In this article, you will learn how to use the Scenario Builder 2.0 editor and its block types and properties. We highly recommend watching the overview video here first if you have not used the scenario builder before.
Scenario Builder 2.0 is a multipurpose tool designed for creating interactive scenarios. This article includes:
Availability
The Scenario editor is available on all user accounts. However, only select subscription plans allow you to share scenarios:
- Educational accounts: sharing scenarios requires a School/Organizational license. Individual Teacher accounts cannot share scenarios.
- Business accounts: sharing scenarios requires an Enterprise license.
If your license doesn't support sharing scenarios, please contact our team here, and we can provide you with trial access.
How to create a scenario
Select ‘Scenarios’ in the left side menu, click the blue ‘Create scenario’ button, enter a name for your scenario and click 'Create'. You will be taken to the scenario editor, where you can select one of the options:
- 'Create blank scenario' allows you to create a new scenario from scratch.
- [Beta] 'Create with AI' helps you quickly convert PDF training materials into an interactive scenario. Simply upload your PDF file, confirm the learning objectives, and let ThingLink AI pre-build the scenario for you. Learn more here<link>.
- 'Choose a template'. Select this option if you prefer a ready-made template with blocks and paths. Simply add your content to the existing structure. This is useful if you don't want to start from scratch, but don't have materials ready.
How to add a block
Scenarios consist of different blocks - media assets, branching paths, text blocks, and question blocks.
To add a new block, you can either:
- Click the blue 'New block' button at the top and choose the block type. A new block will appear unconnected to other blocks.
- Click on an existing block without the right-side connection line, click on the plus-icon appearing next to the block, and choose the block type. The new block will automatically connect to the previous block.
How to add connections
The scenarios flow from left to right, with the left side of a block representing the starting point and the right side representing the end. To connect one block to the next, click the small circle button on the right side of the block, then drag the line to the left side of the following block.
To link a block back to a previous one, click the right-side circle button and drag the line to the left side of an earlier block. This creates a dashed line, indicating that the block or its answer option leads back to the previous block.
Note that multiple blocks can lead to the same block. Unconnected blocks will not be displayed to viewers.
To delete a connection, simply click the line and then click the trash icon.
Block types
Scenarios consist of different blocks:
- ThingLink scenes - interactive images, videos, and 360-degree content you create using ThingLink Media editor.
- Third-party embeds - any tool or content that you can embed via an iframe, such as quizzes, presentations, maps, websites, forms, or anything else you might find useful.
- Branching blocks that change the viewer’s path depending on their answer.
- Question blocks can be open or multiple-choice questions. If the viewer provides a correct answer, they can proceed. If the learner provides an incorrect answer, they’ll be either asked to try again or proceed to the next step.
- Text blocks are simple text messages that you can show to your viewers to provide feedback or link to other materials without using ThingLink scenes. You can optionally add images to text blocks.
Scenes
The scenes option allows you to add a ThingLink scene from your account or shared folders. The viewer will be shown the scene you select when they arrive at this block.
To add a scene, create a new block and select 'Media', then click the 'Upload or select a scene' button. This will bring up a new window where you can select content from your ThingLink profile and shared folders or upload a new file:
This option is useful for presenting learning materials in context, e.g. as part of a 360° image or an interactive graphic.
Embedded content
The 'Media' option also allows you to embed external content instead of using ThingLink scenes. This can include any tool that can be embedded using iframe embed code as well as some websites. You can use this for:
- Embedding videos from YouTube, Vimeo or FlipGrid via a link;
- Embedding surveys and quizzes (e.g Google Form);
- Embedding other interactive learning tools (H5P, Wordwall and the like);
- Embedding maps (e.g. Google Maps, OpenStreetMap);
- Embedding whole presentations from SlideShare or Google Slides;
- Embedding webpages (e.g. Wikipedia). Please note that some sites prohibit embedding their webpages, so you won't be able to display them in a scenario.
Any content you can embed into the 'Add content from website' in the main ThingLink image editor can be embedded in scenarios, too.
Branching blocks
Branching blocks create multiple paths that the learner can follow, and you can add different content (blocks) to each path (each branch). When a viewer reaches a branching block, they will see a question and multiple answer options. The answers they pick determine which path they are directed to.
There are two types of branching blocks:
- A Simple branching block shows the learner a question and multiple options where they can only pick one.
- Conditional branching allows the learner to pick multiple answers, and you can direct them to different paths based on what combination of answers they pick using 'AND' and exclusive 'OR' conditions. See the more detailed description below.
