How do I control PowerPoint presentations within ZionWorx?

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How do I control PowerPoint presentations within ZionWorx?

Postby chris_h62 » Wed Aug 31, 2005 8:58 am

PowerPoint control is one area of ZionWorx which has improved significantly from v2.0 to v2.5. Below I have set out everything you could possibly want or need to know about controlling PowerPoint shows from within ZionWorx v2.5.

N.B. To use this feature you must have a full version of Microsoft PowerPoint 2000/XP installed on the PC from which you run ZionWorx. You will also need to 'enable' PowerPoint support in the ZionWorx preferences dialog as it is disabled by default.

Once PowerPoint support is enabled, the next time ZionWorx starts up it will automatically connect to PowerPoint, and if PowerPoint is not already running it will be started automatically.

From the PowerPoint interface it is possible to open, close and run presentations, toggle black or white screen views, as well as view scalable slide thumbnails, slide notes, and change slideshow settings - all with simple intuitive controls. When a slideshow is running, you can also jump to a particular slide by double clicking on the slide thumbnail. You can also use the normal PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts to control the presentation.

Using PowerPoint control without adding the presentation to the play list
To open a PowerPoint presentation click onto the PowerPoint tab (at the bottom left of the ZionWorx screen) and then click the Â?Open new presentationÂ? button. Browse for the file and then click open. The PP show is automatically added into the Â?Active PresentationsÂ? list at the top of the PP Tab. To start the current PP presentation, simply press the green Â?PlayÂ? button. To enable keyboard shortcuts when running a PP presentation without adding it to the Play list, click into the SLIDE NOTES section.

Controlling PowerPoint Shows
Controlling PP presentations is simpler than ever before Â? you can now use the PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts, as well as the navigation buttons in ZionWorx or by double clicking on the slide thumbnails. The keyboard shortcuts are as follows:-

    N, ENTER, PAGE DOWN, RIGHT ARROW, DOWN ARROW, or the SPACEBAR
    Perform the next animation or advance to the next slide
    P, PAGE UP, LEFT ARROW, UP ARROW, or BACKSPACE
    Perform the previous animation or return to the previous slide
    B or PERIOD
    Display a black screen, or return to the slide show from a black screen
    W or COMMA
    Display a white screen, or return to the slide show from a white screen


N.B. If the user moves away from the PP tab (onto the Song Database for example) then PP Keyboard shortcuts will stop working until the user returns to the PP tab.

Alternately you can use the navigation buttons at the bottom of the PP tab.
To skip straight to a required slide, simply double click it from the thumbnails section. To get to thumbnails further on in the presentation, use the scroll bar to the side of the Thumbnails section. The user can resize the thumbnails by moving the cursor in between the PP tab and the Preview window and clicking and dragging to the required size.


Setting up the service list while PP show is running
Even when a PowerPoint presentation is running, you can still continue to set up your service list and use ZionWorx whilst the presentation continues! This is very useful if you normally run a looping presentation displaying announcements at the start of a service, but are short on time and need to continue setting up the service list at the same time. Please note, that this is only the case for shows started independently of the play list (by pressing the green Â?PlayÂ? arrow).

Adding a PowerPoint show to the play list
It is possible to add a PowerPoint presentation into the ZionWorx play list. Open the presentation and then press the 'Add Presentation' button. Selecting a particular slide thumbnail before adding the presentation to the play list will start from that slide when the presentation is run. If a song is loaded while a PowerPoint show is being run from the play list, the PowerPoint presentation will STOP!

Another important feature to note is that ZionWorx now automatically displays PP presentations on the 2nd monitor so there is no need to set this manually. This will be especially useful for users who use PowerPoint 2000 and no longer have to change the 'Show On' option in PowerPoint for every presentation that is loaded!

Hope this helps everyone, whether new to ZionWorx or just trying to get used to the new version.

Cheers,
Chris
Christ Church, Lowestoft
chris_h62
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