Great question! I understand that you are not seeing the hand cursor when you hover over hotspots and you'd like to remove the hand cursor that appears on the video. I'd be happy to work with you to figure out what is going on!
First, to get the hand cursor to appear over your hotspots you need to create the triggers that are going to be associated with the hotspots. After the triggers are in place, the hands will appear.
Second, the hand cursor you see on the video is for pausing and playing the video. The workaround to hide the hand cursor is to place a shape over the video and make it transparent.
I have added that shape to your file and the hand cursor no longer appears.
What would be the trigger setup? A state change? If that's the case, what's the point of the hotspot right-click menu item "Show Hand Cursor on Hover"?
Thanks for the follow-up! The trigger doesn't have to be a state change. It could be anything that is going to happen when the learner interacts with the hotspot (show a layer, jump to a slide, etc.). Here's an article that highlights making hotspots work.
I would like the cursor to change to a hand when users hover over the hotspot; that's why I selected "Hand cursor over hover" in the hotspot's right-click menu. How would I make that happen if "Hand cursor over hover" doesn't do that?
Also, can you clarify what "Hand cursor over hover" means if it's not to change the cursor to a hand when the user hovers over it?
Excellent point! I'm happy to chime in with some insights into the hover behavior of hotspots.
Changing the mouse cursor to a hand when hovering over a hotspot is meant to alert the learner that there's an interaction available. Depending on the trigger setup, the interaction can be activated by clicking or hovering over the hotspot. If the hotspot is not interactive due to the absence of a related trigger, the "Hand cursor over hover" setting does not apply.
Turning off the "Hand cursor over hover" option is also available if the hotspot is part of a quiz and you don't want to give away the location of a possible answer.
Please feel free to reach out if you have additional concerns.
I understand the function of the hand cursor - to notify users something's interactive - and how turning it off would "hide" the interactivity from users. That's why I turned it on; I want users to know something's interactive and click it.
What I don't understand is what the trigger setup would be and why I would need to take the additional step to make a trigger when the right-click menu communicates that the interactivity notification mechanism is already there - cursor changes to a hand.
If I want the cursor to change to a hand so users know something's interactive, I select that option in the right-click menu. If I don't, I don't select it.
I truly don't understand the extra step, not only in what the trigger would be but, from a user standpoint, why I'd even have to do it. I'm not trying to be dense; I just don't get it. If I select "Hand cursor on hover" I'd expect that to just happen without me making a trigger because that's what the toggle says.
Thanks so much for sharing additional details, Heather, and I'm sorry for the confusion.
A hotspot is not considered interactive without a trigger. When hotspots are first added to a slide, there is no associated trigger by default, so you're free to choose from the available triggers based on what interaction you'd like for the hotspot.
I'd like to ask some clarifying questions to understand your use case better and what possible trigger we can add to the hotspot to make it interactive in your project.
What will be the purpose of the hotspot in your slide?
Is it to jump to a slide, show a layer, or possibly change the state of an object?
If you're willing to share your Storyline project file so we can visualize the design better, we'd be happy to look into it. You may also share it privately by sending it along in a support case. We'll delete it when we're done.
1 and 2. When users hover over a question mark in a video (a hotspot), their cursor changes to a hand. Seeing the hand, they'll know it's clickable. When they click they're kicked to another slide.
3. I attached the project below.
I'm sure the action trigger would be "When Users Click HS Jump to Slide x", but I don't know what the Hand Cursor on Hover trigger would be. The reason for my original question is the right-click menu makes it seem that just happens without a trigger.
The idea behind the checkbox for the hotspot ("Show hand cursor on hover") is, once there's an action trigger attached to that hotspot, you can choose if you want the mouse to change its shape to let the user know they can interact with that object.
I hope this helps, but let me know if you have additional questions after watching the recording.
Just a heads up. Not sure if it's a bug in the latest release but the hotspot (with a trigger attached) does not show the hand on hover (checkbox to show IS checked). The hand does show if the trigger is set to User Clicks. Very annoying as providing user feedback for a transparent object is critical in most cases.
