Have you ever wanted to create a drop-down menu in PowerPoint without using programming? You can accomplish this by creating an animation. This will be less elegant, but it'll do the trick. The main menu button is used as a trigger, so that when you click it, the animation starts. If you want the dropped-down menu to disappear for the next use, the method is a little more complex.
Look at a drop-down menu in PowerPoint 2003 or other program. You'll notice that the drop-down menu just appears under the menu name. If there's some animation involved, it's too fast for me to see. However, I liked the effect of a wipe down animation, so that's what I used. You can use the Appear animation instead.
1. Insert an AutoShape/Shape. Add some appropriate text, such as Main Menu.
2. Then create your submenu items on AutoShapes/Shapes, just below the Main Menu button. Add text for the topics that you want to cover.
3. Select all of the submenu buttons and group them, by choosing Draw on the Drawing toolbar>Group. (In 2007, press Ctrl+G to group the selected buttons.) You do this so that all of the buttons drop down at the same time.
4. Choose Slide Show>Custom Animation. (In 2007, choose Animations tab>Animations group>Custom Animation.)
5. Select the grouped submenu buttons, and choose Add Effect> Entrance> Wipe. Set the Direction to From Top. Set the Speed to Very Fast.
6. You want the menu to wipe down when you click the Main Menu. In the Custom Animation task pane, click the submenu's drop-down arrow and choose Timing.
7. Click Triggers, then choose Start Effect on Click Of. From the drop-down list, choose the Main Menu object. Click OK.
8. It's nice if the submenu buttons disappear so that the next time you display the menu slide, you again have to click the Main Menu button to drop them down. This takes some finagling. (If you don't want the submenu buttons to disappear the next time you display the menu slide, skip to Step 11 and hyperlink to your Main Menu slide.) Select the grouped submenu buttons, and choose Add Effect> Exit> Disappear in the Custom Animation task pane. The new animation should appear above the trigger; if not, drag it up.
Note: If you now create links on the other slides to go back to this slide, you'll find that the submenu doesn't disappear. It may disappear once, but try again, and the Disappear animation won't work any more! that's because PowerPoint disables certain features when a slide is displayed more than once.
9. To make sure that the submenu disappears each time, click the Main Menu Slide in the left Slides pane and press Ctrl+D to duplicate that slide. Then select the first of the two identical slides. On that first slide, delete the submenu so that only the Main Menu button remains.
10. With that first slide still selected, choose Slide Show> Slide Transition. (In 2007, choose the Animations tab.) Uncheck the On Mouse Click check box and check the Automatically After check box, which should say 00:00.
11. Display the first slide that your first submenu button should link to. Add an AutoShape and choose Insert> Hyperlink. (In 2007, choose Insert tab> Links group> Hyperlink.) In the Hyperlink dialog box, choose Place in this Document, and choose the first of the two duplicate slides. This will ensure that the Disappear animation always works. No one will notice that you're going to a "dummy" first slide because the slide timing moves you immediately to the next slide -- which is your real menu slide.
12. Copy your hyperlinked button onto the other slides that you're linking to. These buttons get you back to the Main Menu.
Ellen Finkelstein, is the best-selling author of How to Do Everything with PowerPoint 2007 (and previous editions for PowerPoint 2002 and PowerPoint 2003) Her award-winning Web site features loads of free tips on PowerPoint, the monthly PowerPoint Tips Newsletter, and the PowerPoint Tips Blog - http://www.ellenfinkelstein.com
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