Hi Renee, you can't change states on the player buttons. If you want to do this you will have to disable the player buttons and create your own next button. You can then add a glow to one of the states (I would probably add a custom state to do this instead of using one of the built in button states. After you create the button, add a slide trigger to each slide that says change state of button to whatever state you have put the glow on - when the timeline ends.
Are you serious? Doesn't the next button state change in Presenter when the timeline is finished? How are the users supposed to know its time to go to the next screen? The seek bar is incredibly annoying so I remove that all the time. Custom buttons are a pain. Why did Articulate change such a feature?
I don't really know why they changed it but there are lots of things you can do to put in place a visual indicator that the timeline has ended. I don't think it is a very big deal.
I am also really starting to dispare that users have to be given instructions about when or how to click a button.
Thanks, Nancy, your suggestion was timely and useful - I needed a solution quick. I agree I wish I felt comfortable to totally trust that the learner is going to know what to do to advance - but my learner analysis says not to assume such things. So, I'm trying to find a solution that's as inconspicuous as possible.
Thrilled about Rebecca's time saving suggestion, if the learner clicks to advance before the tip appears they won't be annoyed by it. And if they don't, then surely they'll be pleased to see guidance and direction.
It's been a while since this original question, but I was working on something today and thought I'd upload a sample of the approach I suggested in October for reminding Learners to click Next if they forget.
My approach doesn't change the state of the next button but inserts a little prompt for the Learner. Story is attached.
This is all very helpful. Just to make sure I am understanding...is there a way to change the color of the NEXT buttons that are part of the player? I can not find it anywhere. I see the color scheme and background colors but not where the button color is.
This is all very helpful. Just to make sure I am understanding...is there a way to change the color of the NEXT buttons that are part of the player? I can not find it anywhere. I see the color scheme and background colors but not where the button color is.
Hi Monica, you change the colour of the of the player buttons in the Player Settings. Click Player/Color and Effects/Show advanced color editing/Edit item/Button
It is well buried so I'm not surprised you couldn't find it.
If you're using the built in next button, you can't make it appear at a particular point in a slide's timeline but you can disable it from being usable until a certain interaction occurs as described here.
One method that I find effective is to set triggers in the Slide Master for the NEXT button. Set one trigger to "Change the State of the NEXT button to Disabled when the Timeline Starts"; set a second trigger to "Change the State of the NEXT button to Normal when the Timeline Ends".
This way, the learner can't advance until the slide has completed and the button changes to grab their attention. Use this with Becky's method and you have two visual cues for the learner.
A slight variation that would really grab their attention is to alter the first trigger to "Change the State of the NEXT button to Hidden when the Timeline Starts". Then at the end of the slide, there is a more dramatic effect because the NEXT button appears.
As Ashley mentioned, my solution is based on Storyline 2. In Storyline 2, you can use triggers to change the state of the NEXT or PREVIOUS buttons (under "Buttons on the player" section in the "On Object" dropdown). However, the choice of states are limited to the presets "Normal"' "Hidden"' or "Disabled". You cannot create a custom state, such as glowing; at least not that I have found.
Hi All, so just to be clear, there is no way to animate the next button in any way to indicate that the slide is over? I have figured out a way to make my own next button but it is on the actual slide and not the player so it looks off.
The thing about changing the states of the nav buttons, unless I'm missing something, is that it prevents the user from advancing until the timeline ends, which can be valuable, but could also be problematic, for example if the user is coming back to the course after having seen it already and is trying to skip slides by clicking Next, but it is hidden or disabled.
But I think the original question was about giving an indication to the user that they could proceed after timeline ends. I have also been asked to display an indication of basically when the narrator is done speaking and the user can proceed to the next slide. I think Rebecca's example is a good solution that I will try. Thanks for the great discussion.
There isn't a way to animate it, but within Storyline 2 you can change it's state say from disabled (which is typically greyed out) to Normal when it reaches a certain point. This is described in a bit more detail here.
That may help your users know when they're able to access it.
27 Replies
Hi Renee, you can't change states on the player buttons. If you want to do this you will have to disable the player buttons and create your own next button. You can then add a glow to one of the states (I would probably add a custom state to do this instead of using one of the built in button states. After you create the button, add a slide trigger to each slide that says change state of button to whatever state you have put the glow on - when the timeline ends.
Are you serious? Doesn't the next button state change in Presenter when the timeline is finished? How are the users supposed to know its time to go to the next screen? The seek bar is incredibly annoying so I remove that all the time. Custom buttons are a pain. Why did Articulate change such a feature?
