Tutorial

Introduction
Interactive storybooks can be very effective in immersing readers in a virtual environment, particularly when text is combined with pictures and sounds. Hyperlinks (underlined text which links to other HTML web pages) and Linked Hotspots (areas of a picture which link to other HTML web pages) are an excellent way for readers to navigate through a story, since it allows the storyteller to produce linear stories, multi-path stories (a linear story with branches which return to a main storyline) and adventures (a variety of interesting locations which are interlinked). All these story types can be created easily using Japanese WordMage.

Suggested reading
You may wish to read information about how to use the HTML web page editor to create HTML web pages, since you should already know how to do this before working through this tutorial. For details about how to include multiple choice quizzes in your storybooks, please see the Reading, aural and visual comprehension tutorial. You might also like to read information about Organising Course modules.

Adding hotspots to a picture
One of the best new features in JWM is the ability to add Hotspots to pictures. A hotspot is simply a rectangle, circle or polygon (a shape with three or more corners) on a picture. These areas can be used for various purposes, such as links to new HTML web pages, part of a visual comprehension exercise, to play a sound, etc.

For example, in adventures, you could position hotspots at the edges of a picture (with appropriate arrow-shaped cursors) to allow the reader to move around the virtual world you created (ie. basically following Linked hotspots). To examine an object, you could use the ZoomInObject cursor; a KeyCard cursor may open a door, etc, etc.

For further information about this topic, please see Adding hotspots to a picture.