Hyperlink from text in caption not working

[kayleenh71]

I am having trouble getting hyperlinks from text to work in Captivate 9. I highlighted a word in a text caption and clicked the insert hyperlink feature, and I set it to show a grouped object that makes up a lightbox/popup. However, nothing happens when I click the link in preview mode (I have not tried publishing). If I link the text to a URL instead, it works fine. Or if I create the link to my popup group as a smartshape instead of text, it works fine. I also tried having the text link execute an advanced action to show the popup group, and that did not work.

Rather than doing a work-around to insert a transparent shape, I'd really like to figure out how to get a text link to work. I'm trying to create a responsive, accessible project and am concerned that using a shape over the text will mess up one or both of those things.

I'm using a Mac, in case that is relevant.

[Lilybiri]

Which Preview methos did you try? You need to try the Browser Reviews.

Are you using an Advanced action triggered by the hyperlink? Problem with the Hyperlink is that it doesn't offer the functionality of a simple action (undchek Continue Playing Project) to prevent releasing the playhead. For that reason you should use an advanced action.

[kayleenh71]

I'm sorry; I don't understand what you mean by trying the browser reviews. When I select the dropdown arrow by the Preview button, I am given the following options: Play Slide, From This Slide, Next 5 Slides, Project, Preview in SCORM Cloud, and In Adobe Edge Inspect. I have tried all of the options except In Adobe Edge Inspect. The first four options open a "localhost" URL in my browser (and I have copied this to several different browsers for testing). If there is another way to test the project in a browser, I will need further guidance, please.

As I mentioned, I tried both a simple "Show" action and an Advanced Action. Neither worked. I also have the slide set to pause on enter because I don't want it to auto advance.

Thank you for your help.

[Lilybiri]

Is this a responsive project? In that case all Previews are in Browser. That is not the case for normal projects.

Another problem due to not understanding the timeline, sighing.... If you set On Enter to Pause, nothing can happen on that slide. Maybe have a look at my last blog post:

http://www.lilybiri.com/published/TimelineBlog/index.html

[kayleenh71]

Yes, it's a responsive project.

I am new to Captivate, and there are many things I don't understand, even after reading multiple blog posts, watching videos, and consulting two books I've purchased. But for what it's worth, I've tried setting the slide to continue on enter and for no action on enter, as well as pause. I don't want anything to happen on the slide other than the user to be able to click links. The other links on the screen work--the ones from smart shapes--but the text link does not. I have the same issue on any slide I've tried to insert text links on.

[abeardsl23]

Any chance you can provide a screenshot of your timeline (the panel across the bottom of your slide that lists all objects on the slide), and identify which object(s) you are attempting to correct? I'd love to help, and think it may benefit both of us to share dialogue relating to a screenshot if possible.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Adam

[Lilybiri]

Please, post a screenshot of the timeline: how many pausing points do you have, how many interactive objects like buttons?

To insert a screenshot use this button:

You'll see it only in the Jive forums, not in the portal. You can navigate to your thread in the Jive forums with this link:

https://forums.adobe.com/update-advanced-comment.jspa?id=9949671&draftID=7527748

Can you also show how you set up the Hyperlink? I explained working with hyperlinks for other commands than linking to a URL in this post: More is in a...hyperlink - Close button - Captivate blog

If you have multiple interactive objects on the slide, are some of them executing simple actions? In that case did you uncheck the option 'Continue playing the project'?

[kayleenh71]

Thank you both for your response.

I don't know if my screenshot will display. I tried using the "add media" button and got an error message, so I tried just dragging the file here (copying and pasting didn't work either). If it doesn't display, I'll try again in a separate reply.

There are two popups on the screen, which are grouped objects that are hidden in the timeline. The "transcript_popups" one works fine. It is linked to a smart shape (ViewTranscript_010115). The "popups_pressure" one does not show up. It is linked to a word in a text caption and set to execute an advanced action called ShowPopupsPressure (defined as Show > popups_pressure_010115).

All of the buttons (Resources, Next, etc.) are my clunky attempt to have custom navigation since, when I put smartshapes on the master slide, they don't have rollover states. I tried removing those buttons from the slide to test whether they affect the popup, and the results are the same. There is also a smartshape graphic (Select_Janet) that is set to play audio (a simple action). I have tried previewing with "continue movie at end of audio" checked and unchecked. It does not seem to make a difference.

[Lilybiri]

THat is the reason I tried to explain to come directly to the thread and to insert using the image button. Media button is not working for me neither on the portal. 

[kayleenh71]

Sorry, every time I try to add the screenshot, I get an error message that says it failed to upload and to try again later. It's only 75 KB; I don't know what the issue could be. I will try again later!

