Dynamic Navigation

[Pathik]

Hi there!
I have created a powerpoint presentation describing my IT Product. The
navigation flow is controlled and the slides should appear exactly in the
sequence I like. There is a table of contents for each module and inside that
there are several masters and transactions. However, there are certain common
slides which are being shared by some of the slides. The problem arises when
I link the slide to a common slide my previous/next/return buttons do not act
the way I want. They function in some other way and my navigational scheme
fails. Is there any way out where I can control the entire navigational flow?
I have not used any macros in this ppt. I want to use them only if other
methods are of no avail. However, I need help in both the cases i.e. without
macro and with macro.
Hope to hear from any of you soon.. I hope I have described my problem
adequately..
Thanks for quiet reading
Pathik

 

[Pathik]

In continuation...
Is there any way where I can specify all the navigation links in a database
and connect that database to my ppt and setup the show. This is required
because the nevigation sequence keeps on changing as the development is
underway for my product.
Thanks
Pathik

 

[Sonia]

You are correct that the Previous and Next links don't work like the Back and
Forward buttons in a browser. You can, of course, link to a specific slide.
You can also set your link to "Last Viewed", which is a bit like the Back
button. However, there is no user navigation history kept, so it is
**literally** the last viewed slide.

I'm not a coder, so can't help with a code solution.
--

Sonia Coleman
Microsoft PowerPoint MVP Team
Autorun Software, Templates and Tutorials
http://www.soniacoleman.com

 

[Pathik]

Thanks, I didn't expect reply to be so quick!!
Pathik

 

[Austin Myers]

Just a couple of thoughts, as you are discovering navigation can be a real
challenge to deal with. However I've found the biggest help is to put away
the keyboard and grab pencil and paper and work the navigation out BEFORE
building the presentation. It'll save you tons of time and prvent the
headacke from beating your head on a wall.

In some cases you will find it's simply easier to have duplicate slides than
to have a common slides everything goes to or leaves from.

Just an FYI, if you use a macro (any sort of visual basic) the presentation
can not be viewed with the PowerPoint viewers.

Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

Solutions to Multimedia in PowerPoint www.pfcmedia.com

 

[Kathy J]

I'm going to take Austin's advice and up it one. Definitely map out your
slides before creation (and update the map as you work through the
presentation). However, don't make duplicate slides - make custom shows.

When you see that a slide is going to be used more than once (or that a
series of slide is going to be used more than once), use Slide Show-->
Custom Shows to create a custom show with that slide (or set of slides).
Now, instead of linking the next button to the slide, link to the custom
show. When you do that, a checkbox will become available that says "Show and
return". Check that box. When you run the show, clicking the next button
will take you to the custom show. Finish the custom show and you will be
back at the slide you started from.

Does that make sense?

--
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft MVP PowerPoint and OneNote
Author of Kathy Jacobs on PowerPoint - Available now from Holy Macro! Books
Get PowerPoint answers at http://www.powerpointanswers.com
I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
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