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Creating Presentations for the Web

PowerPoint is very versatile and allows easy conversion to the World Wide Web.  You can take an existing presentation and convert it to HTML or you can create a presentation in HTML for use on the Web.  HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the language of the Web. 

The AutoContent Wizard offers templates for creating presentations for the Web.  If you are in PowerPoint, click  File, New .  Now click the Presentations tab.  Double-click AutoContent Wizard and follow the instructions.

You don’t have to start from scratch, you can convert any existing presentation into a format that is compatible with the web, just click Save as HTML from the File menu.

You can format any selection of PowerPoint text or object as a hyperlink.  

Hyperlink button

Select the text or object, click on the Hyperlink button then type in the web address in the Link to file or URL box. 

You don’t have to use this only as a link to the web.  If you want to link (jump) to another slide in a presentation or to an excel spreadsheet then insert the location or file name that you wish to link to and place the direction in the Link to file or URL box after clicking on the Insert Hyperlink button. 

A resource within PowerPoint is on the Tools Menu, PowerPoint Central.  This resource connects you to the web and helps to create online content. 

You can quickly create navigation buttons and add them to your slides.  Click Action Buttons on the Slide Show menu to display a palette of buttons.  Each button has a specific action assigned to it.  To add an action button to a slide, click one of the buttons in the palette, click where you want the button to appear on the slide, then drag to draw the button.  When you release the mouse button, the Action Settings dialog box appears.  

          Action Buttons

To create hyperlinks to other files or to special effects select the item to which you want to apply the action then click Action Settings.  Slide Show menu.  Select the appropriate options in the Action Settings dialog box.  You can assign actions that occur when the pointer passes over the item or when the button is clicked. 

To create a Framed Web Presentation, use the Framed Slide Show option in the PowerPoint Internet Assistant.  This feature creates a special type of Web presentation that uses features only available in advanced Web browsers.  A framed slide show offers more control and navigation features.  The slide frame contains the slide image.  The Navigation frames contains standard slide navigation controls such as Next Slide and Previous Slide.  The Notes frame displays any speaker notes from the slide show.  The Outline frame displays the outline for the entire presentation.  The Outline Controls frame contains Expand and Collapse buttons that control the display in the Outline frame. 

PowerPoint presentations can be easily converted for use on the web in either Office97 or Office2000.  The only factor to remember is that your presentation with graphics and navigation buttons will use more web space than simply having the material appear on your web page in text format.