[kayleenh71]

Sorry, I must have overlooked your instructions on how to insert the screenshot. I didn't realize there were two ways to view this thread. I apologize for not reading more closely.

Here is the slide itself.

I have the slide set to "No Action" now, on enter and on exit. The link that is not working is the word "pressure," which is in the "Text_010115" caption box. It is supposed to open the "popups_pressure_010115" group. The link that IS working is a smartshape called "ViewTranscript_010115," (Select this link if...), which opens the "transcript_popups_010115" group. There is also a working link on the "Select_Janet" smartshape (the photo) that plays audio. I have the "continue playing" button unchecked now for all links that give me that option. I've tried it both ways.

I will try adding a text hyperlink and popup to a simpler page to see if it works there. In the meantime, I appreciate any insights you can provide.

[Lilybiri]

Screenshot is very small ((I'm on a 12" retina screen). I see that you have a lot of interactive objects (all green timelines). Most of them do pause the slide at 1,5secs, whereas the slide is much longer. Move those pausing points towards the end of the slide, all at the same moment. Some other interactive objects don't have a pause. You should learn about the timeline...

I see a hyperlink, but how is it set up, and which action is triggered by that hyperlink?

[kayleenh71]

Thank you for the tips about the timeline. I read your blog posts about them. I'm still a bit confused about how to pause correctly (I don't want the slides to auto advance). Anyway, I moved the pause points to the end of the slide, and I also reset the slide time to the default 3 seconds. But back to the other issue at hand...

I tried making my text link/popup on a simpler slide that didn't have all the other interactions, to test whether something else was messing it up. Still no luck. I tried it with a simple action and with an advanced action. The only thing it did was make a click noise.

The only way I've managed to get the popup to appear is to link it from a smart shape. I even tried linking to one word within a smart shape, which is what I think abeardsl23 did in the example above, but it did nothing--I have to link it to the entire shape (use as button) for the popup to appear. Since I'll have some screens with more than one text link, I'd rather not have to link to the shapes. Is this a bug, or am I doing something wrong?

[Lilybiri]

Is this what you want to do:

• Have a text container, which has different words marked as hyperlinks
• Those hyperlinks need to open a popup group (can have different items); those popup groups are hidden in output to start with
• How will you close the group? Another hyperlink like a big X?
• What has to happen when another popup group has to be opened: do you want the already open groups to remain visible, or should they be hidden automatically.

As I explained, hyperlink commands miss the option to uncheck Continue Playing project, they do not have pausing points like shape buttons and other interactive objects.  That may be one of the problems.

To solve your problem, since it is difficult to explain in words and you are a newbie, I would propose to replace the multiple hyperlinked words by 'invisible shape buttons' (Alpha = 0 and stroke = 0) or click boxes over the words (you can still style them to look like hyperlinks). Have all the shape buttons pause at the same moment? You have the choice between a simple action (with Continue Project unchecked) or an advanced action.

[abeardsl23]

Sorry for the delay, I was offline. Regarding the default pause feature of buttons:

1. Consider whether or not you NEED the slide to pause until each button is clicked.  If not, remove the pause in the timing panel for each interactive object.

2. If, after doing step one, you find that all interactive objects have had there pause function removed, the slide will automatically advance....which you don't want to happen (if I understand correctly).

3. To correct this (a blue collar fix - as I'm sure you are being held to a deadline) would be to add a click box, and make the box incredibly small, and place it one of the corners of the slide as close to the edge as possible. Now, the slide will pause until clicked (on the click box), or until other actions are triggered by way of clicking on other interactive objects that exist on your slide.

Hope this helps, and don't worry at all about the learning curve of the timeline. We were all in your shoes at one point or another, and none of us should forget that.

Feel free to contact me if you'd like a more constructive approach to figuring this out.

Adam

Moderator: personal link removed.

[abeardsl23]

I've tried to replicate what you've explained above, and got it to work for me.  My screenshots are below. Try to recreate my screenshots and settings below. It should work.  If not, let me know and I'd be happy to keep QA'ing.

Best!

[kayleenh71]

Thank you both, again, for your help. It is much appreciated.

Lilybiri, yes, the functionality I want is as you described. There is a close button in the group that is set to hide the group. The popup covers most of the screen, with the mask obscuring the rest, so the user will have to close the popup before selecting anything else. I don't understand how any other items could be interfering with the hyperlink, since in the simpler test I did, there are no other interactive objects on the slide except the popup group. If I use invisible shape buttons or clickboxes for the hyperlink instead of text, will that interfere with the project's accessibility? And I am assuming I'd have to manually reposition those clickboxes for different device sizes in a responsive project, correct? It's a workaround that could work, but I am unclear why it's needed.

abeardsl123, I greatly appreciate the patience and empathy! I don't need or even want the user to have to click every button to be able to move forward; I just don't want the slides to advance automatically. Will a click box on the first slide of the project work, or does it need to be on every slide? And yes, there is a deadline--which did not account for the steep learning curve, unfortunately.

