Im creating a quiz where the user have 90 seconds to answer each question. Since storyline doesn't support timelimits on slides, I have made the timeline 90 seconds long and a layer that gets triggered when timeline ends, with the text "Times up". It all works fine besides that the user can minimize the window, and the timeline pauses. This way its possible to cheat, and do research during each question.
The slide timeline will pause if the learner navigates to a new browser tab or minimizes the browser window. We designed Storyline to work this way since people don't want courses to continue to play in the background while learners are browsing other websites. However, there are two sides to this coin, and it sounds like you'd prefer it to work the opposite way!
Does your learning management system have a feature that will "lock" the browser, meaning it won't allow learners to minimize the window or browse to other sites?
I have gotten around this by using javascript to save the initial time to a variable, then regardless whether or not the window was minimized, they will get a "times up" message if x seconds have passed.
I understand that Storyline is built to pause the timeline if the learner navigates away from the browser window however if there is media (audio, video, etc.) in the timeline it continues to play which is throwing the slide timeline and my voiceover/videos out of sync. Is there a way to keep the media in sync with the timeline meaning when the timeline pauses the media pauses?
I am guessing the solution will be a trigger although I am not totally sure what that trigger would be.
Thanks for reaching out! Are you finding that you're video and timeline work as expected when in the course, but getting out of sync when you navigate away from the browser window?
That is correct. I will have to check to see if I can share a specific file given the proprietary nature of our content however below a deeper description and I don't think a specific file of mine will provide more value given how easily the issue is replicated.
Additional description/background - When a course is published and loaded in the LMS, if a user minimizes the browser window the course is playing in, the timeline for the slide will pause however any media (video/audio/etc.) on that timeline continues playing. Below are a couple of specific scenarios where that creates a problem and I think this would be a major issue because any slides that have voice over aligned to objects/animations on the slide could easily have issues when a user minimizes the window.
Example 1) We have voice over with images, characters and animations built into all of our courses. When the user minimizes the browser window opened by the LMS to play the SCORM package, the voice over will keep playing however any images and animations will pause since they display based on the timeline which results in the audio and the visuals on the slide to be out of sync.
Example 2) We play .mp4 files that are the same length as the slide timeline and we have short pop ups that display over the video to verify a user is actively watching the video. When the course is launch by the LMS and the user minimizes the browser window the course is playing in, the timeline for the slide pauses but the video keeps playing. This means the user could return to the browser window that plays the course with the .mp4 file played in it's entirety but the timeline of the slide is still at the beginning and no pop ups displayed while the window was minimized.
Thank you for reaching out and letting us know that you are experiencing a similar issue.
This is still an open issue with our team, so I do not have an update to provide at this time. I wanted to share some information on how we define bugs and how we tackle them when they occur.
You should now be subscribed to this conversation so you will be notified of any updates we share here.
Our team is happy to help! I'd like for our Support Engineers to step in to offer more information regarding this issue with the pausing behavior. Please use this link to connect with a Support Engineer. I recommend sharing a screen recording so that we can see the snag in action.
When our courses play on our LMS, a user can click away, open a new browser, and the course keeps playing. If Storyline has been programmed to stop when a user clicks away- is this an LMS issue then?
You're correct, this would be customization made in your LMS. I'd recommend reaching out to your LMS administrator to see if they can offer information on where to find a similar setting in your LMS.
Good news! We fixed the issue where Audio/Video continues to play when switching browser tabs if the player is set to launch in a new browser and set to resize the browser to fill the screen.
You are correct. Lauren explains this functionality above.
We do have a feature request for the ability to control this behavior, so I've added this conversation to our report so that we can share any updates with you here.
Hi, I know Ren said that the issue has been resolved, but I still have the same issue as Scott when using Storyline and I have all the latest updates.
My issue is the following:
I have embedded videos from Prezi/Youtube into my slides. I have then set the timeline length to around the same length as the video. When testing the course, if I click to another window the video keeps playing but the timeline pauses. This means that learners could multitask until the video ends, only to come back and be waiting around for 5 minutes. Is there a way to have the embedded video pause when the timeline pauses or is that only an option for the videos that are uploaded directly?
Embedded videos from other websites have their own controls and are independent of the timeline. So even if you pause the timeline, the videos will continue to play.
You are correct that this is something that will only affect inserted videos.
Hi I am having the same issue where when the video slide plays on our LMS, a user can click away, open a new browser, and the course (& video) keeps playing.
Does anyone know an example of what the setting is in an LMS that has effectively prevented this from occurring so I can pass on the information to the LMS development team?
Ashlee, you may want to look into the topic, "Pausing the timeline when the player window is not active (in focus)." That seems to focus more on your problem of users bypassing the course content. I think there may be a way to pause the course if the window loses focus using javascript, but I have not seen that. I'm looking for an answer myself as some users have discovered they can run 5 courses at once.
26 Replies
Hi Rasmus,
The slide timeline will pause if the learner navigates to a new browser tab or minimizes the browser window. We designed Storyline to work this way since people don't want courses to continue to play in the background while learners are browsing other websites. However, there are two sides to this coin, and it sounds like you'd prefer it to work the opposite way!
Does your learning management system have a feature that will "lock" the browser, meaning it won't allow learners to minimize the window or browse to other sites?
Thank you for the response. I have contacted our LMS-provider and have them take a look at it.
I have gotten around this by using javascript to save the initial time to a variable, then regardless whether or not the window was minimized, they will get a "times up" message if x seconds have passed.
This post was removed by the author
Sounds great Russell, Is it possible for you to send the code?
