Hi guys - I am having a really strange problem with a custom button I have created in a course.
I have edited the Disabled state of a red button to grey, using the Format Picture tools, adjusting the brightness and using the recolour option.
When I save the file and reopen the file, the Normal state of this button is changing to copy the properties of the Disabled button? Ie. all states of the button have turned grey when I re-open the file.
Has anyone seen this happen before? Is this a bug?
If you are going to have to create your own button, you don't have to make it a button. You can create (in a graphic program external to SL) the exact shape you want.
Once you export it into SL, edit the state. Create a new state, give it the name of a built-in state, and it will have the characteristics of the built-in state.
You can attach triggers to a picture and Storyline can't tell that it isn't a button. Click on it and the triggers work. Set its state to Disabled, and clicking on it does nothing.
Hi Walt - I think I have understood you correctly, but if you read the full post and watch the video, you can see that what you have described is what I originally did - but there is a bug in Storyline that is stopping this from working.
Our team is looking into this issue Ryan and I do not have an update to provide at this time. This thread and the one you referenced are included so that we can update when applicable.
I ran into this problem early in my customized button development for, yes, navigation (pretty much the first thing all ELP developers have to build), but like with Leslie, have had a hard time reproducing the same issue.
That being said, here is what I did with my button development:
Create a new Storyline Project.
Build prototypes of NEXT, PREV and other required project buttons from Insert Tab.
Edit States of the Next and Prev buttons first.
Create NEW States for Visited and Completed if they weren't already present.
NOTE when you build NEW States, they will typically inherit the NORMAL State.
Once all States are present, save the file to a new filename (just in case).
In newly saved file, edit states for Visuals/Color Details.
Repeat process for other buttons as needed.
TEST Buttons to see if they work as expected (ie: w/ Triggers, other basic details)
Once your WORKING Models are complete, COPY and RE-USE everywhere, including with, (wait for it) the TRIGGER BEHAVIORS! ;)
NOTE that you DON'T NEED to GROUP details for a state, that is built in when you edit it.
So, for example, you could add a shape or an image detail to a given state, and that is what will be used for that State. This has proved invaluable for my own work with progress buttons.
My suggestion for you, Ant, is to try and see if you can get just ONE working model of your Button in a new, isolated project from your other project.
If you can try this out with a couple of buttons on a few slides, and they work, you have TWO options:
1. Open TWO instances of Articulate Storyline 2 and try copying and pasting buttons from the working prototype buttons project to your current project.
My hope here is that your newly copied buttons do not somehow get CORRUPTED.
If this unfortunate event occurs, then I refer you to Articulate Tech Support, Leslie, Ashley, etc.
OR:
2. IMPORT the Slides from your Working Prototype Buttons Project directly into your Existing/Current Project.
Hopefully, by Copying and Re-Using those buttons, they will work as expected, without, as I am fearing here, potential corruption/confusion regarding how Articulate "sees" these buttons and their functionality/states.
I agree with you, Ant, manually rebuilding all buttons should NOT be necessary.
But try giving my approach a shot. It should only take you a few minutes to build, and if it works, GREAT! Hopefully I've saved you some time with this approach.
If not, well, at least you have some hard examples of broken button behaviors you can submit to Articulate's Tech Support Team, so in the long run, it's not a waste of time either way.
I totally respect and appreciate you doing it to get the project done, no matter the cost, as I work from the exact same context/standpoint. First motto: Do what you have to!
I also get this glitch, not about buttons, but about text-box built-in states for every new text-box I create, through my old or new storyline 2 projects (even after I repaired SL2). As if buit-in states don't work anymore for text-boxes (I even can't turn the initial states to one of the built-in states I created). It happened after I converted only one slide to freeform and then disabled this drag&drop freeform in order to return it to normal.
Built-in states in other forms/buttons seem to work : so I have to use other forms/buttons than text-boxes.
I hope an update for SL2 will come soon ;-)
Kind regards.
Edit : on a new SL2 project, I now can choose one text-box initial state to hover or selected (for exemple). The preview's right as long as the state doesn't turn to normal (the normal state previews wrong : the text-box appears as if it were desactivated - without cursor). Does it help ?
I finally had a clue: the glitch about textboxes appears only when the normal state has no fill - for every project I edit or create. Do you copy the case for tech support?
If an object has no fill, there is nothing in the interior to catch a click, or register a hover. Fill the object, then set it to 100% transparent if you want to see through it. Then it will register hovers and clicks.
Sure! But I compared with Storyline 1 : it doesn't happen that way in Storyline 1, text-boxes with text inside and no color fill react as if they are color-filled (or color-filled and 100% transparent).
I wanted to provide an update here, as Storyline 2 Update 11 was just released, and included a number of fixes which you can see in the release notes available here. The item you all may be particularly interested in is how it fixed an issue where
Fixed issue where default button states wouldn't always save correctly (e.g., colors might change)
You can download the latest update here, and after downloading and installing the latest update you’ll want to republish any existing content to ensure that the updates and fixes are applied.
