Is there a way to set "Go To" to a variable?

mwright

I am creating a course that has several sections and a table of contents. I noticed that there is a reserved variable for the pinging the page in a section, so I was wondering if it's possible to pass this value to a variable. That way, if a user is in a scenario then jumps to the table of contents and visits another scenario, then returns to the original scenario they could be given the prompt to "resume" the original scenario where they originally left off?

sumac

Hi @mwright. Are you publishing a Standard or a SCORM project?

I've done something similar before only my requirement was to always force the learner back to the beginning of a section if they closed the course partway through. Depending on your answer to the above question, the solution will be generally the same. This can be done with a few simple custom variables and maybe a small Javascript action.

mwright

https://rockstars.elearningbrothers.com/discussion/comment/456566#Comment_456566

It's a SCORM project.

I figured Javascript action would be the way to go, but I'm not sure how to call "Go To" or the naming convention for each "Section" and "Page in Section" destination/variables. Is there a good Lectora api documentation somewhere?

susanmacnab

OK good. I think I can help. :) 

Unfortunately it is my understanding that once the course is published the sections and pages aren't really accessible using a variable anymore. If anyone is reading this and knows differently I'm happy to learn more.

If you are publishing to SCORM, you can use the variable AICC_Lesson_Location (the file name) to help you out. I have attached a very simple sample L21 project for your enjoyment.

In short here is what I did:

1. Create a variable for each section with an initial value of 0.

2. On each page in the sections, set the appropriate variable to AICC_Lesson_Location.

3. On the menu page buttons, add a conditional checking if the matching variable is 0. If not, use javascript to navigate to the proper page.

Hope this helps. Obviously you would have to make modifications to fit your needs. Please let me know if you have any more questions...

pagevariables.zip

P.S. I'm not sure why my last post was made using a different username - I didn't realize that I actually have 2 accounts. LOL!

susanmacnab

One more thing I forgot to mention - you may not be able to test my solution in preview mode. You will probably have to publish the project and run it from your LMS.

wheels

This is something I have seen a few times and is very valuable to know how to do.

If you know how to save a page into a variable and then navigate to a page based on the variable it allows you to do so many things! First and foremost it allows you to write your own custom implementation of bookmarking. You can get rid of the popup and write a custom welcome back page for your learners.

Or, you can keep track of progress in one area of the course and return the user back there when you want to (like this case).

The difficult part is making this work for all the different publishing and project options.

I am attaching two example courses that have a User Variable in which a page can be saved, an action to save the current page into that variable, and an action to navigate to the page stored in that variable.

Lectora Online and Lectora Desktop varied a lot so it was easier to keep the implementations separate. Hope this helps some people. Thanks for raising this concern. If there are any gurus like @timk @andrew-robertson @MathNotermans @web-foley that want to flush out a custom bookmarking solution from this I'd be grateful.

Lectora Online Saving Course Location to a Variable.pkg

Lectora_Desktop_Saving_Course_Location_to_a_Variable.zip

wheels

In the desktop implementation don't edit the page saving actions, they lose a slash when edited and it causes a problem.

@susanmacnab excellent answer and a nice solution, I did want to offer another option.

susanmacnab

Thanks @wheels for your input and expanding on this solution.

I like the idea of making a custom bookmark and may just do that. It would be a good workaround to my frustration with having to change my "publish strings" every time I change project languages.