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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