How to determine which slides are associated with feedback masters

Feb 17, 2021

Hi there, 

I'm trying to clean up my team's templates. I would like to delete all but one feedback master, so we can ensure a consistent feel on our quiz question feedback. Currently, the Storyline file features no graded questions (I removed them all from the file), but in Feedback Master View, I'm unable to delete many of the parent templates because most say 1 slide is using them. (One parent says 30 slides are using it!)

Is there a way for me to identify the slides that are still using these feedback masters, so I can change them to a different layout (and delete the parent feedback masters?) I reviewed the "Using Feedback Masters" and "Feedback Masters in Storyline" posts from David Fair, but am not seeing the answer I need there.

4 Replies
Judy Nollet

Hi, Ellen,

The Feedback Master includes a blank layout. That's used whenever a layer is added to a slide.

If you adjust the layer layouts so they all use the blank layout from the same Feedback Master, you should be able to delete the excess masters.

TIP: Rename the masters first (for example, Keeper, Goner 1, Goner 2, etc.). That'll make it easier to apply the proper layout. 

Ellen H

Thanks Judy - are you saying to adjust the layer layouts in the slides themselves (in slide view)? The part I'm finding challenging is identifying which slides on the front end are using those alternative feedback masters. I see John's post from last year (https://community.articulate.com/discussions/articulate-storyline/find-which-slides-use-which-slide-layouts-and-feedback-layouts) so I'll try adding shapes to identify the old feedback masters... Thanks for the titling suggestion, I'll use that.

Ellen H

Update: 

I was able to clean up the feedback masters (and most of the slide masters)! Some tips for anyone else trying to clean up their masters:

  • Occasionally you may need to save and close the SL file, as sometimes in Master View the "delete" button will stop working on masters that are not linked to slides.
  • The slide count also sometimes take a minute to update (i.e. for your parent to go from "used by 1 slide" to "used by no slides") and this is another reason that saving, closing and reopening your file frequently can be helpful. 
  • For regular (not feedback) masters: adding a colorful shape to the master and then scanning for it in story view is very helpful! I followed that up by going through each slide individually and clicking "apply layout" to see what layout each slide had (since a master shape could be hiding under slide content). 

 

Judy Nollet

Hi again, Ellen,

I'm glad you were able to clean up your feedback masters. 

That's a good tip about occasionally closing the master view, saving the file, and then returning to the master view. In my experience, that's useful when working with Slide or Feedback Masters, especially when deleting layouts. It allows the program to catch up with what you're doing. 

Re: adding colorful shapes that can be spotted in Story View: that's a great tip for quickly determining which slides use a given master. I've never needed to do that. But I have put big, red "explosion" shapes directly on slides when I'm waiting to get content. That makes it easy to spot which slides still need editing. 

Best regards.