Creating an HTML Version of Your Presentation

You can change your presentation to a Web-enabled HTML format using the Export feature.

Before you begin, check the current settings for export to HTML.

For information about adding Web features, see Creating Web Pages on page 441.

You have two types of output formats:

• Standard HTML pages, with frames or without

• Automatic or Webcast (for use in kiosk-type environments, or for WebCasting)

The options are sufficiently different that we've created a different procedure for each category.

Before You Begin

Backgrounds

We suggest that before you start conversion, you save the presentation under a different name and change the background to a plain, light color without graphics. When setting the background, you may want to just select the Invisible option or select White in the Page Setup window, because the conversion process doesn't usually do a good job of matching the color . Refer to Presentation Backgrounds on page 700 for more information.

Slide transitions and sound

The Automatic and Webcast formats have options that allow you to either retain the slide-transition effects in the original presentation, or specify them in the export wizard. If you have slide transitions or sound and export to HTML or HTML with Frames, you might be prompted to download a plugin, to get the same functionality. (This varies depending on your operating system, browser, and what plugins you have now.)

Exporting to Standard HTML

Follow these steps to convert a presentation to HTML.

1. Create a folder to hold the HTML and graphics files for the exported presentation.

2. Open the presentation.

3. Choose File > Export.

4. Enter the file name and, in the File type list, select Web Page.

   Note

   In a multi- user environment, the default location in the Export window is a location on the server. Be sure to change the location if this isn't where you want the exported presentation.

5. In the first HTML Export window (Figure 28-4), select New design or select an existing one.

   Figure 28-4. Selecting a design or starting a new one

   

   Even if you select an existing design, you can see the following windows where you can modify any of the settings in a current design. If you don't want to make any modifications, click Create now.

6. In the second window (Figure 28-5), select the type of presentation.

   Figure 28-5. Entering design and image options

   

   If you select the Browser frames, you can still browse a non-frames, text-only version (text instead of navigation buttons ) by clicking the text-only button or navigation option at the top of each HTML page.

7. The next window (Figure 28-6) lets you select the graphics type and resolution, and decide whether to export any sound files associated with effects in the presentation.

   Figure 28-6. Selecting graphics, screen resolution, and sound-export options

   

8. In the next window (Figure 28-7), enter information about the presentation.

   Figure 28-7. Entering author information

   

   Don't select the Link to a copy of the original presentation option unless you want it for informational purposes. Clicking the link just displays garbage characters .

9. In the next window (Figure 28-8), select the type of buttons to use for navigation, or choose text only (the hot-linked words Forward and so on will be used). They will be added at the top of the presentation.

   Figure 28-8. Selecting navigation method

   

10. In the next window, select color options.

    Note that the background you choose in Figure 28-9 is used in the background of the HTML pages, behind and in addition to any background or backgrounds used in the presentation you're converting. See Figure 28-10 for an example.

    Figure 28-9. Selecting a color scheme

    

    Figure 28-10. Converted HTML presentation

    

    When you click any of the buttons, the Color window will appear.

    The color that you get when you look at the HTML version may be only loosely related to the color you choose here. Light green here might end up as light yellow in HTML. Be prepared to tinker a little with the color, or to just choose white.

11. Click Create; to save the design, enter a name and choose Save.

12. To run the HTML version, double-click the appropriate file. If you created a content page, double-click the x .htm file, where x is the name you entered in the Export window.

    If you didn't create a content page:

    • For a frames version, double-click the siframes.htm file.

    • If you didn't convert to frames, double-click the text0.htm file.

A converted presentation is shown in Figure 28-10.

Exporting to an Automatic or WebCast Presentation

An automatic presentation runs in a continuous loop; it's convenient in kiosk-type environments. In a WebCast Export, automatic scripts are generated with Perl or ASP support. This enables the speaker (for example, a speaker in a telephone conference using a slide show in the Internet) to switch to other slides using the audience's Web browser.

Note

The WebCast needs an HTTP server offering Perl or ASP for scripting, such as Microsoft Internet Information Server, or Apache. Therefore, the exporting option depends on the server used. In addition, you need solid knowledge of the server and ASP or Perl so that you can keep on working with the WebCast exported files. The online help included with the program provides additional information about using the exported WebCast presentation.

1. Create a folder to hold the files for your exported presentation.

2. Open the presentation.

3. Choose File > Export.

4. Enter the file name and, in the File type list, select HTML (see Figure 28-11).

   Figure 28-11. Entering the exported presentation name

   

   Note

   In a multi-user environment, the default location in the Export window is a location on the server. Be sure to change the location if this isn't where you want the exported presentation.

5. In the first HTML Export window (Figure 28-12), select New design or select an existing one.

   Figure 28-12. Selecting a design or starting a new one

   

   Even if you select an existing design, you can see the following windows where you can modify any of the settings in a current design. If you don't want to make any modifications, click Create now.

6. In the second window, select the type of presentation, Automatic or WebCast. Enter the corresponding options, in the window shown in Figure 28-13 or Figure 28-14, then click Next.

   Figure 28-13. Entering Automatic options

   

   Figure 28-14. Entering WebCast options

   

7. The next window (Figure 28-15) lets you select the graphics type and resolution, and decide whether to export any sound files associated with effects in the presentation.

   Figure 28-15. Selecting graphics, screen resolution, and sound-export options

   

8. Click Create.

9. To open the presentation, locate the filename .htm file in the folder you exported the presentation to.