Inconsistencies between PowerPoint 97-2003 and 2010 publishing with Presenter

[Matt_1]

September 2, 2011 -

I'm working on a PowerPoint with a consultant who is outside of my company. She still has powerpoint 97-2003 and originally created the file in that version. I'm working in powerpoint 2010 and have been applying edits, applying audio, syncing audio and publishing (eventually to Connect) the same file. Originally I kept the file in her 97-2003 .ppt version.

Within the ppt there are links on slides that take navigate to other slides within the file. However these links weren't working when I published the file using Presenter. I saved the file as the new 2010 .pptx file type and published that version to Presenter hoping that would fix this. It did fix the internal links issue (they now navigate to the appropriate slides), but caused other issues.

After publishing in Presenter with this version the animations on the first slide aren't synced properly, yet they still display properly in Presenter's audio sync window so I can't fix it. I've even tried deleting the animations and reapplying them to the shapes. I've also tried creating a new slide, copying the assets to this new slide, deleting the old slide, and publishing new. Plus text that is supposed to be regular faced is displaying as Bold faced in the published version. So either way this PowerPoint file doesn't seem to be publishing properly using Presenter.

One of my company's IT staff members and I just applied updates yesterday (september 1, 2011), upgrading to Presenter 7.0.2, but today I see there's a 7.0.5 update. Not sure why that update didn't show up yesterday when we searched for updates in Presenter > Help > Updates but we're going to install that update and see if that helps.

If anyone knows anything about the issues I'm having I would appreciate any help or guidance.

Thank you,

Matt Madden

[Captiv8r]

Hi Matt and welcome to our community

Are you testing by running the file locally or after you upload to Connect?

I ask because I believe Presenter creates Flash (SWF) output. And if you are viewing that locally you are probably seeing what is described at the link below,

Click here to view

Cheers... Rick

[Matt_1]

Hey Rick,

Yes I am testing locally, with the intention of eventually publishing to connect. And you believe correctly that Presenter creates Flash output.

So these issues are only showing up in the local version and should not display when published to Connect? I've been trying to refrain from publishing to Connect until it is agreed the course is how it should be to avoid multiple uploads to Connect, but that requires the review and approval of the consultant I'm working with. However if i have to publish it to Connect to view it in its true form then I'll do that and send her the Connect link for her review.

Where's the "I think my question has been answered but I'm not sure" option?

Thanks for the prompt, helpful reponse,
Matt

[Matt_1]

I did read the Sorcerer Stone article at the link you provided. That seemed to be referring to links that open files which are external to the powerpoint/captivate file. My issue is with links that are supposed to take the user to other slides within the same powerpoint so I'm not getting the Flash Security window, though I do recognize it from past projects.

Also there is the issue of the text displaying bold-faced in the published version of the 2010 .pptx file type. Not sure why that's happening but if it doesn't show up when published to Connect then it won't be an issue.

Another thing I didn't mention before is that when I open these files in PowerPoint it asked me if I want to convert the presentation to Adobe Presenter presentation. I initially selected "Yes" because ultimately I publish the powerpoint using Presenter, so I thought it made sense to do. But when I did this it removed the Navigation Names that I set using the Slide Manager.

I have just updated Presenter to the 7.0.5 version so I'm hoping that will help resolve some of these issues.

Thanks again,

Matt

Message was edited by: Matt_@_CPS

[Captiv8r]

Hello again Matt

Generally speaking, indeed the issue with links not working should totally melt away once you publish to Connect. It's a funny thing. The Flash Player leaps into play and blocks links like that when you test locally because you are in an "unsafe zone". But once you view from a server, the content is already in a zone that is defined as safe, so the links work.

I believe the link I posted earlier has a link to steps you can take to ensure the links also work when you test locally. You do this by adding the folder where you are testing from to the "approved" or "white list" for Flash Player.

Cheers... Rick

[Matt_1]

Yes, i'm in a very unsafe zone for sure!

That's fine. If that's the case I'll just test from Connect. I was going to publish it to Connect to see for myself but was reminded of the "convert presentation to Adobe Presenter presentation" thing when I opened the file. That's the only reason i posted the reply.

