Working with actions

In ActivInspire, you can associate an action with an object. This object then becomes an action object. When you click on the action object, the associated action happens. For example, a sound file or animation plays, or a different flipchart page opens. You can test actions immediately and they are enabled when you leave Design Mode.

There are several hundred actions available in the Action Browser, where they are presented in five different categories. You can either access actions by category, select from a list of all actions, or select one of the most popular actions from the 'Drag and Drop' Tab.

For details of all available actions, including the differences between ActivInspire actions and those created with previous generations of Promethean software, see Reference > Actions.

Here we introduce the action categories, describe how to add actions, show you how to drag and drop an action onto an object, give one example for each action category, then show you how to remove actions:

Action categories

Category

Description

Command Actions

Actions which run a command or start a tool.

Page Actions

Actions which work with flipchart pages.

Object Actions

The widest range of actions: show and hide items, rotate items, manipulate images and text, change an item's alignment or position.

Document/Media Actions

Actions which insert media or links, or open a document, file, or sound.

Voting Actions

Actions which start different LRS activities or tools.

 

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Add an action

To add an action:

  1. Select the object on the page to which you wish to apply an action.

  2. Open the Action Browser.

  3. Scroll through the action list to select your required action.

  4. At the bottom of the Action Browser, click on Apply Changes.  This associates the chosen action with the selected object.

Some actions require you to add ‘Action Properties’ and are shown where necessary at the bottom of the Action Browser. For example the ‘Size Top Incrementally’ action allows you to provide a ‘target object’ to which the sizing action will apply and also to provide a ’Y’ property which allows you to specify the amount of sizing that will occur on the target object (in pixels).

If you select more than one object, you can use the Action Browser to apply the same action to all objects in the selection.

To add a Drag and Drop action:

  1. Select the object.

  2. Open the Action Browser.

  3. Click on the 'Drag and Drop' Tab.

  4. Scroll through the action list to select your required action.

  5. Drag and drop the action onto the object.

Remove an action

To remove a Drag and Drop action, click on the action icon (in our example, the Ruler icon in the red triangle) and drag and drop it into the Flipchart Bin.

 

To remove other actions:

  1. With the Select Tool, drag around the action object to select it.

  2. In the Action Browser, click on Remove Existing.

 

If you're not sure which flipchart pages contain action objects:

Switch to Design Mode . Actions are disabled and all action objects are identified by a red square.

 

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Drag and drop an action

This is the quickest way to add interactive elements to a flipchart:

  1. Select the object.

  2. In the Action Browser, open the 'Drag and Drop' Tab.

  3. From the list select Ruler.

 

  1. Drag and drop the Ruler action onto the action object, in our case a red triangle. The Ruler icon on the triangle and the action cursor indicate that the action has been added successfully.

  1. Test the action. When you click on the red triangle, the Ruler appears. Use the Ruler as you normally would, then drag and drop it into the Flipchart bin.

You can repeat the action as often as you wish. It will remain associated with the object until you delete either the object or the action.

For details of all actions in this category, see Reference > Actions > Drag and Drop Actions.

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Add a command action

With the object selected and the Action Browser open:

  1. In the 'Current Selection' Tab, select Command Actions.

  2. Click on Circular Spotlight.

  3. Click on Apply Changes.

  4. Test the action. When you click on the object, the screen changes and the Circular Spotlight appears. Use the Spotlight as you normally would, then select Close from its Popup Menu.  

For details of all actions in this category, see Reference > Actions > Command Actions.

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Add a page action

With the object selected and the Action Browser open:

  1. In the 'Current Selection' Tab, select Page Actions.

  2. Click on Set Background.

  1. Click on Apply Changes.

  2. Test the action. When you click on the object, the 'Set Background' Dialog Box opens. Choose the background and layout, then click on OK to close the Dialog Box.  

For details of all actions in this category, see Reference > Actions > Page Actions.

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Add an object action

Some object actions give you a choice: you can make the action object itself the target of the action, or make the action happen to another object altogether. Here we show you an example of both.

Action object is target object

With the object selected and the Action Browser open:

  1. In the 'Current Selection' Tab, select Object Actions.

  2. Scroll down and click on Reflect.

  3. In 'Action Properties', click on the Selector button .The 'Select Object' Dialog Box opens.

  4. Select the object, in our example a speech bubble.

  5. Click on Apply Changes.

  1. Test the action. When you click on the speech bubble, it is reflected. It now points at the other face.

Action object is not target object

With the action object selected, in our case the red triangle, and the Action Browser open:

  1. In the 'Current Selection' Tab, select Object Actions.

  2. Scroll down and click on Original Size.

  3. In 'Action Properties', click on the Selector button .The 'Select Object' Dialog Box opens.

  4. Select the target object, in our example the blue triangle.

  5. Click on Apply Changes.

  1. Test the action. Make the blue triangle larger or smaller. When you click on the red triangle, the blue triangle returns to its original size.

For details of all actions in this category, see Reference > Actions > Object Actions.

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Add a document/media action

With the object selected and the Action Browser open:

  1. In the 'Current Selection' Tab, select Document/Media Actions.

  2. Click on Open Website.

  3. In 'Action Properties', type in the URL of the website you want to associate with the object, for example, www.prometheanplanet.com.

  4. Click on Apply Changes.

  1. Test the action. When you click on the object, in our example an image of a flame, the Promethean website opens.

For details of all actions in this category, see Reference > Actions > Document/Media Actions.

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Add a voting action

With the object selected and the Action Browser open:

  1. In the 'Current Selection' Tab, select Voting Actions.

  2. Click on Start/Stop Flipchart Vote.

  3. Click on Apply Changes.

  1. Test the action. When you click on the object, voting starts. In our example, the object is a picture of the Start/Stop Flipchart Vote icon for ActivInspire Primary.

For details of all actions in this category, see Reference > Actions > Voting Actions.

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