I have two display screens in my development environment and frequently have one .story file open in each (i.e., two separate Storyline instances) for copy/paste and comparison purposes.
Frequently, the Storyline instance that is open in the 2nd screen can't be moved because the cursor changes to a re-size display when positioned anywhere on the display border. This means I can re-size the display but I can't move or minimize it.
Has this behavior been reported before? Any suggestions on how to avoid it?
I've almost always worked with dual screens and multiple files open, but I honestly haven't had them open on both screens. I suppose this is because I generally use the second monitor for other purposes.
Curious - does ALT+TABing to the other instance of Storyline have the same result?
It doesn't seem to make any difference, I still can't grab the title bar to move the window (because the cursor is set to re-size the display). One point of clarification, I can minimize, maximize and close the window (upper-right controls). I just can't move the display. On the bottom bar, none of the features are accessible (e.g., fit project to current window and the size slide-bar).
I can get control back by resetting my display to a single monitor. The secondary Storyline instance is re-positioned on the primary display and everything works as expected.
It's only a minor irritant, I was just hoping there is a work-around.
I'm still not having any luck reproducing this on my end, even with quite a few instances open. I wonder if it might be an issue with a driver, etc.?
You could try right-clicking on the icon for Storyline (the second instance) and select "Move" - that might let you move it. Or you can hold down "Shift" and right-click the shortcut, release the "Shift" key and use the keyboard arrows to select "Move". I've used this for windows that get stuck off screen. I'm not sure if it'll work for you, but if it does, hopefully it'll be a little less time-consuming than having to revert the display back to single screen.
Hopefully some community members can chime in and give you some additional suggestions :)
I had that very same problem with an old IBM or Lenovo monitor (portrait style). Can't give you any more info because I wasn't liking the monitor anyway and bought a new one, no longer have the old one. But the problem went away with the new monitor.
Christine's right, it may be a driver issue. Because I wasn't interested in keeping the monitor I didn't investigate if there was a newer driver (although the monitor was pretty old, so not so sure there would have been a resolution).
But the thing that was weird was it was ONLY Storyline that gave me the problem. Any other applications or windows I had opened in that monitor worked as I expected them to.
Sorry I don't have any other advice, but wanted you to know there's at least someone else out there who experienced this!
I've been under the impression that it was a bad idea to have more than one instance of Storyline open at a time on the same PC. That's probably because when you try to open a new Storyline project from within an open Storyline project it closes the open one before opening the new one. Reading this thread it seems like there is no problem with running concurrent instances on the same machine. Is that the case?
Most of the courses I'm looking at are for testing for community members, or example files. They're usually fairly small.
You can launch separate instances pretty easily and keep multiple projects open, but if the project files are large it may not be a good idea. The larger the files, the more resources you'll use :)
Sounds like you've been trying to open multiple files with one instance of the program, but I'm not sure. If you have Storyline open already, you can either double-click the shortcut for Storyline, or open a .STORY file from a file directory. There's other ways you can do this through the taskbar, but it can vary a little between operating systems.
I've been under the impression that it was a bad idea to have more than one instance of Storyline open at a time on the same PC. That's probably because when you try to open a new Storyline project from within an open Storyline project it closes the open one before opening the new one. Reading this thread it seems like there is no problem with running concurrent instances on the same machine. Is that the case?
I often have 3-4 instances of storyline open at any one time no problems except when I had 5 projects publishing on my Macbook air and one failed but all the others worked fine
I'm leaning toward the driver as the cause of the problem. Both monitors are Dell, but one is rather old. I have a much more up-to-date configuration at home so I will attempt to recreate the problem there. If not, then we have a likely culprit.
I know this thread is a year old, but I've just started to experience this issue on an Apple Cinema display. The funky thing is that I just started experiencing the issue this week after months of use with no problems grabbing and moving the window in the 2nd display. I'll try to post a follow-up if I find the solution. I suspect a setting has changed recently.
The most recent Storyline update was at the end of January - although I'm not sure when you updated it, but if you're able to determine a particular computer setting/update that occurred please keep us posted for any other users who may run across the same issue.
Good: Virtually aligned the tops of both displays (See images below): Articulate Storyline window can now be moved. View control buttons and scaler on the bottom still disabled on secondary display.
Best: When I set my external display as the primary display, everything works normally.
Other things, I've noticed:
In the display control software, the moving issue seems to be determined by whether the tops or bottoms of the two displays are aligned, and if the external display sticks out (for lack of a better description) See the images below.
If the Articulate Storyline window is halfway between both displays the window can be moved by clicking and dragging the top bar on either display.
Once the scaler and buttons appear on the second display they won't work, even if the bar right edge of the Articulate Storyline window is still visible on the primary display and can be moved normally.
The ability to move disappears only after the Articulate Storyline window is fully in the second display (not primary) and the mouse button is released after initially moving it.
When the built in display on my MacBook Pro is set as the secondary display, this moving problem and buttons problem does not appear. It only appears on the second display when it is NOT set as the primary display (I'm not sure that makes any sense at all.)
Thanks for the additional information - I'm on a Lenovo Think Pad with a dual display, and I don't run into any issues dragging Storyline back and forth or using any of the features when it's half way on each display. Were you able to determine if there were any settings changed within the Mac itself or your control center?