I don't really know why they changed it but there are lots of things you can do to put in place a visual indicator that the timeline has ended. I don't think it is a very big deal.
I am also really starting to dispare that users have to be given instructions about when or how to click a button.
Hi,
Another thought to prompt the users if you don't want to create custom buttons:
Just tested it on slides where one was 2 seconds and one was 10 seconds and it seems to work.
Thanks, Nancy, your suggestion was timely and useful - I needed a solution quick. I agree I wish I felt comfortable to totally trust that the learner is going to know what to do to advance - but my learner analysis says not to assume such things. So, I'm trying to find a solution that's as inconspicuous as possible.
Thrilled about Rebecca's time saving suggestion, if the learner clicks to advance before the tip appears they won't be annoyed by it. And if they don't, then surely they'll be pleased to see guidance and direction.
Thanks to both of you!
Does anyone know how to set the button's to "glow"? It's not an option I see in my animations selection (which are REALLY limited...
You could add a glow and a fade animation should achieve what you are after
Hi Carla, the glow is not an animation. It is a button effect.
Hi All,
It's been a while since this original question, but I was working on something today and thought I'd upload a sample of the approach I suggested in October for reminding Learners to click Next if they forget.
My approach doesn't change the state of the next button but inserts a little prompt for the Learner. Story is attached.
If you're interested, there's a Screenr here.
This is all very helpful. Just to make sure I am understanding...is there a way to change the color of the NEXT buttons that are part of the player? I can not find it anywhere. I see the color scheme and background colors but not where the button color is.
Hi Monica, you change the colour of the of the player buttons in the Player Settings. Click Player/Color and Effects/Show advanced color editing/Edit item/Button
It is well buried so I'm not surprised you couldn't find it.
that's really helpful - thanks for sharing it!
Rebecca, your next button prompt is beautiful
Hi Nicola! Glad that this thread was able to help you out and thanks for sharing that Becky is good!
Nicola, so kind of you to take the time to comment here. Tx for making my day...you and Leslie .
I have the same problem others are discussing above.
I want to change the color of the NEXT button AND have it appear at the end of the timeline.
Thanks to Nancy's reply I was able to change the color of the NEXT button.
Can anyone tell me how to make the NEXT button appear at the end of the timeline (for all slides)?
Hi Nance,
If you're using the built in next button, you can't make it appear at a particular point in a slide's timeline but you can disable it from being usable until a certain interaction occurs as described here.
One method that I find effective is to set triggers in the Slide Master for the NEXT button. Set one trigger to "Change the State of the NEXT button to Disabled when the Timeline Starts"; set a second trigger to "Change the State of the NEXT button to Normal when the Timeline Ends".
This way, the learner can't advance until the slide has completed and the button changes to grab their attention. Use this with Becky's method and you have two visual cues for the learner.
A slight variation that would really grab their attention is to alter the first trigger to "Change the State of the NEXT button to Hidden when the Timeline Starts". Then at the end of the slide, there is a more dramatic effect because the NEXT button appears.
Mike
Hi Mike!
That's a great solution. But i wonder if is there any improvements on changing the state of next button, like glowing after timeline ends etc.
Hi Burak,
Do you have Storyline 2? If so, you can use the disabled vs. normal state as detailed here. There isn't a way to add a glow though.
Hi Burak,
As Ashley mentioned, my solution is based on Storyline 2. In Storyline 2, you can use triggers to change the state of the NEXT or PREVIOUS buttons (under "Buttons on the player" section in the "On Object" dropdown). However, the choice of states are limited to the presets "Normal"' "Hidden"' or "Disabled". You cannot create a custom state, such as glowing; at least not that I have found.
Hi All, so just to be clear, there is no way to animate the next button in any way to indicate that the slide is over? I have figured out a way to make my own next button but it is on the actual slide and not the player so it looks off.
Thanks!
The thing about changing the states of the nav buttons, unless I'm missing something, is that it prevents the user from advancing until the timeline ends, which can be valuable, but could also be problematic, for example if the user is coming back to the course after having seen it already and is trying to skip slides by clicking Next, but it is hidden or disabled.
But I think the original question was about giving an indication to the user that they could proceed after timeline ends. I have also been asked to display an indication of basically when the narrator is done speaking and the user can proceed to the next slide. I think Rebecca's example is a good solution that I will try. Thanks for the great discussion.
Hi Cassidy,
There isn't a way to animate it, but within Storyline 2 you can change it's state say from disabled (which is typically greyed out) to Normal when it reaches a certain point. This is described in a bit more detail here.
That may help your users know when they're able to access it.
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