A timer is a device that counts time in seconds. In Play, there are several interaction nodes related to timers.
Timer Trigger
A Timer trigger fires repeatedly at a given interval for a given number of repetitions.
You might use a Timer to:
Display a countdown timer using a text element.
Fill a gauge or progress bar.
Auto-cycle through a photo carousel.
Timer triggers have three properties:
Interval: Set the number of seconds between each time the trigger fires
Auto Start: Choose whether the timer should start automatically when the page is opened or wait for a Start Timer action
Repeat: Set the number of times the trigger should fire. Options include:
1 - 100x: Set the exact number of repetitions
Continuous: Run the timer indefinitely, or until a Stop Timer action is fired
Timer Node
A Timer node also fires repeatedly at a given interval for a given number of repetitions. Unlike a Timer trigger, a Timer node can be added to any trigger. It doesn’t have an Auto Start property because it’s started by a trigger.
Other than Auto Start, Timer helpers have the same properties as a Timer trigger: Interval and Repeat. For a Timer helper, the number of repetitions must be defined, meaning it cannot be continuous.
Start and Stop Timer Actions
A Start Timer action starts a selected Timer trigger and a Stop Timer action stops a selected Timer trigger.
The customizable properties are Target and Timer, which let you select an object on the page and a Timer on that object. These allow you to specify which Timer trigger to start or stop.
Stop Timer actions are helpful when you want to stop a Timer trigger that is continuously repeating (Repeat = Continuous) or when you want to terminate a timer early.
Start Timer actions are useful when you want to start a timer with some other user interaction. Please note, Start Timer actions do not work on Timer triggers that have Auto Start enabled.