Forum Discussion
Storyline block does not autoplay in mobile
Hi. I attached a SL block on my Rise course and I wanted it autoplay on display. It is fine on desktop but when I preview on mobile, I notice that it doesn't autoplay. Any ideas on how to fix this? TIA.
- NatalieSikesCommunity Member
I agree with all comments. Articulate has not made any upgrades to Rise for a couple of years. The Storyline blocks should look seamless on a mobile phone. I have several Storyline blocks that do not have any video, audio, or animations, but the user still has to click the play button on a black screen on a phone. Overall, Rise is very inflexible with limited block options. I was hoping that new blocks and more flexibility would be built in over time, but this has not been the case.
Is there a plan for a Rise update anytime soon? This is long overdue.
- AnthonyGossCommunity Member
Yes. I have asked about this before. I am fine with the user having to click to play. However, it would be nice to have a "thumbnail" of the first slide with the play button instead of the default play button with the gray/black screen. The player would look more seamless this way, similar to the way a video looks before you hit play.
- SibaPrasadPadhiCommunity Member
At least the screen image of the first slide of that storyline block should visible to learner, when they want to visit. A black screen with a play button some times confuse the learner as media like video etc. Can this be fixed that can show same look both for mobile and laptop devices.
Thanks for that feedback SibaPrasad! Our team has a feature request logged for this capability and I'll make sure your voice gets added to the discussion.
- MichaelAnselmoCommunity Member
Our client doesn't see this as a feature. We need the course to flow as if it were all done in Rise. They like the look of the rise courses, and SL just doesn't seem to look right on mobile for the courses we are creating. Maybe I'm just not designing them properly over all in SL? We used SL360 blocks to create some rating scales selections, and we want them to be able to see them all when they scroll to reflect on their answers. It just doesn't flow well and looks terrible with black boxes. I'm sorry, I really like the Articulate tools and have been a big promoter, but using Rise is getting a bit frustrating. I think either Rise development needs to step up, or SL needs to be truly responsive...again, sorry; I convinced them to buy licenses, and I think they are beginning to regret this. I love working with SL, but in this case we started with Rise (as I mentioned, they like the look and flow of the courses), and all of the users will only be consuming the content on mobile devices.
Is there anywhere I can see what's next with the development (Features, etc.)? I am pretty new to Rise, and every time I look up how to do something, it seems to come up short. I see a lot of comments regarding suggestions and passing the info along, but how do we know what is really being worked on, what's next, and when we will see it? I feel a little bad ranting, but as I said, I am getting a little frustrated, and starting over with another tool is really going to cost us.
Thanks for "listening". :-)
Hello, Michael. We're always here to listen to you.
On mobile phones, Storyline blocks will play full screen to make sure your slide content displays at an optimal size. Since tablets and desktop screens are a bit larger, your Storyline block content will display inline with the Rise 360 lesson.
It sounds like you are designing really simple Storyline slide content that needs to display within the Rise 360 lesson and not full screen by itself. Since we don't have the option to keep the Storyline block inline on mobile phones, I'll document this request!
We don't have a public-facing roadmap. As we prioritize and develop new features, we do our best to keep you up to date here in the discussions. I can say that we have some other ideas in the pipeline, so a feature like this wouldn't be immediately available.
- MichaelAnselmoCommunity Member
Thank you Crystal. I appreciate your response. Always looking forward to the new features.
- RondaOteyCommunity Member
Hello...I am having the same problem. I have multiple Storyline Blocks in several Rise courses and when switching to mobile the play button comes up but when I click it nothing happens. I cannot get the SL Block to play. Do I need to adjust the Player or the how I publish? If I cannot get the SL Blocks to work in Rise I will need to move these sections out of SL and into Rise blocks. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you
Hi Alexander,
Do you see the play button similar to this screenshot:
The play button you see on a mobile device is intended behavior for Storyline content on a phone. Adam explains more about that feature here!
Hope that helps clarify the setup, and let us know if you need anything else!
- IrinaPoloubessoCommunity Member
Hi Ashley, that's a pity that this is an intendend "affordance" with the play button on non-video block - this is quite confusing: on mobile "play" button perplexes users if this is not a video content, because they expect video behind (even if textual instruction is given a few lines before - people sometimes are not too attentive), and it takes them a few moments to realize why suddelny you can click on stuff inside.
- MichaelBurgess-Community Member
Ashley, can you tell us how we get a nice wallpaper like you do on your example above? I get black screens on everything that I try to do, and would prefer to have the first screen of the storyline file as the wallpaper...
Hi there, Michael. Before they're viewed, all Storyline blocks will have a black screen with the play button on mobile devices. Once they're viewed and closed, you may see a gray overlay on the last slide of the Storyline interaction with the play button on top to launch it again, like in Ashley's image.
The key here is that Storyline content won't show through on mobile devices until the play button is clicked in order to comply with mobile browser autoplay policies in the most consistent way!
- AlexanderLealCommunity Member
Hi Ashley. Yes, I see the play button. What I'm trying to accomplish is create 4 thumbnails that the user can click and then it would open sites in a separate window. I couldn't find anything on Rise that can do this.
Thanks for that feedback, Alexander and Anthony! We can certainly pass it along to our team.
- FormationMoortgCommunity Member
Hi. I would like to know if you have news about the display : play button/screen on mobile.
Is there a way to bypass this function and access automatically to our content ?
Just to let you know I work on Storyline 360.
Cheers
Hi there,
We've shied away from auto-playing storyline blocks because it's really non-standard on mobile devices. In fact, most phone browsers actually prevent auto-play of media; it needs to be user-initiated.
I appreciate you chiming in with what you'd like to see, since the ideas shared here in E-Learning Heroes contribute to our product roadmap.
We're monitoring these requests as we consider what features to add to Rise in the future. We'll let you know if we decide to allow autoplay in the future.
In the meantime, if there's anything else I can do to help, please let me know!
- IrinaPoloubessoCommunity Member
Hi Allison,
Not every storyline block (which is non-video) has automatic autoplay. Sometimes it can be a step-by-step click-through software demo, embedded in Rise, and then we expect users to interact with it. And on mobile devices not too gadget-experienced users get perplexed for a moment not figuring out why if this looks "like a video" - you actually need to click something. Even inspite of the accompanying explanation and all kind of "click me:" highlights :-)
Just because video play button has such a strong imprint in people's perception.
- MartinGrudeArneCommunity Member
Is there any update on this topic? We also produce Rise courses for clients, and share Michaels concerns regarding the look and flow.
The SL-plugins we add are small interactive activities, designed to work inline on small screens. So it feels clunky for the user to click a big play button in order to answer a simple question.Hi there, Martin. No updates at this time.