How do Storyline beginners overcomplicate course building?
What do beginners tend to overcomplicate when building courses with Storyline? Storyline is powerful, and new users can feel overwhelmed when they first jump in. They see polished examples on E-Learning Heroes, read “tips and tricks” blog posts, and spelunk the depths of r/InstructionalDesign to learn what Storyline can do. Armed with all that knowledge, it’s easy to start reaching for every bell and whistle, while overlooking the simpler tools that are already right there. Here are some examples I see from time to time: Using complicated show/hide trigger toggles with multiple objects instead of simply creating custom states on a single object. Endlessly nudging object positions on the timeline instead of using cue points or trigger events like “When media completes.” Adding loads of animations without stopping to ask how they actually help the learner understand anything. Sometimes less really is more. Jumping straight into using advanced concepts like variables and custom JavaScript when simpler, built-in options could achieve the same outcome. Most great courses start kind of boring. One slide. One interaction. One clear outcome. Then you layer in complexity only where it earns its keep. If you’re experienced with Storyline, I’m curious: What do you see beginners overcomplicating the most? What’s the one thing you wish someone had told you earlier? And if you’re newer to Storyline, this is a safe space. What feels harder than you think it should? Let’s compare notes.Alt Text in Textboxes
Hi everyone, I'm prepping some courses for accessibility, but I'm afraid I made a big mistake. I am in the process of hiding decorative images, but also saw there is alt text for textboxes. I thought this was a mistake by a previous designer because there is so much added alt text where it's not needed. So I've been deleting the alt text from textboxes, which say the same thing as the onscreen text, but keeping them visible to screenreaders. Would screenreaders still pick up the on-slide text if I deleted the alt text? Or do I have to go back and copy-paste them back into the course? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks! AlexMenu still shows even after unchecked
The menu is still showing up in some slides even though I unchecked it in the Player Controls in the Player Settings. I had to uncheck the menu within the settings of the individual slides. I don't have an example to show you since our materials are confidential. Any help would be welcomed.Conditional Triggers/Hot Spots
Good morning, I am working on making a gamified training on procurement practices in child nutrition programs and am getting stuck as it relates to conditional triggers and hot spots. The premise of the training is that the learners will choose 1 of 10 "avatars" to follow them around on the procurement learning track. After they choose their avatar, they will be asked what kind of program they are (for example, slide 1.20 on the attached). Here is where I am getting stuck. On the slides in the row that I have the green arrow pointed to in my screenshot; I have a base layer and two additional layers. The base layer has a video that plays and then reveals the first question with two hot spots indicating if they are a Private Non-Profit Sponsor or a Public or Charter Sponsor (all ten of the avatars are asked the same questions). The second layer asks if they are NSLP sponsors or if they are SFSP only. I am trying to send them to one of 4 learning tracks based on how they answer these questions. I thought that I had figured out what I needed to do trigger wise to accomplish this, but I have not proven successful. I have been trying to solve the issue with slide 1.20 as a test. Here are the triggers I have on 1.20 on the "Private Public Layer." And here is what I currently have on 1.20 for the NSLP or SFSP Only layer. What is happening is, that the story progresses based on whichever trigger is higher in the order and not based on the hot spot clicks. For example, it will jump to Scene 2 no matter how the learner clicks on the hot spots since it is higher in the trigger order than jumping to Scene 3. I tested it by moving the Scene 3 jump above the Scene 2 jump and it began jumping to Scene 3 regardless of how they click on the hot spots. I am not sure where I am going wrong here, any assistance in resolving this is appreciated and I have attached the story file for you as well.Peer Pod Coming Soon: “New to Instructional Design” — Who’s Joining Us?
