Pasting text from Word

This still happens with the 'keep text only' option.

Hi Marc,

This thread is a bit older, so could you share a bit more about what's happening for you? I haven't seen text pasted and duplicated in 2-3 times, so I'd want to know a bit more about how you're able to replicate it. Also, have you confirmed there isn't extra text/formatting that is being picked up? You could try by pasting it into Notepad first and then copying/pasting from there into Storyline. 

Here's what happens when I copy and paste from Word to Storyline 3 - it pastes it 3 times consistently. Our Storyboard (content) is in Word, and even if I choose "Keep text only" this happens. I hope there is a better way to make this not happen then taking each item into Notepad as I have a 26 pages of content.

Hi Laura,

I am unable to recreate this behavior.

What version of Word are you using?

Curious if the issue happens in any course you are working on or just this particular one?

If you cannot re-create the issue in a new course, I would advise to import the file into a new one and proceed.

If it's happening in any/all files, you should certainly conduct a repair of your software.

I consistently experience this issue as well. I'm using Articulate Storyline 360 and the latest version of Microsoft Word.

It happens across all projects, every time, regardless of whether I paste "text only".

Edit: Also, I've installed Storyline on two different machines, one brand new, and the problem persists.

Hi John,

I'm sorry you've run into the same issue, as Laura and a few others, and I don't see that our team has been able to replicate it yet. Could you walk me through exactly what you're doing by taking a Peek of the problem? That way I can follow your steps to replicate it and continue troubleshooting from there.

It'll also help to know anything else about your file, such as where you're storing the .doc and the .story file? 

Thanks for the reply.

I've narrowed down the issue a bit -- it only occurs when pasting *from a
table* in Microsoft Word. If it's just normal text in a word doc, or even
if I just highlight the text rather than the full cell, it will paste
normally.

But if you select the entire cell (unfortunately, happens kind of by
default in Word), then it will paste multiple copies of the text.

It's frustrating but I can work around it. Just unfortunate my client uses
this table format for scripts.

Thanks for the helpful update, John!  I'm sorry it's a bit of a speedbump for you, but I'm sure this info will help others who are finding the same behavior when pasting table text from Word.

I have noticed this for years and still haven't figured out a work-around. Terribly inconvenient today specifically since I need to copy 4 tables from word into tables in storyline. I have 324 cells that I have to copy/paste individually because word and SL don't communicate well with tables. :'( 

Anyone have suggestions?

Hi Erin,

What version of Storyline are you using? We added a tables feature to the latest version as noted here (also a part of Storyline 3). So you can copy/paste tables or import them from another source such as Powerpoint. 

Hi Ashley,

I'm using SL3 and use tables when I need to when building courses.

My IDs use Word to write courses. So, if a table needs to be in a course I have to take extra steps to build it properly in SL regardless of the program. I will say, however, I did not know about importing a table from PPT. Still an annoyance, but I would have rather that process than copy/paste every single cell.

See below for screenshots of how the text copies over from Word and Excel.

Below is an example of 1 of the original tables I need to have in SL which was created in Word.

Here is how the table pastes from Word. No table is brought over in the process and the text duplicates.

Example below is how it pastes from Excel. While this is much cleaner, the table did not paste and there are many tabs and extra spaces.

Hey Erin!

Here's a Peek at what happens when I copy a table from Word and paste it into Storyline 3. 

If you're already using Storyline 3 Update 6 and you're still unable to paste a table correctly, we'd love to help!

You can upload your Word file privately to our support team here. We'll try copy/pasting the table from our side and let you know what happens!

Hello Alyssa,

Thanks for creating that recording; however, I am up to date and still have issues.

::momentary pause::

As I took the pause, I thought to myself, "Could it be Word?" Then it dawned on me. I have been using Word on the Mac side of my computer. Since I use VMware to run SL3, I didn't think to test using Word on the PC... Guess what? It worked. UGH I'm relieved and frustrated. 

Good morning, Erin!

Glad to hear this, and nice job tracking the culprit down! In addition to working in the Windows side, we outlined these best practices for using Articulate software on a Mac with VMware Fusion.

If you hit any other roadblocks, please let us know. We're here to help keep your development running smoothly without those hand through face moments! 😆

Hello,
I'd like to raise the problem again :)

As I narrowed down the problem, you can easily recreate it by yourself.

You have a table in word, and a text inside a cell. When you click two times on a cell, word will select the whole cell. When you copy that and try to paste it inside textbox/rectangle/whatever in storyline, the copied text will be pasted three times. Just like the Laura posted. This behaviour doesn't occur when trying to paste that text to any other of my programs, like notepad++, powerpoint, any adobe suite, even here inside in that text editor. It only happens when pasting to the Storyline.

Once again, it's not about copying table, it's about copying text inside table cell, when selecting whole cell.

Workaround is simple of course, you can copy contents to another program (like notepad++) or just select text, not a whole cell. But it's more work. For me, I have 5 e-learnings to translate, and content for each is in 500 table cells. And then relatively easy job goes in to "ok, slowly, slowly, I want just text, not cell" thus taking much more time than it should.

I'm using Storyline 3 on Windows and Office 365. That issue is with storyline since the beginning, from 1, through 2, ending on 3. I don't have SL365, so don't know there. Clearly some sort of bug.

Hi Mateusz,

I followed your steps to try and recreate the issue myself and was unsuccessful. Here’s a video of what happens when I tried to replicate. 

I also used Storyline 3 and Word in Office 365. I’m curious if you’re using Office 365 on a Mac and pasting over to Windows, or if both products are in Windows?

If you’d like, you can upload your Word file privately to our support team here. We'll try copy/pasting the table from our side and let you know what happens!

Hello Ren,

Thanks for stepping by. I've also made video for you, as it's the simpliest way of showing what's going on. I'm working solely on Windows. Sorry for a little mess inside using mouse copy/paste, as I always use keyboard shortcuts.

http://digitallearningfactory.tk/copyingtable.mp4

 There's no point uploding word for you, as I mentioned, this problem is persistent for since Storyline1 and probably Word 2007.

Hi there, Mateusz!

I appreciate you making that video walk-through. It was helpful to see the steps you took and the behavior you're seeing!

This has been a tough one for us to nail down since we haven't had luck recreating it in a new Storyline file. Because your setup looks good, this is an excellent opportunity for our Support team to help! I opened a case with them with your recording attached where they'll reach out with their findings and next steps.

I'll follow along so I can update this discussion with any relevant insight!

I have this problem too. Copying from Word to Storyline is an issue as the text ends up being 3 or more copies in SL360. I also use tables in my scripts in Word.

Did anyone ever figure out a workaround for this? 

Hello Karen, and welcome to E-Learning Heroes! ⭐️

Sorry you're experiencing these pasting difficulties from a table in Word to a Storyline slide. It looks like you're experiencing a bug we have logged.

For now, I'd recommend selecting the text only, then pasting, rather than the entire table. This discussion is linked to the bug reported, and now that you're subscribed,  you'll receive any updates posted in the future.

If you find a solution to this, where will you post it?

The simplest solution I have used for 25+ years now is to copy the text from Word, paste into into Notepad, copy from Notepad, and paste into the eLearning development tool du jour. That way ensures all formatting and hidden characters are stripped from the text.

Hello David, and welcome to E-Learning Heroes. 😊

An update will be posted right here when available. By replying, you should now be subscribed to this conversation as well, so you'll get the notification.

Thanks so much for all the replies!