Arrangement/order from layout not applied

Apr 11, 2024

Hello Articulate developers,

In the attached screenshot you can see that image is in front of the black bar. However in the layout the image is behind the black bar (as I want it). Somehow the arrangement/order is not applied in the slide.

Does anybody what could be going wrong and what I can do?

Thanks in advance!

7 Replies
Judy Nollet

Since you didn't attach a .story file, I'm guessing that the picture is in a placeholder.

Any permanent object (e.g., a shape or photo) on a Master Layout will always appear below the placeholders (e.g., the editable boxes). That's true even if the permanent object appears above the placeholder in the Timeline on the Master.

Why? Those permanent objects aren't editable from the slide. You can't change them with a trigger on the slide. And they don't appear in the slide's Timeline. Thus, they end up below the objects that do appear on the Timeline.

To get the look you want, you could add the black rectangle on a layer on the Master. Also put a trigger on the Master that shows the layer when the timeline starts.

  • Note: if the slide also has layers, you'll have to set the Slide Layer Properties to not automatically hide other layers. And, as needed, add triggers to hide layers when a user moves between layers on a slide. 

If that's not the issue, well, troubleshooting is just guessing without seeing the .story file. Here are the best practices for uploading that:

  • Only include slides that are related to the problem.
  • Be sure objects, layers, motion paths, and variables have meaningful names.
  • If there is proprietary content, replace or delete it. For example, replace proprietary text with β€œipsum lorem” text.
Jeroen Verhoeckx

Hello Judy,

Thanks for the quick reply!

I did what you described and I know see the black bar when I look at the slide in preview mode. I do not see it however when I'm slide mode/view. Is it possible to see the black bar also in de slide mode/view? That would be helpful, because then I can immediately see what the slide will look like.

Is it possible to export just one slide (for sharing here on the forum)?

Greetings!

Judy Nollet

Unfortunately, you can't see how the final slide will look while editing, because that Master layer doesn't show until you preview/publish the slide. 

Here's a post-afternoon-coffee idea: skip the Master layer. Instead, add a placeholder with a black fill to the Master Layout. Adjust its Text Box settings to Do not autofit. That will keep it at the set size.

Because it's a placeholder, it will appear on the Timeline of the slides with that layout, so you can ensure it's above other objects as needed. 

To make it visible during preview/publish, you do have to enter text. Just type a space into it.

And, since it's decorative, remove it from the Focus Order. 

😊

Jeroen Verhoeckx

I know come in the situation that I also want to have an icon in a bar that's in front of the background image (a placeholder for a picture). Do you also have an idea how to achieve that?

Solved this temporarily by adding a picture placeholder in the bar and then adding the icon I want in the slide view. This only means I have to add the icon manually every time instead of ones in the master layout.