PowerPoint Lesson 12

Hyperlinking in Version 2000 & 97

Linking within and to other files can occur by Action Settings or Hyperlinking. Below we will explain these in detail.

Action Settings

Action Settings offers you a way to jump to another slide in a slide show without having to navigate by titles in the menu popup box while in the slide show. It also helps so you don't have to show the menu pop-up box while running the show.

Select the object you want to add an action to -- such as a rectangle, oval,or other autoshape, or a word or line of text.

Choose Slide Show - Action Settings to open the Action Settings dialog box.

Choose either the Mouse Click or the Mouse Over tab depending on how you want to start the action. Mouse Click starts the action when you click on an object with the mouse while the Mouse Over starts the action when the mouse pointer is simply passed over the object. Both tabs are nearly identical with the only difference being in how the action starts.

The choices in the Action Settings dialog box are:

	None - No action occurs. Choose this to remove a previously placed action.
	Hyperlink To - This creates a hyperlink to a selected slide within your presentation, another presentation, another file or a web page
	Run Program - Runs the program whose path you specify in the text box. Use the browse button to open the Select Program to Run dialog box and search for the program you want to run. Example: Open a file in another program like an Excel file would open Excel.
	Run Macro - Lets you choose a macro you have created to run.
	Object Action - Enables you to open, edit, or play an embedded object. This option is only available for objects that you can open, edit, or play such as media clips.
	Play Sound - Enables you to play a sound.
	Highlight Click/Highlight when Mouse Over - Highlights the selected object when you perform the mouse action.

Click OK to close the Action Setting dialog box.

Run the slide show and click on or roll the mouse over your object to see the action.

Action Buttons

There are 12 different Action Buttons. These buttons are icons that you draw on the slide in the same manner that you draw any Autoshape. These buttons already have the action settings applied to them.

Action Buttons function about the same way as applying an action setting to an existing object. Although the button already has actions assigned to it, these actions can be changed. The Action Settings dialog box automatically appears when you draw/place an action button on the slide.

To place an Action Button:

1.	Choose Slide Show - Action Buttons. The Action Buttons palette appears. This palette includes several ready-made action buttons.
2.	Choose one of the buttons from the Action Buttons palette.
3.	In the Action Settings dialog box that appears, you can either accept the settings for this button or change to your own specifications (described above).
4.	Click OK. The action button will now appear on your slide.
5.	Resize and move the button to the size and position where you want it.
6.	Run the slide show and click on or roll the mouse over your object to see the action.

Hyperlinking

Hyperlinks are jumps made from one presentation to another presentation, to other types of files, to other pages in your file, or to Web sites. Links can be added to text or to objects such as graphic images and pictures. Text that is designed to act as a hyperlink appears underlined and in a color that coordinates with the color scheme of the template you are using. The color will change after you click on the hyperlink and go to a location.

Hyperlinks are active only when you run your show, not while you are creating the show.

Before we get into explaining Hyperlinking, we need to define Linking and Embedding.

Linking Objects

Created and stored in a separate file and then linked to a destination file
When changes are made to one file, the changes appear in both the source and destination files.
If you plan to make changes to the files, use linked objects. That way you won’t have to redo the embedding when updates are made.
Presentations that contain links load and save much slower.

Embedding Objects

Created in a separate file but then is inserted into the destination file, becoming part of that file.
When changes are made to the original file, the change will not show up in the destination file.
If the file is huge, embed it so the final file isn’t too large to open or run.
If you don’t plan to make changes, use embedded objects.
Embed files when you want all the pieces of your presentation to be in one file...as long as the file doesn’t get too large to run.

If you will show the presentation using the computer you created it on, you can insert either embedded or linked files. If you plan to show your presentation on a computer different than the one you created the show on, you must be careful about linked files. Make sure that the source file that contains your linked files, as well as the folder it is in, are saved on the computer you are using to present. Otherwise, the file won’t play because the presentation won’t know where to link to.

To add a hyperlink to text or object in your presentation:

Select object or text you want to link from.

Click on Insert - Hyperlink.