Let us know if you have any questions, either here or by reaching out to our Support Engineers directly.
39 Replies
Ant,
If you are going to have to create your own button, you don't have to make it a button. You can create (in a graphic program external to SL) the exact shape you want.
Once you export it into SL, edit the state. Create a new state, give it the name of a built-in state, and it will have the characteristics of the built-in state.
You can attach triggers to a picture and Storyline can't tell that it isn't a button. Click on it and the triggers work. Set its state to Disabled, and clicking on it does nothing.
Hi Walt - I think I have understood you correctly, but if you read the full post and watch the video, you can see that what you have described is what I originally did - but there is a bug in Storyline that is stopping this from working.
Thanks anyway, I'm really shocked this hasn't been picked up before - it seems like it would be a really common procedure!
Hi,
Just got directed here by another user. I've been experiencing similar issues. Very annoying.
https://community.articulate.com/discussions/articulate-storyline/problem-with-button-styles-styling-for-individual-states-vanishes
Cheers,
Ryan
Our team is looking into this issue Ryan and I do not have an update to provide at this time. This thread and the one you referenced are included so that we can update when applicable.
Hi all:
I ran into this problem early in my customized button development for, yes, navigation (pretty much the first thing all ELP developers have to build), but like with Leslie, have had a hard time reproducing the same issue.
That being said, here is what I did with my button development:
NOTE that you DON'T NEED to GROUP details for a state, that is built in when you edit it.
So, for example, you could add a shape or an image detail to a given state, and that is what will be used for that State. This has proved invaluable for my own work with progress buttons.
My suggestion for you, Ant, is to try and see if you can get just ONE working model of your Button in a new, isolated project from your other project.
If you can try this out with a couple of buttons on a few slides, and they work, you have TWO options:
1. Open TWO instances of Articulate Storyline 2 and try copying and pasting buttons from the working prototype buttons project to your current project.
My hope here is that your newly copied buttons do not somehow get CORRUPTED.
If this unfortunate event occurs, then I refer you to Articulate Tech Support, Leslie, Ashley, etc.
OR:
2. IMPORT the Slides from your Working Prototype Buttons Project directly into your Existing/Current Project.
Hopefully, by Copying and Re-Using those buttons, they will work as expected, without, as I am fearing here, potential corruption/confusion regarding how Articulate "sees" these buttons and their functionality/states.
I agree with you, Ant, manually rebuilding all buttons should NOT be necessary.
But try giving my approach a shot. It should only take you a few minutes to build, and if it works, GREAT! Hopefully I've saved you some time with this approach.
If not, well, at least you have some hard examples of broken button behaviors you can submit to Articulate's Tech Support Team, so in the long run, it's not a waste of time either way.
I totally respect and appreciate you doing it to get the project done, no matter the cost, as I work from the exact same context/standpoint. First motto: Do what you have to!
Hope this helps!
Hi!
I also get this glitch, not about buttons, but about text-box built-in states for every new text-box I create, through my old or new storyline 2 projects (even after I repaired SL2). As if buit-in states don't work anymore for text-boxes (I even can't turn the initial states to one of the built-in states I created). It happened after I converted only one slide to freeform and then disabled this drag&drop freeform in order to return it to normal.
Built-in states in other forms/buttons seem to work : so I have to use other forms/buttons than text-boxes.
I hope an update for SL2 will come soon ;-)
Kind regards.
Edit : on a new SL2 project, I now can choose one text-box initial state to hover or selected (for exemple). The preview's right as long as the state doesn't turn to normal (the normal state previews wrong : the text-box appears as if it were desactivated - without cursor). Does it help ?
Hi Sophie!
Do you have a sample .story file we could take a look at?
Hi Leslie!
I finally had a clue: the glitch about textboxes appears only when the normal state has no fill - for every project I edit or create. Do you copy the case for tech support?
Best regards.
Leslie,
If an object has no fill, there is nothing in the interior to catch a click, or register a hover. Fill the object, then set it to 100% transparent if you want to see through it. Then it will register hovers and clicks.
Agree with Walt there is no bug, no fill should have no substance as opposed to 100% transparent which should be there.
Sure! But I compared with Storyline 1 : it doesn't happen that way in Storyline 1, text-boxes with text inside and no color fill react as if they are color-filled (or color-filled and 100% transparent).
*edited*
I would see that as a bug in Storyline 1
Hi all,
I wanted to provide an update here, as Storyline 2 Update 11 was just released, and included a number of fixes which you can see in the release notes available here. The item you all may be particularly interested in is how it fixed an issue where
You can download the latest update here, and after downloading and installing the latest update you’ll want to republish any existing content to ensure that the updates and fixes are applied.
Let us know if you have any questions, either here or by reaching out to our Support Engineers directly.
This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.