Tag: articulate storyline

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Articulate Storyline 360: Emphasis Animations

Articulate updated Storyline 360 to include interactive emphasis animation effects like pulsing, shaking, and teetering.

To get the latest build, start Articulate 360 and install the update. Once installed, you'll be working with Storyline build 3.84.31647.0.

Create or open a Storyline project and insert an image onto a slide. In the example below, I inserted a cute puppy from the Content Library.

Puppy1

Select the image and, on the Animations tab, click Add Emphasis Animation.

Storyline emphasis animations 1

There are currently five emphasis animations: Pulse, Grow, Shrink, Shake, and Teeter. I selected Shake.

Storyline-shake-emphasis

Once the emphasis animation has been applied, you'll have some options. For instance, I've set the Shake amount to Medium.

Storyline-shake-emphasis-options

Then I set the animation's Duration.

Storyline-shake-emphasis-duration

A trigger is added to the Triggers window. Double-clicking the trigger offers the ability to edit the trigger as appropriate.

Storyline-shake-emphasis-trigger

Storyline-shake-emphasis-trigger-wizard

I published the sample emphasis project and uploaded it to my web server. The interaction is very subtle, which I like. You can see it here.

If you're looking for Storyline help, we offer virtual training, mentoring, and development support. Send me an email and let's discuss your needs.

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Free eLearning calculator helps determine your development effort

One of the most common questions we hear during our live, online eLearning classes is, "How long does it typically take to create eLearning using Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, or TechSmith Camtasia?"

The answer depends upon several factors:

  • what is the total playtime for the course (in minutes)?
  • how much voiceover audio will there be (in minutes)?
  • what is your comfort level using the development tool?
  • how much access do you have to media such as images and videos?
  • how much interactivity will you have in the training?
  • how much help do you have?
  • is the training teaching a life skill, a software simulation, or a video demo?

We've created a calculator to help you estimate the effort necessary to develop eLearning content.

Calcualtor start page

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Articulate Storyline 360: Integrated Comments

I updated my Articulate Storyline 360 a few days ago to version 3.79.3092.0 and was pleasantly surprised to see an improvement to the review workflow…review comments that appear directly within the Storyline project.

SlVersion

Publish your project to review 360.

Publishto360

PublishtoReview360

PublishSuccessful

Return to the Storyline project and notice that there's now a Comments window.

StorylineComments

Click the Review Request button.

ReviewRequest

Add your reviewers and click the Send request button.

AddReviewers

Your reviewers will receive a review invitation email, as shown below.

EmailInvitetoReview

Reviewers click the Go to Review 360 button and add comments as shown below. When done, reviewers click the I'm done reviewing button.

CommentAdded

DoneReviewing

The review comments appear in the Comments window within Storyline.

CommentsinStoryline

If you're looking for Storyline training, support, or mentoring, we've got you covered with our vILT classes, books, and development services.

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eLearning and Copyright: Are You at Risk?

CopyrightImageOnline training is more popular than ever. With powerful development tools such as Articulate Storyline, Articulate Rise, TechSmith Camtasia, Adobe Captivate, and Lectora, it’s never been easier to create relevant, highly interactive, and visually stunning eLearning.

Regarding the visually stunning part of eLearning… adding compelling images and videos to your training is a great idea. But where are you going to get those assets? A quick search on the internet finds this great image of Mickey Mouse. Another search finds a cute cat video that will add the perfect amount of humor to your module. The online options are endless, and the assets are easy to download and import into your project.

You publish and upload the project to your web server or Learning Management System. Along with the kudos from your learners comes a cease-and-desist letter from the lawyers at Disney. Worse, that cat video gets you sued for significant money. Even worse? You have to pay the fine, and it's painful.

According to copyright.gov, “anyone found to have infringed a copyrighted work may be liable for statutory damages up to $30,000 for each work infringed and, if willful infringement is proven by the copyright owner, that amount may be increased up to $150,000 for each work infringed.”

Let those numbers sink in for a moment… $30,000… $150,000…

As the boundaries between traditional and online education continue to blur, educators and institutions face unique challenges and opportunities to ensure that their eLearning content is effective and legally compliant. This course is designed to equip you with the knowledge necessary to navigate the complexities of copyright law within the context of eLearning, enabling you to confidently create, distribute, and use digital educational materials while respecting the rights of content creators.

