Variables, Triggers and JavaScript...oh my!

I just realized that the attachment didn't work. Here is the example of the chart after the student has selected values in each of the six areas.

Holy, moly is right Sharon. 60 different hotspots...

I'm unable to assist with the Javascript element, but you may want to begin by reviewing the general best practices here and I'd also suggest sharing your .story file so that our Javascript gurus could take a look at what you've got set up and play around with it to offer ideas. 

Hi Sharon:

Wow, umm, 600 variables for ANYTHING in Storyline seems like way too much.

So far, even in the worst case scenario, I've yet to exceed about 100 or so, even including multiple trigger paths.

My brain is just hurting watching this scenario unfold, but my first random thought/suggestion would be to see if you can break this concept down into more manageable pieces that Storyline can handle and/or display gradually:

IE:

a) Capture the Values from 1-10 using simple Quiz/Interactions (nothing visual or fancy) FIRST

b) Then use the fancy Pie Chart to display the details based on what you capture, NEXT,

c) Not sure about the JavaScript and the e-mailing, that might have to be separated out into a final third piece, LAST.

I will take a closer look at this tomorrow, but for now, I'd say you had BETTER learn to SIMPLIFY your work, somehow, somewhere, and loosen up your design a little.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you don't at least try to do this, you might end up doing an AWFUL lot of WORK, which, while looking impressive, may not be as complicated or as onerous as perhaps it could be with some added simplicity.

My .02 cents: Challenge yourself to see if you can do the same thing without so many visuals. 

That might not be possible in this case, but I'm betting you can probably find some ways of decreasing your workload in Storyline.

Hope this helps!

Sincerely,

-Mark

Sharon,

Here is the start of a simpler way to do this. It uses states and sliders.

When you are through, you have 6 variables to capture and send. This could be done through a quiz form. The user would not even see the slide, it wouldn't be in the navigation flow. When they click to end this slide, the 6 variables could be transferred by trigger (adjust variable XX to Slider1) to the quiz answers. Then use js or lms to capture the answers.

The way to achieve this is NOT easy, so be prepared to spend some time working it out but it IS doable. The way to do it is to create an ordinary text variable, and then leverage that by converting it to an array using a JS trigger, and then back to a text variable.

I can't tell you exactly what works in your case, but with a fair bit of programming you can achieve this without a hitch.

I've done something similar to a demo project of mine a couple of years back: https://community.articulate.com/discussions/building-better-courses/demo-menu-toolkit-for-articulate-storyline . This and the demo that explains it all can get you up and running pretty quickly - just isolate the code you are mostly interested in (it's all in masters) and copy that to your project making sure the corresponding variables match.

Good luck!

Hope this helps,
Alex

Thank you for your response, Ashley. I'm trying to add my .story file as an attachment, but after I browse and locate the file, the POST REPLY button isn't active. Do I need to .zip it? I don't have a server available to post to.

I've reviewed that thread and have actually modified a JavaScript file that captures the student's notes and gives them the option to print or send to email. Thanks!

Thank you, Walt! This looks like a possible answer. Just need track the values.

Hi Sharon,

I haven't seen that behavior before with reply in in the forums or sharing attachments. Did you include information within the body of the post too or just trying to upload the attachment? Could you test it in another browser and let me know how it behaves there? Also I could try uploading it for you - if you want to send me the file here. 

Also just as an FYI responding via email includes your signature here and won't upload any attachments. You're welcome to edit the post to remove your signature if needed. 

At first glance I would go with Walt's suggestion and use 6 variables, for tracking if you do not have an LMS I would use a Google spreadsheet, the email function is dependent on the client having an email client installed and it is easy to set up. not sure you need an array to achieve this.

Ashley,

I uploaded the file to the support link you sent. Many thanks!

Thanks Sharon - I'll download your file and upload it here so that folks can take a look at it. 

Hi all,

Attached is the file Sharon mentioned for tracking the variable values based on what the user selects. 

Many thanks, Ashley!