Glossary visual cues: need ideas

Well, I like to use layers for this.

I'll have a term on a slide and I'll make it look like a hyperlink.  Then I put a hotspot over it and have it open up a layer when the mouse hovers over it.

Then on the layer with the definition, I'll put in my definition and format it as needed.

I like using layers because I have better control over how I position the definitions since I can see the base layer.

Also, with layers, for those times I want learners to see all the definitions on a slide before they can move on, I can control when the next button works via variables.

Gerry, that's a really elegant idea... I'm not sure if that'll meet my client's wishes, but I'm definitely keeping that in my back pocket. Plus I'm having some issues with my lightbox glossary (that's a different post), so I may have to use this method instead. 

I have to admit:  Once I did build my own glossary using a series of linked lightbox slides, one slide per starting letter.   It was a tad painful due to how I linked the slides together with next and previous buttons (had to point to specific slides with them as opposed to a generic next and back trigger)  and a "jump to" menu on each slide.

I did this just in case the client wanted me to link from terms in the course directly to the glossary (in the end, the client did not want this). 

Even though I could not link directly to a term, I could link directly to the lightbox slide with all the terms beginning with the same letter as the term.

I also put a link to the glossary in the top menu bar, which I created myself and put on the slide master.

I need to experiment with using Engage for this.

If I understand you correctly, how about using a handwritten font and hand drawn arrow to call attention to the word or term? I  think you can hyperlink the word. If not, you can direct them to the gloassry tab Storyline provides. You could also insert a Marker they hover over or click on to reveal the definition.

Wow Gerry! That one Story view picture is impressive. Thanks for sharing the idea here! 

@Katie [and any other interested persons who stumble upon this thread ;-)]

I've used the Glossary lightbox method similar to the one Gerry mentions above - it's really elegant and though it takes a bit of work up front, it's nice to have all of the terms in one place and then use triggers to lightbox them whenever the terms appear in the course.

I've also used a different method that I liked.  But rather than rely on layers as Gerry suggested (which can work really well), this method uses hot spots and states.

• In the course instructions, I explain that you can hover over each bold color word to see a definition of that term.  I also let them know that a full list of terms is also available in the course glossary (built in the Player Properties of Storyline).
• I use a "term hot spot" that sits on top of each bold colored word, and I have a "definition text box" for each term.  The default state of the definition text box is set to hidden. 
  NOTE:  For consistency, I set it up so that all of these "definition text boxes" consistently appear in the same position on every slide slides that has a glossary term.
• Each "term hot spot" includes the following trigger:   "Change the state of [the corresponding definition text box] to Normal when Mouse hovered over [corresponding hot spot]" and the "Restore on mouse leave" box is CHECKED.

Here's how it looks in Storyline:

Using the setup above, I can then copy/paste the "term hot spots" and the "definition text boxes" onto each slide as needed.  You can also play around with the text boxes to add a little transparency, round the corners, add color, shading, etc. to match the theme of your course.

Here's how it looks to the learner when they hover over the bold color key term:

I know there's probably ten other ways to display glossary terms on the slide; there's no one wrong or right way, just the way that fits into your specific course.  

Hopefully this gives everyone another option to consider.

Hi Diana,

Thanks for sharing that here - always love to see new examples!