Action settings & hyperlinks do not work properly in Powerpoint

[Ezekial]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

Hi, I've prepared an interactive PowerPoint presentation for my students, and wanted to insert action buttons on a menu – via a master slide – so that they could navigate their way around it. I inserted appropriate buttons, via the shapes gallery, and set hyperlinks (via the Action Settings) on the buttons to the desired slides. However, when the presentation is in slide show mode all the hyperlinked buttons do is move to the next slide (regardless of what I've set them to do), Anyone any ideas? Thanks

 

[Ezekial]

Just to add to this – I've also tried altering the 'Set up show' settings. It does the above when set to 'Presented by Speaker' – however, when set to 'browsed at kiosk (full screen)', as I presume it should be for an interactive presentation such as this, then the buttons on slide do not work at all all (neither do the space bar or cursor keys of Mac).

 

[CyberTaz]

Somewhat of a misinterpretation Browsed At Kiosk is for a self-running,
continuously looping, non-interactive slideshow which can only be
interrupted by pressing ESC.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Ezekial]

Ok, thanks, but what should the setting be if I want people to be able to open the file themselves, play it in slideshow mode, and navigate it using the hyperlinked action buttons that I've added to a menu via the master slide?

I've tried it using all of the options using 'set up show' & still can't get the links to work.

 

[CyberTaz]

Sorry, it sounded like you had handled the original issue. I've noticed that
the Action Buttons can be a little hesitant to work when you first place one
on a slide. I'd suggest you try them again ‹ make sure the pointer turns
into a pointing finger appearance rather than an arrow. Once they "kick in"
they continue to work as expected.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Ezekial]

Hi, an action button works in the way you suggest when I place it on an individual slide, but not when I place it on the master slide (Revolution Slide Master), and I thought that if a button was placed on the master slide then the same button(s) appears & works on every-slide of the presentation. So the problem therefore seems to be exclusively when using buttons with master slides.

I have a series of buttons which I was hoping to have as a navigatable menu on every slide in the presentation.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Somewhat of a misinterpretation Browsed At Kiosk is for a self-running,
continuously looping, non-interactive slideshow which can only be
interrupted by pressing ESC.

No, it simply disables all KEYBOARD input other than the ESC key.

It still allows ... requires, really ... you to have action buttons/hyperlinks if
you want the user to be able to control the show interactively.

Ezekial,

Check the titles of the slides you've linked to; do they have commas or other
punctuation in them? Try deleting any commas, re-create the link and see if it
now works.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Steve;

This is one we'll have to agree to disagree on

No, it simply disables all KEYBOARD input other than the ESC key.

It still allows ... requires, really ... you to have action buttons/hyperlinks
if
you want the user to be able to control the show interactively.

Ezekial,

Check the titles of the slides you've linked to; do they have commas or other
punctuation in them? Try deleting any commas, re-create the link and see if
it
now works.

Interesting ‹ My perspective is that you only use Kiosk mode if you *don't*
want the viewer to control the show Its primary purpose is to keep
people from disrupting the presentation ‹ especially if they then walk away
& leave the show in an inoperative state.

In my experience Kiosk mode also kills the mouse when you run the show...
even if the Advance is set to Manual (which would be pointless). Note the
distinction between "run the slide show" by using View> Slide Show or by
Slide Show> View Slide Show as opposed to "clicking the Slide Show View"
button (which I use only for editorial previewing). For an interactive
presentation Windowed mode or some other file format would be far
preferable.

My question is "If neither the keyboard nor the mouse work how does anyone
advance the slides *or* use the "required" Action Buttons?". I'd truly like
to know.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Ezekial]

Hi, Bob, in 'browsing at kiosk' mode you have the option of either moving slides on 'manually' or via 'timings (when present)'. When it's set to move slides on 'manually' action buttons do work.

Just to clarify, the hyperlinked action buttons do work when placed one at a time on individual slides in normal mode, and then played in 'browsing in kiosk' mode. They don't work, however, when added to a master slide (so that the menu of buttons placed on the master slide appear and on every slide throughout presentation). So therefore the problem is with the Master Slide option – hyperlinked action buttons placed on the master slide do appear on each slide, but they don't work when clicked (in any of the slide show modes).

I have an example from a colleague of an interactive presentation prepared using Powerpoint 07 for Windows and it works as it should on my Mac, and I've checked very closely and used exactly the same settings on my presentation using my Powerpoint for Mac 08, adn it doesn't work (and according to Help in Office:MAc 08 I should indeed be able to put an action button on every slide – see 'Insert Navigation Button').

So I'm completely stumped! It must be some kind of bug in Powerpoint 08, unless anyone else can get navigation buttons placed on a master slide working?

 

[Ezekial]

Ok, guys, after much hair-pulling I've finally got to the route of the problem – that is, using certain 'slide themes' from the gallery – in fact using most of them – severely affects the functionality of navigation buttons, when they are used on a master slide.

In general the simpler the 'slide theme', or not using a theme at all, the more likely they are to work. This is a problem therefore that we will need to forward to Microsoft.

Bob & Steve, thanks for your time & help,

All best
Tom (Ezekial)

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi Steve;

This is one we'll have to agree to disagree on

Why, did they screw it up in PPT 2008?

Works as I described in 2004 and previous versions, as well as in all Windows
versions back as far as PPT4.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi, Bob, in 'browsing at kiosk' mode you have the option of either moving

slides on 'manually' or via 'timings (when present)'. When it's set to move
slides on 'manually' action buttons do work.

Action settings also override slide timings even when you've got it set to
advance automatically.

Just to clarify, the hyperlinked action buttons do work when placed one at a

time on individual slides in normal mode, and then played in 'browsing in
kiosk' mode. They don't work, however, when added to a master slide (so that
the menu of buttons placed on the master slide appear and on every slide
throughout presentation). So therefore the problem is with the Master Slide
option – hyperlinked action buttons placed on the master slide do appear on
each slide, but they don't work when clicked (in any of the slide show modes).

And fwiw, it DOES work this way in PPT 2004 and previous.

Is there any chance that you've got a transparent shape atop the action
buttons? Whatever is "topmost" on each slide is what "sees" mouseclicks and
mouseovers. If something's atop your buttons, they won't work.