Working with Flash in SL

May 07, 2012

Hi All,

I have a small issue, and looking for some help/suggestion in this regard.

I have a 3 screen SL file - (Attached the SL file here)

Screen 1 - Concept 1

Screen 2 - There is a flash simulation which I want the user to go through completely

Screen 3 - Concept 2

Issue: Since the next button is already there, the user gets the option to skip this SCREEN 2 simulation

- Possible solution -  Remove the next button. If I do so the Menubar helps him to skip this.

Now removing the Menu Bar is not a good option keeping in mind the user flexibility.

One option is activate the Next button based on some triggers. But when to make this trigger work ?

I can not even use timeline end option to do so. As a user might sit and wait till the button appears, without even working on the simulation.

Could any one please help me in making this possible, where I can ensure that the users sees all the layers in the Simulation file. [SCREEN 2 here]

Thank you. Looking for a good discussion/solution here.

7 Replies
Tom Kuhlmann

Assuming that slide 2 is a Flash interaction I'd probably add some sort of trigger to confirm information gleaned from the interaction. For example, type in the value from the last screen. At that point the advance to the next slide is based on the user submitting confirmation of the information.

Additional options:

  • you can turn off auto advance
  • you can disable the next button
  • you can hide the slide in the menu

In that sense you can lock the learner to a specific slide. The trick is figuring out how you want them to advance, so you'll need some sort of trigger.

Shyam Saha

Hi,

Thanks Tom for the reply

Yes, slide 2 is a Flash interaction. The Flash interaction is something which has been built externally not by SL.

When you mentioned that "For example, type in the value from the last screen." 

How do I do that, could you please help? 

Also need some clarity on some things - 

"You can turn off auto advance"  - Could you help me to locate this option.

Sorry, If I am not able to make it clear to you. Could you please refer to my attachment, and help me how to solve this issue.

[ Objective - In SCREEN 2, I want to ensure that the user to sees Thank You message before he/she moves to Screen 3]

Thank you in advance.

Sayuj Ravindran

Hi Shyam,

This is a work around method...Not a direct one. In the external flash file, along with the Thank You message, fade in a title called Next. And then in the Storyline file, you should have a transparent shape with a trigger set to 'Jump to Next Slide'. This transparent shape should be exactly above the title Next (which is in the flash file). When Thank You message and Next title appears, users will click on the Next title. But actually they will be clicking on the transparent shape in the Storyline file, which will take them to the next slide.

The key is that the Next title (and the transparent shape) should appear in a location where the users will not click until then. Because there is a remote possibility that if they click on the transparent shape, it will move to the next slide.

I know this sounds confusing... this is quite complicated to explain.

Please refer to the attached screenshots also. Hope I am making sense here.. :-)

Shyam Saha

Hi Sayuj,

Thanks a lot. . Appreciate your extended help.

Yes, I can understand what you are trying to convey here. This is exactly the same which we have tried as a work around.

Except for that small glitch the work around is really cool. 

Also one thing that we are doing is, fading-in the transparent box after few secs (10/15 - depending on the length of the flash file). This ensures that the the user at least goes through few initial layers of the simulations.

Still investigating on this issue for a full proof navigation. Looking forward for more research on it.

Thanks. :-)

Sayuj Ravindran

Is it possible to give codes in the flash file so that once the Thankyou message comes, the flash file will close or fade out ??

And then you could try two methods -

1 - Keep the Next button below the flash file so that the users will see it after it fades out or closes.

2 - There is an option to set the trigger when a media ends... if the ending of the flash file (fade out or close) is detected by Storyline, may be you could set the Next button to be shown when the media (the flash file) ends.. Not sure about this.. but may be its worth a try...

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