We get this question, or some form of it, asked perhaps more than any other question during the Storyline 360 portion of our hands-on Articulate 360 training: “Why didn’t that work?” It’s frustrating when something doesn’t work as you intended or hoped during e-Learning development. We’ve all been there and understand your pain! So, let’s tackle this “as heard in training question” today and figure out “Why didn’t that work?!”
There are occasions when there is a technical glitch and the issue is beyond our control, but these are very rare occurrences. In those instances, submitting a case to the Articulate Support team is the best course of action. Other times, there’s just a misunderstanding of a function or a different set of expectations for the outcome…in other words, it’s working fine, but you want something different, and that might be a good opportunity to submit a feature request.
But let’s HOLD ON A MINUTE before we take those actions. Maybe, just maybe, the reason things are not working as expected is: we’re just doing it wrong! It happens to all of us.
So, what’s wrong with this slide? Obviously, it is almost impossible to answer without more information or a look at the slide.
Before we start reaching out to Articulate Support, let’s discuss a few things you might want to try.
Most of the problems many of us encounter in Storyline 360 live within the Triggers panel. The Triggers panel is pretty much the “engine” that makes each slide run—and it needs to run smoothly. If it’s not hitting on all cylinders, the ride may be a little rough and could leave your learner stranded.
Here are six things to help keep your Storyline 360 “engine” running:
1. Trigger Order
Are the triggers in the right order? What happens if they are not?
2. Trigger Conditions
Have I set up the proper trigger conditions? Is this trigger supposed to fire all the time or only under certain circumstances? Do I have triggers that conflict with one another?
3. Unnecessary Triggers
Have I overprogrammed this slide? Do I really need all of these triggers? Easily test this by temporarily disabling a trigger.
4. Trigger Location
Is the trigger on the slide or on a layer? Is the trigger in the correct section? How might the location of your triggers change your design?
5. Trigger Logic
Read the trigger out loud. Does it make sense? Is that what you want to happen and when you want it to happen? If not, change it!
6. Consistency
Using good naming conventions within your slides (whether that’s naming objects in the Timeline, naming layers, states, or variables) and being consistent in how you create triggers can give you an advantage. If you are consistent in your practices, you will be able to look at the Triggers panel and quickly diagnose which one of these things is not like the others.
We hope that these troubleshooting tips for Storyline 360 help you solve your engine trouble. What are some of your favorite troubleshooting practices? Let us know in the comments below!
~ Ron
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