Thanks,
Matt

[Jorma_at_CoSo]

The current version of Presenter is 7.0.7. However, you will want to update to at least 7.0.6 as 7.0.2 and older have some "issues", many of wich are with PPTX files (PPT 07). This is a typical Adobe product and must have all the patches applied, in order. The one thing you will find different is the upgrade to 7.0.7 requires that you uninstall 7.0.X (X equaling 0 through 6) and then running the 7.0.7 installer from the Presenter product page. You can find a link for existing customers on the right side of the page, a little bit down. However, for your situation, I believe that runing the updates through 7.0.6 will be the primary solution.

Run the updater a couple more times, and test to see if that solves the problems.

Additional information on the 7.0.7 update is discussed here: http://forums.adobe.com/message/3857192#3857192

[Matt_1]

Are you serious? lol I just updated to 7.0.5 thinking that was the latest update. Guess I'll work on the last two

now.

I did publish to Connect and everything seems to be working properly now except for the links that are supposed to open .pdfs. They are available as attachments but there is a slide in which the user is supposed to be able to click on links within the slide to view them as well.

Thanks to both of you for the help!

- Matt

[Jorma_at_CoSo]

When you try to link to the PDF files, is it an http:// call or a local drive call. Any links that are to local file paths will be disregarded by Presenter. This is because Presenter is ultimately a server based delivery, and therefore cannot make local file path calls.

[Matt_1]

Well until now they've just been linked locally. I was wondering how those links would work when published to Connect without uploading the PDFs themselves to Connect. However they are included as attachments as well, so they're being uploaded to Connect with the .pptx and downloadable from the attachments button. I was looking on Connect for an option to upload additional/accompanying files but it just looks like you can only download a .ppt or .pptx file. So I have to get these PDFs posted on another server and link to their web address? I will do that then. Thanks again! You rock!

- Matt

[Jorma_at_CoSo]

You should be able to upload any of the following file types to Connect,      *.ppt, *.pptx, *.flv, *.swf, *.pdf, *.gif, *.jpg, *.png, *.mp3, *.html, *.mp4, *.f4v or *.zip (of any of the previously mentioned file types).

If you upload your PDF's seperatly, then you can just make your hyperlinks go directly to the document in Connect. Or, as you have found, you can use the attachments feature of Presetner, which creates a duplicate version of the object and then puts it in one of the supporting files when converted to a Presenter Presentation and then uploaded to Connect.

[Matt_1]

Awesome! I posted the .pdfs on Connect as well and linked to those urls in the ppt file. Now it all works. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Have a great weekend!

- Matt

[Guest]

Hi Matt

Updates to Adobe Presenter need to be downloaded one-by-one and they do not notify or download-install together. However, at this point, you do not need to apply the remaining patches as there is a new version (7.0.7) which includes all previous versions. To install this version, you will need to uninstall Presenter and download it again from http://www.adobe.com > Home >Downloads>Presenter.

The specific issue of slide links not working has been fixed in this version.

The other issues you indicate would need additional detail; could you confirm:

- the specific font name and font size for the text which appears bold after publishing;

- the specific animation type and shape on which it is being applied;

- how you are adding audio - through PowerPoint insert audio or Presenter import audio option?

thanks

<NIRUPAM TEWARY

[Matt_1]

Hi NIRUPAM TEWARY,

Thanks for your advice. Most of the issues in this thread have cleared up for me when I published the presentation to Connect instead of publishing and viewing it locally. The arrows now animate properly and the text isn't appearing bold now.

The only issue I'm having is there a three links that aren't working, which is interesting because all of the other links that were set up the same way work fine. These are links that take the user to different slides in the same presentation, not somewhere external to the presentation like a website or file. I'm just waiting to hear from someone in my IT department about updating my Powerpoint to 7.0.7 like you said and hope that will clear up the links issue.

Thanks again,

Matt

[Jorma_at_CoSo]

I've found that drop shadows will disable the links, so check for that on the non-working hyperlinks.

[Matt_1]

Thanks Jorma.

Well I've gotten Presenter updated to 7.0.7 and republished to Connect. The Presentation opens and plays the first slide alright, but every other slide says "buffering" for several minutes, then quickly zips through the slide skipping over much of the content.

