panel stops shrinking at a certain point which leads you to believe that is the minimum it can go. I know I've pushed at it before but  I guess not enough to discover that if you go more far enough it will snap it shut.

Anyway, that's a really useful feature, but I bet a lot of people are unaware of it.

 

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