Return to original slide in PowerPoint

[diamondsc]

I have a slide that contains five objects. When you click on one of the objects, a corresponding slide is displayed. How do you return to the original slide from there? My goal is to let the viewer pick a slide to view, then automatically return to the original slide when the mouse is clicked or the Enter key is pressed. I'm not familiar with using macros, modules, or vba in PowerPoint. Thanks.

 

[BlueHorizon]

Hi,
Can you use a hyperlink from slide to slide? Insert | Hyperlink. Select Place in this document and pick the slide that you want the user to return to. Complete the Text to display window.

Good luck.


Best,
Kathy
BlueHorizon

http://www.bluehorizontraining.com

 

[BlaineR]

Hi,

Use an Action Button of the "Return" type and it will send the user back to the last slide viewed.

To insert this type of button, go to Slide Show > Action Button, then click on the button that when you mouse over it says "Action Button: Return". With that button depressed, you can draw a button on the slide.

Basically, you've got two options: (1) create this button on EVERY slide (e.g. put it on your master template so that it's there, or draw it on each of your existing slides; or (2) only include it on the pages that have hyperlinks to them.

Hope that helps.

- Blaine

 

[diamondsc]

The action button would work but if you didn't click on the button, you would be sent to the wrong slide. This presentation will be sent to other people for them to view at their leisure. There are many people who will not follow directions exactly every time or may accidently "miss" the button. I was able to use the insert hyperlink to accomplish this by clicking the mouse anywhere on the slide but again there is a small problem. If you press the Enter key or use the arrow keys instead of clicking the mouse, you go to the incorrect slide. Is there a solution that will cover all these possibilities? Thanks.

 

[BlaineR]

If I understand correctly, you have one MAIN slide and five TARGET slides (I'll call them TARGET1, TARGE2, TARGET3, TARGET4, and TARGET5). You have 5 links on MAIN -- one link taking you to TARGET1, another to TARGET2, and so on. The intent is to have the user first presented with MAIN, then they'll click on one of the links, say to TARGET1. Then, whatever they click or press, you want them to return to MAIN, where they can click onto another link, say to TARGET3 or whatever.

Assuming that's correct, I can think of one fairly easy workaround. Simply copy MAIN and insert it in order after each of the TARGET slides. So, you'd have in order:

MAIN
TARGET1
MAIN
TARGET2
MAIN
TARGET3
MAIN
TARGET4
MAIN
TARGET5
MAIN

That way, once a user gets to a TARGET, whatever key they press or if they click on the mouse, they'll be presented with the MAIN. They won't know that there's more than one MAIN.

The only problem I can think of with this approach is that if they are on one of the MAIN slides and they hit enter rather than clicking on one of the links, they'll get taken to the next TARGET page in the sequence or end the show (if they are on the last MAIN slide. But, then again, you'd have the same problem if you had only one MAIN at the beginning.


Blaine

 

[diamondsc]

BlainR,

You are correct. There is one Main slide and five Target slides. I put the target slides all before the main slide as such:

OTHER SLIDE
TARGET1
TARGET2
TARGET3
TARGET4
TARGET5
MAIN
OTHER SLIDE

I made target 1 thru 5 invisible. It went from OTHER SLIDE to MAIN just fine. When I click on the object in MAIN for TARGET1, it moves to TARGET1 just fine. If I click the mouse, I return to MAIN just fine. If I press the Enter key, I go to TARGET2. I press Enter again and I go go TARGET3. When I go to one of the Target slides from MAIN, all the Target slides become visible. Am I missing something?

Thanks.

 

[TAJSimmons]

diamondsc,

There's a tutorial on this common need in powerpoint.

This tutorial lists two methods (jumping to other slides in the same presentation=method1 or linking to other ppt files=method2)

So I guess you want method one.

http://www.powerpointbackgrounds.com/powerpointmenu.htm

Method one makes use of "custom shows"
When you create an action setting to a custom show there is a little known option "show and return". Which sounds like just what you need.

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp

awesome - powerpoint backgrounds,
free powerpoint templates, tutorials, hints and tips etc

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