1. Getting Started with Articulate Storyline 360
In this article I will help you to:
Understand what Storyline 360 is
Navigate the Storyline interface
Grasp basic course structure
Welcome to Storyline 360
If you're aiming to create professional, interactive e-learning without coding headaches, you’ve come to the right place. Articulate Storyline 360 is the go-to tool for thousands of learning designers worldwide — and today you’ll get your first look at why.
Storyline is my favorite e-learning authoring tool and is by-and-large the industry standard. It combines the simplicity of PowerPoint with the power of advanced e-learning authoring tools. No matter if you are creating level 1, 2, 3, or 4 e-learning courses, Storyline is the tool for you.
Is it perfect? No, of course not. Like many tools it is a constant work in progress. But for my money, it is the best out there. And I’d like to tell you why.
Why Storyline 360?
In my mind, here is why Storyline is so popular:
Easy to learn, but hard to outgrow. Once you get the basics down the sky is pretty much the limit in terms of what you can do. The only limit is your skillset. Keep growing your skillset and you can add more and more customization to your course.
Endless customization. Once you get the hang of built in features such as states, triggers, and variables (covered in later posts), you can use CSS, HTML, and JavaScript to further develop your courses.
Seamless LMS compatibility. This one speaks for itself. Storyline can publish in a number of formats, meaning you can use it with pretty much any LMS or learning platform on the market today.
Packed with ready-to-use assets. You don’t need a subscription to a photo site, an icon site, an AI voice site, an avatar site, etc. Storyline is rich with built in assets for you to utilize from directly within the tool, meaning you can get the photos, graphics, and AI features you need without having to go to a third party.
Active community (Articulate E-Learning Heroes). This is such a wonderful resource. Beginners will find a wealth of information and templates (here are a few of my favorites), and advanced users can get support from other advanced user on trickier topics. It’s a great example of what a supportive user group can be.
Navigating the Interface
Now let’s jump into the interface with a quick guide to the basics of the Storyline interface:
Ribbon: Your creative control panel
Story View: Big-picture overview of your course
Slide View: Zoomed-in workspace for each slide
Timeline: Organize objects & sync animations
States: Change object appearances
Notes: Add narration scripts or developer notes
Triggers Panel: Create interactions without coding
Pro Tip: Think of Story View as the “floor plan” of your course, and Slide View like working inside a room in the house.
How Storyline Projects Work
Scenes: Chapters of your course
Slides: Individual content units
Layers: Allow you to add depth without creating new slides
This structure is what makes Storyline versatile for both short lessons and massive multi-path courses.
Summary:
By now, you should:
Understand what Storyline 360 is
Be able to navigate the interface
Grasp the basic course structure
Next time we’ll dive into building your first slides like a pro!