Creating an object that when changed on one slide, updates all slides?

[petrk27901450]

In other asset driven software I have used, it is possible to create instances of a single asset or group of assets. This then means that when the original is changed, these changes are applied to all instances of that asset/group.

Say for example I have a menu or other more complex object which needs to be consistent across all slides that it is in. It is quite tedious to need to make changes to every slide this object is on. It would be very intuitive to be able to add such an object to the library, once it is created, and then changing this would change all instances of it no matter what slide they are on. At the moment I am copying and pasting the objects each time I create a new slide, but if for example one action changes, I need to replicate this which is prone to errors.

Is there a way to achieve something like this in Captivate?

[Paul Wilson CTDP]

There is a way you can have an object appear for the rest of the project. That way if you alter it, for example, change it from one state to another you can have that change persistent. Probably the most common example of this is custom navigation controls that include buttons that perform the same function on every slide of a course. If you place that object on slide 1 and set the timing to be for rest of project you only need to create that interaction once and then have it persistent.

I've created tutorials on this in the past. For example, here is a custom table of contents item that I built that is visible for the rest of the project.

Pop Out Custom Table of Contents

[RodWard · Accepted solution]

In Captivate each and every object has a unique ID so that the project does not corrupt.  So reusing the same object across all slides in the way you describe is not possible.

However, you can set up objects on the initial slides of a project and set the timing of those objects to be for Rest of Project so that they are seen on all slides after that point as well.  Where you do NOT want to see the objects, you can use Advanced Actions to hide them and then show them later again as necessary.

If a group of slides all need to show the same object, then placing the object on a Master Slide that all of the slides in the group are attached to is another solution.

Finally, another solution for HTML5 content is to use the CpExtra widget.  It has two features called @syntax and #syntax that allow you to add a prefix to the ID names of objects and then manipulate their visibility or Object State with Advanced Actions that work automatically based on the name of an object.

Just a few suggestions for you.

[petrk27901450]

Thank you for that, I will try this out later today. One question though, if I need one of the buttons to show after a delay which is different on each slide, will this still work? Or will I need to keep this button separate to keep it's timing different on each slide? I basically would like the continue button to be disabled until all the elements on the slide are visible. Different slides have different amounts of information which takes shorter or longer to show.

[Lilybiri]

Forced first view (don't like that for adult training, but that is off topic)?

A question that has not been asked in this thread yet: do you plan normal projects or responsive projects? If you think about responsive projects, do you want to develop wihth Fluid Boxes or with Breakpoint Views. This question is important, because Fluid Boxes do not allow to have objects timed for the rest of the project. If you want a Next button on each slide, which you can control (hide/show or enable/disable) you need to go with such a shape button timed for the rest of the project.

For a normal project, or a responsive project developed with Breakpoint views, you can use the 'Delay Next Actions' command in a shared action On Enter for each slide to control the Next button:

   Hide Bt_Next

   Continue

   Delay Next Actions by x seconds

   Show Bt_Next

The two items marked in bold and italic will be the two parameters in the action: the button itself (with its unique ID) and the literal 'x' which stands for the delay time.