Tag: Scenes

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Articulate Storyline 360: Indexing Scenes

When I teach my vILT Articulate Storyline 360 classes, we immediately tackle scene creation. As the project grows and more scenes are added, students quickly realize that the scene numbers can get out of numeric order. For instance, scene 6 might end up becoming the starting scene and being listed first in Story View. Scene 4 might be the next scene, followed by scenes 3, 5, 1, and 2.

In the example below, notice that the second scene is numbered 5, and the third scene is numbered 4.

Screenshot of Storyline 360 interface displaying an organized scene structure with numbered scenes and sub-scenes.

I’ve never been bothered by scenes that are out of numeric order. However, this erratic numbering scheme might bother some Storyline developers. If so, the Index tool allows you to quickly renumber scenes.

In the image below, I’ve selected the fifth scene.

A screenshot of Articulate Storyline displaying a scene index with scenes numbered 5, 4, 3, and 2, showing thumbnails and connections between them.

I want the selected scene to be treated as the second scene by Storyline and assigned the number 2.

On the Home tab of the Ribbon, Scenes group, I clicked the Index tool drop-down menu and selected 2.

Screenshot of the Articulate Storyline 360 Ribbon menu highlighting the Index tool in the Slides group with options to renumber scenes.

Remember, just before this, I selected the second scene. By choosing 2 from the Index menu, I’m telling Storyline to change scene number 5 to scene number 2.

Here is the reindexed Story View. Reindexing does not negatively affect any slide-to-slide jumps compared to cutting and pasting scenes.

A visual representation of a project in Articulate Storyline showing scenes arranged in a branching format with scene numbers 2, 5, 4, and 3, highlighting how scenes can be renumbered.

Using the same approach, I quickly re-indexed the remaining scenes.

Storyline's Story View showing reindexed scenes with numbers 2 to 5, including 'Quiz,' 'Meerkats,' 'Aviary,' and 'Big Cats' with respective sub-scenes.

Check out this short video to see the Index feature in action.

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ARTICULATE STORYLINE: Logical Scene Numbering

When I work with scenes in Articulate Storyline, I like it when the number that accompanies each scene is logical. Take the three scenes below for instance. I'm creating an eLearning project for a zoo, so naturally I have scenes for Big Cats, Elephants, and Exotic Birds.
 
 
Because I created the Big Cats scene first, it was automatically tagged as my Starting Scene (as indicated by the red flag in the image above).
 
Next, I created the Elephants scene, followed by the Exotic Birds scene. Notice in the image above that in addition to having appropriate names, the scenes are logically numbered (1, 2, and 3).
 
The scene numbers are based on their creation order. While logical, the numbers do not indicate the order in which any scene might be seen by my learners. In fact, I can make any scene the Starting Scene and, using Triggers, I can make the third scene appear before the second scene.
 
I created a fourth scene and named it Home. On the Home scene, I added three buttons to a slide. Each of the buttons were given Triggers that jumped to a different scene in the Story.
 
 
I then made the Home scene the Starting Scene (this is easy to do with a simple right-click on the scene via the Story View).
 
After making the fourth scene (the Home scene) the Starting Scene, the drama started. In the image below, notice that the pesky Home scene is positioned correctly (above the other scenes). And you can clearly see the arrows indicating the button jumps between the Home scene and the other scenes.
 
 
But do you also see the horror in the image above? Look at that number 4 to the left of the Home scene's name. Noooooo! The Home scene is my first scene, and as far as I'm concerned, it should be numbered with a 1, not a 4. Of course, Storyline doesn't agree with me… a numbering sequence of 4, 1, 2, 3 is perfectly fine!
 
At the end of the day, the scene numbers don't truly matter. Learners will be able to move freely around the zoo, they'll never see the numbers, and won't ever know that the scene numbers are out of order.
 
But I'll know the numbers are out of whack… and so will you!
 
Fortunately, while not obvious, the fix is easy.
 
While in Story View, select the scene that's out of order and cut it to the clipboard. Without selecting anything, immediately paste the scene back into Story View.
 
And that's that. If you're like me, you'll be delighted to see that the scenes are numbered logically in the Story View (which is truly the only way to go, right?).
 
 
Looking for Storyline training or support? Check out these awesome live, online, instructor-led classes. Also, if you need help with Storyline development or if you'd like one-on-one Storyline mentoring, we've got you covered.