Using Variables or Slide Settings
Aug 15, 2023
Good Morning Team! I am having a memory lapse. In many of my courses, I use a true/false variable to control the navigation of a slide that has a number of buttons on the slide. The Next button is controlled by a trigger to be active only after all buttons have been visited. Then a trigger for the next button to be active if the variable is true.
The variable is set to false and when the learner proceeds to the following slide a trigger is set to change the variable to true when the timeline starts.
I have been doing this for a couple of years, and use it in all my courses when this situation comes up, but for the life of me I cannot remember why I am using the variable instead of just setting the slide properties to "resume saved state."
I know it was explained to me at one time, but can't remember. Am I just over-engineering the course, or is there value added?
I have attached a course with this functionality used.
Thanks
4 Replies
It's a "quirk" of Storyline that "when the timeline starts" triggers run again when a user revisits a slide, even if the slide is set to "Resume saved state."
Thus, a trigger that disables Next when the timeline starts on an interactive slide typically has a condition based on a T/F variable, so that it only runs if the variable = False. So setting the variable to True when the interaction is done will prevent that trigger from running again.
FYI: This post has info about that and other ways to control the Next button: TIP: Controlling the NEXT Button 101 - Articulate Storyline Discussions - E-Learning Heroes
Hey Judy, Thanks, but my question was:
what is the benefit of using the variable and trigger arrangement over using just the "Resume saved state" slide setting?
"Resume saved state" impacts objects on the slide. It doesn't control Player elements like the Next button.
So the benefit of using a variable and trigger arrangement is that it allows you to disable Next, enable it when an interaction is done, and keep it enabled when a user revisit the slide.
Thanks!