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ToddKekley's avatar
ToddKekley
Community Member
1 month ago

Best way to use variables to skip slides based on selected career path (single scene setup)

Hi everyone,

I’m building an Articulate Storyline course that allows learners to explore 9 different career paths. Each path contains mostly the same content, but certain video slides should be skipped depending on the career path selected.

Here’s my current setup:

  • I have a menu slide with 9 buttons (one for each career path).
  • All 9 buttons currently jump into one single scene that contains all course content.
  • The “main” career path includes every video slide.
  • The other 8 paths follow the same flow, but should omit certain video slides that don’t apply to that role.
  • My goal is to avoid duplicating scenes/content (file size is getting too large).

What I’m trying to accomplish:
When a learner selects a career path from the menu, I want Storyline to “remember” that selection and automatically skip certain video slides as they progress through the course.

My question:
What is the best way to structure this using variables + triggers?

For example:

  • Learner selects “Path A”
  • Storyline sets a variable like CareerPath = A
  • When the learner reaches certain slides, Storyline checks the variable and either:
    • allows the learner to view the slide, OR
    • automatically jumps to the next applicable slide

What I need help with:

  • What type of variable setup is best for this (text variable vs True/False variables)?
  • What triggers should be placed on the menu buttons?
  • What triggers should be placed on the slides that need to be skipped?
  • Is it better to place the “skip logic” on each slide, or on Next buttons, or via slide-level triggers?

If anyone has an example file, tutorial, or recommended best-practice approach for conditional branching like this, I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks!

e-learning development
storyline 360

3 Replies

  • AmandaEckenroed's avatar
    AmandaEckenroed
    Community Member
    1 month ago

    Here's a solution using navigation triggers based on a single variable. The file is attached below. Hope this helps!

    Step 1: Create the path variable

    Create a numeric variable (PathSelected for example). Set the default value to 0.

    Step 2: Set the path when a button is clicked

    For each path button:

    • Button 1: Add a trigger to Set PathSelected to 1 when the user clicks Button 1.
    • Button 2: Add a trigger to Set PathSelected to 2 when the user clicks Button 2.
    • Repeat for all other path buttons (set to 3, 4, etc. as needed).

    Important: Use Set value to (not Add) so the variable always reflects the last button the learner clicked.

     

    Step 3: Add conditional navigation

    On your main slide and all other slides that branch:

    • Edit your Jump to next slide triggers.
    • Add conditions based on the value of PathSelected so Storyline jumps to the correct “next” slide for that path.
      • Example:
      • If PathSelected = 1, 3, 5 → Jump to Slide 1
      • If PathSelected = 2, 4, 6 → Jump to Slide 2

     

    Important:

    • Watch trigger order: The trigger that sets PathSelected must appear before the Jump to slide trigger in the list. If the jump trigger runs first, the variable will not update in time and the learner may see the wrong slides.
    • Remove extra triggers: Make sure there are no extra “Jump to next slide” triggers above your conditional ones. Storyline will execute the first valid jump trigger it finds and ignore the rest.
    • Reset the variable on the first slide: On your first slide, add a trigger to Set PathSelected to 0 when the timeline starts. This prevents the variable from “sticking” if the learner clicks Previous all the way back and chooses a different path.

  • JudyNollet's avatar
    JudyNollet
    Super Hero
    1 month ago

    ToddKekley​:  The instructions in AmandaEckenroed​'s reply are similar to what you'll find in the demo file I linked to. 

    With 9 potential options, I suggest using a text variable instead of a number variable. So, for example, clicking a button might set the variable to "manager" or "sales" or whatever roles you're using. That way, you don't have to memorize which numbers refer to which roles when you're adding the triggers (or remember them later when updating the file). 

    By the way, as shown in my demo file, it's a good idea to plot out each path in advance, so you have a "map" to refer to when adding the conditional triggers for advancing.