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John_Meidl
John_Meidl
Inspiring
May 9, 2018
Answered

Need to use on-screen buttons as well as playbar

  • May 9, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 615 views

I am building a course (in Captivate 9) where at a "branching" slide a learner will click on a a section of a map of four states to view the training needed to be certified in whichever territory(ies) he/she wants to sell the product. Some learners may need to view only one state; others, two or three or all four states. I plan to use my own (shape-based) buttons for navigation on those slides rather than the playbar, so that when the learner reaches the end of a set of slides relevant to that state, he'll be directed back to the "branching" slide, to select another state if needed or to say "I'm done."

Normally, I'd prefer to use either all shape-based buttons or only the playbar in a course. However, for this course, I feel that I also need to use both my buttons and the playbar, as I would like the learners to be able to have access to these playbar functions:

  • Rewind (to start the course over, if needed)
  • Pause (to pause the audio)
  • CC (to open and close the closed captioning)
  • X  (to close the course)

Does anyone have a suggestion regarding whether there's a way for me to use only buttons or only the playbar for this course?

Thank you!

Jan

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Lilybiri

    I would not use the playbar, because it always will cover the whole project, and by scrubbing the learner could end up on slides he is not supposed to view.

    For toggle buttons CC and other: have a look at my blog post:

    1 action = 5 Toggle Buttons - Captivate blog

    For Restart course, a dedicated shape button is available in the Shape thumbnail box, category Buttons. You can replace the shape, but there you'll have the needed action.

    To close the course, there is a simple command available.

    For the Play/Pause button there will be a slight difference with the one on the playbar, it will not pause background audio (strange, but I have explored all pausing situations in my sequence of articles about the TImeline). I have a very old blog post about Play/Pause, could now be easier. Do you want to appearance of the button to change by switching states or will you use two buttons in the same location and use Show/Hide? For the States scenario you will only have the normal state changed with the action, because you cannot change the rollover/down states. If you prefer Show/Hide you can have the full trio of InBuilt states. The condition is pretty simple:

       IF cpCmndPause is equal to 1

            Pause

       ELSE

            Continue

    This condition doesn't have the change in states or in button yet, wait for your answer.

    1 reply

    Lilybiri
    LilybiriCorrect answer
    Legend
    May 9, 2018

    I would not use the playbar, because it always will cover the whole project, and by scrubbing the learner could end up on slides he is not supposed to view.

    For toggle buttons CC and other: have a look at my blog post:

    1 action = 5 Toggle Buttons - Captivate blog

    For Restart course, a dedicated shape button is available in the Shape thumbnail box, category Buttons. You can replace the shape, but there you'll have the needed action.

    To close the course, there is a simple command available.

    For the Play/Pause button there will be a slight difference with the one on the playbar, it will not pause background audio (strange, but I have explored all pausing situations in my sequence of articles about the TImeline). I have a very old blog post about Play/Pause, could now be easier. Do you want to appearance of the button to change by switching states or will you use two buttons in the same location and use Show/Hide? For the States scenario you will only have the normal state changed with the action, because you cannot change the rollover/down states. If you prefer Show/Hide you can have the full trio of InBuilt states. The condition is pretty simple:

       IF cpCmndPause is equal to 1

            Pause

       ELSE

            Continue

    This condition doesn't have the change in states or in button yet, wait for your answer.

      John_Meidl
      John_MeidlAuthor
      Inspiring
      May 9, 2018

      Thanks so much, Lieve, for your quick response and this helpful information! I need to read your message carefully and also read your blog post and perhaps do a bit of experimenting before answering your question. (I'm relatively new to using Advanced Actions and states of buttons.) Hopefully on tomorrow I'll understand the processes well enough to respond to your question.

      Lilybiri
      Lilybiri
      Legend
      May 9, 2018

      OK. I did use a shared, not an advanced action. If you are familiar with multistate objects, that is the easiest way to create a toggle button with the restriction that only the Normal state will be replaced. In that blog post you can watch an interactive movie, but it is still a SWF. Be sure to use a browser where the Flash Player is enabled. 

      Shape buttons have the advantage that you can have them on master slides, which will save you a lot of time. I suppose this possibility can be used for the CC, Play/Pause and Exit buttons. 

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