How to dynamically insert slides from the Library in a presentation

About this article

This article explains how to insert slides from the Library through smart fields so it can be automatically inserted when generating the presentation. 

• What is slide insertion?
• How to insert slides from the Library into a presentation with smart fields? 
• Slide(s) smart field examples
• Best practice using slide insertion

Prerequisites

What is slide insertion?

There are two different types of slides that can be inserted into a presentation: 

• Static slides: the slides do not contain any questions in the response form. When dynamically inserting static slides into a presentation, the end-user will be prompted with the presentation response form only.
  
  
• Dynamic slides: the slides do contain smart fields and at least one question in the response form. When dynamically inserting dynamic slides into a presentation, the end-user will be prompted with a response form gathering both the presentation and the slides response forms. The Slide placeholder displayed in the presentation response form will dictate where the slide response form  should appear for the end-user.

Furthermore, there are two different ways of inserting slides into a presentation, either by using a static or a dynamic insertion:

• Static insertion: linking a specific presentation from the Slides Library to be inserted in the presentation. This can be achieved by directly using the asset ID of the presentation from the Slides Library in the Slide(s) smart field. (See example "Inserting slides using static insertion in a presentation in PowerPoint" below)
  
  
• Dynamic insertion: linking a dropdown question in the response form where the user can pick an answer, which will insert the desired slides in the presentation. This can be achieved by creating a data source containing the options that should be displayed to the end-users in the response form and specifying the asset ID inside the data source. (See example "Inserting slides using dynamic insertion in a presentation in PowerPoint" below)

When working with slides insertion, the asset ID of the presentation from the Slides Library will be necessary. The asset ID can be found in the Admin Center, by navigating to the Slides Library, finding the relevant slide, clicking on the ellipsis menu, and using Copy asset ID.

How to insert slides from the Library into a presentation with smart fields? 

When building a smart template, the Slide(s) smart field can be used to insert slides into a presentation. To create a Slide(s) smart field it is necessary to specify the slides that should be inserted. The slides can be inserted statically or dynamically using asset ID's inside a presentation. Creating a Slide(s) smart field can be achieved following these steps:

1. In Template Designer, navigate to the Template tab.
   
   
2. Select the location (in the thumbnail slides shown on the left) where the slides should be inserted. A placeholder slide will be generated below the slide currently selected.
   
   
3. Click + Add smart field. Note: this step does not apply if you are adding the very first smart field in the template.
   
   
4. Click Slide(s). Note: if this option is not visible you have to click More first.
   
   
5. Enter a Display name. The display name will be displayed in the Template tab once the smart field has been added.
   
   
6. Enter the Asset Id:
   • For a static insertion, copy the asset ID from the presentation in the Slides Library into the Asset Id field.
   • For a dynamic insertion, create the desired binding linked to the response form using the binding syntax.
7. When creating a slide(s) smart field a slide placeholder will be automatically inserted in the response form. The placeholder defines where the slide(s) response form will appear for the end-user:
   
   • By default a new placeholder will be generated.
   • If a placeholder already exists in the response form, it will be selectable from the list.
     It can be disregarded if the inserted slide does not contain a response form.
     
     

     A new placeholder will be named 'Placeholder 1', 'Placeholder 2' etc., but can be renamed on the Form tab in the Question title field. For example rename 'Placeholder 1' to 'Disclaimer' if that is the content of the slide.

      
8. Click Add to template.
   
   
   • The smart field will be injected into the template and will be displayed in the Template tab.
   • A placeholder slide will be inserted into the presentation. This placeholder slide will be replaced by the inserted slides when generating the presentation.
     
     

     The Slide(s) smart field is not supported with the document content updater. Slides containing custom table formatting are not supported with the Slide(s) smart field.

      

Slide(s) smart field examples

Example 1

In this example a slide is inserted in a PowerPoint presentation using static insertion.

Create a Slide(s) smart field linking to a presentation in the Slide(s) Library containing a response form with two questions (Demo date and Presenter, highlighted in red in the response form preview), and reordering the Slide placeholder to ensure that the slides questions will appear at the right place in the response form of the presentation. The complete response form can be previewed by clicking Preview form in the Form tab.

