Forum Discussion
Mobile Play button Storyline 360 block in Rise
I have a simple, single slide Storyline 360 block inserted into rise.
The Storyline block does not have any media in it (Video/Audio).
On mobile, the Storyline block appears with a play button which must be clicked before the block is initialised.
Why does this play button appear when the Storyline 360 content does not contain any media. I understand the need if there is media to get around the issue of autoplay media for mobile, but the play button is completely redundant in this case.
Is there a JavaScript API I can access in SL to get around this issue. I've been looking through the code, the best I could find was this.onStart(), but I don't think this is a public method.
Hi Crystal and Alyssa,
Just to be clear, the way I understand this thread is that there is no way to insert a storyline block in Rise without the play button showing up in Mobile devices....and that would be phones or tablets. I see you write that this is "expected" behavior. Is that for every Storyline block type? It's really a shame because seeing that black block show up in the middle of a beautiful course ruins the whole experience for me and makes me not want to use Rise.
It is very disappointing to read that the original post was 4 years ago and there has still been no solution rolled out to make Rise fully responsive when using storyline blocks due to the big black play button screen. Can this kindly be prioritised please?
If this is expected behavior, can a warning message be inserted when adding a storyline embed? Lots of time and resources were put into making a rise course look more dynamic only to find that you have to click play on every other block. This is extremely disappointing.
This is crazy that removing this "Play" arrow on a Storyline Block is not a priority. SL Blocks are not needed for "Media" in Rise, and I do not know a single developer who thinks these play arrows are useful in any way. They are a poor user experience in almost every way we utilize SL blocks. This is actually hindering us from creatively enhancing our Rise courses with SL Blocks. PLEASE reconsider the urgency in correcting this issue on Mobile devices. Thank you.
I jumped ship bc of stuff like this. Now I create the courses in Wordpress. And the export the classes as html. So much better.
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Hi Jodi, this appears to be the curent situation. Storyline blocks will always show the play button and black overlay on mobile/tablet. There is not anything you can do about this if inserting the SL files into Rise.
The only way it can be changed, but I'd advise against it as a solution is making a post publish/export edit to the Storyline files. This same edit would have to be made everytime the files are re-published and becomes a maintenance issue.
Thank you Sam...my skills are not sufficient to mess around with anything I publish. :) It's such a letdown to have this issue after two years. I hope you were able to find a workaround.
Hi Sam. I know, it's been a few years since this was written, but sadly the issue still remains.
I wonder, what exactly do you mean by "making a post publish/export edit"? What kind of edit would that be? I'm curious to try. Thank you.
Adding to this thread. If we're stuck with the play button for Storyline blocks on mobile, can it at least display a thumbnail of the content behind the play button instead of an incredibly disruptive black box with a play button?
Hi Pat. Thanks for letting us know that you are interested in having a thumbnail in a Storyline block on a mobile device. While currently there isn't a way to add a thumbnail, we will let you know if we get that feature.
Hi Larry!
In the July 2021 update of Storyline 360, we added a cover photo feature that allows you to choose your own image that will appear when you view the Storyline content on a mobile device, including in Storyline Blocks! Read more about that feature in the article below:
Thanks Alyssa - so you did! Just had a play, and it works well. Great job team, keep it up!
Nicole, if you are trying to problem solve the big play arrow, I am re-pasting my post from a year ago (sorry for the long post). Until this is fixed, you can select a thumb nail image when you publish your SL Block that will at least replace the black box.
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This is crazy that removing this "Play" arrow on a Storyline Block is not a priority. SL Blocks are not needed for "Media" in Rise, and I do not know a single developer who thinks these play arrows are useful in any way. They are a poor user experience in almost every way we utilize SL blocks. This is actually hindering us from creatively enhancing our Rise courses with SL Blocks. PLEASE reconsider the urgency in correcting this issue on Mobile devices. Thank you.
Hi Sam,
Learners using a mobile device will see a play button on top of any Storyline block. This is expected behavior for mobile viewing. Tapping the play button will initiate the Storyline slide to play in the mobile browser.
Hi Alyssa, thanks for the response.
Are you able to let me know what the purpose of this button is. My Storyline file does not contain any media, and therefore shouldn't need this initial interaction from the user. It just feels like a redundant button?
Also, are your development team able to let us know if there is any way to get around this. Maybe there is a JavaScript method that we can run?
Cheers
Hi Sam. On mobile phones, the Storyline block will expand to full screen for a better viewing experience once you click the play button. On tablets, if there is enough room on the screen, the Storyline block may not expand to full screen, but it will still use the play button.
I'm sorry I can't help with JavaScript execution in output files. If there is someone in the community who has successfully edited the Storyline assets in a Rise 360 output, feel free to share!