The "good" news is when I click on the slide with the links I've been having issues with, while it's "buffering" it seems like the links that weren't working are now available. When I roll over the areas on the slide that they lie, I get the familiar pointy finger hand cursor. Now if only the slides would load and play properly.

Again I really appreciate all the help from all of you. Can't say that enough. If we ever meet IRL, i owe you a drink!

[Matt_1]

Sorry, I meant to ask about this in the last post.

When I open this file in PowerPoint, it asks "Do you want to convert this presentation to Adobe Presenter presentation?"

I've clicked yes in the past, but then undid it because it removes some of the slide titles and makes other changes like that. Just curious what affects this has.

Thanks again!

Matt

[Jorma_at_CoSo]

Did you use another tool like Articulate Presenter on this PPT presentation? That would be the only reason you should be asked to convert the PPT to Presenter.

As to the slides buffering and playing quickly, I'm going to have to venture a guess (which rarely results in the right answer, but here goes).

First, the buffering issue. Do you have video content on the slide that is buffering? It is possible that it somehow corrupted or failed to upload the video, so it is buffering as it tries to find the video and then finally gives up and moves on. The other possible reason would be due to how Presenter loads.Presenter shows the loading screen while the first three slides load, then begins playing and starts pre-loading a new slide every 3 seconds. So, if you launch a presentation and then jump to slide 20, you will likely see a buffering message as it never had a chance to pre-load that slide.

Second, the playing quickly. Presenter uses audio (or silence) to determine the display time of each slide. I have had a number of projects, that are either old or have been futzed with a lot, that don't pick up the default silence for slides with no audio. So, when played each slide displays for 0 seconds, and the presentation is pretty short. You can always double check how long a slide is going to display when looking at the Outline or Thumb pane. This may mean that you have to do a little work in the audio editor to add silence to each slide. It's not a fun task, but shouldn't take too long. I usually just add a bunch of silence to the first slide and then drag all the slide markers over and fine tune from there.

If that doesn't solve it, we may need to play the "Please share the presentation" game if you can, and then I can let you know what I find.

And the drink sounds good. If you are ever in Denver, feel free to look me up (there are not that many Jorma's out there, ha ha).

[Matt_1]

Thanks Jorma. First off I ran into another road bump. Thinking that this buffering issue may have been just a funky upload, I implemented a change assigned by the writer of this course that I've been working with and tried to re-upload it again. From that point on when I try to upload it to Connect it's now been getting halfway through the loading process and then giving me an "unable to upload this presentation" message. Just out of curiosity I checked if there was another update for Presenter and apparently there is. I'm waiting on IT to come install it.

As for your last post, there is no video in the Presenation at all, and every slide has audio. I was, however, letting the first slide play and then jumping to slide 27 when slide 1 finished, so that may have been the cause for the buffering issue. Though I thought I had been jumping to 27 the entire time without having this issue before.

I'll post the findings after IT installs the latest update.

Thanks again,

Matt

[Matt_1]

I'm still getting the "Adobe Presenter is not able to publish this presentation" message, whether I try to publish locally or to Connect. I'm suspicious that my file has corrupted, so I'm going to try to download the previous version that is still on Connect and replace my updated version.

Just out of curiosity, part of the change I made at the writer's request which I mentioned in my last post, was adding a small image from a microsoft Word doc she provided to me. This wouldn't cause the issue I'm currently having, would it? I wouldn't think so but it's the only change I made since, and it was working and publishing fine before.

Thanks,

Matt

[Matt_1]

Well, i went back to the 97-2003 version of the course, tried to publish it and it worked, so the "Adobe Presenter cannot publish this presentation" error doesn't seem to be an issue anymore. But it's still giving me the buffering business. It loads and plays the first slide fine, but even the second slide doesn't load. It's still telling me it's buffering and I started playing it before I started writing this post. That's the only issue I seem to be having now, so hopefully I can get it resolved. I fear I may be on the phone with the help line all day.

I did like Colorado the one time I visited, so I'd certainly like to visit again. I'll definitely look u up if so.

-Matt