State Changes for Buttons on Master Slide

Dec 12, 2017

Hi everyone,

I'm working on a course in which learners must diagnose and fix one or more safety problems on each of several devices. When the learner solves all of the problems associated with a given device, I want to put a checkmark over it so that the learner can know to concentrate on fixing problems with other devices and not devote any more time to the one(s) whose problems have already all been fixed.

I put the checkmark over each device and start it in the Hidden state. When the learner solves all problems associated with that device, I have a trigger that changes the state of the checkmark to Normal to make it visible.

My problem is that, because of the complexity of the interactions, I branch to a new slide whenever the learner clicks a device. To add layer triggers to check whether each device's solution criteria have been met and set the appropriate checkmark to the Normal state on each slide, given how many devices I have and how many slides I branch to where these checks would need to be placed, I'd end up having to add about 30-40 triggers. I don't want to do that.

So instead, I want to put the checkmarks (and the triggers to change their states) onto the master slide instead. But it's not working. The checkmark appears when the learner solves the problems for a given device, but when he or she clicks the next device, the checkmark disappears, even though both device slides use the same master slide.

Because my actual Storyline file is pretty heavy-duty, with multiple triggers and multiple layers across multiple (branched) slides, I've created a much simpler example file. The published version is here: 

https://360.articulate.com/review/content/33fba902-c8ec-47a2-bfcd-d1a7b04fad20/review

The Storyline 360 file is attached.

Can anyone explain why the checkmark for a given device, once turned to the Normal state, doesn't stay there for all slides that use that same master slide? Am I misunderstanding how master slides work?

Cheers!

    -Ray

7 Replies
Alyssa Gomez

Hi there Ray! 

That's a great question, and thanks for including a sample file. 

When two slides share the same Master Slide, any object state change on the first slide will not carry over to the second slide. But don't worry, this is possible to do with some variables and a little creativity. 🙂

I'll leave it in the community's hands to share their ideas for your custom set-up. I'm looking forward to seeing what they'll share with you here!

Ray Cole

Hi Alyssa,

I think I solved my own problem, actually. My interpretation is that when I move from one slide to another, even though they are both using the same master slide, the objects on the master slide "return to initial state". Unlike actual slides, master slides don't let you choose "return to initial state" or "resume saved state", so since my checkmarks begin in the Hidden state, they are reset to that state whenever I move to a new slide.

To fix this, on the master slide, I put a second set of triggers that check whether the conditions have been met for setting each checkmark back to the Normal state, and these run "When timeline starts" (that would be the timeline on the master slide). This allows the checkmarks, once changed to the Normal state, to be reset to that state across slide changes, which is the behavior I wanted.

I've attached an updated Storyline 360 file in case the above isn't clear and anyone else wants to know the solution.

Cheers!

    -Ray

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