Using Powerpoint to introduce your project
Powerpoint is usually used at business presentations to present key points. It allows information to be viewed in a structured way over a series of slides. This is why it is an ideal programme to use as the introductory file of your CD-Rom based project. I suggest that you have an introductory slide using large bold letters, to introduce your reader/marker to the project and then one slide for each of the subject areas being covered in your project. On each of these slides (except for the introductory one), you should insert a hyperlink to the file containing the project referred to on that slide (more on that later).
Using Powerpoint
Open Powerpoint (should be located in the Novell folder on your desktop under ‘Microsoft Office Suite’). When opened, you will get this screen.
We are going to choose a blank presentation, so leave everything as it is and click OK. You then get this screen.
This is where you choose what you want your layout to be. Experiment with these to see which you like the best, but if you want to keep it simple, stick to the first one. So, choose your style, click OK and you get this.
This will form the basis of each of your slides. Depending on which style you chose, you get a slide with a number of spaces in which text can be inserted. On this, the basic slide, you get two. When you have typed your text you can then format it in the usual way by highlighting it and choosing your formatting options. When you have finished your first slide, you move on to the next slide by clicking on Insert and then New Slide. Do this every time you want to move on to your next slide. When you have finished your Powerpoint presentation, you can review it by clicking on View and then Slide Show. See how it looks and then edit as needed.
Inserting a hyperlink to another document
When you need to insert a hyperlink to one of your other documents, you can use the Insert Hyperlink dialogue. This is accessed by an icon on the icon bar at the top of your screen:
The icon looks like a little globe with a chain link over it. Click once on this and you get this dialogue box:
(next page)
You then click on File… on the right hand side of the screen at which point you get the Link to File dialogue box. Use this to navigate to where the file to which you want to create a hyperlink is located, select it and click OK. At this point, your screen should look like this:
Note that the file path appears in the Text to Display box and in the Type the file or Web page name. In the Text to Display box, you need to type something more suitable and meaningful for display in the presentation, so you would probably type the title of that part of the project. In my example:
(next page)
It will then be clear to the person reading/marking the presentation what this hyperlink refers to. Click on OK and you get an idea of how it will look in the presentation:
The hyperlink is now on the presentation. You can format it in the usual way if you want it to stand out a bit more. N.B. The hyperlink will not become active until you come out of editing mode and go into SlideShow mode (as described above).
To ensure that your powerpoint presentation opens in Slideshow (presentation mode) and not editing mode, you must save your presentation in a certain way, as follows. Click on File, then Save As. In the Save As Type box at the bottom of the window, scroll down until you come to PowerPoint Show (*.pps). Click on Save. The next time you or someone else opens your presentation, it will open in presentation mode.
Those are the basics of how to use Powerpoint and insert hyperlinks. Experiment with the various style settings until you find one that you like and which is suitable to your needs. Remember to review and edit your introductory presentation once you have finished it.