How to dynamically insert slides from the Library in a presentation?

About this article

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

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

Prerequisites

Library and at least one Dynamics modules enabled Templafy Desktop and Office VSTO add-in installed Tenant admin/owner access or Space owner access At least one presentation uploaded in the Slides Library

 

Please note that the Slide(s) smart field is only available in PowerPoint. Slide insertion is only supported with the Presentations Library and is not supported with the Slides and Slide elements Libraries. Slide insertion is not supported when distributing a default template to end-users via Library Configuration tab.

 

What is a 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.

It should be noted that working with dynamic slide insertion (the inserted slide(s) will also contain questions) is only supported when using a dropdown question, utilizing a checkbox or a flexible dropdown question will not bring in the questions related to the slide(s).

 

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.

 

 

It should be noted that all the slides existing in the presentation from the Slides Library will be inserted in the presentation. If a single slide should be inserted dynamically, it must be uploaded as a presentation containing the single slide in the Slides Library.

 

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 utilized to insert slides into a presentation. To create a Slide(s) smart field, it will be necessary to specify the slides that should be inserted, the slides can be inserted statically or dynamically using asset IDs inside a presentation. Creating a Slide(s) smart field can be achieved following these steps: 

1. In the Template Designer, navigate to the Template tab
2. Select the location where the slides should be inserted
   A placeholder slide will be generated below the slide currently selected
3. Click Add smart field
   This step doesn't apply if you are adding the very first smart field in the template 
4. Click on More
5. Click on Slide(s)
6. Enter a Display Name
   The display name will be displayed in the Template tab once the smart field has been added.
7. Manually 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
8. Select the Placeholder
   When creating a Slide(s) smart field, a Slide placeholder will be inserted in the response form. The Slide placeholder displayed in the presentation response form will dictate where the slides response form should appear for the end-user. By default, a new Slides placeholder will be generated. If a Slide placeholder already exists in the response form, it will be selectable from the list. It can be disregarded if the inserted slides do not contain a response form.
   
9. 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. 

 

Once the smart field has been created, it can be edited, or deleted. Remember to reorder Slide placeholder in the response form if the slides that will be inserted also contain a response form. The Slide placeholder can be renamed by editing the question in the response form. Also, if the slides and the presentation are using the same questions, the Share value option in the response form should be used.  Achieving complex text element insertion can be achieved by editing the binding of the Slide(s) smart field and adding functions, conditions, and operators.

 

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

 

Slide(s) smart field examples

 

Inserting slides using static insertion in a presentation in PowerPoint

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 on Preview form in the Form tab.

 

 

 

Inserting slides using dynamic insertion in a presentation in PowerPoint

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.

 

It should be noted that working with dynamic slide insertion (the inserted slide(s) will also contain questions) is only supported when using a dropdown question, utilizing a checkbox or a flexible dropdown question will not bring in the questions related to the slide(s). The column in the data source containing the Asset Id (in the example below this is the SolutionPricing column) needs to be of typeText in the Schema.

 

ProposalPowerPointIndustries data source

 

 

 

Related articles

How to upload files to Libraries? What are text element placeholder and slide placeholder in the response form? What is the binding syntax used in smart templates? What are smart fields? How to get an overview of the smart fields created in the template? What are functions, conditions, and operators? How to show or hide a question based on the answer to another question (gating questions)