The only other significant change that corresponds to the timing of this issue is that an IT person here at work encouraged me to use the "Run as Administrator" option when using Storyline (I still don't know why). But I reverted to the normal setting after a day because of a Windows system warning about running programs that way. I did the uninstall and clean install of Storyline after all that though.
Here's a link to a YouTube video illustrating the issues. I also have a better description of the issue with the view option buttons and scaler at the bottom.
Articulate Storyline view control buttons and scaler work perfectly in the external, secondary monitor only if the program window is maximized.
If the Articulate Storyline program window is not maximized in the external, secondary monitor then the view control buttons and scaler at the bottom of the window can be used, but only if the mouse is pointing the top few pixels of each button or element. (Really weird).
16 Replies
Hi Keith,
I've almost always worked with dual screens and multiple files open, but I honestly haven't had them open on both screens. I suppose this is because I generally use the second monitor for other purposes.
Curious - does ALT+TABing to the other instance of Storyline have the same result?
Thanks!
Christine,
It doesn't seem to make any difference, I still can't grab the title bar to move the window (because the cursor is set to re-size the display). One point of clarification, I can minimize, maximize and close the window (upper-right controls). I just can't move the display. On the bottom bar, none of the features are accessible (e.g., fit project to current window and the size slide-bar).
I can get control back by resetting my display to a single monitor. The secondary Storyline instance is re-positioned on the primary display and everything works as expected.
It's only a minor irritant, I was just hoping there is a work-around.
Hi Keith,
I'm still not having any luck reproducing this on my end, even with quite a few instances open. I wonder if it might be an issue with a driver, etc.?
You could try right-clicking on the icon for Storyline (the second instance) and select "Move" - that might let you move it. Or you can hold down "Shift" and right-click the shortcut, release the "Shift" key and use the keyboard arrows to select "Move". I've used this for windows that get stuck off screen. I'm not sure if it'll work for you, but if it does, hopefully it'll be a little less time-consuming than having to revert the display back to single screen.
Hopefully some community members can chime in and give you some additional suggestions :)
Thanks!
Hi Keith,
I had that very same problem with an old IBM or Lenovo monitor (portrait style). Can't give you any more info because I wasn't liking the monitor anyway and bought a new one, no longer have the old one. But the problem went away with the new monitor.
Christine's right, it may be a driver issue. Because I wasn't interested in keeping the monitor I didn't investigate if there was a newer driver (although the monitor was pretty old, so not so sure there would have been a resolution).
But the thing that was weird was it was ONLY Storyline that gave me the problem. Any other applications or windows I had opened in that monitor worked as I expected them to.
Sorry I don't have any other advice, but wanted you to know there's at least someone else out there who experienced this!
I've been under the impression that it was a bad idea to have more than one instance of Storyline open at a time on the same PC. That's probably because when you try to open a new Storyline project from within an open Storyline project it closes the open one before opening the new one. Reading this thread it seems like there is no problem with running concurrent instances on the same machine. Is that the case?
Hi Brett,
Most of the courses I'm looking at are for testing for community members, or example files. They're usually fairly small.
You can launch separate instances pretty easily and keep multiple projects open, but if the project files are large it may not be a good idea. The larger the files, the more resources you'll use :)
Sounds like you've been trying to open multiple files with one instance of the program, but I'm not sure. If you have Storyline open already, you can either double-click the shortcut for Storyline, or open a .STORY file from a file directory. There's other ways you can do this through the taskbar, but it can vary a little between operating systems.
I often have 3-4 instances of storyline open at any one time no problems except when I had 5 projects publishing on my Macbook air and one failed but all the others worked fine
I also do it on windows 7 & 8 with no problems.
It is very useful when copying triggers and javascript between 2 storyline files
Christine/all,
I'm leaning toward the driver as the cause of the problem. Both monitors are Dell, but one is rather old. I have a much more up-to-date configuration at home so I will attempt to recreate the problem there. If not, then we have a likely culprit.
Sounds good Keith :)
Let us know how it goes!
I know this thread is a year old, but I've just started to experience this issue on an Apple Cinema display. The funky thing is that I just started experiencing the issue this week after months of use with no problems grabbing and moving the window in the 2nd display. I'll try to post a follow-up if I find the solution. I suspect a setting has changed recently.
Hi Robert,
The most recent Storyline update was at the end of January - although I'm not sure when you updated it, but if you're able to determine a particular computer setting/update that occurred please keep us posted for any other users who may run across the same issue.
OK, Here's a follow-up so far:
Strike-outs
Work-arounds
Other things, I've noticed:
Hi Robert,
Thanks for the additional information - I'm on a Lenovo Think Pad with a dual display, and I don't run into any issues dragging Storyline back and forth or using any of the features when it's half way on each display. Were you able to determine if there were any settings changed within the Mac itself or your control center?
Ashley,
The only other significant change that corresponds to the timing of this issue is that an IT person here at work encouraged me to use the "Run as Administrator" option when using Storyline (I still don't know why). But I reverted to the normal setting after a day because of a Windows system warning about running programs that way. I did the uninstall and clean install of Storyline after all that though.
Here's a link to a YouTube video illustrating the issues. I also have a better description of the issue with the view option buttons and scaler at the bottom.
Hi Robert,
You would need to install Storyline as an administrator, but you will want to activate it as an end user.
Thanks for the video. I'm going to see if I can find anyone else with a similar set up, as my set up continues to behave normally.
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