Hiding a Textbox and Then Showing it

If all you need is for the text boxes to appear at a specific time, maybe just drag the start time for each element in the timeline to where you want it.

If it's based on an event, then you could put the text on a layer that starts hidden, then turns visible on a trigger.

Hi, Ross,

This shows what Russell means about changing the start time of an object:

BTW, you can add an entrance animation for a nicer look when the object appears. For example, you could have it fade in. 

So this is for a college class on animations, so I think moving the objects further in the timeline is what I'll try first, and then try the layer thing.  I dont really know how to put things on a layer I don't think... My only exposure to layers are premade ones with questions where there's a feedback of correct or incorrect.  We can just make a layer on our own?

This is a picture of my timeline.  The second video is set to automatically start at 5s in along with its text, Condensation.  The text never showed up with the video... Am I doing something wrong?

Hi again, Ross

Your timeline looks okay. Check the States for the Condensation text. Perhaps the text box is set with the initial state as Hidden? That would explain why you don't see it.

Is there a need for states at all using timeline manipulation?

Edit: Answered my own question; no need for hidden states if you use the timeline to say when they should appear.  That's really good to know. :)

Hi, Ross,

Your edited answer above is right on. You don't need the Hidden state if you simply adjust the start point on the timeline. 

Your original post mentioned using the Hidden state. That's why I said to check the text box that wasn't appearing -- in case you hadn't switched the initial state back to Normal. (Easy mistake to make.) 

I did have that box checked.  So if I make a trigger to start something in the hidden state, I should not click the initial state: hidden box right?  What situation would there be to change an initial state to something other than normal?  Is it a feature best used for states other than hidden, since it's often a common trigger to hide something until x-event happens?

Ross,

As you've discovered, changing an object's initial state to Hidden isn't the best way to make something appear at a given point in the timeline. For that, you can just drag the starting point to where you want the object to appear.

However, it can be useful to adjust the initial state in other circumstances. For example, you could set an object's  state to Hidden and then have it change to Normal (or some other state) after the user clicks another object or objects.  Or, if you have a button set, you might want to start the slide with one of the buttons in the Selected state. 

To answer an earlier question: Yes, you can make your own layers. That's described in the documentation (https://community.articulate.com/series/articulate-storyline-360/articles/articulate-storyline-360-user-guide-how-to-work-with-slide-layers).

I suggest you bookmark the User Guides & Tutorials (https://community.articulate.com/articles/tutorials-and-documentation) for future reference. For basic functionality, it'll probably be quicker to look up something there instead of waiting for someone to answer a question in the Forum. 

Good luck!