Add a static hmtl page as interaction, and track variables from within it?

Jun 06, 2016

Leslie Shapiro
By Leslie Shapiro

Hi again everyone,

I'm looking for some guidance and wondering if anyone has done anything like this:

Client would like to have a 10MB static web page included as an interactive part of the course. This is basically a user manual. The idea is to have the learner navigate to the proper information in the manual, and to give step-by-step instructions in Storyline as they navigate through it. In future lessons, we'd like them to be able to navigate openly through the manual. 

Is this even possible? As far as I can tell, using the Insert Web Object option, or using the Trigger/Open File option does not let Storyline read into the html file. So, is there a way to insert variables in the html itself that would be read by Storyline?  Are there any creative solutions you've tried with something like this? Or am I better off making a custom scenario using screenshots from the html? Thanks for your thoughts. 

2 Replies
Nicole Legault
almost 8 years ago06/06/16 at 12:09 pm (UTC)

Hello Leslie

Thanks for popping in with your question! It's an interesting one.. You're correct that using the web object would not give Storyline the ability to "know" and track what's happening inside the web page being viewed in the web object.

For Storyline to be able to communicate with a webpage you would need to extend SL's functionality with Javascript. It's not something we support but we do have a few resources to help you get started (here and here) if you decide to go that route. David Anderson actually just wrapped up hosting a weekly challenge all about javascript, that you might also want to peek at:  Using Javascript & Articulate Storyline.

If Javascript is outside of your comfort zone, I do have another suggestion to offer... Instead of using screenshots, have you considered maybe using the Storyline screen recording tool to capture a simulation of the manual? The simulation can be either a demo they just watch, or it can be an interactive simulation where they have to actually click through the manual themselves, and you can provide hints, tips or tricks along the way as you want. You can even score them on how they are doing inside the simulation, and then send those results to an LMS (which sounds like it may be what you want to do, since you mentioned tracking variables). In case you want to consider this, here's a few helpful links:

I hope this is helpful! Please shout out if you have more questions :)

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