# Timer

The timer is an action in Colibri which allows designers to **create a delay** between steps and allows designers to **publish other content outside the primary channel**. This creates a sense of realism when an immediate reaction would seem unusual.

{% hint style="warning" %}
It's usually *not* a good idea to slow down the player experience because you remove their agency, which means you risk spoiling their engagement.
{% endhint %}

| Benefit                                                                            | Feature                   |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| Improve the realism in some cases when an immediate response would seem inaccurate | Set duration of the delay |
|                                                                                    | Connect up to three steps |

## How to

To set up a timer in your exercise, create a new step. In the `Body` tab in the right-hand window, select `Action`. Under *Type of action*, select `Timer` from the drop-down list:

<div align="left"><figure><img src="/files/PceM63DjuxH88LLNcmSU" alt="" width="302"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

To set the duration, go into the `Interactions` tab. Click the up and down arrows in the boxes to set the duration of the delay between steps in hours, minutes, and seconds:

<div align="left"><figure><img src="/files/fWrXhjIOcr0xErjys5Ug" alt="" width="303"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

### Timer visible

You can choose whether to make the timer **visible or not** to players in the virtual desktop.

| Visible use                                                                                                 | Invisible use                                                                                                      |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| You might want to make the timer visible to players to create **time pressure during key player decisions** | You might want to make the timer invisible to players when using the timer **only to send out additional content** |

To configure this in the Editor, navigate to `Configuration` > `Channels` and find the timer channel in the list in the main window:

<figure><img src="/files/O3o0URiSeUln063YZR08" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### :star:Add additional steps

In `Interactions` on steps, you can activate **up to 2 additional steps** on any option selected. You can utilise the timer action to send out additional content:

<div align="left"><figure><img src="/files/wLnQcppM6mwnTloGmV3e" alt="" width="338"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

For example, you may want to send out multiple posts on MicroBlog (Twitter), but don't have enough additional steps. By setting a short timer, you can send out 2 more steps and **simulate social media pressure** for participants.&#x20;


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