Give us 90 minutes, and we've got you covered!

Learn more about copyright as it pertains to training and eLearning during this 90-minute, live, instructor-led course. Throughout the course, we will explore key copyright concepts such as the fundamentals, fair use and its application in eLearning, open educational resources, licensing models, and strategies for obtaining proper permissions. We will also delve into real-world scenarios and case studies, providing practical insights to inform your eLearning endeavors.

Who Should Attend?

  • eLearning developers
  • Technical communicators
  • Educators
  • Instructional designers
  • Training managers
  • Trainers
  • Administrators
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HANDS-ON, LIVE ONLINE TRAINING: Creating eLearning Scripts for Software Simulations

We are proud to announce a new class: Creating eLearning Scripts for Software Simulations

If you create eLearning that includes software simulations and video demonstrations, you've likely heard about the need for a recording script. It's also likely you're not sure how to create an appropriate script.

Here's the only class you'll need: https://www.iconlogic.com/storyboarding-scripting-elearning.html

If you create software simulations or video demonstration eLearning in Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, or TechSmith Camtasia, this class is for you!

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ARTICULATE STORYLINE: Inserting Web URL Hotspots

Just about every eLearning course you've ever used or created has contained at least a button or two that, at a minimum, allows for learner navigation.
 
Storyline allows you to insert buttons. But there's also a hotspot feature. What's the difference between buttons and hotspots?
 
Hotspots are similar to Buttons in that they can be interactive. Unlike Buttons, which are typically visible to the learner on the slide, hotspots are transparent. You insert hotspots over slide assets or areas of a slide and then use triggers to make the hotspot interactive.
 
To insert a hotspot, click the Insert tab on the Ribbon and, from the Interactive Objects group, click Hotspot.
 
 
On your slide, draw a hotspot shape over the area of the screen that you'd like to be clickable. In the image below, I've drawn a hotspot over the web address and globe icon. Next, I'll create a trigger that links to the Chesapeake Stables website.
 
 
With the hotspot selected, click Create a new trigger on the Triggers window. Change the Action to Open URL/file.
 
Note: The Open URL/file Action is in the More group; you’ll need to scroll down to find it.
 
In the File or URL field, type the website address you'd like learners to visit and then press [enter].
 
 
Next, test the link. With the Trigger Wizard still open, move your mouse over the web address that you just typed.
 
At the right of the web address, click Check URL/File.
 
 
The target website opens. The ability to check a URL from within the Trigger Wizard is a nice feature because links to websites aren’t fully functional until you Publish. In fact, if you Preview the slide and click the hotspot, you'll see the Link alert as shown in the image below.
 
 
And that's that… between buttons and hotspots, adding interactivity to your eLearning cannot get much easier.

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Looking for training, consulting, mentoring, or development on all things eLearning? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. You can learn more about our eLearning classes on the IconLogic website.
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ARTICULATE STORYLINE 360: New Trigger Workflow

If you want to make something happen in Articulate Storyline, Triggers are everything. They're so important to your success in Storyline that we cover them beginning in the opening minutes of our Storyline Beginner class and continue to teach them through the end of the Storyline Advanced class.
 
A recent Storyline 360 update from Articulate has taken what was already a pretty nice trigger workflow and made it even better. In this article we'll take a quick look at the new workflow. (If you'd like to explore the new workflow, download the latest build.) You can check your version of Storyline via Help > About Storyline. The new trigger workflow can be found in build 3.33.20625.0 or later.
 
 
The new trigger workflow will be on by default. However, you can elect to stick with the old, Classic workflow if you prefer. To switch between the new and Classic workflows, choose File > Storyline Options.
 
 
Select the Features category and then select Use the new, faster trigger workflow. (You will need to restart Storyline to switch between modes.)
 
 
In the image below you can see the classic Trigger Wizard. As I said at the start, I think the wizard was already pretty easy to use. If I had any complaints at all it was with the need to take a few extra clicks to create a Condition. (As you can see, there's a Show Conditions button which leads to a second screen where, after a few clicks, the Condition gets created.)
 
 
The new Trigger Wizard, shown below, streamlines/groups things quite nicely. Tops among my favorites is that Conditions have been moved up in the workflow (there's no longer a big button to click that leads to a different window).
 
