PowerPoint 2010: Hyperlinks and Action Buttons

PowerPoint 2010

Hyperlinks and Action Buttons

Introduction

Whenever you use the Web, you are using

hyperlinks

to navigate from one

web page to another. If you want to include a

web address or email address

in your PowerPoint presentation, you can choose to format them as hyperlinks

that a person can click on. It's also possible to link to files and other slides

within a presentation. It's easy to do all this using two tools: hyperlinks and

action buttons.

In this lesson, you will learn how to

insert hyperlinks

using text and objects,

as well as how to

insert action buttons

.

Inserting Hyperlinks

Watch the video to learn how to insert hyperlinks.

About Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks have

two basic parts

: the

address

of the web

page, email address, or other location that they are

linking to, and

the

display text

(or

image

). For example, the address could be

http://blog.gcflearnfree.org

,

and the display text could be

"blog"

. In some cases, the display

text might be the same as the address. When

you're creating a hyperlink

in PowerPoint, you'll be able to choose both the address and the display text

or

image.

Page 1

Page 2

Watch the video (3:14). Need help?

To Insert a Hyperlink:

1.

Select the image or text you would like to make a hyperlink.

2.

Right

-

click the selected text or image and click Hyperlink

.

3.

The

Insert Hyperlink

dialog box will open. You can also get to this dialog box from the

Insert tab

by

clicking Hyperlink

.

Creating a hyperlink

4.

If you selected text, the words will appear in the

Text to display

field at the top. You can change this text if

you want.

5.

Type the address you would like to link to in the

Address

field.

6.

Click OK

. The text or image you selected will now be a hyperlink to the web address.

To Insert a Hyperlink to an Email Address:

1.

Right

-

click the selected text or image and click Hyperlink

.

2.

The

Insert Hyperlink

dialog box will open.

The Insert Hyperlink dialog box

The completed hyperlink

3.

On the left side of the dialog box, click

Email Address

.

4.

Type the email address you want to connect to in the

Email Address box and click OK

.

PowerPoint often recognizes email and web addresses as you

type and will format them as hyperlinks

automatically after you press

the

Enter

key or

spacebar

.

To Open and Test a Hyperlink

1.

After you create a hyperlink, you should

test

it. Right

-

click the hyperlink and click

Open Hyperlink

.

Creating an email hyperlink

Typing the email address and display text

2.

Your web browser should open and navigate to the linked page. If it does not work, check the

hyperlink

address for any misspellings.

To Remove a Hyperlink:

1.

Right

-

click the hyperlink.

2.

Click Remove Hyperlink

.

Opening a hyperlink

More Hyperlinks

In PowerPoint, you can also use hyperlinks to link to resources that are not online. To create a quick way to refer

to another slide in your presentation, you can create a hyperlink to that slide. You can even create hyperlinks to

files stored on your computer.

To Insert a Hyperlink to Another Slide

1.

Right click the selected text or image and click Hyperlink

.

2.

The

Insert Hyperlink

dialog box will open.

3.

On the left side of the dialog box, click

Place in this Document

.

Removing a hyperlink

Page 3

4.

A list of the other slides in your presentation will appear. Click the name of the slide you would like to link to.

5.

Click OK

. The text or image will now be a hyperlink to the slide you selected.

Creating a hyperlink to another slide

Selecting a slide to link to

To Insert a Hyperlink to Another File

1.

Right click the selected text or image and click Hyperlink

.

2.

The

Insert Hyperlink

dialog box will open.

3.

On the left side of the dialog box, click

Existing File or Webpage

.

The completed hyperlink to a slide

Creating a hyperlink to a file

4.

Click the drop

-

down arrow to browse for your file.

5.

Select the desired file.

6.

Click OK

. The text or image will now be a hyperlink to the file you selected.

Browsing for a file

Selecting a file

If you plan on displaying your presentation on a different computer than you used to create it, your hyperlink to

another file may not work. Make sure you have a copy of the linked file on the computer you are using to

present and always test hyperlinks before giving a presentation.

Inserting Action Buttons

Watch the video to learn how to insert action buttons.

