Buttons

Contents [Hide]

Properties of buttons
Properties of review buttons
Add a button
Automatically resize buttons
Modify buttons on question slides
- Button tab
- Size And Position tab
Add JavaScript to boxes and buttons
Add audio to boxes and buttons
- Import an audio file
- Select an audio file from the Library

You can increase the interactivity of your Adobe Captivate projects by adding buttons. To quickly add a button, use the default button style (a plain, white rectangle) or import custom button images you have created. You can size and position buttons on a slide. You determine what happens after the user clicks the button. After you add a button to your project, you can view and edit the object’s properties in the Advanced Interaction dialog box. Selecting Project > Advanced Interaction. This dialog box displays the properties of all interactive objects in your project

Note: Best practice is to resize buttons before resizing the project. Resizing a project does not resize the buttons automatically.

Properties of buttons

The Button Properties dialog box has the following tabs:

Button
Options
Audio
Reporting
Size And Position

Button tab

This tab lets you determine how the Adobe Captivate project responds to user interaction. The options are divided into two basic categories: what happens when the user clicks the button and what happens when the user clicks outside the button.

Use the Type menu to select the button you want to create:

Text Button

Button with text displayed on it.

Button Text: Type text that you want displayed on the button.
Font: The font properties of the button.
Transparent: Makes the button transparent. When a text button is transparent, only its text appears on the slide.

Transparent Button

Sets the button transparency. Adobe Captivate recognizes the color of the upper-left pixel in the image and makes that color transparent throughout the button.

Frame Color: Color for the border of the button.
Fill Color: Color of the button.
Frame Width: Thickness of the border around the button.
Fill Transparency: Transparency level for the button. For a very dim button, select a high number such as 90. For a darker button, select a low number such as 10.

Image Button

Use an image as a button. You can browse to an image available in the gallery or choose from the Button Style menu

Transparent Button: Creates a button that is completely or partially transparent. You can select the degree of transparency.

On Success

Specifies the event after a user clicks the button after performing the correct action. For more information, see Defining project navigation.

The following options are in the If The User Enters The Text Incorrectly area:

Disable Click Sound

Use this option when you do not want the click sound to be heard when the user clicks the button.

Allow User [#] Attempts

Specifies the number of times the user can attempt the question before the specified action takes place. The Infinite Attempts option is selected by default. To enter a specific number of attempts, first clear the Infinite Attempts option.

Infinite Attempts

Allows users an unlimited number of attempts.

After Last Attempt

Specifies the event that should take place after the last attempt. For more information, see Defining project navigation.

If you select Open URL Or File or Open Other Project, click the pop-up menu to select the window in which the URL, file, or project should appear. Select from Current, New, Parent, or Top. (If you choose New, Parent, or Top, you also have the option to continue playing the original project when the URL, file, or project opens.)
If you select Send E-mail To, you have the option to continue playing the project while the e-mail message is prepared and sent.
If you select the Open URL Or File option and specify a URL, the URL is visible when you edit the slide in Adobe Captivate. However, it is not visible to the user. To show the URL, create a simple image with the URL text on the image, add the image to your slide, and place a click box over the image.

Select Keys

You can specify a keyboard shortcut for the button. Users can use the keyboard shortcut instead of using the mouse. For example, if you select Control+Shift+Enter as the keyboard shortcut for the button, users can press this combination instead of manually clicking the button.

Note: If your Adobe Captivate project is displayed in a browser, set keyboard shortcuts that do not conflict with common browser shortcuts. For example, F1 is frequently used as a keyboard shortcut to display Help. The Control, Alt, and Shift keys map to the Control, Option, and Shift keys on Macintosh® computers, respectively.

Options tab

Click the Options tab. This tab enables you to design the button’s appearance. Select from the following options:

Item Name

Enter a unique name for the object. You can use this name when defining the visibility conditions for the object.

Visible: Deselect this option if you want the object to be invisible on the slide. The object can be made visible using the Show option. For more information, see Controlling the visibility of objects.

Display For [Time]

Specifies the time for which the button appears on the slide.

Appear After [#] Seconds

Specifies the delay between the first appearance of the slide and the first appearance of the button.

Pause After [#] Seconds

Specifies the point at which the project pauses and waits for user input.

Success Caption

The caption displayed when the user clicks inside the click box.

Failure Caption

The caption displayed when the user clicks outside the click box.

Hint Caption

The caption providing a hint to the user. The hint is displayed when the user moves the mouse over the click box.