 
When you select Actions (by clicking the link to the right of the word Actions), the options are grouped into appropriate categories, making specific actions easy to find.
 
 
The Triggers panel also received a facelift in the new build. Chief among the enhancements is the ability to Disable (you no longer need to delete and recreate individual triggers… with a quick click you can disable them) and Group (when triggers are grouped, you can make a single edit to change the event that triggers all the actions).
 
 
If you're still working with developers who are using Storyline 3, there's no worries about the new workflow causing trigger issues. According to Articulate, "The new trigger workflow is fully compatible with the classic workflow in all builds of Storyline 360 and Storyline 3, so you can share a project file with other authors no matter which version of Storyline they’re using. When you disable a trigger in the new workflow, that trigger is present but hidden in the classic workflow in Storyline 360 and Storyline 3."
 
You can learn more about the new trigger workflow on the Articulate website.
 
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Looking for Storyline training, consulting, mentoring, or development? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. We've got an awesome collection of live, online classes. You can learn more here.
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ARTICULATE STORYLINE 360: Slides Numbers and Percentage Completion Rates

We do a ton of eLearning development in Storyline. A recent client asked if there was an easy way to add a percentage complete area on each slide so the learner quickly knew how much content remained to be viewed. Thanks to a fairly recent addition to Storyline 360, adding such a feature to a project is simple (it's also easy to add slide numbers).
 
If you'd like to follow along with me, create a new Storyline 360 project and insert 10 slides from the Content Library. (I went with the Affinity template but you can use any of the templates.)  Each of the slides in my sample project are represented in the menu shown in the image below (at the left).
 
 
To add the slide numbers and percentage completion, I went to the parent master slide (View > Slide Master), inserted a text box and typed the phrase: of . | You’ve completed of the lesson.
 
 
Still working on the slide master, and with my insertion point to the left of the word "of," I went to the Insert tab on the Ribbon, Text Group, and clicked the drop-down menu next to the Slide Number icon.
 
 
I selected More options and the dialog box shown below opened. From the Insert drop-down menu, I selected Slide number in menu.
 
 
I repeated this process two more times. On the second pass, I added Total slides in menu to the left of the period. On the third pass, I added Progress through menu (%) after the word "completed.".
 
The text box on my master slide looked like the image below.
 
 
When I previewed the scene, this was the result.
 
 
Because I added the text box to the parent master slide, the text appeared on every slide in the project. Alternatively, the number can be added to a text box on a layer (and use triggers to make the layer appear or disappear based on what the learner does throughout the lesson).
 
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Looking for Storyline training, consulting, mentoring, or development? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. We've got an awesome collection of live, online classes. You can learn more here.
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ARTICULATE STORYLINE 360: The Awesomeness of the Media Library
Have you ever had this happen to you? You insert an image into your Storyline project and then sometime later you decide to use the image on another slide. However, your project is large (multiple scenes and slides) and you're having a hard time finding that pesky image. How about this one? You're making your project accessible for learners with disabilities. You're pretty sure you added alternative text to a specific image but now you're doubting yourself. Is there a quick way to check? Or perhaps you've used an image in a project and someone on the team wants to use it too. Is there a quick way to share the image?
 
If you add images, characters, audio, or video to your projects (I think that covers all eLearning developers, everywhere), you'll love Articulate Storyline 360's Media Library (View tab > Views group).
 
 
The Media Library displays a list of all of the project's assets grouped on tabs for Images, Characters, Audio, and Video.
 
 
I love the ability to select an image and, from the right of the Media Library, add Alt text (for accessibility) and notes. You can also see where the image has been used throughout the project and add the same accessibility text to all instances of the image.
 
 
 
You can also import assets directly into the Media Library and export any asset (so it can be shared with team members).
 
 
 
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Looking for Storyline training? Check out these live, instructor-led classes.
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Kevin Siegel is the founder and president of IconLogic, Inc. He has written hundreds of step-by-step computer training books on applications such as Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe RoboHelp, Adobe Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia. Kevin spent five years in the U.S. Coast Guard as an award-winning photojournalist and has three decades’ experience as a trainer, publisher, technical writer, and eLearning developer. Kevin is a Certified Master Trainer (CMT), Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+), Certified Online Professional Trainer (COTP), and a frequent speaker at trade shows and conventions.