Section 9.5. PACK AND GO


9.4. WEB PAGES

9.4.1. Save as HTML

THE ANNOYANCE: I want people to be able to see my presentation on my web site. How do I convert my presentation to HTML?

THE FIX: In PowerPoint 2000, 2002, and 2003, select File Save as Web Page. In PowerPoint 97, select File Save as HTML. Next, choose your options and click the Save button. Youll get an HTML file with a folder full of supporting files. Upload these to your web site and create a link to the HTML file from your main web page.


Note: PowerPoint is not a good tool with which to create your web site. Instead, use software designed for developing web sitessuch as Macromedia Dreamweaver or Microsoft FrontPageto create the bulk of the site.

It's generally best to create a folder on your hard drive, publish your web page to it, and use FTP software to upload the files to your web page when you're finished. Select File Save as Web Page, navigate to the folder on your hard drive in the "Save in area, change the page title if you wish, and click the Publish button to see more options (see Figure 9-26).

Figure 9-26. If you want to use PowerPoint's default web publishing settings, just click the Save button. To see more options, click the Publish button.


The Publish as Web Page dialog box lets you select basic options for your web page (see Figure 9-27). Click the Web Options button to see even more options, although the default settings in the Web Options dialog are usually sufficient. If you uncheck "Add slide navigation controls," make sure you've included automatic transitions or navigation buttons on the slides themselves so viewers have a way to advance the presentation.

Figure 9-27. Opt to publish the entire presentation or a range of slides, and choose whether to include speaker notes. Click Web Options to see even more publishing options, or click the Publish button if you're ready to save your file as a web page.


Don't be fooled by all the different names for the "I'm finished, get on with it" button. When you've made all your selections and are ready to save your PowerPoint file as a web page, click the button at the bottom of the dialog box you happen to be on no matter if it says Publish or Save. Clicking the Publish or Web Options buttons near the top of the dialog boxes will take you to another screen of options.

If you check the "Open published web page in browser" box in the Publish as Web Page dialog (see Figure 9-27), your web page will open after you click the Publish or Save button. If not, navigate to the main .htm file and double-click it.

Open your web site and create a link to the main .htm file you created. In this case, the link might be something like http://www.mywebpage.com/product_presentation.htm. Finally, upload the main .htm file and the folder of supporting files to your web site (see Figure 9-28).

Figure 9-28. The Save as Web Page option creates a main .htm file and a folder full of supporting files. Make sure you keep the supporting files in the folder and upload the .htm file and the folder to your web page.


If you created your web page in PowerPoint 2002 or 2003 and used the new animations available in those versions, you may want to put a link to the free Office Animation Run-Time (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4033A84A-24C7-40B2-8783-D80ADA33CFF8&displaylang=en) program on your main page for users to download and install before they open your presentation. The Run-Time program makes the new animations work in Internet Explorer 5.0 and later, and is necessary only for users who don't have PowerPoint 2002 or 2003 installed on their computers.

9.4.2. Get Rid of Slide List

THE ANNOYANCE: How do I get rid of the list of slide titles down the left side of the screen when I save my PowerPoint file as a web page?

THE FIX: Select File Save as Web Page, click the Publish button, click the Web Options button, and uncheck the "Add slide navigation controls box on the General tab. Make sure you've included automatic transitions or navigation buttons on the slides themselves so users have a way to advance the presentation.

9.4.3. Get Rid of Frames

THE ANNOYANCE: PowerPoint's HTML has frames. How can I prevent frames?

THE FIX: To hide the frames, select File Save as Web Page, click the Publish button, click the Web Options button, and uncheck the "Add slide navigation controls box on the General tab. However, this doesn't actually disable frames. To do that, you'll need a third-party tool. The $70 PPT2HTML from RnR PPTools (http://www.rdpslides.com/pptools/ppt2html/index.html) lets you convert PowerPoint files into "standard" HTML, rather than the HTML created when you choose Save as Web Page in PowerPoint. PPT2HTML also includes an Accessibility Assistant, useful for making the pages Section 508-compliant.

9.4.4. Put Your PowerPoint File on the Web

THE ANNOYANCE: I don't want to go through all that HTML hassle. Can I just put my PowerPoint file on the Web for people to download?

THE FIX: Absolutely! Simply upload your PowerPoint file to your web site and create a link to it from one of the pages on your site. One caveat, thoughthe PowerPoint file might open in some users' web browsers, not in PowerPoint itself. See the next annoyance, "Make PowerPoint Open in PowerPoint."

