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I got this question from someone who works in a institution that has students with disabilities: How can I set up PowerPoints so that when the mouse is held down, the slides do not trip through whole presentation. I work with students with disabilities who sometimes find this difficult.

The answer is to change the mode in which PowerPoint plays the presentation. You can access the settings to make these changes through the Set Up Slide Show dialog box, accessed differently depending upon the version of PowerPoint you use:

• PowerPoint 2007 and later users can select the Slide Show tab of the Ribbon, and click the Set Up Slide Show button.
• PowerPoint 2003 and previous versions' users can choose the Slide Show | Set Up Show option.

Either way, you end up bringing up the Set Up Show dialog box that you can see in Figure 1, below.


Figure 1: Set Up Show

At the top right of this dialog, you'll need to select the Browsed by an individual (window) option -- and you can also decide whether you want the Show scrollbar option checked. Click OK when done, and save your presentation.

Here are some thoughts, caveats, and observations to be aware of:

1. Choosing this option means you don't get to play your PowerPoints in absolute full screen show mode -- there will be a title bar visible.
2. You can still use the keyboard to navigate to the next and previous slides. In fact, all keyboard commands will work.
3. The settings to enable this play mode, as explained above work only with the active presentation, and is saved within the presentation. You'll have to enable these settings for each presentation you want to not advance with mouse-clicks.

Labels: basics, edit, powerpoint, show

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A friend sent me this question: I want to make one slide .PPS file. On click, or on pressing any key the .PPS file should exit or close. Can this be done?

Yes, it can -- it's easier to do this on click rather than by pressing any key. Follow these steps:

1. With your one slide presentation ready, open it in PowerPoint.
   
   
2. PowerPoint 2007 users can then select the rectangle shape from the Home tab | Drawing | Shapes gallery. Users of earlier versions will find the rectangle shape option in the Drawing toolbar located below the PowerPoint interface.
   
   
3. Draw a rectangle that covers the entire slide. You'll have to drag the corners of the rectangle to resize.
   
   
4. With the rectangle selected, PowerPoint 2007 users can choose the Insert tab | Links | Action to bring up the Action Settings dialog box that you see in Figure 1. Users of earlier PowerPoint versions can access the same dialog box by right-clicking the rectangle, and choosing Action Settings from the resultant menu.
   
   
   Figure 1: Action Settings
   
   
5. Click the Hyperlink to radio button, and from the text dropdown box, choose the End Show option (see Figure 1 above) . Click OK to exit the dialog box.
   
   
6. PowerPoint 2007 users can now select the rectangle, so that the Drawing Tools Format tab is visible in the Ribbon -- activate this tab, and then select the Shape Fill option to reveal a flyout menu. Choose the More Fill Colors option to bring up the Colors dialog box -- change the Transparency to 99%, and click OK. With the rectangle still selected, choose the Drawing Tools Format tab | Shape Styles | Shape Outline | No Outline option.
   
   Users of previous PowerPoint versions can double click the rectangle to summon the Format AutoShape dialog box. In this multi-tabbed dialog box, select the Colors and Lines tab, then under the Color dropdown list, drag the Transparency slider to 99%. In the Line Color dropdown list, choose the No Line option. Click OK to get back to the slide.
   
   
7. Now when you play this presentation, just click anywhere to end the show!
   

Labels: end, powerpoint, show

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