I also tried three of the previous versions available and no luck in ANY of them either.
If you're using the 'When user hovers over' event, then it is expected behavior for the mouse to not turn into a hand since there is no interaction that is expected to happen between the cursor and the object.
If you'd like the cursor to turn into a hand on hover, you'll need to add a possible interaction like this:
If this isn't what you're referring to, I'll be glad to take a look at the possible bug that you encountered to see if this needs to be reported to our product team. Would you be willing to share a copy of your project file here or in private by opening a support case so we can take a closer look at what's happening? We'll delete it when we're done testing!
I have right-clicked the hotspot and selected the "Show Hand Cursor on Hover" checkbox which is supposed to ADD this functionality. See attached screenshot.
Thanks for the screenshot and the most recent update on what you are experiencing!
Would it be possible to take a look at the latest version of your .story file? I'd like to take a closer look on my end! We can also take a look at this privately in a support case.
To get the hand cursor to appear over hotspots, you have to create triggers associated with the hotspots. After the triggers are in place, the hand will appear.
The idea behind the checkbox for the hotspot ("Show hand cursor on hover") is, once there's an action trigger attached to that hotspot, you can choose if you want the mouse to change its shape to let the user know they can interact with that object.
I don't get it, frankly, but that's just how it goes.
Figured it out, I have/had a hotspot on top of another, as it is a map of Australia, one hotspot was on NSW, another on the ACT, which one the map is within NSW. It didn't like that it was on top or touching another hotspot.
19 Replies
Hi Heather,
Great question! I understand that you are not seeing the hand cursor when you hover over hotspots and you'd like to remove the hand cursor that appears on the video. I'd be happy to work with you to figure out what is going on!
First, to get the hand cursor to appear over your hotspots you need to create the triggers that are going to be associated with the hotspots. After the triggers are in place, the hands will appear.
Second, the hand cursor you see on the video is for pausing and playing the video. The workaround to hide the hand cursor is to place a shape over the video and make it transparent.
I have added that shape to your file and the hand cursor no longer appears.
I hope this helps out!
What would be the trigger setup? A state change? If that's the case, what's the point of the hotspot right-click menu item "Show Hand Cursor on Hover"?
Hi Heather,
Thanks for the follow-up! The trigger doesn't have to be a state change. It could be anything that is going to happen when the learner interacts with the hotspot (show a layer, jump to a slide, etc.). Here's an article that highlights making hotspots work.
I hope this clarifies things!
I would like the cursor to change to a hand when users hover over the hotspot; that's why I selected "Hand cursor over hover" in the hotspot's right-click menu. How would I make that happen if "Hand cursor over hover" doesn't do that?
Also, can you clarify what "Hand cursor over hover" means if it's not to change the cursor to a hand when the user hovers over it?
Thanks for any insight!
Hi Heather,
Excellent point! I'm happy to chime in with some insights into the hover behavior of hotspots.
Changing the mouse cursor to a hand when hovering over a hotspot is meant to alert the learner that there's an interaction available. Depending on the trigger setup, the interaction can be activated by clicking or hovering over the hotspot. If the hotspot is not interactive due to the absence of a related trigger, the "Hand cursor over hover" setting does not apply.
Turning off the "Hand cursor over hover" option is also available if the hotspot is part of a quiz and you don't want to give away the location of a possible answer.
Please feel free to reach out if you have additional concerns.
Hello!
I understand the function of the hand cursor - to notify users something's interactive - and how turning it off would "hide" the interactivity from users. That's why I turned it on; I want users to know something's interactive and click it.
What I don't understand is what the trigger setup would be and why I would need to take the additional step to make a trigger when the right-click menu communicates that the interactivity notification mechanism is already there - cursor changes to a hand.
If I want the cursor to change to a hand so users know something's interactive, I select that option in the right-click menu. If I don't, I don't select it.
