The Playbar Lock widget allows you to prevent a learner from advancing the presentation through the next page button or the progress bar. The widget will hide the next page button and remove user interactivity from the progress bar until the learner has reached the end of the presentation. At that moment, both the next page button and the progress bar return to their normal state and can be used to navigate the presentation. If the learner returns to a previous page using the back button, the next page button will reappear until the learner returns to the furthest visited page. The widget also works with a LMS and will adapt its logic in function of the last visited page. If the lesson is completed and the user reopens the lesson, the widget will unlock the next page button and will return the progress bar functionality.
The widget works with any type of playbar.
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Installation
Once you have downloaded the zip file, either use the PlaybarLockWidget.swf file directly when inserting a widget or copy the PlaybarLockWidget.wdgt folder to the Captivate installation folder under the gallery/widgets subfolder. Copying the folder to the specified location will display the widget in the Widget Panel. Note that you may have to restart Captivate to see the widget appear in the Widget Panel.
Using the widget
To use the widget, just insert it on the first page and set its timing to “rest of project”. Don’t insert the widget on the Master Slide as it may cause undesired side-effects.
Configuration Options
Lock Progress bar
Removes all the mouse interactivity from the progress bar thus removing its capability of navigating the presentation.
Prevent forward jump
Hides the next page button until the learner reaches the end of the presentation. The buttons will temporarily reappear if the user navigates backward but will be hidden again as soon he reaches the point where he started to go backward.
Lock TOC
Locks the TOC and prevents the user to navigate to any slides.
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April 1st, 2011 at 22:27
What a great idea! Such an elegant solution to a big problem! We have mandatory training every year and users will just fast forward through the material to get to the quiz and pass it. This prevents that scenario, AND keeps the playbar available for those who need review. Nice work!
April 4th, 2011 at 10:39
I have a similar need, disable/lock progress bar. but my case is to disable it until the question is answered (click a click box, type text in a input text, etc.) on a given page/slide? I have a system’s training with an exam. I want to disable the default playbar’s forward button, basically requiring learner to answer the question before being allowed to go forward. I found a solution elsewhere but it was AS2 and I need an AS3 solution.
Thank you…
Onur
April 4th, 2011 at 20:11
Hi Onur,
If you found an AS2 solution, then you can just use the Cp X-Ray widget to see what is the movieclip structure and take it from there. Otherwise, the widget doesn’t answer to events to unlock the button. Could be a future improvement if many people ask for it.
Whyves
April 9th, 2011 at 09:43
Whyves – this will be a popular widget indeed. I have a customer that needed this exact functionality in a project, but unfortunately they are stuck with Captivate 4 and AS2. This is yet another reason to upgrade to Captivate 5 ;o)
/Michael
April 14th, 2011 at 08:00
Hi
this is a really great widget. Just what I’ve been looking for.
I have a slight problem, in that the ‘forward’ button is reappearing about 1/4 of the way into the project (on first view), even though the widget is set to “prevent forward jump”.
Am I doing something wrong.. anyone know??
Rich
April 14th, 2011 at 12:26
Hi Rich,
The widget is made to unlock the buttons once Captivate has determine that the course is completed. In essence, when Captivate marks the course as completed, the widget unlocks the buttons. It seems that Captivate will mark the course as completed as soon as it gets to the last slide. So, let’s assume that you have 2 slides: #1 is 3 sec and #2 is 12 sec. Then at the 3 sec mark, Captivate will say that your course is completed and the widget will unlock the playbar at 1/4 into the lesson.
It is unfortunately how Captivate works. I guess you were expecting that the widget would unlock the presentation only when the last frame has been seen?
May 8th, 2011 at 22:39
[...] little while ago, an eLearning developer contacted me about the Playbar Lock Widget. He had bought the widget and liked it but it was lacking a crucial functionality for him: the [...]
August 11th, 2011 at 12:31
Hi,
I was just looking at your demo to see if this widget is what I need for my project, and I noticed you can’t drag the marker on the progress bar backwards (as in you can’t rewatch/relisten to just a part of the current slide). Is this the case for just the demo or for the widget in general? This feature would be convenient for particularly long slides, especially if you are trying to take notes and don’t want to return to the start of the slide just to rewatch a tiny part that was missed. Overall, a well done widget.
-Erica
August 11th, 2011 at 21:43
Hi Erica,
Unfortunately, the progress bar is completely locked and cannot be dragged backwards. Sorry!
Whyves
December 21st, 2011 at 10:40
Hi,
This widget look perfect, but I have one important question before I buy it…
How I understand it, the playbar stops working until the end of the project, and then starts working again. Does the TOC do the same, or will it continue to be disabled, even after the project is over? I ask because that’s the main functionality I would like: for the TOC to be locked until the user has completed the whole video, and then for it to activate. Preferably, it would always allow backwards movement, but not forwards, but I know you said that wasn’t possible.
Thanks,
Brian
January 6th, 2012 at 13:23
I have the same question as Brian’s: I wish to know whether the TOC can still work after the play bar reaches the last page. Or whether even the user can click on the contents that they have already visited via TOC even before they reach the last page.
Thank you.
Rui
January 9th, 2012 at 18:55
Brian, Rui,
The TOC will unlock when you reach the end of the presentation. However, backward movements will never be allowed while the TOC is unlock. If you wish to have this functionality, I believe that some options in Captivate allows it. My option completely locks the TOC: forward and backward navigation.
Whyves
March 13th, 2012 at 17:04
You state that the next page button is hidden and progress bar made inactive until the end of the presentation. I have a project comprised of 55 slides where I want to hide the next page button until the end of each slide, not the whole presentation. Will your widget do this?
Thanks.
March 14th, 2012 at 20:31
Hi Bill,
No, the button is hidden for the whole presentation. You would need a different widget for that.
Whyves
March 16th, 2012 at 10:40
Can i customize the look/feel of the buttons? Or remove certain buttons that I dont want to be shown such as the Rewind/Fast-Forward buttons? Do we get the source file along with the purchase or just the swf?
March 16th, 2012 at 18:04
Hi Munesh,
The widget does not add the buttons, it just controls the one on your playbar. You can use any playbar that comes with Captivate or create your own, it doesn’t matter, the widget will work with it. Unfortunately, the source code is not provided with the widget; just the swf.
Whyves
May 12th, 2012 at 17:11
[...] Drop Interactive Hyperlink Widget Event Handle Widget Image Zoom Widget Pop up window widget Playbar Lock Widget YouTube [...]
September 13th, 2012 at 21:46
How does this widget impact Captivate 6 projects published as HTML5? Will Captivate 6 projects published as HTML5 behave the same way with the progress bar slider disabled?
September 29th, 2012 at 16:35
Hi Whyves,
This is a very good tool that you have devised. Does it work in Captivate 6 created SWFs?
Thanks,
Saurabh
October 8th, 2012 at 10:45
Sorry, the widget will not work in Captivate 6.
November 27th, 2012 at 14:45
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January 22nd, 2013 at 14:03
Do you have plans to make the widget compatible with Captivate 6?
January 23rd, 2013 at 18:30
Hi Brad,
I had the intention but time is the issue. I don’t know when I will have the time so I would not count on that.