We’re kicking off a brand-new Peer Pod for anyone who’s new to instructional design and you’re invited! 🎉 Peer Pods are 4-week learning groups where community members explore a topic together through weekly prompts, curated resources, and shared discussion. Whether you’re a few days or several months into your role, this is your chance to connect with peers, reflect on key topics, and build confidence together. Here’s what we’ll explore: ✨ What to focus on as you get started 📦 Intro to Articulate 360 + course design best practices 🤝 Tips for working with SMEs 💻 Best practices for incorporating AI By the end, you’ll walk away with a stronger foundation and a group of peers cheering you on. 🗓 Start Date: Monday, January 12, 2026 Participants will be added to the private Peer Pod group about a week before we begin. 👉 Want to join? Fill out the registration form. 💬 Your turn: What Peer Pod topics do you want to see next? If you could join a focused 4-week learning group, what topic would you choose? Drop your ideas below so we can build pods around what you want most. 🙌Storyline 360 automatically uninstalls and reinstalls several times every day! Help!
Hello Articulate Community! I'm experiencing a recurring Articulate Storyline 360 issue that is now impacting my work and timelines. My storyline 360 uninstalls and reinstalls several times (sometimes 5 or 6) every day! I work in a corporate environment where installations are disabled, and only IT has the required permissions to install/uninstall an application. I use Storyline 360 extensively on a daily basis and recently I have been experiencing almost similar issue. Our work machines have a workspace hub installed, similar to a play store where you can download/update apps - for which you have necessary permission in place. We feel this may have something to do with the storyline issue - as I get installation pop-ups from the same hub. Our IT team could not identify or provide any alternate resolution for this issue. This is what we are experiencing: I'm using the latest version of storyline, which I update regularly. That too uninstalls / reinstalls automatically in the background. My workday now starts with checking if storyline application is installed in my work machine before accessing any storyfile. If the answer is No, I must install it to access my storyfiles. If I try to access any storyfile without checking the installation status, it doesn't open - at all! I use Task Manager everytime, as it freezes mid-opening. If I am already working on a storyfile when it uninstalls in the background, my screen freezes, no matter what I do, and sometimes in an unsaved state. Only way to close it - Task Manager! I have lost couple of last minute edits, or even slides in the process. Attaching few screenshots for reference. Me and my peers are experiencing the same issue and we would be immensely grateful if you can share potential resolution to fix it. Thank you!Rise vs Mighty Maestro
Hello. Due to the need for rapid development, Rise is now a staple for us vs Storyline. However, no one wants the generic Rise look and feel anymore. Does Articulate have plans to introduce features that Mighty Maestro is offering? These should be standard, and users should not have to purchase a separate plug-in for this functionality.SL360 Results slide 'breaks' variables
Hello heroes! I've got a head scratcher here. Background: Storyline 360 v3.103.35242.0 Created a multi level assessment: 4 Topics, each topic has 3 levels - baseline, intermediate, mastery. Each level consists of 6 questions. Each correct answer is worth 10 points. Once the 40 point threshold is met for the level, it jumps to the next level/topic. Meaning, if the learner gets the first 4 questions correct they level up without having to take the last 2 questions. Once all three levels are passed, they achieve mastery of the topic and move to the next. To accomplish the 10 point count I have added a TotalScore and ScorePoints variables to the top of each slide. The ScorePoints adds up the points for each correct answer in the level to meet the 40 point threshold. The TotalScore calculate all points acheived for all topics/levels. At the end of all topics and levels (built as separate scenes) I have a slide which shows pass/fail for each topic and level. Issue: When we add a Results slide to the project, either at the end or at the topic/level scene - the ScorePoint variable breaks for SOME but not ALL questions. In the Topic 1 Level 1 scene, the multiple select question does not calculate to add 10 points to the ScorePoints variable with a correct answer, BUT the TotalScore does calculate. In addition, all Topics and Level scenes after Topic 2 Level 3 will not calculate. If we remove the Results slide - it calculate. If we add it back in - NOPE! The variable should NOT be impacted by a results slide at all. I need the assessment to report to the LMS completion criteria so it will mark complete, but also need to variable to calculate so it will feed to the pass/fail slide at the end, as well as providing question level reporting to the LMS.