To create a branching block click 'New block' or hover over an existing block > click the plus icon > select ‘Branching’. A new window will pop up where you can select the type of branching:
Simple branching blocks
Simple branching blocks present the learner with a question and multiple options where they can only pick 1. Each creates its own path (branch), and the learner's path is determined by which option they choose.
- Use the ‘Title’ field to enter a question or provide context for different choices the learner can make.
- Use the ‘Branch’ fields to set different choices that will be presented to the learner. Each option will create a new path (branch).
- Click ‘Add branch’ to add another option/branch.
Conditional branching blocks
Unlike simple branching, conditional branching blocks allow the learner to pick multiple answers, and you can direct them down a different path based on what answers they selected. To create a conditional branching block, you need to consider 4 questions:
- What question or choice do you want to present to the learner?
- What options the learner can pick?
- How many outcomes do you want to create (for example: 'Wrong answer', 'Good answer', 'Perfect answer')? Each outcome will be a different branch/path, normally followed up by different content.
- What combination(s) of answers leads to each path?
We recommend using conditional branching blocks if you need to use combinations of answers to determine the learner's path. If each branch is associated with only 1 answer, you can use simple branching instead.
Once you are ready, create a new branching block, click 'Simple branching' and choose the 'Conditional branching' option instead, then fill out the form:
See this article for more information on how conditional branching works and best practices for using it.
Questions
Question blocks can be open or multiple-choice questions. If the learner provides a correct answer, they can proceed to the next block. If the learner provides a wrong answer, they’ll be redirected back to the previous step.
To create a new question block, hover over any other block > click the plus icon > select ‘Question’. This will bring up a new window where you can choose between an open question or a multiple-choice question.
For open questions, enter the question into the ‘Question’ field, then type in the answer into the ‘Answer’ field. You can also add a custom message for wrong answers using the ‘Wrong answer message’ field. The answers are not case-sensitive.
To create a multiple-choice question, enter the question into the ‘Question’ field then use the ‘Answer’ fields to provide different options. Use the ‘Add answer’ button to add another option. You can mark the right answers using the checkbox next to each answer.
Note that:
- If you do not provide a 'Wrong answer message', then the learner will be able to proceed even if they select an incorrect answer or do not select all right answers.
- Learners can try to answer both types of questions multiple times if you include a 'Wrong answer' message. The learners will be prompted to attempt to answer the question again until they submit a correct answer.
- There’s no character limit for questions and answers. However, we highly recommend using short answers if you expect your learners to complete the scenario on mobile devices.
Text block
Text blocks are simple text messages you can display to the learner to provide feedback or other information without using ThingLink scenes. Text blocks consist of a title and description text. The description text is what is shown to the user, while the title is the name of the block you'll see in the scenario editor.
You can use the text formatting options shown above the main text box to format your text, and insert links and images:
ThingLink uses markdown for text formatting, so additional characters will appear when you format text. Here's the markdown syntax used by ThingLink:
- Bold text: put two asterisks on each side of the character string: **example**.
- Italics: put the text between two underscores: _example_.
- You can combine both options by using asterisks and underscores.
- Hyperlinks: put the text inside square brackets and add the URL in parentheses like this: [learn more](https://support.thinglink.com).
- You can create headings using the number sign at the beginning of the line like this: # Header text. You can create 3 levels of headings (# for level 1, ## for level 2, ### for level 3).
- Bullet lists and numbered lists: use the text formatting buttons.
To quickly enhance or edit your text, click the "Improve writing" button at the bottom right of the text editor.
To insert an image, click the 'Upload image' button above the main text box and select a file from your computer. You can also click the 'Suggest matching image' button to generate an image with AI. Once the image is uploaded, you'll see a long text string starting with "![uploaded_file_name.jpg]" followed by a link. Image upload specifications: JPEG, PNG, or GIF images up to 25 MB and 12000x12000 pixels. Recommended file size: 5 MB or less.
We highly recommend using the 'Preview' button to preview the scenario and the text block.
Additionally, to make your scenario more interactive and immersive, you can transform the text block into an AI-generated scene by clicking 'Convert to ThingLink Scene!". The scene will include automatically generated tags along with content and suggestions based on the text from the original text block.
Next steps
Now that you know what kind of content you can add, click here to learn about different tools you can use while editing a scenario as well as different settings you can use to control data collection, how much time a learner can spend on a scenario, how to assign points to learners, and more.
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