How to stop skipping to next slide - custom pause button (cpCmndResume = 1; )

[KnutCJ]

Hi there.

I have custom navigation (for many reasons) and an issue with the pause button. It's a toggle button that checks if cpCmndPause != 1, and pauses the slide with a javascript containing cpCmndPause = 1; and continues using cpCmndResume = 1;. There is slide audio on many of the slides and some will also have audio triggered by buttons or connected to objects that are show/hidden.

This works fine, unless the playhead is at the end of the slide. the cpCmndResume = 1; then pushes the playhead along over to the next slide. I don't expect users to click the pause-button like maniacs, but this is a frame work for many course modules, and I'd like it to be robust.

I was thinking of finding the end frame of the slide when pausing, and have the button not do anything, in stead of resuming, if the playhead is at the end frame. But I'm unable to figure out how to find the end frame of a slide 😞

Can anyone think of a good workaround or alternative way of pausing?

[Lilybiri]

Sounds complicated, not sure to understand exactly what you want. You have a custom Play/Pause toggle button, like what I described here:

https://blog.lilybiri.com/custom-play-slash-pause-button-version-cp2019

However you want that button to be disabled when you are on the last frame of each slide? And how will the learner navigate to the Next slide? With a custom Next button? Why is this so important? Why do you call this 'skipping' since the learner is already on the last frame?

There is no easy way to store the value of an end frame of a slide in a user variable. You should need to go to the next slide, store the first frame of that slide and then calculate the last frame of the previous slide to have that value, with what I call micro-navigation:

https://blog.lilybiri.com/micro-navigation-introduction

You could add the action Pause to the On Exit event, or add an invisible shape button (Alpha and stroke = 0) to the main master slide with Pause turned on (would pause on last frame of each slide notwithstanding its duration) but both can be overruled by cpCmndResume = 1 (or Continue to make it easier). 

[KnutCJ]

Hi Lilybiri and thank you for your reply.

Yes, all the navigation buttons are custom, and the user should only proceed to the next slide when the Next-button is clicked.

I have read all your posts on pausing and micro navigation, but not really found a solution. Thank you for those, btw 🙂 I believe cpCmndResume = 1 will overrun anything I put in it's way 🙂 That's why I figured I needed a condition for it to execute or not.

I call it "skipping", since I don't want to transition to the next slide automatically. I find this to be a flaw with Captivate. I want the learner to control the pace. There are many reasons for this, both didactical and practical, but I don't need to get into those here.

This might not be important, as I don't believe the learner will use the pause button particularly much. And if they do, it will most likely not be at the end of a slide. I might just let it stay as it is, and try to find a nifty solution when I have more time.
Thank you.

[Lilybiri]

I tend to disagree about what you call a 'flaw'. This automatic transition allows to spread contnt over multiple slides, without the learner feeling that it is multiple slides. That makes management a lor easier. You seem to think more like a PPT presentation. Control to the learner is always my moto, but I don't need a Next button on each slide.

I neither like the so-called Forced view, which means that the Next button only appears after the learner has 'viewed' the whole slide, or has clicked all the interactive objects. If you need to force learners, it mostly means your course is not that engaging, or they do not like the topic.

BTW: not all audio clips react to the Pause you are using. Do you know that?

[KnutCJ]

Yes, I'm aware not all sounds stop with cpCmndPause = 1, but the ones I use do. 

I agree that it sometimes is better to have an automatic transition between slides. It all depends what you want to achieve and what will benefit the learner. I actually hate PPT-ish learning-experiences and work hard to engage and activate the learner. Adult learners tend to learn more and faster when they are free to explore, rather than when forced trhough content. Allowing for this, and having a not completely linear course, actually requires me to be able to control the transition from a slide to another. There are slides that the user is not supposed to reach with the Next-button. I guess I should have explained it better. I believe it's a flaw that I'm not able to choose if the transition should be automatic or not. Having to, for instance make an invisible button, as I have seen numerous suggestions of, is not a solution. It's work-arround. I'm hoping Project Charm will have a more practical solution to many things in Captivate, and I'm looking forward to trying out the beta.

Anyways ... This thread was neither about didactic coices for online learning, nor about how simple you assume my work as an insructional designer might be. I simply wanted to find a solution to a problem. 

Thank you again for your reply.

[Lilybiri]

I didn't understand the problem as you did explain it at the start, still am confused. Preventing automatic transition is easy with that invisible pausing shape button on a master slide. Do use another master slide if you don't want to pause at the end. It is better than Pause On Exit, because that Exit event is happening after the last frame, and cannot be trusted all the time.

[TLCMediaDesign]

Set the display of your button just short of the end of the timeline. I use a "disabled" graphic of the button so it doesn't just disappear.

[KnutCJ]

Thank you, TLC 😄

I guess this is the best workaround. Banging my head in the wall, that I didn't think of it myself.

The only downside is that it's manual. We have to adjust the duration of the buttons, depending on the length of each slide.

[Lilybiri]

Sure, I didn't propose that because you were looking for a more automatic setup.  This would also mean that you need an individual Play/Pause button on each slide, instead of having it timed for the rest of the project.

Too bad, that the Delay action will not take into account pauses of the slide.