Deconstructing a Simple Gamified Experience with Storyline
Discover how to build a simple gamified learning experience using Storyline. In this webinar, we'll review a nice multimedia module that has some simple elements that are common to gamified courses. We’ll analyze key design elements, explore interactive features, and demonstrate how to enhance engagement with game mechanics—without overcomplicating development. Whether you're new to gamification or looking to refine your approach, you’ll leave with practical insights and inspiration!Image Editing and Special Effects in Storyline 360
You don’t need a design team to produce gorgeous e‑learning. The tips presented in this webinar will show you how to make simple edits in Storyline 360 to get just the right look for your courses, whether you’re working with stock photos or inserting your own.Cybersecurity Meets Creativity
For this submission I took a different approach. Instead of building a traditional demo or scenario-based quiz, I focused on the first few seconds of the learning experience, because in cybersecurity every second counts. Setting the Scene with Sound and Motion To immediately capture the learner’s attention, I created a high-energy introductory slide using kinetic typography and a stomp-style soundtrack. The idea was to create an immersive, rhythmic start that echoes the urgency and tension of the cybersecurity landscape. This isn’t just a flashy animation, it’s a carefully timed message. With bold movement and percussive beats, the slide communicates the importance of staying alert and protecting personal information in a digital world filled with threats. Powered by Articulate’s New JavaScript API To bring this to life, I used Articulate’s latest JavaScript API. This gave me more control over the timing and sequencing of the animated text, allowing it to sync precisely with the beats of the music. Each key term, like defend, detect and protect, gets visual emphasis to reinforce key cybersecurity concepts and actions. Why This Approach? Cybersecurity training can sometimes feel dry or overly technical. My goal was to disrupt that expectation with something bold and modern. By combining motion graphics with a high-intensity audio track, I aimed to spark curiosity and set a tone of urgency that pulls learners into the content. Absolutely — here’s the revised **Final Thoughts** section with your point expanded. It emphasizes the contrast with traditional e-learning intros and reinforces the value of your creative approach: Final Thoughts This submission is just a single-slide experience, but it’s designed to make an impact right from the beginning. In many e-learning courses, the first slide is often a static title screen, maybe a logo, a headline, and a stock image. While that’s functional, it often misses a valuable opportunity to emotionally engage the learner and signal the importance of the topic. With this project, I wanted to challenge that norm. By opening with kinetic text, rhythmic motion and intense stomp music, I created a visceral first impression that communicates urgency and relevance, especially important when the subject is something as critical (and often underestimated) as cybersecurity. This kind of introduction does more than just look cool. It tells the learner: Pay attention, this matters. And in a world where digital threats are constantly evolving, capturing attention from the very first moment is a key part of building awareness. Because in cybersecurity, awareness begins with attention and great learning starts with engagement. Want to Try It Yourself? You can preview the interaction here to see it in action. If you'd like to explore how it was built, I’ve also made the full project available as a free download. Feel free to dive in, tweak it, and make it your own! About me: Paul Alders LinkedIn Profile The eLearning BreweryWe Hate PCI Training! So I Used Comic Panels to Break Things Up (ELH Challenge #541)
Most employees dread PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) training; it often feels too technical, dry, and overwhelming (my employees’ words). To make our training easier to digest, I focused on two core ideas: Show employees how the standards protect them as consumers. Bring the standards to life through an everyday, relatable scenario. For ELH Challenge #541, Comic Book–Inspired Designs in eLearning, I’m sharing a snippet from our PCI course where I used simple comic panels to follow “Fantasia,” a customer success manager, through a typical workday. This approach supports the second pillar, helping learners see PCI requirements in action. The comic slide templates likely came from the ever-amazing ELH community (since I don’t recall). 😂😉 “Fantasia” is actually Nicole from Storyline’s character library, paired with a native Storyline AI voice as the course’s narrator. I added simple entrance/exit animations to bring the comic panels and story to life. One of our course’s avatars on the final slide is “Sarah,” also from Storyline’s character catalog. I changed her appearance using OpenArt (dot) ai (back when I had a personal account and was experimenting - explaining her striking blue eyes). You can experience the short demo here. I hope it offers a fresh, engaging take on a usually intimidating topic! Blessings, Thomas PS: If you'd like to examine the Storyline slides, see the attachment. ⬇️Creating Dynamic Scenarios Using AI Audio and Video in Storyline
