Triggering and detecting when the timeline is paused or resumed

Nov 10, 2023

I suggested a feature here, but got a 404 page when I clicked Submit, so I am throwing it out here to see if other people would fine this useful in the meantime. I would like "Timeline paused" and "Timeline resumed" triggers in the Trigger Wizard's "When" section. Also, a system variable called "Timeline Playing" would be helpful.
Under the Timeline Events, there are currently these three options: "Timeline starts, Timeline ends, and Timeline reaches." These are definitely helpful. But missing are "Timeline paused" and "Timeline resumed" triggers.
In my case, I am trying to prevent a user from clicking a "Continue" button that is on a layer unless the timeline has been paused by reaching a cue point. I currently don't have a way to do this. If they click Continue before the cue point is reached, the Resume Timeline tied to the Continue button has no effect.


These triggers would make it possible to send xAPI messages when a user pauses playback (without having to create custom controls). It would also make it easier to show content when the user pauses a module, e.g. covering up content that they should not have extra time to review, or showing a message like "please subtract time paused from your submitted time in training." 

If I am missing something, and there is already a way to detect when the timeline is playing or paused, please do share! I would trade AI content generation for this feature any day.

4 Replies
Pierre Sosa

In my case, I am trying to prevent a user from clicking a "Continue" button that is on a layer unless the timeline has been paused by reaching a cue point.

Can you use the triggers--

  • Set state of [continue button] to normal when timeline reaches [cue point]
  • Pause timeline on [playing layer] when the timeline reaches [cue point]

-being sure that the state change happens before the pause takes effect?

https://360.articulate.com/review/content/fd927327-0c0b-4ddb-b8df-08d20e109642/review