Hi Alyssa,
I understand that Storyline is built to pause the timeline if the learner navigates away from the browser window however if there is media (audio, video, etc.) in the timeline it continues to play which is throwing the slide timeline and my voiceover/videos out of sync. Is there a way to keep the media in sync with the timeline meaning when the timeline pauses the media pauses?
I am guessing the solution will be a trigger although I am not totally sure what that trigger would be.
Hi Scott,
Thanks for reaching out! Are you finding that you're video and timeline work as expected when in the course, but getting out of sync when you navigate away from the browser window?
It will help to share your file with our support team for a closer look. They'd be happy to test out a few scenarios and offer some suggestions!
Hi Ren,
That is correct. I will have to check to see if I can share a specific file given the proprietary nature of our content however below a deeper description and I don't think a specific file of mine will provide more value given how easily the issue is replicated.
Additional description/background - When a course is published and loaded in the LMS, if a user minimizes the browser window the course is playing in, the timeline for the slide will pause however any media (video/audio/etc.) on that timeline continues playing. Below are a couple of specific scenarios where that creates a problem and I think this would be a major issue because any slides that have voice over aligned to objects/animations on the slide could easily have issues when a user minimizes the window.
Example 1) We have voice over with images, characters and animations built into all of our courses. When the user minimizes the browser window opened by the LMS to play the SCORM package, the voice over will keep playing however any images and animations will pause since they display based on the timeline which results in the audio and the visuals on the slide to be out of sync.
Example 2) We play .mp4 files that are the same length as the slide timeline and we have short pop ups that display over the video to verify a user is actively watching the video. When the course is launch by the LMS and the user minimizes the browser window the course is playing in, the timeline for the slide pauses but the video keeps playing. This means the user could return to the browser window that plays the course with the .mp4 file played in it's entirety but the timeline of the slide is still at the beginning and no pop ups displayed while the window was minimized.
Thanks,
Scott
Thank you for the additional information, Scott.
I see that you were able to work directly with Renato on our support team as well and he has identified a potential bug that we are investigating.
I'm adding this conversation to the report as well so that we can share any updates with you here.
Hello Leslie, I have the same issue as Scott in example 2 and also would like to know if there are any update on a solution. Thank you
Hi Alfred and welcome to E-Learning Heroes 😊
Thank you for reaching out and letting us know that you are experiencing a similar issue.
This is still an open issue with our team, so I do not have an update to provide at this time. I wanted to share some information on how we define bugs and how we tackle them when they occur.
You should now be subscribed to this conversation so you will be notified of any updates we share here.
Hi Alyssa,
I have the same problem. There is no way that the course is not paused when changing tabs ?
Maybe it's due the LMS (Talentsoft) ?
However I noticed that the course don't stop when I'm with Internet explorer 11.
Have you a solution ?
Thanks for your help
Sincerely
Hi Sebastien!
Our team is happy to help! I'd like for our Support Engineers to step in to offer more information regarding this issue with the pausing behavior. Please use this link to connect with a Support Engineer. I recommend sharing a screen recording so that we can see the snag in action.
When our courses play on our LMS, a user can click away, open a new browser, and the course keeps playing. If Storyline has been programmed to stop when a user clicks away- is this an LMS issue then?
Hi Jennifer!
You're correct, this would be customization made in your LMS. I'd recommend reaching out to your LMS administrator to see if they can offer information on where to find a similar setting in your LMS.
Hi Everyone,
Good news! We fixed the issue where Audio/Video continues to play when switching browser tabs if the player is set to launch in a new browser and set to resize the browser to fill the screen.
We originally found this bug in Scott's case with our team. Here's how to install the latest Storyline 360 update to see all the recent enhancements and fixes.
If the problem reappears, please connect with our team, or share a screen recording here, and we'll be happy to help!
HI Russell. I could really use that code? I don't suppose you still have it please mate?
it means there is no seting to still playing in background while switch tab or minimze the window?
Hi Mikha,
You are correct. Lauren explains this functionality above.
We do have a feature request for the ability to control this behavior, so I've added this conversation to our report so that we can share any updates with you here.
Hi, I know Ren said that the issue has been resolved, but I still have the same issue as Scott when using Storyline and I have all the latest updates.
My issue is the following:
I have embedded videos from Prezi/Youtube into my slides. I have then set the timeline length to around the same length as the video. When testing the course, if I click to another window the video keeps playing but the timeline pauses. This means that learners could multitask until the video ends, only to come back and be waiting around for 5 minutes. Is there a way to have the embedded video pause when the timeline pauses or is that only an option for the videos that are uploaded directly?
Hi, Riley.
Thank you for reaching out!
Embedded videos from other websites have their own controls and are independent of the timeline. So even if you pause the timeline, the videos will continue to play.
You are correct that this is something that will only affect inserted videos.
Let me know if you have additional questions!
Hi I am having the same issue where when the video slide plays on our LMS, a user can click away, open a new browser, and the course (& video) keeps playing.
Does anyone know an example of what the setting is in an LMS that has effectively prevented this from occurring so I can pass on the information to the LMS development team?
Ashlee, you may want to look into the topic, "Pausing the timeline when the player window is not active (in focus)." That seems to focus more on your problem of users bypassing the course content. I think there may be a way to pause the course if the window loses focus using javascript, but I have not seen that. I'm looking for an answer myself as some users have discovered they can run 5 courses at once.
I'm having the same problem... until 1 month ago the course stopped if you opened new browser windows or minimized the window, but now it continues
Does anyone know if there is any setting to make to ensure that the course stops if new browser windows are opened?
Thanks
Hi! try this example, tell me if it work for you, thanks...