Text popup on click or mouse over

[jspalsky]

Let me explain what I'm trying to do using an example. In PowerPoint
Help section there are definitions within the text. These words are in blue
and when you put your mouse over them they become underlined as well. When
you click on one of these words the definition appears in green and in
parentheses. You are not taken to another page, these words are not links.
They just "pop-up" useful information if you click on them.
I would like to do the same in my presentation. If you clicked on one
of these words, two things could happen and I would be happy. 1. the text
would appear in the current paragraph (as it does in the help section) or 2.
A new text box could pop-up. Is this possible in PowerPoint?

 

[David M. Marcovitz]

There are several options to do what you want to do. The most common and
possibly easiest is Quick Trick #16 at:

http://www.soniacoleman.com/Tutorials/PowerPoint/quicktricks.htm

If you are using PowerPoint 2002/2003, you could use animation triggers to
trigger an entrance animation of a text box. You would have to put a
transparent shape over your text because animations can't be triggered by a
click of text; they must be triggered by the click of a shape.

Another alternative is to use a VBA script to hide or show text. This can be
triggered by clicking on text. To get every detail of what you described, you
will probably have to use VBA, but you can probably get close enough with one
of the other options.

--David

David Marcovitz
Microsoft PowerPoint MVP
Author of _Powerful PowerPoint for Educators_
http://www.loyola.edu/education/PowerfulPowerPoint/