If the file has sound or video attached, you may want to zip the presentation together with the media files and upload the zipped file instead. Your users will have to download and unzip the file.

9.4.5. Make PowerPoint Open in PowerPoint

THE ANNOYANCE: When users on my web site click a link to a PowerPoint file, I want it to open in PowerPoint, not in their web browser. Is this possible?

THE FIX: No. This is a local user preference that you can't control from your site.

If it's really important that your users open the file in PowerPoint rather than in their web browser, you might consider zipping the PowerPoint file and linking to that instead. Your users should be prompted to save a zipped file.

If you want to configure Internet Explorer on your own system to open PowerPoint files on the Web in PowerPoint itself, use the following steps:

  1. Open My Documents.

  2. Select Tools Folder Options and click the File Types tab.

  3. Uncheck the "Browse in same window" box and click OK (see Figure 9-29).

  4. Repeat for Microsoft PowerPoint Slide Show (PPS) files.

Additionally, you can modify your registry as described at http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;162059.

9.4.6. Slide Titles Missing in Navigation Pane

THE ANNOYANCE: I saved my presentation as a web page, but some of the titles on the left don't have the correct slide titles. And a couple just say "Slide 6" or something similar. What have I done?

THE FIX: PowerPoint's HTML picks up the slide titles used in the navigation pane from the title placeholders on the slides. If your slide has no text in the title placeholder, the navigation pane will use text from the text placeholder and enclose it in quotation marks. If there's no text in either the title or the text placeholder, PowerPoint will simply use the word "Slide" plus the slide number.

Figure 9-29. Uncheck the "Browse in same window" box if you want PowerPoint files on the Web to open in PowerPoint and not in a web browser.


If you're planning to save your file as a web page, make sure all slides have slide title placeholders with text in them. If you don't want title text to appear on a particular slide, simply drag the title placeholder off the edge of the slide where it won't show.

9.4.7. Charts Look Awful When Saved as Web Page

THE ANNOYANCE: When I save my presentation as a web page, the slides with charts look terrible! What can I do to make them look better?

THE FIX: You have to fake this one by saving the slide as an image and inserting that image onto an empty slide to replace the real slide. Then use File Save as Web Page. The downside of this is it usually creates larger file sizes.

9.4.8. Add Video to Slides on the Web

THE ANNOYANCE: We videotaped a colleague doing a training session. Now we're trying to figure out if we can combine the tape with slides and put it on the Web. Any suggestions?

THE FIX: This is a perfect use for Producer (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=1B3C76D5-FC75-4F99-94BC-784919468E73&displaylang=en), a free download for PowerPoint 2002 and 2003.

Download and install Producer, and then open it via Start Programs. Youll be presented with options to use the new presentation wizard, start a new blank project, or open an existing project (see Figure 9-30). Choose the new presentation wizard and click OK.

Figure 9-30. This dialog box opens when you start Producer, giving you the option to start a new blank presentation, choose an existing presentation, or walk through the new presentation wizard.


The new presentation wizard walks you through choosing a template, importing files, capturing new audio or video, and synchronizing elements.

If you click the option to synchronize elements, the new presentation wizard will open the Synchronize Slides dialog box (see Figure 9-31). Click the Play button to begin reviewing or synchronizing the slides with the other media. Click the Next Slide button to move to the next slide at the appropriate time.

Figure 9-31. Click the Play button to begin previewing or synchronizing slides with other media files.


You can also drag and drop PowerPoint files, images, audio, and video to the Producer timeline. Click and drag on the timeline to adjust an object's timing (see Figure 9-32). Click the Publish button when you're ready to create the web page; you'll have the option to create the file on your computer, on a network shared drive, or on a web server. It's usually best to create the file on your computer and then move it to the final location afterward.

Figure 9-32. Drag and drop objects such as audio and video to the Producer timeline. Click and drag in the timeline to adjust the timing of individual objects.


Like the Save as Web Page option in PowerPoint, Producer creates a main HTM file and a folder full of supporting files. Upload them and the additional files Producer creates to your web site (see Figure 9-33). Create a link from your web page to the main HTM file.

Figure 9-33. Producer creates a main HTM file, a folder full of supporting files, and some additional "loose" supporting files. Upload the folder and all the loose files to your web site, and create a link from your site to the main HTM file (in this case, Producer Presentation.htm).





Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things about Your Favorite Presentation Program
ISBN: 0596100043
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 83
Authors: Echo Swinford

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