We only need to be familiar with how we can insert hyperlinks and assign actions to our objects (buttons, text, Clip Art) in the slide and then we are ready to start.
Let's see how we can link a slide to another file.
First, imagine you have created a presentation, and you want to insert an image on a slide, that if clicked on, shows a specific Word document or another PowerPoint presentation.
1) Save your presentation (you will not be able to use the "Action Settings" otherwise)
2) Click on the object (geometrical shape, text box, picture, logo, Clip Art...) to select it
3) Right-click on it
4) Choose "Action Settings"
5) Select "Hyperlink to"
6) Choose what you would like that slide to be linked to by selecting within the drop-down list:
- Next Slide
- Previous Slide
- First Slide
- Last Slide
- Last Slide Viewed
- End Show
- Slide... (selecting this option will let you select any of the existing slides on your current presentation)
- URL... (with this option you will create a hyperlink that will open up any Web page)
- Other PowerPoint Presentation... (you can actually choose to open another presentation or just one slide that belongs to that presentation)
- Other File... (you can use this option to link to another file such as Word or Excel or anything else)
7) Press "OK" to close the A"ction Settings" dialog box. The hyperlink is now active.
* What you need to know *
A few tips to help you not to get lost among all these options:
- Once you assign a hyperlink, you should test it right away.
You can ONLY do that by running the show, that is, using the Slide Show view, full screen. You will see the mouse pointer becoming a little white hand (like the one you have on Web pages), as soon as you move over your link. When you click, the file or slide you have selected will be displayed.
- If you link a slide to another slide, remember always to create a "return" link on the second slide. For instance, if I link my slide number 1 (e.g. Table of Contents) to slide number 5, I need also a link on slide number 5 that will eventually lead me back to slide 1, where I have my table of contents).
- If you create a link to a Web page, ensure you have a browser installed and a working Internet connection on the machine where you will run your show.
- If you create a link to another file, be sure to bring that file with you and save it on the hard disk of the machine where you will run the show.
- Additional features can be found on the "Action Settings" dialog box: you can have your object highlighted, once you click on it, and you can even associate a sound to that action.
- If you assign a link to a text box or to a specific word or phrase within a text box, your font color will change and the text will be underlined, like in a Web page. To eventually change this color (since it may not be contrasting enough with the background) do the following:
- Go to Format >> Slide Color Scheme
- Click on the second tab "Custom"
- Click on the colored box that says: Accent and hyperlink
- Click "Change color" and assign a new color to the hyperlink
- Click "Apply" and it's done
Another way to work around this limitation (in case for instance you don't want your hyperlinks to be underlined) is to use a normal rectangle instead of a text box.
Draw a rectangle as big as the text you want to type, select it and start typing on it.
Then format your text, and remove the fill color and the line color so that the rectangle will become completely transparent. Then assign the hyperlink by right-clicking the rectangle and choosing "Action Settings".
- When you choose to link one slide to another within the same presentation, you will be able to select from a list containing numbers and titles of the slides that are part of that presentation. Keep in mind that PowerPoint will let you maintain the link to a slide even if later on you change its position (e.g. you move slide #3 to position #5): the slide to be linked will be the slide itself, not its position.
Another powerful technique is the use of the Master Slide associated with the Action Settings.
Do you remember what the Master Slide is? It is an invisible slide where you can set the rules for all the other slides. If you insert a logo on the Master Slide, it will appear on all the other slides.
How can you use the above information to improve the use of Action Settings and hyperlinks?
Well, the answer is as follows:
- Display the Master Slide (View >> Master >> Slide Master).
- Create a navigation bar composed of some buttons.
- Link these buttons to the slides in the presentation.
You now have a navigation bar that is automatically displayed on all your slides.
To summarize:
1) By combining the use of hyperlinks (Action Settings) and the Slide Master you can create a general navigation system for any presentation.
2) You can create hyperlinks to Web sites or other application documents you want to show to your audience. In this way you don't have to create screenshots or graphic files of the screens you want to display.
You can read this article in the original issue of MasterView.
