Advancing Skills in Storyline

Adding onto what the others said, a lot of development is web development. At the risk of sounding overly reductionist, Storyline and Rise are website builders. There's an extra layer of APIs to communicate with an LMS, but everything else is on some level the Geocities sites I made in the 2000s.

That also means it will look as good as I make it. Your question gets at the heart of web design, web apps, UX, interaction design, and more. If you can imagine it as a webpage, you can probably make it in Storyline.

NRPSupport​ The truth is, you don’t need to know JavaScript to become proficient and successful in Storyline. While having some JavaScript knowledge is definitely desirable, it’s by no means a requirement for creating stunning, highly interactive courses and presentations. In Storyline, JavaScript is mainly used to extend what you can do beyond the built-in features. It can be used for things like advanced object animations, creating custom motion effects, enhancing interactions, manipulating variables, and tweaking or modifying functionality that isn’t possible to achieve using conventional triggers or Storyline’s built-in settings. Think of JavaScript as an extra tool in your toolbox rather than a prerequisite for becoming good at Storyline. You can do a tremendous amount with Storyline’s native features alone, and JavaScript simply gives you more flexibility when you want to push the boundaries further.

If you’ve just started with Storyline, don’t let your lack of JavaScript knowledge discourage you. Instead, jump into what MichaelHinze​ has suggested in his post. I’d add one more thing to the list: Storyline-360-User-Guide, and most important follow and participate in the various discussions in this community.

As you become more proficient with Storyline, you’ll start to understand how its built-in objects, triggers, variables, and interactions work on their own. Once you have that foundation, it becomes much easier to understand how to target and manipulate these elements with JavaScript. And with even a basic knowledge of JavaScript, you’ll be on the right track to achieving pretty much whatever you have in mind.

Feel free to start a new topic on whatever subject you’re particularly interested in. I’m sure plenty of folks in this community will jump in and help you work through whatever challenges you’re facing.

Great advice from MichaelHinze​ and Silverfire​. You can definitely stretch your skills by completing E-Learning Challenges. And, as Silverfire suggested, "look at how others do them." 

Do you see a great interaction? Try to create your own version. Consider different ways to get the same result. And look at available .story files to see how they work. 

I think what's most important is to consider, though, is what will help someone learn. Fancy animations and interactions are worse than useless if all they really do is increase cognitive load. 

If you're interested in something, figure out how to do it. Read the forums. Do the challenges (and especially look at how others do them). Add in a lot of trial and error and that's how I did it. You don't have to love or know tons about JS, just be willing to learn. 

Hi, I can help you with advanced JavaScript training. Please let me know if you’d like to connect and discuss this further.

Articulate's community provides lots of free webinars, tips and tricks and examples to improve your skills. I personally learnt a lot from participating in the weekly eLearning challenges and by trying to answer user questions in the community.