[Lilybiri]

OMG it is a responsive project! A newbie should never start with a responsive project! Sorry for that exclamation.

Once I wrote this article: http://blog.lilybiri.com/challenges-for-starters

Challenges for Starters - Captivate blog

You'll see that Timeline understanding is the first skill to acquire and that is your problem here.

Captivate creates 'movies', which means that you have a playhead that will start to move at 30FPS when you enter the first slide. At the end of that slide it moves to the next slide etc. Slides are like small videos but the user will normally not see when the playhead moves to the next slide.

UNLESS you stop the slide, either by the Pause command or by a pausing point of an interactive object. That is why I sent you the link to that interactive presentation about the Timeline. Interactive objects have 'events' (mostly a Success and a Last Attempt) which can be used to trigger an action. Slides also have events (Enter and Exit). You are using another way, which is kind of special, to trigger an action (appearing popup), the hyperlink. Although you can launch several actions by the hyperlinks they do NOT have the full functionality of an interactive object: they will not pause the slide, they don't have the option 'Continue Playing the Project' which can be unchecked for interactive object events.  What is the result: the olayhead will always continue when you trigger an action with a hyperlink. If you have only hyperlinks on a slide that trigger lightboxes, the playhead will just go to the next slide when the end of the slide is reached. You don't want that to happen, and it wouldn't happen if you used a click box or a shape button instead of a hyperlink, because they could all pause the slide and keep the playhead blocked.

Hope this clarifes why I recommended you to leave the hyperlinks alone.

Workaround: put one interactive object on the slide which pauses the slide at its end. Maybe a Next button? As long as that button is not clicked, the learner can click on as many hyperlinks as wanted. Be careful: the close button in your groups must not release the playhead neither (uncheck Continue Playing Project).

[abeardsl23]

With all due respect Lilybiri, you seem to coming across rather abrasively. Te majority of users are not the Legend that you are, and come to this forum for supportive assistance. When reading your posts, one (a Newbie, or a Master) could be quite turned off to asking for help, when shunned from attempting certain things in Captivate.  

I think it's important to remember that developers aren't always offered a choice (Responsive vs otherwise), and are told by their employer that the end product needs to be, in this case, responsive. Or, that a user might very well be updating an existing project that a more experienced developer previously created.

Often, folks in this field, myself included, are forced to learn on the fly, and I commend Kayleenh for doing so and coming to this forum for help. 

Respectfully,

Adam

[abeardsl23]

With all due respect Lilybiri, you seem to coming across rather abrasively. Te majority of users are not the Legend that you are, and come to this forum for supportive assistance. When reading your posts, one (a Newbie, or a Master) could be quite turned off to asking for help, when shunned from attempting certain things in Captivate.  

I think it's important to remember that developers aren't always offered a choice (Responsive vs otherwise), and are told by their employer that the end product needs to be, in this case, responsive. Or, that a user might very well be updating an existing project that a more experienced developer previously created.

Often, folks in this field, myself included, are forced to learn on the fly, and I commend Kayleenh for doing so and coming to this forum for help. 

Respectfully,

Adam

[kayleenh71]

While I welcome help wherever it comes from, I very much appreciate your respectful tone, Adam. It is very disheartening to try to find help on these boards and be talked down to. 

I was told to create a responsive project, a parameter I mentioned in my original post, so it should not have been a surprise. I have since spoken with my boss and received approval for this project to not be responsive. Recreating the project as non-responsive seems to be the only way to solve the problem of the text links not working--which appears to be a bug, not something I was doing wrong (because I did the exact same thing and it works when not responsive).

I should have clarified that I am not a complete newbie. Besides having a great deal of eLearning experience and having worked with a few different authoring tools, I have used Captivate several times before, but not for creating an eLearning course. My Captivate experience (until recently) was limited to creating  screen capture videos and software tutorials. So I understand how the timeline is used for videos and just needed some extra help to set up the project so it didn't act like a video. Unchecking the "continue playing project" option was a very useful tip, and adding a button on each slide that pauses at the end seems to have done the trick. 

[abeardsl23]

Happy to help!  I would suggest adding a click box on every slide, which can be done by copying/pasting the first one onto the others. 

Best.

-Adam