I was diggin' through the e-learning crates this morning and found one of my first projects. I built this during the Storyline 1 beta to test states and layers. Those were new concepts back then so everything was exciting.
OMG, my first Storyline project? A long time ago, on a Windows version far, far away...
Due to proprietary content and all that, I don't have any project files from that time. Just as well, since it'd be too embarrassing to share them. Basic compliance stuff.
I do remember how exciting it was to have the extra control Storyline offered over Studio. (Not all rosy; I also remember how you had to view SL1 at 100% when editing, or the text boxes would appear wonky.) And I remember the excitement of the fixes and features available when moving to SL2, SL3, and SL360.
It was mostly "learn by doing"—though with a heavy dose of "learn by looking it up." Pretty sure I had eLearning Uncovered books for the first three versions. Haven't opened it in a long time, but I still have the 2nd Edition of the SL360 version. (Yeah, from 2018. So the accuracy level has decreased with every new feature.)
I also attended the Articulate Road Show when it came to town. Very helpful, as were some of the SL-related presentations done for local organizations.
Cant' remember when I started visiting the Forum. Everyone should have that bookmarked (along with the User Guides). The community is where to go for answers or just inspiration.
Finally, I highly recommend the monthly "Quick Tips" presentations. I always learn something new in every one!
I recall you sharing the New York Times The Wealthiest Americans Ever interactive graphic in 2007 (sadly, NYT hasn't upgraded away from Flash). I think we talked about how cool it would be if we could build it as an interactive activity for elearning, so I bookmarked the link and thought one day...
When Storyline 1 first came out, recreating that interactive graphic was the first thing I built in 2012. It took a bit to figure out, but I was pleasantly surprised Storyline could recreate it almost identically to the original NYT version.
I have not updated anything besides the newer published output and Review 360. Vintage classic!
I can't recall how long it took to build but I do recall gathering the content for the project took much longer than it did to develop it. What helped me the most in learning Storyline was doing the same thing 50 times. Markers, zoom, question banks, drag and drop...that's what I learned the most (not to mention numerous trivial facts about the U.S. states, not to mention Storyline states).
Hey Steve! This reminds me of a similar US States trivia game I made back then. I think we used the same map graphic! Ha! I forgot about it, and now I need to go dig it up and see if it still works.
As this goes back in time, the following may be more "historical fiction" than "non-fiction," but I digress. I can't remember what happened last year much less a decade or more since I first started working with Storyline. So, the details and action in the story may be a mix of actual events and ones from my imagination to fill the gaps.
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Let's take a trip down memory lane to November 2014 when I embarked on one of my earliest Storyline projects (or at least as far back as my .story file can take me!). The spark for this project originated from the digital magazine challenge, which, admittedly, I didn't actively participate in (I was more of a "lurker" than a "challenge submitter" back then, hehe!). However, this endeavor brought some exciting things into my life:
Firstly, it led me to secure one of my first clients who stumbled upon this project on my website. They were captivated by its "unique style" (haha) and approached me to create something similar for their course. They remained my client for over ten years before they sold their business and retired this year.
Secondly, it taught me that just because something looks great in a challenge, it doesn't mean it will scale well in a production environment.
Thirdly, it taught me that I really undercharged for the project!
9 Replies
I was diggin' through the e-learning crates this morning and found one of my first projects. I built this during the Storyline 1 beta to test states and layers. Those were new concepts back then so everything was exciting.
View the example
OMG, my first Storyline project? A long time ago, on a Windows version far, far away...
Due to proprietary content and all that, I don't have any project files from that time. Just as well, since it'd be too embarrassing to share them. Basic compliance stuff.
I do remember how exciting it was to have the extra control Storyline offered over Studio. (Not all rosy; I also remember how you had to view SL1 at 100% when editing, or the text boxes would appear wonky.) And I remember the excitement of the fixes and features available when moving to SL2, SL3, and SL360.
It was mostly "learn by doing"—though with a heavy dose of "learn by looking it up." Pretty sure I had eLearning Uncovered books for the first three versions. Haven't opened it in a long time, but I still have the 2nd Edition of the SL360 version. (Yeah, from 2018. So the accuracy level has decreased with every new feature.)
I also attended the Articulate Road Show when it came to town. Very helpful, as were some of the SL-related presentations done for local organizations.
Cant' remember when I started visiting the Forum. Everyone should have that bookmarked (along with the User Guides). The community is where to go for answers or just inspiration.
Finally, I highly recommend the monthly "Quick Tips" presentations. I always learn something new in every one!
Which seems like a good excuse to re-share this:
Blast from the past!
I recall you sharing the New York Times The Wealthiest Americans Ever interactive graphic in 2007 (sadly, NYT hasn't upgraded away from Flash). I think we talked about how cool it would be if we could build it as an interactive activity for elearning, so I bookmarked the link and thought one day...
When Storyline 1 first came out, recreating that interactive graphic was the first thing I built in 2012. It took a bit to figure out, but I was pleasantly surprised Storyline could recreate it almost identically to the original NYT version.
I have not updated anything besides the newer published output and Review 360. Vintage classic!
https://360.articulate.com/review/content/17944d69-f65f-4b3b-9152-452a5a0e7fe2/review
30 interactive objects with two states each (Normal and Hover)
30 layers
31 triggers
I thought I was going to break Storyline with that many layers!
My first project was also developed with the beta before Storyline 1 was released. It was a mini course on facts about the U.S. states. The most amazing thing about this project is...it opened in SL 360!
https://360.articulate.com/review/content/b4299838-19c2-4002-83cb-2f9adbd6dff7/review
I can't recall how long it took to build but I do recall gathering the content for the project took much longer than it did to develop it. What helped me the most in learning Storyline was doing the same thing 50 times. Markers, zoom, question banks, drag and drop...that's what I learned the most (not to mention numerous trivial facts about the U.S. states, not to mention Storyline states).
Hey Steve! This reminds me of a similar US States trivia game I made back then. I think we used the same map graphic! Ha! I forgot about it, and now I need to go dig it up and see if it still works.
I didn't have the individual images of the states, just the full map. I had to cut each one out using Photoshop; that was a joy!
Such a long time ago and the fun we had in the SL1 beta. I think I built loads of things this was one of the first:
Coffee | Review 360 (articulate.com)
What a great question, David!
As this goes back in time, the following may be more "historical fiction" than "non-fiction," but I digress. I can't remember what happened last year much less a decade or more since I first started working with Storyline. So, the details and action in the story may be a mix of actual events and ones from my imagination to fill the gaps.
-------------------
Let's take a trip down memory lane to November 2014 when I embarked on one of my earliest Storyline projects (or at least as far back as my .story file can take me!). The spark for this project originated from the digital magazine challenge, which, admittedly, I didn't actively participate in (I was more of a "lurker" than a "challenge submitter" back then, hehe!). However, this endeavor brought some exciting things into my life:
Firstly, it led me to secure one of my first clients who stumbled upon this project on my website. They were captivated by its "unique style" (haha) and approached me to create something similar for their course. They remained my client for over ten years before they sold their business and retired this year.
Secondly, it taught me that just because something looks great in a challenge, it doesn't mean it will scale well in a production environment.
Thirdly, it taught me that I really undercharged for the project!
I wrote a post about it on my blog at: https://bridgehillls.com/dusting-off-the-archives-my-first-storyline-360-project/
Richard
Dug up my first project and replayed it. Too many flash items included which don't work now. So not worth uploading.