Storyline 2 Resource Tab E-Mail (MAILTO vs. HTTP) Hyperlinks: Solution
Dec 18, 2015
Hello everyone:
I am currently trying to add a "mailto" e-mail hyperlink to trigger/fire when a learner clicks on a related link/reference to a Resource on my Resources Tab.
Unfortunately, AFAIK, Storyline 2 does not appear to support anything that doesn't begin with a conventional Web-based URL (http://) extension for Resource Links even while it has an option for non-standard mailto: ("Send e-Mail To:" Option) links using text right in project slides.
I did a search in the Articulate forums for this issue, and didn't really find anything much on it.
So perhaps I should submit this to the Dev/Features team for Storyline (?)
Anyway, while we wait on a possible direct fix from Articulate for this relatively small item, it's useful to know that there is a fairly simple workaround solution available, using a URL/web-address shortener, in particular, IS.GD.
This free service is available at http://is.gd
Connect to the IS.GD Site, enter the appropriate "mailto:" extension and e-mail address in the shortening box, press the "Shorten!" button, and voila!
Instant HTTP/Web-compliant address that you can copy/paste into your Resources Tab Link Address (Home Tab > Player Button) that resolves to a MAILTO: output address once the browser sends it to IS.GD and parses it. Brilliant!
I've been meaning to try out this potential solution out for some time, and it's nice to know that it works, and works well, using a desktop/laptop course.
I suspect it will work equally well using the portable iPad player also.
If not, please let us all know.
Enjoy!
-Mark
8 Replies
Hi, Mark -- Thanks so much for sharing, and yes, if you would like to submit your thoughts or ideas to our Product Development team, here is the form you could use to do so. :)
Hi Christie:
Very creative solution Mark. I love it.
UPDATE:
My solution DOES work, but it does come with a small CAVEAT:
When you click on the IS.GD or URL-shortened hyperlink, it will typically open ANOTHER BROWSER WINDOW in order to lookup the mailto: address and activate your e-mail package (IE: Outlook).
So the user will have to close another window after they click on the E-Mail Resource Link.
Other than that, the e-mail link works great! :)
Thanks Michael!
I was stymied by this for a couple of weeks and then one day, I stumbled across a bit.LY link for something totally unrelated, and it just hit me.
Almost, but not quite face-palm-worthy! ;)
Wow, I just tried this and it worked. (Don't really understand why but it does!)
Glad you found this thread helpful, Laura! Precisely why we keep these older discussions around. ☺️
Unfortunately bitly and other URL shorteners are frowned upon by many companies and often blocked, and with the extra window popup (mentioned above) to close for no apparent reason (to the learner experience) this makes the above solution a non-starter for many. I have found that the mailto interaction (selected from the drop down) works fine for some people and not others. Some people use the Outlook desktop, some outlook.com, some other email clients, so there is no consistency at that end. I'm avoiding using mailto.
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