Double Mouse Click

The user must double-click the mouse for the defined action to take place.

Show Hand Mouse Cursor When Over Button

Changes the pointer to a hand when the user moves the pointer over the button.

Pause for Success/Failure captions

The user can click the button only after the success/failure captions appear on the slide. This option is enabled only when you have added a text entry box with captions to the slide.

Audio tab

If you want to add audio to the button, click the Audio tab. Select from the following options:

Record New: Opens the Record Audio dialog box. (Recording audio requires some basic equipment.)
Stop: Stops playing the audio file.
Play: Plays the audio file.
Import: Displays the Import Audio dialog box. This dialog box lets you browse to an audio file and import it.
Library: Opens the Audio Library. The Library lists all audio files that are already part of the currently open Adobe Captivate project.
Edit: Displays the Edit Audio dialog box. This dialog box lets you edit the audio file in various ways, such as inserting silent periods and adjusting the volume.
Delete: Removes the audio file associated with the button.
Fade In [#] Seconds: Specifies the number of seconds for the audio to fade in to full volume.
Fade Out [#] Seconds: Specifies the number of seconds for the audio to fade out to silence.
Settings: Opens the Audio Settings dialog box. You can change audio settings such as input source, quality level, and calibration. Click the Settings button and make your selections.
Stop Slide Audio When Clicked: The slide audio stops playing when the user clicks the button. This option stops only the slide audio, not the background audio. Also, using a keyboard shortcut does not stop the audio.
Stop Slide Audio When Paused: Stops playing the audio file associated with the slide when the project is paused. For example, if you have enabled the option Pause For Success/Failure Captions in the Options tab, the slide audio stops playing until the captions are displayed.

Reporting tab

If you want to keep score for the button or coordinate the score with a learning management system, use the Reporting tab.

Include In Quiz: The points assigned to the button are added to the score results for the current quiz.
Report Answers: Sends the score to the learning management system, (LMS).
Objective ID: Maps to an objective ID set in your learning management system.
Interaction ID: Sends tracking information to the learning management system based on the interaction ID specified by the learning management system.
Points: Score when the user answers the question correctly. The maximum is 100 points, minimum is 0.
Add To Total: The score of the button is added to the quiz total.

Size And Position tab

If you want to define the exact size or location of the buttons in terms of pixels, click the Size And Position tab. Select from the following options:

Left: Position of the left border of the object.
Top: Position of the top of the object.
Width: The width of the object.
Height: The height of the object.
Constrain Proportions: Maintains the height-to-width ratio when the object is resized.

Settings menu

Use the Settings menu to select how to apply property changes in the project. To apply all your changes, select Apply Only Changed Properties. To apply all the button settings, select Apply All Properties. You can apply the button settings to the current slide only or to all slides.

Note: If you change the settings in this dialog box, they become the default settings, and any new buttons you create use the new settings.

Properties of review buttons

The Review button is present on the quiz results slide. When users click the Review button, they are presented with a slide that provides a report of the questions that were answered correctly and incorrectly. It also provides the correct answers to all the questions. The properties of review buttons are similar to those of normal buttons.

Add a button

Note: Resize any buttons before resizing the project. Resizing a project does not resize the buttons automatically.

In an open project, select the slide to which you want to add a button.
Select Insert > Standard Objects > Button.
Note: You can delete a button at any time by selecting it and pressing the Delete key. When you delete a button, all associated objects (such as success and failure captions) are also deleted.
In the New Button dialog box, set the values for the various options.
Select Apply To All to apply settings specified in the Settings menu to all slides.
Click OK.
The button appears on the slide.
Size and drag the button as desired.
If you selected the Success, Failure, or Hint caption options, double-click the text boxes to edit the text.

Automatically resize buttons

Adobe Captivate can automatically resize a button or caption according to the amount of text in the button. If you edit the text, the button changes size to accommodate the new text. This is an easy way to keep your buttons looking balanced and proportional.

In an open project, select Edit > Preferences
In the Preferences dialog box, select Defaults under the Global menu.
Select Autosize Buttons in the Global panel on the right.

Modify buttons on question slides

You can modify some properties of buttons on question slides. The standard buttons are Clear, Back, Submit, and Skip.

Right-click the question button that you want to modify.
Select Properties.
In the Button dialog box, set the values for the various options.
Select Apply To All to apply settings specified in the Settings menu to all slides.
Click OK.

