Forum Discussion
New in Labs: Interactivity in Custom Blocks
Interactivity in Custom Blocks is in active development and will receive updates as part of Labs. Functionality will change over time. Some options could be modified, while others may be removed based on feedback and feature stability. There is no guarantee that Labs experiments will become production features.
Get Started
Learner interactions, previously only available via Storyline 360 blocks or code blocks, can now be implemented directly in custom blocks! With the Interactivity in Custom Block lab enabled, you can create objects that show or hide when a learner clicks on them.
Add An Interaction
Getting started is as simple as inserting or editing an existing custom block.
- On the canvas, select the source object you want to make clickable and click the Edit interactivity icon on the toolbar directly above the object or click Interactivity in the sidebar.
- The Interactivity panel opens on the left.
- Click Add interaction.
- Choose what you’d like to happen when the learner clicks the source object:
- Show a hidden object - appears on the canvas and is initially hidden
- Hide a visible object - disappears from the canvas and is initially visible
- Toggle object visibility - switches hide-show visibility on subsequent clicks
- Select the object or objects you’d like to be the target of the action from the list or on the canvas.
- Click Save.
A source object can trigger more than one interaction and have more than one target object. Just click Add interaction again to stack another interaction on the same object.
Manage Existing Interactions
Click Interactivity in the left sidebar to manage all existing interactions.
With no objects selected, you’ll see the All interactions list, containing every interaction in the block, grouped by the object that triggers it, with a count so you can see the total at a glance.
Select an object in the canvas to:
- Add an interaction by clicking on + Add interaction button.
- Modify an existing interaction by clicking its Edit icon.
- Delete an interaction by clicking on the Delete icon.
- Change the name of object labels by clicking on the object name. Changes made here are reflected in your Objects panel.
Verify Visibility at a Glance
With the Interactivity panel open, select an object with an interaction to see its source object’s initial visibility to learners. Objects that are the targets of a Show action are marked with an open eye icon and are initially hidden to learners. Targets of a Hide action are marked with an eye with a slash and are initially visible to learners.
Preview Your Interaction
Click Preview in the upper-right to see the learner's view and click through your interactions before you publish. You can also use the main Rise 360 preview function.
FAQs
Does this experiment affect my current custom blocks?
No. Enabling the Interactivity in Custom Blocks experiment won’t affect any of your current custom blocks.
Can I create interactive elements in a responsive Custom Block?
Yes. Interactivity is compatible with the Labs Responsive feature. However, keep in mind that both are evolving features and will change as we continue to make updates while they’re in Labs. Always check your work before publishing.
Can I add animations to the interactions?
At this time, the interactivity feature doesn’t support animations. However, this is on our product roadmap! Please leave us feedback and let us know what type of animations you’d like to see.
Are there templates I can start from that already have interactivity built in?
Not at this time, but we are in the process of building a set of interactive templates. If you have any ideas or current interactive blocks that you’d like to see converted to Custom Blocks, share them with us! We’d love the inspiration.
Provide Feedback
Both Interactivity in Custom Blocks (Labs) and Custom Blocks (Beta) are evolving features, and we need your feedback to ensure they meet the needs of all Articulate users. Please give us your feedback on the following:
- Uses: Are the directions and labels clear? Could you create all the interactions you wanted to with this feature?
- Bugs: Did any objects not trigger as you expected?
- Improvements: Are there any other types of interactions you’d like to have?
- Insights: Did this feature help make your courses more engaging for your learners?
You can enable and disable this feature from the Labs sidebar in Rise 360 or account settings page. Share your thoughts in this Labs forum or use the feedback form directly within the feature.
13 Replies
Now this is VERY cool!
It has a lot of potential.
If I could use a word in a text or an area (similar to bitmaps) to trigger events it would be even better!I would really like to try to add a dialogue interaction with choices that progress a conversation. Is there someone I can talk to about how to build this out further for testing? (Example below):
Person 1: Hi, let's get our meeting started. What would you like to discuss today?
Person 2 Option A: Let's talk about this project...
Person 2 Option B: I am having trouble with...
Option A Branch > Person 1: Great, how is the project going?
Option B Branch > Person 1: Okay, can tell me more about the challenges you are experiencing?
(ETC)Hi ChelseaBoccardo,
Thanks for reaching out!
I've shared your feedback with our product team as this feature is still in development.
Have you tried creating a scenario block? Here's a quick demo that may be helpful!
Yes, that is currently what I have the interaction built in. However, it's not ideal in the way our dialogue is setup. The speech bubbles need to be in different orders, and there is not an option to customize the feedback further based on who is talking, when.
I like that RISE is getting more features for interactivity. I feel storyline is tricky to use and I don't have that much time to learn the ins and outs, so it's great RISE is expanding 😃.. These won't translate well though if we need other languages, will they? These interactive or custom blocks...
I agree - I haven't set up our Storyline templates yet (no time!) so Rise has been a much quicker way to get a course up and running. And now with all these extras, they look and feel just as good as Storyline. I still love Storyline for its flexibility and use it primarily for branching/personalized learning 😊
Yes, RISE is quick indeed! 🤗 It helps it's getting more features too!
Every single time I see the little blue dot by the Labs button, I get excited. And so far, every time I look at the information on a new feature, I audibly gasp. You all are killing it!
I love the enthusiasm, JenLynnRusso! Thanks for testing this out!
Has this been checked for keyboard and screen reader accessibility?
Hi RobGibson-25619,
Thanks for asking about this! Keyboard and screen reader accessibility testing hasn’t been completed for this feature yet, as it’s still evolving.
If this feature moves out of Labs, it will go through accessibility testing as part of that process.
I appreciate you calling this out and keeping accessibility top of mind as you test the feature!
I like the idea of bringing more interactivity directly into Custom Blocks, but in its current form I’m struggling to see the value compared with the tools already available.
For relatively simple interactions such as showing, hiding, or toggling objects, I can build the same experience much faster and with more flexibility in Storyline 360 or even in a Rise Code block. The Custom Block workflow currently feels more manual, especially when setting up multiple source and target objects.
What would make this feature more compelling for me would be capabilities that reduce the need to leave Rise while also making interactions genuinely faster to build. For example:
- More interaction types beyond show, hide, and toggle
- States or conditional logic
- Variables or ways to track learner choices
- Animations and transitions
- Easier management of multiple interactions
- Reusable interactive components or templates
- More advanced triggers, such as hover, selection, completion, or changes to another object
- Ways for interactions to affect course progress or other Rise content
The biggest opportunity, in my opinion, is for Custom Block interactivity to occupy the space between standard Rise blocks and Storyline: easier and faster than building a Storyline interaction, but powerful enough that I don’t immediately reach for Storyline or a Code block.
Right now, I’m not sure the current show/hide functionality crosses that threshold. I’d be interested in seeing the feature evolve toward interactions that are quick to author, responsive by default, accessible, and tightly integrated with the rest of Rise.
