Articulate 360: Installing, Updating, and Managing the Articulate 360 Desktop App
The Articulate 360 desktop app gives you quick access to all the authoring tools and resources in your subscription. It’s where you: Install, update, and open desktop-authoring apps, such as Storyline 360 and Studio 360. Get notifications when new software updates are available. Open web apps, such as Rise 360 and Review 360. Manage your profile, account, and preferences. Run diagnostics. The Articulate 360 desktop app is always just a click away. It runs quietly in your computer’s system tray (by the clock). Click the Articulate 360 icon when you need it. In this user guide, you'll learn how to: Installthe Articulate 360 Desktop App Updatethe Articulate 360 Desktop App Snooze Notifications Manually Check for Updates Launch Third-Party Software Report Set Your Preferences Installthe Articulate 360 Desktop App Before you get started… Articulate 360 requires a Windows PC running Windows 10 or Windows 11. Click here for system requirements. If you're using a Mac, here's what you need to knowabout installing Articulate apps in a Windows virtual environment. You may also need to add these websites to your allowlistto access all Articulate 360 resources. Go to https://id.articulate.com/redirect/360 and sign in with your Articulate ID.(Your Articulate ID is the email address and password you used when you signed up for a free trial or bought a subscription. It’s also the email address and password you use to sign in to the E-Learning Heroes community. If you don’t remember your password, you can reset it.) After signing in, click Download Desktop Apps on the right sidebar. Click Start Download and save the installation fileon your computer. (If you see aMicrosoft Defender SmartScreen warning, click More info and then click Run anyway.) Right-click the installation file and choose Run as administrator. Select your preferred interface language when the installer launches by clicking the English (United States) drop-down list on the upper-right corner. If you want to change the directory where you install the apps, click the folder icon beside the language drop-down list. Learn how to customize your install folder. Click Install Now. When the installation is complete, click Finish. The Articulate 360 desktop app will automatically open. If you're prompted to sign in, use your Articulate ID email address and password again. (Articulate 360 usesyour default browser to sign in.) That's it! When you click the X in the upper right corner of the desktop app, it'll shrink to your computer's system tray (by the clock) and continue to run quietly in the background. When you need it again, just click the Articulate 360 icon in your system tray or double-click the shortcut on your desktop. Now that you’ve installed your desktop app, check out these user guides to learn more about using it: Articulate 360: Using the Desktop-Authoring Apps Articulate 360: Using the Web Apps Articulate 360: Managing Your Profile and Account Articulate 360: Running Diagnostics Updatethe Articulate 360 Desktop App One of the benefits of an Articulate 360 subscription is that you get continuous updates when new features are available. Articulate 360 can install updates automatically as they become available. If you choose to disable automatic updates and enable notifications in your preferences, you’ll get an instant Windows notification when an update is available. And you’ll always know when an update is available as soon as you open the Articulate 360 desktop app, as shown here. To install an update for the Articulate 360 desktop app, simply click the blue Update button in the top right corner. The update will automatically download and install without any additional prompts. It couldn’t be easier! After updating the Articulate 360 desktop app, you can then update your authoring apps, such as Storyline 360. Learn more. Snooze Notifications If you choose to disable automatic updates and you’re not ready to install the new version, you can snooze the notification for a day, a week, or until the next update is available. Click the bell icon on the blue status bar and choose one of the options. Snoozing a notification temporarily hides the blue status bar. If you’d also like to turn off Windows notifications for Articulate 360 updates,see below for details. Manually Check for Updates You can manually check for updates at any time, even if you’ve temporarily snoozed notifications. Click the drop-down arrow in the upper right corner of the Articulate 360 desktop app and choose Check for Updates. Launch Third-Party Software Report We appreciate the open-source community's contributions to Articulate 360. To view a list of attribution notices for third-party software in Articulate 360, click the drop-down arrow in the upper-right corner of the Articulate 360 desktop app and choose 3rd Party Software. Set Your Preferences There are two ways to access your preferences. Open the Articulate 360 desktop app, then click the drop-down arrow in the upper right corner and choose Preferences. Or, right-click the Articulate 360 icon in your computer's system tray (by the clock) and choose Preferences. At the top, you’ll find the version number of your Articulate 360 desktop app. This information is helpful when you’re working with Articulate Support on an issue. Learn more about each setting below. Notifications Notifications are enabled by default. You’ll get Windows notifications, like the one shown below, for Articulate 360 events, such as when new updates are available. To hide these notifications, uncheck the Show notifications box. Updates Automatic updates are enabled by default, saving you time and ensuring you always have the latest enhancements. To stop automatic updates, uncheck the Install updates automatically for the Articulate 360 desktop app box. (If you don't see this option, it either means your Articulate 360 desktop app is out of date, or your organization has disabled automatic updates.) Privacy You can help improve Articulate 360 desktop products by sending usage data to our servers. We analyze feature metrics and error reports from Articulate 360 desktop products as well as device and browser data when learners view published output. To opt out of these analytics, uncheck the Privacy box. Learn more. Language The language setting