Forum Discussion
Thin red arrow between slides within a scene
In Storyline 360, there are red lines that indicate the connection between slides within the scene. Most of the time, if you hover over the thin red line, it glows and a pop-up indicates the trigger that is responsible for the connection. I can do this in both the Storylview tab and in the left-hand Scenes navigation panel.
But on multiple occasions, I have a red line that is a mystery. There is no information or change when I hover over it. In fact, I want to remove the connection because it does not follow the right order or sequence. Have you come across this issue? Can I remove this connection?
I have attached a screenshot and a portion of my file. Slide 3.11 should only link to Slide 3.6.
For anyone else looking for this solution, I received feedback from Matthew, Senior Customer Support Engineer at Articulate. When I disable the Next button on the Result slide, the 'phantom' red line appears. To avoid this consequence, I was advised to add a trigger to hide the Next button at the start of the timeline and disable the trigger that jumps to the next slide when using the Next button. Thank you MatthewQ . I will be giving this a go on my next project.
In spite of the arrow indicating a jump trigger, I was unable to get it to navigate to the target of that extra trigger. It's tempting to think that if the trigger does nothing, it isn't hurting anything.
I would be nervous about thinking that. I think that phantom trigger represents some sort of corruption, and as such may cause strange and/or undesirable problems later. Try recreating the slide from scratch (don't copy anything from the original), and see if that clears it up.
Hello Doris,
Happy to chime in! I looked at the Storyline file you shared and noticed that there are "Jump to slide" triggers from 2.11 to 2.6 and from 2.11 to 2.7. This would explain the red arrows connecting those slides.
The weird thing is the red arrow from 2.11 to 2.12. There is no trigger that can explain that arrow. I think that since the next slide number after 2.11 is 2.12, and there is a default "Jump to Next slide" trigger, that might explain that arrow. It should no longer be there since that "Jump to Next slide" trigger has already been removed.
I agree with Walt regarding the file corruption theory. To prevent this issue and other erratic behavior from happening in the future, I recommend the following tips.
Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have additional questions.
Could you include a screenshot of the triggers you have set up for slide 3.11?
I am happy to do that. It is a result slide so it has a base and two layers. I also uploaded a second capture of the slide navigation. This happens in other projects as well and it seems to hold on to the sequence of the slide numbers. For example. there is a red line from 11 to 12.
Based on these screenshots, it seems you have triggers on the layers that cause the navigation lines to all the slides except 2.12.
In the story view, did you check to see if under slide properties the slide is set to advance automatically? This may be causing storyline to hold the slide sequence.
This is a different file that I am working on today. It has the same mysterious thin red arrow that links 9.11 Level 2 Q5 to 9.112 Level 3 Q1. The desired link is from 9.11 Level 2 Q5 to 9.6 Results.
Hi there, DorisChwist-87f!
Thanks for reaching out. I understand that those red arrows are causing you navigational troubles. I'm happy to help!
I opened the portion of the file you shared, but I can't replicate this behavior with the arrows.
As a first step, I recommend double-checking the path the last slide in each scene is navigating at the slide view. The goal is to get the slides to proceed in the order you are expecting them to be! If you can share the entire project file in this thread or privately in a support case, we'd be happy to troubleshoot this further!
Looking forward to hearing from you!
I will likely try to recreate the scene from scratch and watch the navigation arrows (if that is what the thin red lines are called). I also worry about the file going corrupt and as I tend to 'borrow' previously built activities, it is important that I find out how the phantom navigation works.
I will be submitting a simplied version of my file which continues to have the phamtom navigation arrow.
Thank you for opening a support case with your Storyline file, Doris. That was a good call! I encourage you to continue troubleshooting with Matthew to help shed light on this issue.
Good morning wonderful people,
Thank you all for chirping in! I followed Walt's advice and recreated the activity from scratch. It supports your conclusion Eric that the navigation is a 'residue' of the "next slide" trigger. I am going to submit a ticket with Luciana's team to get it looked at by the folks who see the backend. I will be looking up the article you have shared as well Eric. As an aside, my time this morning showed me how much cleaner I can make my file by simply re-creating the original. I might see how I can integrate this practice into my workflow.
Review link: https://360.articulate.com/review/content/a6925f12-da08-4e47-9250-0a8338843c71/review
For anyone else looking for this solution, I received feedback from Matthew, Senior Customer Support Engineer at Articulate. When I disable the Next button on the Result slide, the 'phantom' red line appears. To avoid this consequence, I was advised to add a trigger to hide the Next button at the start of the timeline and disable the trigger that jumps to the next slide when using the Next button. Thank you MatthewQ . I will be giving this a go on my next project.
Thank you for sharing this solution with the community, Doris. I'm sure this will be helpful to others with the same issue.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
