Forum Discussion
I can't get "hide slide layer when timeline finishes" to work.
I can confirm that layer six does hide itself, returning me to the base layer. Layer 6 is also over 18 seconds long though so I suspect you simply weren't waiting for it to end. Since all of the other layers are only five seconds long, I expect the 18-second timeline is an accident? It can either be manually shortened to match the length of the video, or a trigger added to hide the video "when the media completes":
And yes, the play button at the bottom of the player allows someone to restart the base layer. As far as I know it can't restart any non-base layers because we can create projects that show multiple layers at a time, so I'm not sure how the play button would know which non-base layer to play/pause.
If you want to hide the play button on the bottom, you can change the Menus & Controls toggle to Off from the Player menu:
Good question. Layer 2 is hiding Layer 1 because its visibility is set to "Hide other slide layers" but we don't have a similar option for the base layer. In essence, nothing is telling Layer 1 to hide.
If you add the below trigger to Layer 1, it'll hide when the slider is moved to the zero position:
Note though that it's not a Slider moves trigger but rather a Variable changes trigger. It seems the trigger can only see sliders on the same slide as itself so the base layer slider won't show up.
There are lots of use cases for changing layers using a slider so don't let me talk you out of them, but the whole hiding and showing thing can complicate some things like we've seen. I've attached an alternative design that puts most of the images into different states of one central "image" and then uses triggers to swap states instead of layers. It naturally resolves the conflict above where Layer 1 wasn't disappearing after moving the slider back from 1 to 0. The central image's states can also hold the number six video but timing the return to 0 is trickier so I left it in, but in theory all of your slider's updates could trigger one single image. I find that compartmentalization is much leaner to work with.
AndrewBlemings- Thanks for the information and Storyline file.
So, you prefer staying away from layers?
I've been using Storyline right about eight years now so how I use it has definitely evolved. TL;DR at the bottom.
Image states are great at tying a bunch of images/pictures/icons together. As an example, let's say while testing your course, you come to the conclusion you want all of the triggered images to be 400 pixels higher. If they're all on layers, you'll need to select each layer, select its image, and then change its position. To ensure all of the images line up after being moved, you'll probably want to be very specific in the coordinates you choose, typing those into the coordinate fields of every layer's image too. Otherwise if layer 3's image is at Y=100px and layer 4's image is at Y=102px and layer 5's is at Y=98px, learners will notice and see it as amateurish.
If instead all of the images are contained in the states of one macro "image," they all share a root X-position and Y-position, and changing the Y-position of one changes it for them all. I could test multiple locations all over the page and I'd only ever need to move one image. This is a quick example off the top of my head, but I've encountered similar situations over the years where relying on states over layers either created less "development debt" or, if feedback from a stakeholder comes down toward the end of a project, less rework. I've been asked before to update courses made by other people and recall their textboxes on similar slider-activated layers jumping around the page a bit too much because they each had a different position. And being the only element on the layer, it just seemed little benefit and a lot of drawback.
I love layers for other purposes. They're great for when I need to guarantee that content shows on top of base layer content. Pop-ups and modals, floating heads that share feedback. My use of triggers and JavaScript has definitely grown over the years and layers can be a very helpful way of grouping similar triggers and assets and animations together. I've found on some projects that layers support a one-and-done kind of design approach, to where once I've developed everything for that layer, I can return to the base slide and none of the content on the higher layer blocks anything or clutters my interface.
Like maybe when a learner completes a complex puzzle slide, I want there to be a semi-transparent black rectangle that covers the base slide, text congratulating the learner, animated gifs of fireworks, and music that plays, all along with a bunch of triggers and buttons to choose what happens next. If that's on the base slide, I'll have to hide everything temporarily to work on the other content, and that's bitten me in the butt more than once forgetting to unhide things before publishing.
The TL;DR is that the more content there is, the more likely I am to use a layer, but I try to be very intentional about layers. I recall hunting through multiple layers for specific content because I had just created too many. If a single image or text box with multiple states can suffice, I tend to find my content is more elegant and much easier to manage.