How to add a hyperlink to a PowerPoint presentation

This article explains how to create a (dynamic) hyperlink in a PowerPoint presentation.

A hyperlink can be static or dynamic. In case of a dynamic hyperlink the value can be retrieved from a Form field, User Profile field or Data source.

Examples

Example 1

In this example a static hyperlink is created that opens the 'MyCompany' website.

1. Create a template. In the template, in a placeholder or shape, type the text 'Click here for more information.'.
2. Select the text 'here' then right-click the selected text and click Link in the menu.
   
3. In the 'Insert Hyperlink' dialog, in the Address field, type 'https://www.mycompany.com/'.
   
4. Click OK.
   
5. Save the template and upload it to the Admin Center.
   
6. When a presentation is created and the link is clicked, the website will open in a browser.
   

Example 2

In this example a dynamic hyperlink is created that opens a website based on the value of a form field.

1. Create a template. On the Form tab create a Text form field.
   
2. In the field Question title type 'Website'.
   
3. In the field Helptext postfix type 'Type a URL including 'http://' or 'https://'.
4. Click Add to form.
   
5. In the template, select a placeholder or create a (rectangle) shape and select it.
6. In Template Designer, on the Template tab, click Custom inline binding. (Optional: enable Allow updates.)
   
7. Click Add to template. The Template tab now shows the added custom inline binding:
   
   
   

   Note Each custom inline binding will have a unique name on the Template tab. In the example above the name of the custom inline binding is slide/256/shape/4.

8. In the placeholder (or shape) from step 5, type the text 'Click here for more information.'.
9. Select the text 'here' then right-click the selected text and click Link in the menu.
   
10. In the 'Insert Hyperlink' dialog, in the Address field, type {{Form.Website}}:
    
    
11. Click OK.
    

    Note If you open Edit Hyperlink, note that the address {{Form.Website}} has changed to %7b%7bForm.Website%7d%7d. You can ignore this.

12. Save the template and upload it to the Admin Center.
    
13. When a presentation is created and the link is clicked, the website will open in a browser.
    When the user types 'https://www.mycompany.com' in the composer, that becomes the hyperlink for the text 'here'. When the user types 'https://support.mycompany.com' in the composer, that becomes the hyperlink:
    
    
    

    Important The text 'http://' or 'https://' needs to be included. If omitted the message 'The address of this site is not valid' is shown when the link is clicked.

Example 3

In this example a dynamic hyperlink is created that opens the website in Dutch or English, depending on the office selected in the user profile.
The User Profile contains a dropdown field named Office that is linked to the Offices data source below:

1. Create a template and insert a (rectangle) shape and select it.
2. In Template Designer, on the Template tab, click Custom inline binding. (Optional: enable Allow updates.)
   
3. Click Add to template. 
4. In the shape type the text 'Click here for more information.'. Change the color of the shape to green and the text color to white. The result looks like this:
   
5. In the shape, select the text 'here' then right-click the selected text and click Link in the menu.
   
6. In the 'Insert Hyperlink' dialog, in the Address field, type {{UserProfile.Office.Website}}. This links the hyperlink to the Website column of the data source:
   
7. Click OK.
   

   Note If you open Edit Hyperlink, note that the address {{UserProfile.Office.Website}} has changed to %7b%7bUserProfile.Office.Website%7d%7d. You can ignore this.

8. The result looks like this:
   
   
9. Save the template and upload it to the Admin Center.
   
10. When a presentation is created and the link is clicked, the website will open in a browser.
    When 'Office Eindhoven' is set in the user profile, the link will open 'https://www.mycompany.com/nl-nl' as shown in the image below. When the office is set to 'Office New York', the link becomes 'https://www.mycompany.com/en-us':
    
    

Example 4

In this example a dynamic hyperlink is created that uses the URL found in Website column from 'Office New York' in the Offices data source using the Datasources[] function:

1. In the template, select a placeholder or create a (rectangle) shape and select it.
2. In Template Designer, on the Template tab, click Custom inline binding. (Optional: enable Allow updates.)
3. Click Add to template. 
4. In the placeholder (or shape) type the text 'Click here for more information.'.
5. Select the text 'here' then right-click the selected text and click Link in the menu.
6. In the Insert Hyperlink dialog, in the Address field, type {{DataSources.Offices["Office Ney York"].Website}}.
   
7. Click OK.
   

   Note If you open Edit Hyperlink dialog, note that the address {{DataSources.Offices["Office Ney York"].Website}} has changed to %7b%7bDataSources.Offices%5b%22Office%20New%20York%22%5d.Website%7d%7d. You can ignore this.

8. Save the template and upload it to the Admin Center.
   
9. When a presentation is created and the link is clicked, the website 'https://www.mycompany.com/en-us' will open in a browser.