What is a hyperlink supposed to do?

[markpoyser]

According the PPT2K's help for hyperlinks, "You can add a hyperlink to
your presentation and then use it to go to ... an Internet ...
address."

But what does that mean? "to go to" Does it mean to allow the user to
see the webpage while still in the PPT show?

I have inserted hyperlinks for various PPT objects and when I run the
slideshow, I get the pointing finger, and click on it. This causes a
browser to access the URL associated with the PPT object, but the user
doesn't see the browser because PPT still controls the screen.

I was hoping to have lots of hyperlinks on a single slide - deep into a
PPT show (e.g. 11th slide). And upon clicking on a link, see the
webpage somehow (browser pop-up?), then close the browser to return to
the last slide viewed.

But as things now stand, it looks as if the PPT show must be ended to
see the browser and the webpage.

Is that the way it is?

 

[Bill Foley]

It is supposed to do just as you state. You can simply type in a web
address in a textbox (www.pttinc.com , notice I added the "space" after the
address so PPT knew it was a web address and got underlined), go into Slide
Show Mode and single-click the address and Internet Explorer will open to
that page. Clicking the "X" at the top right takes you right back to your
slide show.

What is happening in your example? How are you adding the hyperlink to your
slide? And to what? maybe we can pin down the problem with a little more
info.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I have inserted hyperlinks for various PPT objects and when I run the

slideshow, I get the pointing finger, and click on it. This causes a
browser to access the URL associated with the PPT object, but the user
doesn't see the browser because PPT still controls the screen.

Press Alt+Tab to see if the web page is "hiding" behind PPT.

That seems to happen on some systems.

I think in some cases it's because people doubleclick rather than single click
the link - first click sends the URL to the browser, but the browser doesn't
immediately appear, so the second click lands on PPT giving it focus again.

But what you expect to happen and what SHOULD happen are pretty much in line
for shows viewed from PPT or the viewer. If you're viewing a show from within
the browser it's a bit different; it doesn't sound like you're doing that
though.

 

[markpoyser]

Bill & Steve,

Thank you for your comments. I've just re-run the show and this time I
*am* getting the browser to pop up. Maybe I was double-clicking as
Steve suggests.

In any event, I'm now set to add links up the wazoo.

FYI, I'm working on a slide show which is a teaching aid for religious
studies. It has many elements (the in-progress ppt file size is 650K,
and that's without any A/V components). If you are interested, I've
put up a single slide here

http://www.threetwoone.org/misc/single-slide-116.ppt

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

In any event, I'm now set to add links up the wazoo.

FYI, I'm working on a slide show which is a teaching aid for religious
studies. It has many elements (the in-progress ppt file size is 650K,
and that's without any A/V components). If you are interested, I've
put up a single slide here

http://www.threetwoone.org/misc/single-slide-116.ppt

Wow! Amazing amount of information there. (Can you tell I'm a sucker for
timelines?)

So the idea of linking is to let the students go from the very dense slide
you've posted to slides with specific info about each of the events?

You'll want to beware of a little PPT nasty - it only allows storage space for
a certain number of links; once you exceed that, the links start going wonko.
You'll want to watch that.

Have a look here:
Lost hyperlinks, hyperlinks link to wrong place, hyperlinks stop working
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00401.htm

 

[markpoyser]

Steve,

Yes, I plan to link as much as possible to Wikipedia for the
individuals and events in the timeline (emperors, battles, etc.), The
product is intended to be a study aid.

Thanks for the warning about links. With 20+ slides, very similar to
the single-slide sample you saw, there could be about 1000 links (just
a guess at the moment).

I'm developing with PowerPoint 2000, and so far have experienced no
problems, but I'll have to be alert to difficulties. Perhaps breaking
up the slides in to smaller chunks and then linking will be the
strategy.

I'm sure I'll be back in this newsgroup with questions!

Again, thank you for your help.