Slide numbers no longer in "background"

[hillmp]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

A problem I've noticed since upgrading to Office 2008 is that the information in the slide footer/header is now editable when you are NOT editing the Master Slide. In other words as I work on my slides, I can click on the slide number text box and edit it or even delete it. It is no longer just part of the background that is "safe" from a user when they are creating and editing slides. Is there a way to get the slide number to go back to the way they were in PowerPoint 2004?

Also, if I work on a PowerPoint 2004 file in compatibility mode using PowerPoint 2008 and "turn on" slide numbers, additional text boxes are added to each slide that must be deleted when I use that file back in PowerPoint 2004.

Hopefully someone has some information because I haven't had much luck searching the web about this.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

A problem I've noticed since upgrading to Office 2008 is that the information in

the slide footer/header is now editable when you are NOT editing the Master Slide.
In other words as I work on my slides, I can click on the slide number text box and
edit it or even delete it. It is no longer just part of the background that is
"safe" from a user when they are creating and editing slides. Is there a way to get
the slide number to go back to the way they were in PowerPoint 2004?

Also, if I work on a PowerPoint 2004 file in compatibility mode using PowerPoint

2008 and "turn on" slide numbers, additional text boxes are added to each slide that
must be deleted when I use that file back in PowerPoint 2004.

Hopefully someone has some information because I haven't had much luck searching

the web about this.

I just posted a workaround for this one in the Windows PowerPoint newsgroup.

Basically, the idea is to create a new text box on the master of any slide you want
slide numbers (dates, whateever) to appear on. With the text cursor in the new box,
do an Insert, Date or Insert Slide Number.

Will a passing 2008 owner take pity on me and tell me where to find those commands?
Thanks.

Now the numbers/dates won't be selectable on the slides themselves.

 

[hillmp]

Thank you for your reply. Just before I left work yesterday I fell upon the same idea and it work although I didn't take the time to post until this morning. I'm sure I only found the solution because someone else already had it (Murphy's Law).

Anyway, the way to insert the slide number (or dates/time) in Office 2008 is while editing a master of a slide, have the cursor in the newly created text box then under the "Insert" menu choose "Slide Number" (or "Date and Time..."). Works like a champ!

Thanks again for your help.

 

[hillmp]

Another hint I discovered this morning.

Depending on the style of your Slide Master and Slide Layouts in your Theme you may need to place this newly created text box in different places or change its style.

If the Theme you are using has one background for all the different Slide Layouts and you want it in the same position on all the Slide Layouts, then you can just put this new "slide number" text box on the Slide Master and be done with it.

If however you are working with a Theme that has different backgrounds for different Slide Layouts, or you want the Slide Number appearing in different locations on different Slide Layouts, then you need for this new "slide number" text box to be on the individual Slide Layouts and not the Slide Master. If the new "slide number" text box is on the Slide Master then you can not move it or change the font color and size on any of the individual Slide Layouts.

Thought I would just add this extra info to save someone else pulling their hair out as well.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Thank you for your reply. Just before I left work yesterday I fell upon

the same idea

Well-known newsgroup phenomenon. Sometimes articulating the problem clearly
enough for someone else to understand it gets you thinking about it in a
different way and voila, you tumble to the answer.