You are now in the Hyperlink Dialog box.
On the left side, click on what you want to hyperlink to - choices are: Existing File or Web Page, Place in this Document, Create New Document, or Email Address.

a.	Existing File or Web Page button Text To Display box - click on Screen Tip to enter instructions that work like ALT tags on Web pages. Type the file or Web page name box - either type information here or copy and paste URL or file name into this box. (It is usually best to copy and paste URL’s from a web site that is open instead of typing the address. This will eliminate errors due to typing of the address.) Or select for list box - you get a choice to select file form Recent Files, Browsed Pages or Inserted Links. Choose one from this list. Browse for: File or Web Page - this allows you to browse your computer for the file you want or to browse the Web for the web page. Remove Link - Click on this to remove the Hyperlink from this text or object.
b.	Place in this Document Text To Display box - click on Screen Tip to enter instructions that work like ALT tags on Web pages. Select a Place in this document - Select slide you want to hyperlink to.
c.	Create New Document Text To Display box - click on Screen Tip to enter instructions that work like ALT tags on Web pages. Name of New Document - type in a file name Change button - lets you determine where you want this file saved to and you can also name it here. When to Edit - choose one of the options on when you want to edit the file - either now or later.
d.	Email Address Text To Display box - click on Screen Tip to enter instructions that work like ALT tags on Web pages. Email Address - type in the email address you want to link to. Subject - type in the subject of the email that will be sent. Recently Used Email Addresses - or select an email address previously used.

Click OK. When you run your screen show, you simply click on the hyperlink to go to the file or web page you have linked to.

When a link is activated (assuming there is internet connection), PowerPoint 2000 opens your default browser and opens the address you linked to. To return to your presentation, close the browser window (by clicking on the X in the upper right corner of the window) instead of minimizing it. Each time you click on a hyperlink to the web, PowerPoint opens a new browser window. PowerPoint will open another browser window even if you had minimized the previous one. Since opening too many windows uses more memory, closing the browser windows will help the pages load more quickly.

It generally works best if you have Microsoft Internet Explorer as your default browser. Errors (pages not opening up correctly or nothing happening at all when you click on the link) can occur when using another browser such as Netscape as your default rather than Microsoft Internet Explorer.

If you are unsure of the Internet connection where you will be giving your presentation, download (copy) the HTML files from the Web site to your laptop's hard drive and insert the local page address into the Insert - Hyperlink dialog box. . Make sure you copy all HTML and corresponding graphic files to your hard drive. Then relink from within the PowerPoint presentation to these files on your harddrive.

Test the hyperlinks before your presentation on the machine you will be using. Test the network connections and the availability of the sites you are linking too prior to your presenation. It is not fun to stand in front of people with nothing happening while your audience waits in anticipation.

Colors of unvisited and visited links

PowerPoint assigns colors to the unvisited and visited links based on the design template you are using. You can change these colors by:

1.	Select FORMAT, Slide Color Scheme.
2.	Select the Custom tab.
3.	Select new colors for the hyperlink and/or followed hyperlink options.

Link two or more PowerPoint presentations together for continuous playback

NOTE: This tip is for versions 97 and 2000.
In order for the two or more shows to run continuously, animations and transitions must be set to run automatically on each and every slide or the show will stop at that point.

1.	Have all PowerPoint presentation files you would like to loop in the same folder. Since you will be making a change to these files, you may want to put a copy of these files in a new folder and work with these copies.
2.	In each file, make sure all animations are set to run automatically and do not require a mouse click to forward to the next slide or animation. You will need to edit each slide that has animation. From the menu select Slide Show -Custom Animation. In the dialog box in the Timing and Order (97 = Timing) tab area, change the "Start animation" setting to Automatically. You can leave the "...seconds after previous event" setting at 00:00 if you want or adjust it to what works best for your show.
3.	Make sure all slide transitions in each file are set to run automatically and do not require a mouse click. For each file, select all slides in the Slide Sorter view. Select Slide Show - Slide Transition from the menu. In the dialog box, choose a transition Effect or leave on No Transition. For the "Advance" setting, check the box Automatically After. Make sure the box for On Mouse Click is not checked. Again, you can leave the "Seconds after previous event" setting at 00:00 if you want or adjust it to what works best for your show. Time setting of 00:00 on my computer is really too fast so I have used 1-2 seconds but again, use what works for you on your machines and how fast you want things to proceed.
4.	Open the first presentation and double-click on the last slide.
5.	With the last slide visible, choose Insert > Object from the menu to open the Insert Object dialog box.
6.	Select the "Create from File" option and then click on the Browse button to open the Browse dialog box. Select the file you want to link to and Click OK.
7.	Next, click in the "Link" check box. Having the "Link" option active assures that any future changes to the file will be seen in your show without having to relink the files. If you select the "Display As Icon" option, an icon will appear on your page that will be the link. Click on the Change Icon button to change the look of the icon and the associated text that will appear on the slide. If you don't select the "Display as Icon" option, a small image of the first slide of the linked file will appear on the page. Click OK to insert the link.
8.	Right-click on the icon or graphic image of the first page and select "Custom Animation" from the shortcut menu.
9.	Next, select the Effects Tab. Change the No Effect setting in the "Entry Animation and Sound" area to Appear.
10.	Click on the Multimedia Settings (PowerPoint 97 = Play Settings) Tab and select Show from the "Object action" dropdown list.
11.	Click on the Order and Timing (PowerPoint 97 = Timing) Tab and select the Automatically option. The default time of 00:00 seconds is fine.
12.	Click OK to apply the changes.
13.	Next choose Slide Show - Set Up Show from the menu to open the Set Up Show dialog box.
14.	In the "Show Type" area, click in the Loop Continuously until 'Esc' check box to activate it.
15.	Click the OK button.
16.	Save your file. Then run the show to make sure everything works. If it stops, check the transitions and animations to make sure they are set up to run automatically.

