Working with text entry boxes and limited display space

Jul 30, 2012

Mark Kizilos
By Mark Kizilos

I have a couple of issues related to text boxes and the display of variable text in Storyline.

First, I can't seem to figure out any way of limiting the amount of text that a user is able to enter into a data entry field.Is this possible?

Which leads to a second problem with the display of text when the user has typed more text than I am prepared to display.  I have been trying to experiment with the text box options--do not auto-fill, shrink text or re-size shape... Regardless of which option I select, the text keeps shrinking when the user enters too much.

So, is it possible to limit, either through a character count or through fixing the data entry box size and turning off the function which now automatically creates a scrolling text entry when users enter too much text?

The solution has to work for iPad using the articulate mobile player app as well as flash...(so no javascript at this point)...

Thanks,

Mark

25 Replies
Mark Kizilos
over 11 years ago07/30/12 at 1:21 pm (UTC)

I think I just found something that might work. It seems that if I convert slides with text entry fields to freeform questions, there is a built in limit of 256 characters for the user response. This will actually meet my purposes. Not clear if I can have multiple freeform questions on a given slide, but I will play with that and see if it works.

Thanks,

Mark

Heinrich Bartie
11 years ago04/25/13 at 5:45 am (UTC)

This does not make a whole lot of sense to me though. I have the same question around being able to define and limit the number of characters a user can place into a text entry field.

For example, a fill in the blank type of question. Even though the SCORM 2004 specification defines that this type can use a maximum of 255 characters, Storyline does not allow you to adhere to that. You could essentially fill that field with a large number of characters, and on submit, your LMS will be bombarded with a massive amount of characters.

This could be problematic especially is the LMS is unable to handle this exception to what SCORM 2004 has defined as the limit.

I'm aware that I could use Long fill to get to 4000 characters, that is not the point I'm trying to make.

I am simply saying that storyline needs to allow us to define a max limit on things like text entry fields, to ensure we can limit the characters we will accept, and not exceed the limits defined in the SCORM specifications.

Where and how do I go about requesting this feature?

Christine Hendrickson
11 years ago04/25/13 at 7:47 am (UTC)

Hi there Heinrich,

I can certainly see how that would be a very valuable feature! You did a great job of explaining how this would affect your courses and the LMS. If you haven't already, you may want to submit this information and request.

You can share your request with our development team using the following form:

Articulate > Submit a feature request 

Thanks again, Heinrich! I look forward to seeing this submitted. I may follow your lead and submit one, as well.

Have a great day,

Christine

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard
7 years ago01/26/17 at 6:25 pm (UTC)

I saw the behavior in your file initially that it was restricted to about 3 lines of text. But I was able to add in a new text entry box on that slide and then I was able to copy/paste in around 2,500 characters (just happened to be handy) in it and that all appeared. Did you look at recreating the textbox? You'll also want to confirm that you're working on local project files and adhering to the guidelines here to help prevent odd behavior in your project files. If you want to give my new text box a try, I uploaded it here to my Articulate Online account (just to paste in the text for trial). 

Starla West
over 5 years ago08/18/18 at 5:42 pm (UTC)

Ashley - I am new to Articulate and currently learning from a firehose using the materials provided by Articulate. I can't seem to find where an essay question can be built into Storyline. I see where I can enter a text only free form question that has a 256 character limit, but what I really need is a text only, non-graded question where the learner can enter unlimited text. Can you point me to a resource that will show me how to do that?  My hope is that when everything is uploaded into an LMS, that the learner can return to the lessons with essay questions and periodically edit their responses while taking the course and when they are finished, print a PDF that includes their responses to all the questions. Do you know if that is even doable? This is all new to me so I am still learning and having to ask a lot of questions. Thank you so much for your help!

 

Alyssa Gomez
over 5 years ago08/20/18 at 6:47 pm (UTC)

Hi Starla!

I know where you're coming from! Lots of folks in this community are new to Storyline and are feeling a little like they are in the deep end of the pool! Don't worry, that's why we are here to help. 😊

Since you don't want to impose a limit on the number of characters the learner can type, I would suggest inserting a text entry field on a regular slide (not a quiz slide). 

And since you want to give learners the option to print their own text, check out Matthew's suggestions in this thread. 

This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.