In addition to hyperlinks, another tool you can use to connect to a

web page, file, email address, or slide is called

The completed hyperlink to a file

Page 4

Watch the video (3:14). Need help?

an

action button

.

Action buttons are

built

-

in button shapes

that you can add to a presentation and set to

link to another slide, play a sound, or perform some other action. When someone clicks or moves over the button,

the selected action will occur. Action buttons can do many of the same things as hyperlinks. Their easy

-

to

-

understand style makes them especially useful for self

-

running presentations at booths and kiosks.

You can insert action buttons on one slide at a time, or you can insert an action button that will show up on every

slide. The second option can be useful if you want every slide to link back to a specific slide, like the title page or

table of contents.

To Insert an Action Button on One Slide:

1.

Click the Insert

tab.

2.

Click the Shapes

command in the Illustrations group. A drop

-

down menu will appear with the

action

buttons

located at the very bottom.

3.

Select the desired action button

.

4.

Insert the button onto the slide by clicking the desired location. The

Action Settings dialog box will appear.

5.

Select the

Mouse Click or Mouse Over

tab. Selecting the

Mouse Click

tab means you action button will

perform its action only when clicked. Selecting the

Mouse Over

tab will make the action button perform its

action when you move the mouse over it.

Selecting an action button

6.

In the

Action on click section, select Hyperlink to:

then click the drop

-

down arrow and choose an option

from the menu.

The Action Settings dialog box

Creating a hyperlink with an action button

7.

Check the

Play Sound

box if you want a sound to play when the action button is clicked. Select a sound

from the drop

-

down menu, or select

Other sound

to use a sound file on your computer.

8.

Click OK

.

Selecting a sound

To Insert an Action Button on All Slides:

1.

Click the View

tab.

2.

In the

Master Views

group, click on the

Slide Master

command. A blank slide in the style of your

presentation will appear. Don't worry about changing anything else.

3.

Go to the

Insert

tab and follow the instructions above to insert an

action button

.

4.

Return to the

Slide Master tab and click Close Master View

. The new action button will now be on every

slide.

The completed action button

Changing the view to Slide Master

To edit, move, or delete an action button inserted this way, click the

View

tab, then

Slide Master. Click Close

Master View after making the desired changes.

To Test an Action Button:

After you create an action button, you should

test

it.

1.

Click the Slide Show

tab.

2.

In the

Start Slide Show group, click From Current Slide.

3.

Click your action button.

4.

After you have tested it, right

-

click anywhere on the screen and select

End Show

.

Returning to the normal view

Viewing the Slide Show

5.

If your action button did not work as you intended, follow the instructions below to

edit

it.

To Edit an Action Button:

1.

Select the

action button.

2.

Click the Insert

tab.

3.

In the

Links

group, click the

Action

command. The

Actions Settings dialog box will appear.

4.

Edit the action or hyperlink.

5.

Click OK

.

Ending the Slide Show

Editing an action button

To Change the Appearance of an Action Button:

1.

Select the action button

.

2.

Click the Drawing Tools Format

tab.

3.

To change the button

style or color

, use the tools in the

Shape Styles

group.

4.

To change the

shape

of the action button, click

Edit Shape

in the

Insert Shapes

group. Select a new

shape from the drop

-

down menu.

Changing the appearance of an action button

Changing the style of an action button

Challenge!

1.

Open an

existing PowerPoint presentation

. If you want, you can use

this

example

.

2.

Select text and insert a hyperlink to a

web page

. If you are using the example,

go to slide 12. Turn the words "Financial and Retirement Planning" into a

hyperlink to http://www.mutualofamerica.com/.

3.

Select text or an image and insert a hyperlink to

another slide

in

the

presentation. If you are using the example, go to slide 2 and make the words

"Paperwork Process" link to slide 11.

Changing the shape of an action button

Page 5

4.

Insert an

action button

that uses sound. If you are using the example, go to slide

12 and create an action button that links back to slide 1.

5.

Change the

shape

and

style

of an action button. If you are using the example,

modify the

shape

and

style

of the action button you inserted on slide 12.