Play button on timelines causes playhead to go back to beginning every time

Aug 18, 2020

I just downloaded an update a little bit ago... now, when I hit the play button on the timeline, the playhead jumps back to the beginning every time. 

26 Replies
Katie Riggio

Hi Cheryl,

Thank you for bringing this behavior to our attention. Let's explore this together!

Check out this short video test in Storyline 360 Update 43. Does it capture your experience with the timeline?

  • Clicking the play/pause button once starts the playhead (blue vertical line) moving along the timeline.
  • Clicking the play/pause button again pauses the playhead at its current location.
  • Clicking the stop button ends the preview and returns the playhead to the beginning of the timeline.

If not, could you record a Peek 360 video so I can see the problem in action? I'd like to understand it better so I can give you the best guidance!

Cheryl Russo

Thank you for the response… I narrowed it down to learn that it was only happening on one slide (with multiple layers). I have no idea what was causing it – so I rebuilt the slide and the problem was resolved. 😊

Cheryl A. Russo
Web Learning Designer
Corporate Learning & Development Center
(585) 383-3118 | crusso@paychex.com

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Leslie McKerchie

I'm glad that you were able to correct the issue, Cheryl. It sounds like you're unable to recreate it, but if you run into an issue again, please feel free to contact us again so that we can take a look.

It looks like your email signature came through above when you replied via email. You can remove that if needed by clicking ‘Edit’ beneath your response. Here’s a quick Peek video if you need help.

Alan Weiler

This is happening to me too.  I can place the playback head where I want it, then when I click the play button, the playback head always jumps back to the beginning and plays forward.  I have been using SL for many years... this just started with the latest build.  I time animations to the voice-over and this is a huge time drain.  I have to say that rebuilding the screens isn't really an option.  I know Articulate can get to the bottom of this!  Thanks!!

Katie Riggio

Hi Alan,

So sorry you ran into this issue! I'm happy to explore further:

  • When you press the play button, does the playhead jump back to the beginning on every slide or specific ones? 
  • Are you comfortable with sharing an affected .story file for testing? You can attach the course to this public discussion or upload it privately through this link. Either way, I'll circle back with my findings!
Eugenia Bachaleda

The same thing is happening to me and it is so time draining I cant deal!

I reviewed the commentary in this thread and did an update on my program -- it is still happening. Please help - I cant build the rest of this course with this happening.

It only started happening a few months ago, and it is intermittent when it does happen so I have not been able to lock-down a cause. Please help is possible. thanks.

Katie Riggio

Hi Eugenia,

I'm sorry to hear this and can appreciate how frustrating this problem is. We haven't had luck recreating the experience, but we're determined to help!

If the problem resurfaces, let's connect you with our Support team to pull a few system logs. Any extra clues we can gather would be greatly appreciated!

Vanessa Enticott

Hi Katie,

I have the same problem, the preview wont play past 12 seconds without going back to the start. However, I have worked out this issue only happens on layers. If I create a new slide, then the issue is resolved, but this is not ideal of course. I've used SL for years but noticed this happening just the last few months and it would be great if a fix is planned. 

I've re-installed articulate and have a good computer, using only local files on my harddrive.

Ren Gomez

Hi Vanessa,

Thanks for reaching out, and I'm sorry you're running into this issue! I've seen a similar bug recently where:

The playhead jumps back to the beginning of the timeline when previewing a layer with a shorter base layer timeline.

Can you confirm if your base layer timeline is shorter than your slide layer timeline?

Jennifer Wilkinson

This has just started happening to me, too (just after installing the 17th Nov update).  As for others, it is only on a slide with layers.  I can confirm it is also only happening on the layers with timelines longer than the base timeline.

I have tried the work-around of increasing the base layer timeline and it works. 

Nick Sondej

I am having the same issue -- timeline starts playing from the beginning no matter where I click the blue starting line index in slides with layers (and who's base timeline is shorter than the slide layer, but not sure if that second part is a requirement to reproduce). I can play through the entire timeline without issue but it won't let me start where I want to and this is incredibly inefficient when developing timings. Please fix this, it massively reduces my effectiveness and means I'm spending way more time building training, which is entirely the problem that a tool like Storyline is designed to fix.

Katie Riggio

Happy Tuesday, All!

Storyline 360 Update 47 is live: We fixed the issue where the playhead jumped back to the beginning of the timeline when previewing a layer.

We hope you'll have an opportunity to try this update and share your thoughts with us!

Leslie McKerchie

Hi Blythe,

As promised, I'm popping back in to share an update on the issue you previously experienced. We just released another update to Storyline 3, so be sure to check out all the details on Build 3.12.24693.0 here. The issue you may be interested in specifically is:

Fixed: The playhead jumped back to the beginning of the timeline when previewing a layer.

If you run into any issues after updating, please be sure to notify our support team directly here.