I truly don't understand the extra step, not only in what the trigger would be but, from a user standpoint, why I'd even have to do it. I'm not trying to be dense; I just don't get it. If I select "Hand cursor on hover" I'd expect that to just happen without me making a trigger because that's what the toggle says.
Thanks for anymore insight!
Thanks so much for sharing additional details, Heather, and I'm sorry for the confusion.
A hotspot is not considered interactive without a trigger. When hotspots are first added to a slide, there is no associated trigger by default, so you're free to choose from the available triggers based on what interaction you'd like for the hotspot.
I'd like to ask some clarifying questions to understand your use case better and what possible trigger we can add to the hotspot to make it interactive in your project.
1 and 2. When users hover over a question mark in a video (a hotspot), their cursor changes to a hand. Seeing the hand, they'll know it's clickable. When they click they're kicked to another slide.
3. I attached the project below.
I'm sure the action trigger would be "When Users Click HS Jump to Slide x", but I don't know what the Hand Cursor on Hover trigger would be. The reason for my original question is the right-click menu makes it seem that just happens without a trigger.
Hi, Heather.
Thank you for sharing the .story file!
I created a short (3 minutes) Peek 360 recording going over your project, and how to fix the two issues you mentioned.
The idea behind the checkbox for the hotspot ("Show hand cursor on hover") is, once there's an action trigger attached to that hotspot, you can choose if you want the mouse to change its shape to let the user know they can interact with that object.
I hope this helps, but let me know if you have additional questions after watching the recording.
Ah, I see, Maria! Thank you both for your help; it all makes sense now!
I'm glad Maria was able to assist. Thanks for the feedback, Heather; we're happy to help!
Have a great weekend! 🙂
Just a heads up. Not sure if it's a bug in the latest release but the hotspot (with a trigger attached) does not show the hand on hover (checkbox to show IS checked). The hand does show if the trigger is set to User Clicks. Very annoying as providing user feedback for a transparent object is critical in most cases.
I also tried three of the previous versions available and no luck in ANY of them either.
Hello Lourdes,
Happy to chime in!
If you're using the 'When user hovers over' event, then it is expected behavior for the mouse to not turn into a hand since there is no interaction that is expected to happen between the cursor and the object.
If you'd like the cursor to turn into a hand on hover, you'll need to add a possible interaction like this:
If this isn't what you're referring to, I'll be glad to take a look at the possible bug that you encountered to see if this needs to be reported to our product team. Would you be willing to share a copy of your project file here or in private by opening a support case so we can take a closer look at what's happening? We'll delete it when we're done testing!
I have right-clicked the hotspot and selected the "Show Hand Cursor on Hover" checkbox which is supposed to ADD this functionality. See attached screenshot.
Hi Lourdes,
Thanks for the screenshot and the most recent update on what you are experiencing!
Would it be possible to take a look at the latest version of your .story file? I'd like to take a closer look on my end! We can also take a look at this privately in a support case.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Hi everyone, I'm having the same problem, I have hotspots over a map that open a layer for different parts of the map.
I have ticked the 'Show hand cursor on hover' for each of the hotspots but there is no hand cursor showing when the viewer hovers.
The triggers work, but the cursor stays the same. I need it to indicate that there is something to click on.
Any help?
Hi, Rebecca!
To get the hand cursor to appear over hotspots, you have to create triggers associated with the hotspots. After the triggers are in place, the hand will appear.
The idea behind the checkbox for the hotspot ("Show hand cursor on hover") is, once there's an action trigger attached to that hotspot, you can choose if you want the mouse to change its shape to let the user know they can interact with that object.
I don't get it, frankly, but that's just how it goes.
Hi heather, thanks for your reply, I have triggers on the hotspots that open layers, the triggers work fine but there is no hand.
I'll have another look at it, but in the review the hand is not showing up.
Figured it out, I have/had a hotspot on top of another, as it is a map of Australia, one hotspot was on NSW, another on the ACT, which one the map is within NSW. It didn't like that it was on top or touching another hotspot.