Hi. I have a few objects that are grouped together. If I want to add one to the group, I would think I could drag or cut and paste and object into that group?
I can't figure out how to add, or remove an object from a group other than ungrouping the whole group, making my changes, then re grouping the objects I want grouped.
Yeah, I'm with Nadia. I have an existing group (my own table of contents panel) with various animations/triggers set and I forgot to put the close button inside the group. Creating a new group only nests the first group inside the new group. There's benefits to that also, but it would be nice if you could place the object/s inside the original group.
Perhaps allow us to drag the elements into and out of groups from in the timeline. You can re-arrange the top-to-bottom order of objects here but you can't drag an object to be inside an existing group.
I am a new user of Storyline. I have Storyline 3. I am attempting to group a set of objects. I have 2 rectangles, 2 text boxes, and a hotspot. I selected all of the objects by using my mouse to drag a selection area around them.
I tried <CTRL><G>; it failed.
I tried Home > Arrange > Group Object > Group. However the "group" option was greyed out; it failed.
I tried Format > Group > Group. However the "group" option was greyed out here as well; it failed.
Please help me. Also, how do I get notified that you responded to my post?
Wow, I'm blown away. This issue is STILL not fixed and it's 2021. This thread is eight years old!
When we ungroup a set of objects we lose all animations and triggers that were previously applied. We should be able to add an item to a group by simply dragging the item into the grouped object on the timeline.
Articulate representatives, is it that you do not understand the issue or is it that you don't think it's valuable to have this fundamental feature?
I'm going to re-frame this question, and perhaps offer a suggestion for people who are looking to "solve" this problem.
I think the discussion thread adequately explains the process of simply adding an object to a Group. The real problem most might encounter is that when adding an object a "new" Group is created. And any triggers connected to the original Group are potentially rendered inactive. So, if I have Group 1 with a bunch of triggers, but add a rather large text box to that group, the new Group becomes Group 5 (because I have other Groups on the slide, too). And my Group 1 triggers may not work as expected.
Even if I un-group all of Group 1, re-select all my desired objects (including the new one), and select to group them, that new group is still labeled Group 5.
A simple way around this is to rename the "new" Group 5 as "Group 1" in the Timeline, and then the triggers will work again. If one wanted this to work in a really clean way, follow the process of ungrouping the original group, add the new object, create the new group, and then rename the new Group to have the original group name used by the trigger.
Unless I am totally missing something, and this is "fixed" elsewhere in SL.
Hi Kathy... Regarding this... "A simple way around this is to rename the "new" Group 5 as "Group 1" in the Timeline, and then the triggers will work again. If one wanted this to work in a really clean way, follow the process of ungrouping the original group, add the new object, create the new group, and then rename the new Group to have the original group name used by the trigger."
I'm not able to get this to work as you describe. Can you explain further? If I ungroup the original group, the trigger is deleted automatically, and creating the new group and renaming it to the original group name does not bring the trigger back.
Lisa-you are right. I had a lot of similar triggers and did not notice that one disappear.
My original solution of renaming doesn't really solve the problem.
Not as "clean" but perhaps easier to follow: On slide I have Groups 1-4, and a trigger based on Group 1. Add new object to Group 1. New Group 5 is created, which contains Group 1 (So Group 1trigger is not lost) Click the Group 1 trigger drop-down and select Group 5.
Sorry, Kathy, that would have been a wonderful workaround. Yes, what you describe is pretty much what I have to do if I want to preserve triggers. Often, though, I just ungroup Group 1, lose the trigger, and group everything with the new object into a new group and recreate the trigger. I've had loads of problems with nesting groups within groups within groups ... *sigh*
This approach is unusable if you have some triggers or animations attached on the group you are ungrouping. By ungrouping, you will lose all this functionality.
I know I'm late to reply, around 5 to 9 years late I think jeje. Just in case these forum would be revisited, a way I found that allowed me to tackle exactly the issue of adding to an existing group in the outliner, is that of Click and Drag the desired object WITH, the middle click, not the Left click. You do that, and the mouse cursor will appear a tiny + sign at the right bottom of the cursor. This allowed me to add objects (in my case cameras) to a group while maintaining the rotation I applied to the group individually from the camera's. Whoever revisits, I hope you find this helpful.
I am jumping into this discussion to share that we just released Storyline 360 (Build 3.63.27628.0) which includes changes to the timeline.
New: Create slides faster with time-saving upgrades to the timeline. Multi-select objects and move them all at once. Choose where pasted objects appear in the stacking order or even paste them into an existing group. Align objects to the playhead or vice versa. And when the timeline is too long, you can instantly reset it to five seconds or shorten it to the object with the longest duration.
Now all you need to do is update Storyline 360 in your Articulate 360 desktop app!
If you have additional questions, don't hesitate to reach out in this discussion or in a support case.
I know this is an old post, but I had to look it up so hopefully it helps someone.
To add an object to an existing group, select an object within the group before you insert the object, and it'll add it to the group above the previously selected item.
I am still unable to add items into an existing group. Can someone clarify if this is now available to use. Also, is there a limit on how many items that can be grouped?
This feature request is still in the works, but we'll be sure to drop a message here as soon as it becomes available! For your other inquiry, there is no set limit to how many items can be included in a group.
96 Replies
Yeah, I'm with Nadia. I have an existing group (my own table of contents panel) with various animations/triggers set and I forgot to put the close button inside the group. Creating a new group only nests the first group inside the new group. There's benefits to that also, but it would be nice if you could place the object/s inside the original group.
Perhaps allow us to drag the elements into and out of groups from in the timeline. You can re-arrange the top-to-bottom order of objects here but you can't drag an object to be inside an existing group.