Example 2

In this example a slide is inserted in a PowerPoint presentation using dynamic insertion, using a dropdown.

Create a Dropdown question in the response form using "Industry" as the Reference Name, linking to 'ProposalPowerPointIndustries' data source, and displaying the Name column. The data source itself contains slide asset IDs in the "SolutionPricing" column. Therefore, we will be using {{Form.Industry.SolutionPricing}} as a binding in the Asset Id field of the Slide(s) smart field. 

The inserted slides do not contain a response form so the Slide placeholder will be disregarded. 

When generated by the end-user, the slides inserted into the presentation (replacing the placeholder slide) will depend on the answer provided for the "Industry" question of the response form.

The 'ProposalPowerPointIndustries' data source:

Creating the dropdown form field and binding:

Example 3

In this example a slide is inserted in a PowerPoint presentation using dynamic insertion, using a checkbox.

A slide is created (with a question), then a template with a checkbox that will insert the slide if the checkbox is ticked.

Create an 'About Us' slide

Create the slide following the steps below.

1. Create a slide. On the Form tab click + Add question then use these values:
   
   • Type: 'Text'.
     
   • Question title: 'Company Name'.
   • Reference name: 'CompanyName'.
2. Click + Add to form.
   
   
3. In the template add a shape. Select the shape, then on the Template tab expand Form responses, select the CompanyName form field and click Add to template.
   
   
4. Optional: while the shape is selected, change the font size, font color and background color.
   
   
5. Add another shape with some 'About us' text. The result looks like this:
   
   
   
   
6. Save the (slide) template as 'About us.pptx' and upload it to the Slides library in the Admin Center.
   
   
7. For the slide get the asset ID (you'll need it when creating the template), by clicking the ellipsis button and then Copy asset ID and save it (temporary) to e.g. Notepad.
   
   
   
   

Create an 'Annual Meeting' template

Create the template following the steps below.

1. Create a template. On the slide type 'Welcome to our annual meeting'. The result looks like this:
   
   
   
   
2. On the Form tab click + Add question then use these values:
   
   • Type: 'Checkbox'.
     
   • Question title: 'Show 'About us' slide'.
   • Reference name: 'ShowAboutUsSlide'.
3. Click Add to form.
   
   
4. On the Template tab click More, then click Slide(s). Then use these values:
   
   • Display name: 'About Us'.
     
   • Asset Id: {{IfElse(Form.ShowAboutUsSlide, "899153036454652222", "")}}.
   • Placeholder: 'Generate new' (default).
     
     

     The asset ID 899153036454652222is the value found in step 7 from creating the slide (see above). When only the value 899153036454652222 is placed in the Asset Id field, the slide would always be inserted. In this example the slide only needs to be inserted when the checkbox is ticked, so that's why an IfElse() function is used.

      
5. The result looks like this:
   
   
   
   
6. Click Add to template. The result looks like this:
   
   
   
   
7. To see what the result is when a user creates a presentation, click Preview form on the Form tab:
   
   
   
   
8. Save the template as 'Annual Meeting.pptx' and upload it to the Presentations library in the Admin Center.
   
   
9. In the presentation the result looks like this (with Update Presentation) when the checkbox was unticked when the presentation was initially created:
   
   
    
   

   If the checkbox now is ticked, the question 'Company name' will be shown. However, when the presentation is updated, the 'About Us' slide will not be added to the presentation. This is by design.

    
   In the presentation the result looks like this (with Update Presentation) when the checkbox was ticked when the presentation was initially created:
   
   
    
   

   If the checkbox now is unticked and the presentation is updated, the 'About Us' slide will not be removed from the presentation. This is by design. If the checkbox remains ticked and value of the 'Company name' is changed, the value in the slide will be updated.

Best practice using slide insertion

In this article is explained what the best practice is regarding the Slide Master and Slide Layouts when using Slide insertion.

Related articles