SL 360 SOLUTION: Customized Text Styles Access on Any/ALL Project Slides.

Hello again:

I've done some additional research, testing, webinar viewing, and follow-up, and as a result, I now have a working solution/process for creating & using (Visible/Consistent) Text Styles in Storyline 360.

This solution applies to TWO (2) potential Storyline 360 project development scenarios:

1. You are building a Storyline 360 project and creating Customized Text Styles from scratch, and want ALL slides to immediately be able to access these without having to follow any additional steps.
2. You have an existing Storyline 360 project and wish to create Customized Text Styles to be used on ALL slides, regardless of how many layouts or Slide Masters you have or are using in the project.

Solution #1: Create Text Styles to apply to all SL 360 Slides from Scratch

This solution is the easier of the two methods, as you are building the project content from the beginning, making it easier to set conditions for visible Customized Styles:

1. In Storyline 360, create a new Blank Project.
2. On the Design Tab, ensure you set the Story Size, to establish that the 
   project (screen) size & display ratio (4:3 or 16:9) is correctly configured.
3. From the File Tab, choose the option to Save your project, to ensure automatic recovery/back-up settings work as expected.
    

   While you CAN create Scenes & Slides/Layouts at this point, I'd recommend moving to the NEXT step, which is to ensure you create a Theme Font.

   This option comes from my good friend at Articulate, David Anderson, who details this step in the Storyline 360 Tips & Tricks Webinar #59. 

   Note that David's segment begins at 14:57 of this video, however, you may wish to jump ahead to approximately 17:36, where he details Theme Fonts and their critical importance in how they apply to Text Styles and,
   by extension, Saved Themes.

   (NOTE: This aspect is CRITICAL, as it is also the basis of Solution #2, enabling you to extend Styles to other Slides using a Saved Theme.)

4. On the Design Tab, choose the Fonts Menu, and select Create Theme Font.
5. Choose the Font Styles for Heading & Default (Body) Text.  I recommend considering a Bold or Semibold Font choice for Headings, and a Normal choice, of preferably the SAME Font Face/Style, for Normal Body text.  Once this is complete, click the Save Button.
6. On the Design Tab, right-click the new Custom Theme Font in your project. You should also be able to identify this from the Name/Label added to these Font Style selections in Step #5.  
7. Now choose "Apply to All Slides".  This will ensure that ALL Slides that have Customized Text Styles added to them will have access. 
8. Add Scenes, Slides, and Layouts to your Storyline 360 project.
9. When adding text in Slide Layouts or Text Boxes, ensure you choose
   the Home Tab and select formatted text on your Slides so you can
   Add New Text Style(s) as Customized Styles.
10. Any Customized Styles you add to any Slides or Layouts should now be universally available/accessible.
    
    AFAIK, Storyline 360 does NOT create and/or enable Theme Font and Universal Slide Application process by default in a New Project, so you MAY have to run through this process as described here to be sure. 
    
    IMPORTANT NOTE: If these steps AREN'T necessary, please correct me, and I will adjust accordingly.

Solution #2: Create Text Styles to apply to all SL 360 Slides in an EXISTING Storyline 360 Project

This solution is somewhat more detailed, as you need to ensure that you do the following things to enable Text Style visibility on all slides:

1. Open your Storyline 360 project.  Don't worry about what
   Customized Styles you have in it and whether or not they are
   visible to all slides.  This will be corrected at the end of this process.
2. Create a Theme Font as a base for a Saved Theme. (Steps #4-5, above)
3. Apply this Theme Font to ALL Slides. (Steps #6-7, above)
4. Save your Theme as a Named Theme. (Design Tab/Themes/Save Theme)
5. Apply this Saved/Named Theme to All Slides. (Design Tab/Themes/
   Right-Click Named/Custom Theme/Apply to All Slides)
6. SAVE your project using a NEW filename, just in case there are ANY potential issues with this suggested solution (!)
7. Clicking on Any Slide should now allow access to Customized Text Styles previously only available on "some" slides (but NOT "ALL").

(Ok, this was a LOT of detail, but I hope this helps a few interested folks out.)

And hey, Articulate (!), I'd also like to suggest adding the Theme Font(s) detail somewhere in the Storyline 360 User Guide for Text Styles.

Thoughts/comments/ideas . . . . .

. . . . . welcome/encouraged/appreciated.

Sincerely,

-Mark

Mark Shepherd, e-Learning Developer, Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) - Ottawa, Canada
mshepherd@cihi.ca