The Properties dialog box for buttons for question slides have the following tabs:

<Name Of The Button> Button. For example, the tab for the clear button is labeled Clear Button.
Size And Position

Note: Resize any buttons before resizing the project. Resizing a project does not resize the buttons automatically.

Button tab

Use the Type pop-up menu to select the type of button you want to create. (The type you select determines the options that are available.)

Text Button

Creates a button with a label on it. You can set the following options:

Button Text: The text that should appear on the button.
Font: The font type, style, size, effects, and color.
Transparent: When a button is transparent, only the button text is visible.

Transparent Button

Creates a button that exists on the slide but is not visible. You can set the following options:

Frame Color: Sets the color for the outside edges of the button.)
Fill Color: The color used inside the button.
Frame Width: Thickness of the borders of the button.
Fill Transparency: The transparency of the button. A transparency of 0% fills the button with the exact color selected in the color menu. As you increase the percentage, the fill color becomes lighter and fainter.

Image Button

Creates a button that appears as an image. Choose from any of the standard images available in the pop-up menu or click Browse to select an image from your computer.

Transparent Buttons: Makes the button transparent.

Select Keys

Settings

Select whether to apply all the properties or only the changed properties to the respective slide or to all the slides.

Note: If you change the settings in this dialog box, any new buttons you create use the new settings.

Apply To All

Apply properties to all slides in the project.

Size And Position tab

Left: Position of the left border of the button.
Top: Position of the top of the button.
Width: Width of the button.
Height: Height of the button.
Constrain Proportions: Select to maintain the height-to-width ratio when you resize.
Settings: Select how to apply properties. Select Apply Only Changed Properties, or, to apply all current and changed button settings, select Apply All Properties. You can apply button settings to the current slide only or to all slides.
Apply To All: Select Apply To All to apply settings specified in the Settings menu to all slides.

Add JavaScript to boxes and buttons

You can add JavaScript to click boxes, text entry boxes, and buttons in Adobe Captivate projects. The JavaScript can run when a user clicks inside or outside the box or button. Using JavaScript gives you the opportunity to extend projects in numerous ways while adding interactivity.

You can add JavaScript when you create a box or button, or add JavaScript to an existing box or button.

In an open project, select the slide to which you want to add a box or button with JavaScript.
Either select an existing button or create one:
- To add JavaScript to an existing box or button, double-click it.
- To create a box or button, select Insert > Standard Objects > Click Box or Text Entry Box or Button.
In either On Success or After Last Attempt, select the Execute JavaScript option.
In JavaScript, click the Browse (...) button.
Enter your JavaScript code in the text box. If you have the JavaScript in another location, you can copy it and paste it into the text box.

Add audio to boxes and buttons

You can import an audio file to use with buttons, highlight boxes, click boxes, or text entry boxes. The audio file plays when the object is clicked. You can also use the Library to add an audio file that is already in your current project.

Import an audio file

In an open project, select the slide that contains the button or box to which you want to add audio. Right-click the button or box and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
Click the Audio tab.
Click Import.

Adobe Captivate contains a gallery that has buttons, sounds, and animations (in SWF format) for you to use in your projects. By default, the gallery is stored in the following location when you install Adobe Captivate: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Captivate 4\Gallery.
Browse to the audio file you want to add, select the file, and click Open.
(Optional) To listen to and test the audio file, click Play.
Set other options as necessary.
- To edit the audio file (for example, change volume, add silence, change length, and so on), click Edit.
- If you want the audio to fade in or fade out, set the number of seconds using the arrows in the Fade In and Fade Out options.
When you finish, click OK.

Note: To use the Library option, the Adobe Captivate project must contain one or more audio files. If the project has no audio files, the Library option is unavailable.

Select an audio file from the Library

In an open project, select the slide that contains the button or box to which you want to add audio. Right-click the button or box and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
Click the Audio tab.
Click Library.
In the Select Audio From Library dialog box, select the audio file, and click OK.
Click the Settings button to open the Audio Settings dialog box. You can change audio settings such as input devices, quality level, or calibration. Click the Settings button and make your selections.
(Optional) To listen to the audio file, click Play.
To add the selected audio file to the button or box, click OK.

You can also record a new audio file to use with boxes and buttons.

You can attach an audio file to a button or click box. You can choose to play the audio play when the user clicks the button or click box instead of when the button or click box appears. To do this, create the button or click box, and select the Success caption option. Make the success caption transparent and do not add any text. Add an audio file to the success caption.