States on "Simple Tabs" template

Selected and visited are built in functions so dont need triggers to work.  You could try adding a trigger to change state to normal for all the buttons, this wont change the visited state though,

Ah ok, so that explains why I don't need the triggers to get the selected states to appear. However, that doesn't explain how the previously selected tabs become deselected automatically once you click off of them. In the tabs template, there is not a state associated with visited - only selected - and again there are no triggers to change the state of the other tabs to normal once another is clicked. So, I'm still confused as to how they know to hide/return to normal once you click off of them.

If adding a trigger is the only option I can find I can do that, but it appears there is a simpler way based off of the behavior of the other tabs (and I have 14 tabs so an automatic solution would be ideal). Would it happen to matter that the tabs are shape objects and the reset button is an actual graphic?

This is something called button sets, if you right click a button you will see button set, if you select all your buttons and then choose button sets.  This tells Storyline that only one of these can be selected at one time but one will always be selected.

If you delete the selected state you wont have this problem, but you will need a trigger to unset the selected state

You could add your reset button to your button set and then would have no need to reset the selected state

Hey Chantelle! See if the attached would work for ya. I added a Home button in the lower-right corner of my base layer and, as Phil suggested, I added it to the button set. I also added 3 triggers to the button, which cause any currently visible layer to close. And just for cosmetic reasons, I changed the appearance of the button's Selected state to be identical to the Normal state, since I didn't want it to look different when the user clicks on it.

Thanks Phil and Jeanette! Added the button to a button set with the other tabs did the trick and gives me the desired behavior! I knew about button sets but didn't realize they functioned this way. Great new piece of learning for me .

Just wanted to jump in here with an additional question on this tab interaction.  I tried adding a 'Visited' state to each of the tabs to indicate to the learner which tabs they had already viewed.  It seems that when I add a 'Visited' state, the tabs no longer move out when in the 'Selected' state.  The little arrow still appears, but the tab stays put.  Any ideas?

Hi Allan! That's a great question, and what you're seeing is part of the logic that Storyline uses in determining which state to display. An object's selected state is something that can toggle on & off based on which item the learner clicks. The visited state, on the other hand, is more of a permanent thing - once an item gets clicked, it immediately switches to Visited and doesn't switch back.

So, in the tabs interaction, if you add a visited state, Storyline attempts to show both the visited and selected state at the same time when the learner clicks the object -- because as soon as it's clicked, it becomes not only selected but also visited. However, since the rectangle is in a different place for these two states, it's not really possible to show both states simultaneously - so, the visited state kind of trumps the selected state, which is why the shape doesn't move out to the left.

As a workaround, here's an idea:  draw a checkmark on your slide and position it on the tab. Set its initial state to Hidden. Then add a trigger that causes the checkmark's state to change to Normal when the learner clicks on the tab. This way, the checkmark is independent of the tabs' state logic. So, you're able to display the tabs' Selected states as designed, but also display a visual indicator to the learner to show which items they've clicked. Attached is an example to show what I'm talking about. I hope that helps!

Following up on Jeanettes comment, I belive this is about designing your buttons correctly.  If you need a visited and selected state ensure that the visited state is an evolution of the selected state. 

Thanks Jeanette!  That clears it up for me.

BTW, kudos to you and everyone in this forum.  It's such a great resource for me!

Will the visited status maintained when the course is revisited from LMS?

Hi Siddhartha! Yes, in order for that to happen, you'll want to do two things: set the Slide Properties to "Resume saved state." (This means that when the learner leaves the slide and comes back to it, the states of the objects will be remembered.) You'll also want to set the course's resume behavior to either "Always" or "Prompt." (This allows the course to remember the learner's progress, so that they can pick up where they left off if they close the course and come back later.)