I've got a scene that uses branching, and of course, the automatic numbering is wonky. I'm curious about how others deal with this. Do you just use a Master that has no slide numbering at all? That's the only thing I can think of ...
For one thing, slide numbering is most useful when it also includes the total number of slides (e.g., 1 of 20). Otherwise, it tells me where I am, but not how far I have to go (which is what most users probably want to know). Unless all branches contain the same number of slides, it'd be impossible to determine the total number until a given branch was chosen.
Also, while it would be possible to number the slides by using variables, that just doesn't seem worth the effort. (Again: unless all branches contain the same number of slides. Then you could just number them manually.)
It may or may not be worthwhile to include a progress bar, that is, something that suggests where they are in the course without providing specific numbers. (I believe there's a tutorial about how to create one. And there are Forum Posts on that topic, too.)
Thanks. But I'm still unsure about how to accomplish this in one scene without doing it for the whole course.
Do you use a separate slide master that has no numbering? At this point, I'm considering pasting a patch over the slide numbers just because I can't figure out how to do it otherwise.
My earlier reply was based on the assumption that you were numbering all slides in the course consecutively. In other words, starting with #1 for the first slide of the first scene and ending with whatever the final number would be.
Based on your follow-up question, it sounds like you're restarting the slide numbers at 1 for each scene. If so, then the easiest solution is to just cover the slide numbers in the branching scene. Otherwise, you have to create separate Masters and apply them. That would be more work up front and potentially more work later if you have to do any redesigning.
Yes, that's right - each scene is a "chapter," and the numbering starts over. And that's exactly right - I was thinking that is what I would have to do if I did it with slide masters, and it sounded like a huge hassle. I like the idea of pasting a patch over the numbers! Thanks!
I know I'm a bit late to the table for this discussion; however, I have had similar issues in the past, so I thought I would share my suggestion. I had a module with a set of 10 scenarios - there was a main menu, then ten sets of 3 slides for each scenario - a video slide, a summary slide and an assessment question. The menu was Page 14, then Scenario 1 consisted of pages 15,16 & 17, but then it was back to Page 14 every time the learner returned to the menu, then Scenario 2 consisted of pages 18, 19 & 20, then back to page 14 for the menu, and so on.
To solve the issue, we removed all the scenario slides from the menu and manually numbered all 30 scenario slides as Page 14, as we didn't need the learner to jump to these directly. Effectively making the 30 slides act like layers from the Page 14 menu slide.
Hopefully, the attached screenshot of the relevant part of the story view makes sense - I've added red text to show which slide is Page 14 and which is Page 15 - all the rest are manually numbered as described above.
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Hi, Lerissa,
I wouldn't number slides when there's branching.
It may or may not be worthwhile to include a progress bar, that is, something that suggests where they are in the course without providing specific numbers. (I believe there's a tutorial about how to create one. And there are Forum Posts on that topic, too.)
Thanks. But I'm still unsure about how to accomplish this in one scene without doing it for the whole course.
Do you use a separate slide master that has no numbering? At this point, I'm considering pasting a patch over the slide numbers just because I can't figure out how to do it otherwise.
My earlier reply was based on the assumption that you were numbering all slides in the course consecutively. In other words, starting with #1 for the first slide of the first scene and ending with whatever the final number would be.
Based on your follow-up question, it sounds like you're restarting the slide numbers at 1 for each scene. If so, then the easiest solution is to just cover the slide numbers in the branching scene. Otherwise, you have to create separate Masters and apply them. That would be more work up front and potentially more work later if you have to do any redesigning.
Hi Judy -
Yes, that's right - each scene is a "chapter," and the numbering starts over. And that's exactly right - I was thinking that is what I would have to do if I did it with slide masters, and it sounded like a huge hassle. I like the idea of pasting a patch over the numbers! Thanks!
I know I'm a bit late to the table for this discussion; however, I have had similar issues in the past, so I thought I would share my suggestion. I had a module with a set of 10 scenarios - there was a main menu, then ten sets of 3 slides for each scenario - a video slide, a summary slide and an assessment question. The menu was Page 14, then Scenario 1 consisted of pages 15,16 & 17, but then it was back to Page 14 every time the learner returned to the menu, then Scenario 2 consisted of pages 18, 19 & 20, then back to page 14 for the menu, and so on.
To solve the issue, we removed all the scenario slides from the menu and manually numbered all 30 scenario slides as Page 14, as we didn't need the learner to jump to these directly. Effectively making the 30 slides act like layers from the Page 14 menu slide.
Hopefully, the attached screenshot of the relevant part of the story view makes sense - I've added red text to show which slide is Page 14 and which is Page 15 - all the rest are manually numbered as described above.