Articulate Presenter 360 lets you control how the course menu looks. In this user guide, we'll explore the menu formatting options.

In order for the menu to show in your course, it needs to be enabled in your player. Learn more about choosing player features.

Customizing the Menu

To customize your menu, go to the Articulate tab on the PowerPoint ribbon and click Player.

When the Player Properties window appears, click Menu on the ribbon. As you make changes on the left side of the window, the preview area on the right will update to reflect your choices.

Tip: You can also access the menu editor in the slide properties manager.

Renaming Slides in the Menu

The titles you see in the menu default to the text from the title placeholders on your slides. (If a slide doesn't have a title, the number of the slide will be used as its default title.) You can change the slide titles in the menu without affecting the slide content.

To rename a slide in the menu, select it and click the Rename slide button below the menu. Type a new title and press Enter on your keyboard.

Changing the Indent Level of Menu Items

Organize your menu by adding levels. Here's how:

  1. Select a slide in the menu editor.
  2. Click the right arrow to increase the indent or the left arrow to decrease the indent.

When you publish, a small triangle will appear next to any slide that has sublevels beneath it. Learners can click the triangles to collapse and expand levels.

Controlling the Collapse and Expand Behavior of Levels

You can make levels automatically collapse as learners complete each section. Here's how:

  1. Click the Additional Options button (the gear icon) below the menu.
  2. In the window that appears, mark the box to Auto-collapse menu as learner progresses.
  3. Click OK.

And here's how to control when levels expand:

  1. Click the Additional Options button (the gear icon) below the menu.
  2. In the window that appears, select an option from the Behavior drop-down:
    • Expand level when the user is inside level: Select this option to expand each level when the learner advances past the top-level slide for the section (i.e., when they're inside the section).
    • Expand level when the user reaches heading: Select this option to expand levels when the learner reaches the top-level slide for each section.
    • Don't automatically expand level: Select this option to keep levels from expanding automatically. Learners can still expand them manually by clicking the small triangle next to any slide in the menu.
  3. If you want to restrict when learners can expand levels, select one of the options from the Restrictions drop-down:
    • Only expand once user is inside the level: Learners can only click the triangle to expand a level when they're on a sublevel slide.
    • Only expand after user reaches heading: Learners can click the triangle to expand a level when they're on any slide with sublevels immediately after it.
    • Levels can be expanded at any time: Learners can click the triangle next to any slide at any time to reveal the sublevels below it.
  4. Click OK.

Note: Levels don’t expand or collapse in the responsive player.

Hiding Slides from the Menu

Sometimes it’s helpful to hide a slide title from the menu. Just select the slide in the menu editor and click the Delete heading button below the menu.

Hidden slide titles become italicized in the menu editor, so it's easy to see which slides have been hidden. Hidden slides will still be part of your published course; their titles just won't appear in the menu.

If you hide a slide that has indented slides below it, Presenter will also hide the indented slides.

If you change your mind about hiding a slide, you can unhide it by clicking the Delete heading button again.

Resetting the Menu to Its Default State

If you make changes to your menu and then decide you want to reset the menu back to its original state, click the Reset from presentation button below the menu.

Resetting the menu does the following:

  • Slide titles revert back to the way they appear on the slides in your presentation (i.e., the title placeholders).
  • Indent levels are removed.
  • Hidden slide titles will still be hidden, but you can manually unhide them at any time.

Wrapping Long Titles or Adding Tooltips

If some of your slide titles are too long to display in the width of the menu, you can wrap the text or show tooltips when learners hover over them. Here's how:

  1. Click the Additional Options button (the gear icon) below the menu.
  2. To wrap titles, mark the box to Wrap long menu item titles.
  3. To show a tooltip when learners hover over long titles, mark the box to Show tooltip on hover.
  4. Click OK when you're done.

Adding or Removing Automatic Numbering

By default, Presenter automatically numbers slide titles in your menu. If you don't want to use numbers, do this:

  1. Click the Additional Options button (the gear icon) below the menu.
  2. Uncheck the box to Number entries in the menu automatically.
  3. Click OK.

Restricting Navigation

The default navigation method is free, meaning learners can view slides in any order they choose.

If you're building a linear course and want learners to move through it in order, switch to restricted or locked navigation instead. This prevents learners from skipping slides.

  1. Click the Additional Options button (the gear icon) below the menu.
  2. Use the Navigation Restrictions drop-down list to choose one of these options:
    • Free: This lets learners navigate to any part of the course at any time. They can view slides in any order.
    • Restricted: This means learners can view the current slide and any slide they previously viewed, but they can't jump ahead or skip over slides using the course menu.

      If you also want to restrict the player navigation buttons, mark the corresponding box to Restrict Next/Previous buttons.
    • Locked: This means learners can only view slides in the order you've designed. They can't jump ahead or skip over slides, nor can they go back to any previously viewed slides using the course menu.

      If you also want to lock the player navigation buttons, mark the corresponding box to Lock Next/Previous buttons.
  3. Click OK when you're done to close the menu options.

Tip: If you just want to lock specific slides in your course so learners are required to view those slides in their entirety—regardless of the navigation method you choose for your overall course—you can do that in the slide properties manager.

Showing or Hiding the Menu on a Slide-by-Slide Basis

By default, built-in player tabs, such as the Menu tab, display for all slides in a course, but you can hide them for some slides. See this user guide for details.

Changing the Name of the Menu Tab

Want to change the title of the Menu tab? Just edit the name in your player text labels. If you need help editing text labels, see this user guide.

Saving Player Changes

When you click OK to close the Player Properties window, Presenter saves your player customizations in your project file.

If you'd like to use the same customizations in other projects, click Current Player on the ribbon and choose Save. Enter a name for your custom player if you're prompted and click OK.

To learn more about the Current Player options, see this user guide.

You Might Also Want to Explore:

Interactive Demo: Which Player Properties Are Supported in the Responsive Player?