controls the interface language for the Articulate 360 desktop app, Storyline 360, Studio 360, Replay 360, and Peek 360. You can display your Articulate 360 desktop apps in English, French, German, or Spanish. Choose your preferred language from the drop-down list, click Save, then restart all your Articulate apps, including the Articulate 360 desktop app itself. Tip: To restart the Articulate 360 desktop app, right-click the Articulate 360 icon in your system tray by the clock and choose Quit. Then launch it again from your desktop shortcut or your Start menu. Proxy If your organization is behind a proxy server that requires you to enter security credentials to access Articulate 360 services, switch your Proxy setting to Manual, then enter your username and password in the fields that appear. Legacy Access 64-bit Storyline 360 is the default Storyline version in the desktop app. To restore access to 32-bit Storyline 360, check the Restore 32-bit Storyline 360 box. (After you click Save, an optional "Product Feedback" dialog for 32-bit Storyline 360 appears before restoring legacy access.) Note: Click Save when you've finished updating your preferences.Storyline 360: Working with Triggers
Triggers make things happen. They're the keys to creating activities in Storyline 360. And we made them super easy to use so that you can build interactions without any coding at all. Just choose an action and decide when you want it to occur. For example, you might change the state of a character when the learner clicks a button. Adding Triggers Adding Conditions to Triggers Managing Conditions Understandingthe Sections in the Triggers Panel Selecting Multiple Triggers Editing Triggers Disabling Triggers Copying and Pasting Triggers Copying Triggers by Duplicating Objects Pasting Conditions Across Triggers Deleting Triggers Rearranging Triggers Grouping Triggers Collapsing and Expanding Objects and Sections Adding Triggers At their core, triggers are pretty simple. A trigger has two main elements: What action occurs? When does it happen? To create a trigger: Click the Create a new trigger icon in the Triggers panel, or go to the Insert tab on the ribbon and click Trigger. The trigger wizard will guide you through the process using a series of drop-down lists, as shown below. Select the action you want to occur and fill in the related parameters, such as the object that’s affected. For example, you might change a character’s expression. Choose when you want it to happen—e.g., when the learner clicks a button. Optional: You can add conditions to your trigger so it only occurs in certain circumstances. Learn more about conditions below. When you’re done, click OK. Tip: Check out this resource to learn about the available actions, events, and conditions. Adding Conditions to Triggers If you want to trigger an action only when certain criteria are met, you can add one or more conditions to it. If the trigger wizard isn’t already open, double-click the trigger you want to edit in the Triggers panel. Click the + if drop-down list on the Conditions card to add your first condition. A condition can be based on a variable, an object on the slide or any of its layers, or the window in which the slide is displayed, as shown below. After selecting a variable, object, or window, click the underlined portions of the conditional sentence and make your selections from the drop-down lists. For example, you might want your trigger to occur only on the condition that the state of a button is not visited, as shown below. Repeat the steps above to add as many conditions as you need. Then decide how your conditions should interact. Should they be AND conditions where all the conditions must be met? Should they be OR conditions where only one condition must be met? Or should they be a combination of both? Click AND or OR to switch back and forth, as shown below. New: Create conditional triggers with alternative actions. As of November 2022, you can add an optional "else" action. Here's how. In the trigger wizard, click + Add Else. Storyline 360 automatically adds a default action based on the main action. Click the default "else" action to change it to a different one if you'd like. Click OK to save your changes and close the trigger wizard. Managing Conditions It’s easy to reorder, duplicate, and delete conditions. Here’s how. Reorder Conditions Change the order of conditions in the new trigger wizard without deleting and recreating them. Just drag them up and down the list. Install the November 2019 update or later for Storyline 360 to take advantage of this time-saving feature. Duplicate Conditions When you need multiple conditions that are similar, save time by duplicating them. Create the first condition, as shown above, then hover over it and click the Duplicate Condition button that appears. Use the inline editing lists to tweak the new condition as needed. Delete Conditions Hover over the condition you want to delete and click the Remove Condition button that appears. That’s it! Understanding the Sections in the Triggers Panel It’s helpful to know how the Triggers panel is arranged so you can quickly find the triggers you’re looking for. The Triggers panel is divided into sections based on the “when” parameter in your triggers. The following table lists sections in the order they appear in the Triggers panel. Section Description Slide Triggers Slide triggers always appear at the top of the Triggers panel. They often rely on the timeline of the slide or layer—e.g., when the timeline starts, ends, or reaches a certain point. Key Press Triggers Key press triggers occur when the learner presses a specific key after clicking the slide or layer. Variable Triggers Variable triggers occur when a variable changes. For example, you might show a layer when a true/false variable changes to true. Unassigned Triggers If you accidentally leave the “when” parameter blank, your trigger will appear in this section so you can immediately see which triggers are incomplete. Object Triggers Object triggers apply to objects on the slide (images, characters, text boxes, etc.), and they generally occur when the learner performs an action, such as clicking a button, hovering over a hotspot, or dragging an object. Object triggers can also occur when other events take place—e.g., when the state of another object changes, an