To Use More Than One Template Design in a Single Presentation

By default, PowerPoint allows the use of only one template design per file. Branching out to other files that use different template designs is one way to get around this restriction.

To link to other shows or use more than one design in a single presentation:

Create the PowerPoint shows that you will want to link together. Save each file into the same folder.

In Slide View, display the slide from which you want to branch.

Select the text or object you will be linking from.

a.	If you will be linking from text, or a graphic you have drawn on the page, use the Insert - Hyperlink commands previously described.
b.	If you want to link from a graphic image of the page you are going to or an icon, choose Insert - Object.

In the Insert-Object dialog box:

a.	Type the file name of the presentation to which you want to branch, or click Browse button to open the Browse dialog box. Select the file you want to link to and Click OK.
b.	Next, click in the "Link" check box. Having the "Link" option active assures that any future changes to the file will be seen in your show without having to relink the files. If you select the "Display As Icon" option, an icon will appear on your page that will be the link. Click on the Change Icon button to change the look of the icon and the associated text that will appear on the slide. If you don't select the "Display as Icon" option, a small image of the first slide of the linked file will appear on the page. Click OK to insert the link.
c.	With the image from (b) selected, click the right mouse button and select Action Settings from the pop-up dialog box or select SLIDE SHOW, ACTION SETTINGS from the menu commands.
d.	Select tab whether you want to have the action activated by a Mouse click or Mouse over (meaning that when mouse is simply passed over the image, it will activate the link).
e.	Click on the radio button next to HYPERLINK TO: option and select Other PowerPoint Presentation ... This will open a dialog box called Hyperlink to Other PowerPoint Presentation Dialog Box. Locate the file you want to link to, select it and click OK.
f.	A new dialog box will now open called Hyperlink to Slide. In this box, choose the specific slide you wish to link to.
g.	If you want to have a sound play when this action occurs, click on the radio button next to Sound and then select a sound to play.
h..	Click on Highlight Click if you want the object to be highlighted in a different color when it is clicked on or when the mouse goes over it (depending upon which tab was chosen in step a.).
i.	When you finish showing the linked file, you will automatically go back to the page you linked out of from your original file.
j.	If there is another presentation you want to go to, follow these instructions again.

In the Drawing toolbar under Autoshapes or in Slide Show - Action Buttons (menu commands), PowerPoint has some Action Buttons that can be used to draw images for linking. These contain shapes such as right and left arrows. These are commonly used when you want to use symbols that most people are familiar with for going to next, previous, first, or last slides.

You can also use this technique to have a nonlinear show. For instance, you have a lecture to give on the chemical reaction of insulin. There are a couple of possible ways to present this information. You can set up your presentation to go from slide 1 to slide whatever. However if your audience doesn’t get the concept, you could also have a link somewhere near the end of your show that you could go to explain the concept another way. Once you got through that additional show, it would return you to the your slide show and you would finish. And then if next time you have to give the show, your audience already understands the basic concepts, you can skip that additional explanation. AND you won’t have to make two different shows for both presentations...you can tailor your presentation by what you are linking to in the initial presentation.

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Last updated January 2002. These courses are copyrighted by the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Communications and Information Technology. Contact Lana Johnson at ljohnson1@unl.edu