States
May 10, 2017
Hi, I'm using SL2, and have a bit of a problem with states, which I'm wondering if anyone can advise me on please.
Basically, it's about states not 'restoring'. So I've had instances where an image state is set to hidden, and to change to Normal on hover, with restore on mouse leave ticked, but, it's not restoring when the mouse leaves.
Also, I've got a 'home screen' with 4 buttons to sections on it. Each button has a text box description of what the section is about. Hover over a button, the text box pops up. All working good. But.. use a button, and when you have finished the section and return to the main menu, the text box is still there, and won't go away.
I've replaced the states here with layers, so now on hover the layer is shown. After visiting a section though, the layer still shows, but starts working properly when you hover over a different button... This is making me think that the problem may have something to do with the slide not resetting when it reopens? Can I set a trigger to rest the slide without affecting any of the variables that are actioned on the slide for users who have visited sections?
It's a complicated and messy pile of triggers in the background, so I won't try to extract a part to show you, but will add a Word doc with some screengrabs.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. :-)
2 Replies
Technically, hidden isn't a real state, an object that is hidden initially is just like one that is farther down the timeline. The difference is that the timeline brings it to life at a specified time, and the state brings it to life at a certain action. Restore on leave doesn't work, because the object wasn't in a different state, it was just not here. I have solved that by putting an invisible shape larger in all directions than the original just below the original. I give it a trigger to set the original to hidden when the mouse hovers over it. Make it invisible by giving it a fill set to 100% transparency.
Hover over and pop up a text box. This isn't working because when clicking, the user never leaves the object; they just jump someplace else. On return the object thinks it still has the mouse. You are on the right track with popping up a layer. The only trick is to add a trigger to close the layer before the jump to another slide. It happens fast enough that the user won't notice it, but when they return, the layer is closed.
If you want, you can set the slide to reset on revisit, and it won't affect variables. That's why they are so popular with the veterans here. States are reset when a slide is reset, but only you can change a variable. If you don't attach them to a slide, or write a trigger to change them, they will never be changed.
If these ideas don't help you solve your problems, attach your .story file (or a couple of representative slides) here. I don't care how messy your triggers are, I will read them, but I won't even look at your screenshots. There are so many things that can cause problems that are hidden from screenshots that they are usually not helpful.
Thanks Walt, that was a great response... makes perfect sense and I will give it a go. Any problems and I'll post it but I hope it will be fine :-)
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