In this excerpt from Quick Tips & Tricks: Episode 129, Mike Enders shows you how to create rich, dynamic AI video and audio within Articulate Storyline. Using a fun superhero setting and comic book style, Mike employs a variety of techniques to bring his scenario to life!How to Replace Course Media in Storyline
This week's post comes from elizabeth (me!) at Articulate's certified training partner, Yukon Learning. Nothing makes a course look dated like old logos, corny stock imagery, or tired illustrations. But who has time to go through a Storyline course slide by slide, searching for images, illustrations, videos, and audio? Storyline's media library allows authors to replace images, characters, audio, and video. In this video, I'll show you how to use the media library to swap out course media in a snap. Resources: Yukon Learning YouTube Channel Need Articulate 360 Training? Sign up.Always on top
I just set myself the challenge of having elements that are "always on top". I've worked on a handful of courses in the past, that had an irregular shaped header graphic (sometimes with drop shadow), where it would have been great to be able to set some elements in the Master Template to appears always on top of other elements within the module. For those courses, I had to create a slice of the header (the irregular shaped part) and paste on each slide, where the header appeared over another element on the slide. I have had some success, and of course it is a JavaScript implementation. This is very much an ALPHA release. Here's the implementation if interested in having a play with it or extending it. I'm sure there will be some elements, that I haven't played with, that may need some extra logic in the JS. For each element you would like to appear always on top, add the string "{AOT}" in the "Alternative text" field. If the element is decorative, you can just add "{AOT}". This will be taken care of during processing (removed, and set to aria-hidden=true). If the element is non-decorative, for example an exit button, you would just add "{AOT}Exit" to the alternative text. This would also be process, and "{AOT}" removed and "Exit" retained in the ALT text. Add the following script to the "timeline starts" on the SLIDE MASTER. This ensures that the script will process on every slide. const init = () => { // inititial value for z-index let z = 999; // get all elements with data-acc-text attribute starting with "{AOT}" const elements = document.querySelectorAll('[data-acc-text^="{AOT}"]'); // loop through each element elements.forEach(element => { // get the modelId and accText from the element's dataset const { modelId, accText } = element.dataset; // get the root element with the same modelId const rootElement = document.querySelector(`[data-model-id="${modelId}"]`); // set the z-index of the root element (incrementing by 1 each time) rootElement.style.zIndex = z++; // get the alternative text by removing "{AOT}" from accText and trimming the result const alt = String(accText).replace('{AOT}', '').trim(); // get the alt element with the id "acc-${modelId}" const altElement = document.getElementById(`acc-${modelId}`); // set the alternative text to the element's dataset element.dataset.accText = alt; // re-write the inner text of the alt element altElement.innerText = alt; // if the alternative text is empty (decorative), set the aria-hidden attribute to true and the z-index to -1 if (!alt) { altElement.setAttribute('aria-hidden', 'true'); altElement.style.zIndex = '-1'; } else { if (altElement.hasAttribute('aria-label')) altElement.setAttribute('aria-label', alt); } }); }; requestAnimationFrame(() => { init(); }); I've also including a very simple example file. This just demonstrates that the designated "Always on top" elements will appear over the image on the slide.3 Ways to Use Hotspots in Storyline
This week's tip comes from John_Moore_YL at our certified training partner, Yukon Learning. A hotspot is an invisible button in Storyline 360. Hotspots can power a variety of interactive experiences. In this video, John will share three example use cases for hotspots. You'll learn how to: Add a hotspot to a slide Use hotspots to change object states Use hotspots to show layers Use hotspots to move between slides Resources: Yukon Learning YouTube Channel Need Articulate 360 Training? Sign up.
