Text Entry Field has a strange behaviour in mobile, it doesn't lose focus
Mar 28, 2021
Hi community!
I hope you're doing well.
I typically like to include text entry fields to customize the learning experience in our e-learnings but I've always found a bit of a strange behaviour when using the phone or tablet. I'm guessing this issue comes from the keyboard (somehow) as this doesn't happen in desktop.
I attach a video showing the issue.
➀ First
What I want to do is to let the user type their manager's name (as it shows in the video). In a new layer in that same slide I show them the name they've typed to confirm it's correct (using the reference %manager%).
What happens is that the reference %manager% doesn't show, as If the user didn't type anything. If the user goes back and forth, it does show. But it's not the right behaviour.
I've used a Javascript trigger with this code "document.activeElement.blur()" and it seems to work, but I don't think this is the right behaviour. And I'm not sure what are the consequences of activating that trigger, if it will affect future text entry fields or not.
Do you know why this happens?
➁ Second
As you can see in the video, the text caret (the flashing vertical bar of text editors) doesn't show, and it's hard to edit the text. In previous versions of storyline this didn't happen, but since the last couple of updates I've noticed this behaviour, and it's worse for user experience.
Any ideas?
7 Replies
Hello TUI People Development!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this with us! From the video, I see how the text entry field doesn't register the manager's name initially. You have to submit the text entry field twice for it to appear with the variable reference. You're correct. That is not expected behavior.
Secondly, in your video, there isn't any visual indication after clicking in the text entry field, as you mentioned. We don't currently have a bug report for either of these issues mentioned. I'd like our Support Engineers to work with you directly so we can understand exactly what is occurring.
If you're comfortable, and with your permission, we are happy to take a look at your project file. You can share it with a Support Engineers by submitting a support case. Your file will be deleted after troubleshooting.
Thanks.
I have submitted the case.
Thanks, TUI People Development.
We'd be happy to follow along if you'd like to share your case number with us here. I was unable to track it down myself.
You should have gotten an email confirmation with the case number.
I'm having a similar problem. My text box is not losing focus, and therefore not recording the entered text on mobile. I've tried closing the keyboard, tapping other parts of the screen, but it doesn't help.
There is a pop-up layer with a button on it, and tapping THAT causes it to lose focus and update the variable.
For anyone else experiencing this problem, just in case you're in a similar situation to mine, here's how I worked around it. I had users entering text and then selecting a hotspot to see if they got it right. However, the hotspot was not causing the text entry field to lose focus, so the variable remained blank. When I replaced the hotspot with a built-in Storyline button, suddenly it worked. I also tried a shape and that did NOT work. Good luck!
Hello Rena!
Happy to hear you were able to get this working, and I appreciate you sharing the details with others in the community! I'm sure this will help someone in need down the road.
If you find yourself hitting this snag again, feel free to connect with one of our support engineers so they can help troubleshoot!
More digging into this work-around has given me some new insight. It seems to be the Down state that is triggering the text entry field to lose focus. I'm guessing Storyline handles Down before any triggers associated with the button.