animation completes, or an object leaves the slide. Player Triggers Player triggers always appear at the bottom of the Triggers panel. They apply to the built-in navigation buttons: Previous, Next, and Submit. Here’s an example of the Triggers panel with each of the sections defined above: Selecting Multiple Triggers Select multiple triggers and edit them all at once. Easily copy and paste, move, disable, and deletetriggers in bulk. Here are five ways to multi-select triggers: Click an object on the slide to select all the triggers associated with it. In grouped view, click a "When …" event to select all the triggers in that group. Ctrl+click to select multiple triggers that aren't next to each other. Shift+click the first and last triggers in a series to multi-select all the triggers in between. Press Ctrl+A to select all the triggers in a sectionof the triggers panel, such as Slide Triggers or Object Triggers. This feature is exclusive to the new trigger workflow. Install the January 2020 update or later for Storyline 360. Editing Triggers You can easily edit your triggers right in the Triggers panel. Click the segments of each trigger description, and then choose an option from the drop-down list or enter a value in the field. Here’s a demo: You can also edit triggers in the trigger wizard. Just double-click the trigger you want to edit. Or, select the trigger and click the Edit button at the top of the Triggers panel. After making your selections, click OK to save your changes and close the trigger wizard. Disabling Triggers Temporarily disable individual triggers when you’re troubleshooting an interaction that isn’t working or when you’re experimenting with new ideas. Simply hover over the trigger you want to disable and click the Disable Trigger icon that appears (it looks like a lightning bolt with a slash through it). Click the icon again to re-enable your trigger. When a trigger is disabled, its text is struck out so you can tell at a glance that it’s disabled. Disabled triggers won’t work in your published output. If you need them to work, remember to re-enable them before you publish. Compatibility Tip: Disabled triggers are exclusive to the new trigger workflow in Storyline 360. They’ll be present but hidden if you open your project file in the classic trigger workflow in Storyline 360 or Storyline 3. Copying and Pasting Triggers Save time by copying and pasting triggers from one object to another. Then make any necessary adjustments to the new triggers. Select the trigger you want to copy in the Triggers panel. Copy the trigger by pressing Ctrl+C on your keyboard or by clicking the Copy button at the top of the Triggers panel. Select one or more objects on the slide where you want to paste the trigger, then press Ctrl+V on your keyboard or click the Paste button. If you need to tweak the pasted trigger, click the segments you need to edit in the Triggers panel or double-click the trigger to open it in the trigger wizard. See the section aboveto learn more about editing triggers. Copying Triggers by Duplicating Objects Another way to quickly copy triggers is to duplicate an object that already has the triggers you want. Just select the object on the slide and press Ctrl+D on your keyboard. This is helpful when you need several variations of an object that you’ve already customized to fit your course. For example, let's say you need several buttons that look the same and perform similar actions. Pasting Conditions Across Triggers Save time by copying conditions from one trigger and pasting them on another. Copy the trigger that has the conditions you want to reuse. Select one or more triggers where you want to paste the conditions. Right-click the selected trigger(s), scroll to Paste, and choose Paste Conditions from the context menu. This feature is exclusive to the new trigger workflow. Install the January 2020 update or later for Storyline 360. Deleting Triggers To delete a trigger, select it in the Triggers panel and do any of the following: Press the Delete key on your keyboard. Click the Delete button at the top of the Triggers panel. Right-click the trigger and select Delete from the context menu. Rearranging Triggers You can add triggers to slides, layers, and slide masters. You can also add multiple triggers to a single object. The order of all these triggers is important and determines when they execute. Slide master triggers execute before slide and layer triggers. When there are multiple triggers on the same object that are triggered by the same action (e.g., when the learner clicks a button), triggers execute in the order they appear in the Triggers panel. To reorder triggers, use the Up and Down arrows at the top of the Triggers panel, or simply drag triggers up and down the panel with your mouse. Grouping Triggers You can group triggers together by event (e.g., when the learner clicks a button or when the timeline starts) so triggers are easier to see and understand. They’re also easier to troubleshoot if your interaction isn’t working the way you expect. To group triggers by event, mark the Group box at the top of the Triggers panel. Uncheck the box if you want to ungroup your triggers. Here’s a comparison of the same triggers ungrouped on the left and grouped on the right. Collapsing and Expanding Objects and Sections Collapse all the triggers for an object or even an entire section of the Triggers panel when you need to focus on specific triggers. Click the triangle to the left of an object to collapse or expand its triggers. Click the arrows to the right of a section to collapse or expand the whole section, such as Slide Triggers or Object Triggers. Want to learn more about working with triggers? As an Articulate 360 subscriber, you have unlimited access to live online training webinars and recorded videos on a variety of e-learning topics. Check out Articulate 360 Training to register for webinars and search our video library.Storyline: Gamified Process Scenario
Do you need to guide learners through a common workplace procedure? Check out this gamified project that uses checkpoints, progress bars, real-world scenarios, hints, quiz questions, sound effects, videos, and more to help learners visualize a process. Explore this project. Want to try building something similar in Storyline 360, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial.