Hello -
I am a new user of Storyline. I have Storyline 3. I am attempting to group a set of objects. I have 2 rectangles, 2 text boxes, and a hotspot. I selected all of the objects by using my mouse to drag a selection area around them.
Please help me. Also, how do I get notified that you responded to my post?
Untill recently i used Groups seldom in Storyline 360. Now im using them more and more to cleanup my timeline. What i miss in Groups:
- options for adding and or removing existing elements to a Group.
CTRL+G doesnt solve this because you get nested groups. Ungrouping and regrouping groups is cumbersome and shouldnot be needed.
Hi Michael,
Hotspots cannot be grouped. If you replace the hotspot with a shape set to 100% transparency, you will be able to group the objects you described.
Wow, I'm blown away. This issue is STILL not fixed and it's 2021. This thread is eight years old!
When we ungroup a set of objects we lose all animations and triggers that were previously applied. We should be able to add an item to a group by simply dragging the item into the grouped object on the timeline.
Articulate representatives, is it that you do not understand the issue or is it that you don't think it's valuable to have this fundamental feature?
I'm going to re-frame this question, and perhaps offer a suggestion for people who are looking to "solve" this problem.
I think the discussion thread adequately explains the process of simply adding an object to a Group. The real problem most might encounter is that when adding an object a "new" Group is created. And any triggers connected to the original Group are potentially rendered inactive. So, if I have Group 1 with a bunch of triggers, but add a rather large text box to that group, the new Group becomes Group 5 (because I have other Groups on the slide, too). And my Group 1 triggers may not work as expected.
Even if I un-group all of Group 1, re-select all my desired objects (including the new one), and select to group them, that new group is still labeled Group 5.
A simple way around this is to rename the "new" Group 5 as "Group 1" in the Timeline, and then the triggers will work again. If one wanted this to work in a really clean way, follow the process of ungrouping the original group, add the new object, create the new group, and then rename the new Group to have the original group name used by the trigger.
Unless I am totally missing something, and this is "fixed" elsewhere in SL.
Hi Kathy... Regarding this... "A simple way around this is to rename the "new" Group 5 as "Group 1" in the Timeline, and then the triggers will work again. If one wanted this to work in a really clean way, follow the process of ungrouping the original group, add the new object, create the new group, and then rename the new Group to have the original group name used by the trigger."
I'm not able to get this to work as you describe. Can you explain further? If I ungroup the original group, the trigger is deleted automatically, and creating the new group and renaming it to the original group name does not bring the trigger back.
Hmm. As for the "clean way", I may have missed something because my trigger remained. I will do some testing & see if I can isolate.
Lisa-you are right. I had a lot of similar triggers and did not notice that one disappear.
My original solution of renaming doesn't really solve the problem.
Not as "clean" but perhaps easier to follow:
On slide I have Groups 1-4, and a trigger based on Group 1.
Add new object to Group 1.
New Group 5 is created, which contains Group 1 (So Group 1trigger is not lost)
Click the Group 1 trigger drop-down and select Group 5.
Sorry, Kathy, that would have been a wonderful workaround. Yes, what you describe is pretty much what I have to do if I want to preserve triggers. Often, though, I just ungroup Group 1, lose the trigger, and group everything with the new object into a new group and recreate the trigger. I've had loads of problems with nesting groups within groups within groups ... *sigh*
This approach is unusable if you have some triggers or animations attached on the group you are ungrouping. By ungrouping, you will lose all this functionality.
Hello there!
I know I'm late to reply, around 5 to 9 years late I think jeje. Just in case these forum would be revisited, a way I found that allowed me to tackle exactly the issue of adding to an existing group in the outliner, is that of Click and Drag the desired object WITH, the middle click, not the Left click. You do that, and the mouse cursor will appear a tiny + sign at the right bottom of the cursor. This allowed me to add objects (in my case cameras) to a group while maintaining the rotation I applied to the group individually from the camera's. Whoever revisits, I hope you find this helpful.
Hi all!
I am jumping into this discussion to share that we just released Storyline 360 (Build 3.63.27628.0) which includes changes to the timeline.
New: Create slides faster with time-saving upgrades to the timeline. Multi-select objects and move them all at once. Choose where pasted objects appear in the stacking order or even paste them into an existing group. Align objects to the playhead or vice versa. And when the timeline is too long, you can instantly reset it to five seconds or shorten it to the object with the longest duration.
Now all you need to do is update Storyline 360 in your Articulate 360 desktop app!
If you have additional questions, don't hesitate to reach out in this discussion or in a support case.
I know this is an old post, but I had to look it up so hopefully it helps someone.
To add an object to an existing group, select an object within the group before you insert the object, and it'll add it to the group above the previously selected item.
I am still unable to add items into an existing group. Can someone clarify if this is now available to use. Also, is there a limit on how many items that can be grouped?
Hello Dillard,
This feature request is still in the works, but we'll be sure to drop a message here as soon as it becomes available! For your other inquiry, there is no set limit to how many items can be included in a group.
To add an object to an existing group, the following are the steps:
Now the object is added to the group.
I have used this method. It is working for me.
Thanks Harbrinder! This worked for me.
YOu are a lifesaver Harbrinder!!! After reading through all of this post, I felt hopeless. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
Thank you Harbrinder, this seems to work for me!
11 years after your original comment but this was exactly what I was looking for today. Thanks Phil.
When working with groups...also check Chris Hodgson's trick how to fix the 'Group'-hover-bug.
https://community.articulate.com/discussions/articulate-storyline/buggy-behaviour-of-buttons-and-checkboxes-in-a-group
Basically adding subgroups ensures you can select individual elements with hover and/or clicks.