#1 2009-01-16 08:17:12

**_dpmcnally_**

Quiz Format and PPTs master slide

Hi

when creating quizzes in Presenter, the presentation and format of the the quiz question and the possible answers seems to be determined by both the appearance option within the quiz dialogue and the layout of the master slide in PPT it self.

the result (for me at least) seems to be no better than random and uncontrollable placement of the text boxes and the font size.

can anybody tell me exactly how the quiz function interacts with the master layout in PPT, i.e does the question map to the "title" text box and answers tot he "content" text boxes in the master layout ??

i've created a master slide with the layout i require, but it is ignored by the quiz creation.

i have read the post in the link below but was not able to make it work for me.
http://robrode.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1179168045

thanks in advance

Dave

**_robva65_**

Re: Quiz Format and PPTs master slide

dp,

the article you referenced in your post was written by me.  At the time, I had discovered a "hack" to overcome the inconsistency of formatting when dealing with question slides, and since that time, I've also noticed one important aspect that I DID NOT account for.  And that's stacking order.

Here's the deal:

When you build question slides in Presenter, the fact is that the resulting slides "map" to the design and layout of the Slide Masters.  Pure and simple.  So you're very close when you asked about "mapping to the title text box", ect.

Subsequent to constructing my Slide master, Title Master and Question Master (as I wrote about in my article), the big, big thing to be aware of is that by default, the masters are arranged in a particular order.  The default masters can be seen at the top of the list while viewing the Slides Masters in PowerPoint, and any additional masters you create follow thereafter.  The workaround is to simply "reorder" the arrangement of your masters....so what you need to do is click and drag a Question Master Slide to the top of the "stack" while in Slide Master view in PPT. 

If you haven't actually created your question slides yet (using Presenter's Quiz Manager), you should be good to go.  If you already had question slides in your PPT deck before creating the Question Slide Master, you *may* need to apply the Question Master Slide accordingly.

Give that a shot and let me know if you run into any additional problems...I've tested this a few times, because it has been a major pain in the neck having to reformat question slides every time you fix or change something in the Quiz Manager...and I'll be sure to update the original article!

Please feel free to email me at robva65 AT netscape DOT net.

Rob

**_vjfrescas_**

Re: Quiz Format and PPTs master slide

Hi Rob!  I have been working with this, and did create a question master slide.  Regardless, I'm still having trouble as well.  I also think the main issue is what Dave was asking:

"can anybody tell me exactly how the quiz function interacts with the master layout in PPT, i.e does the question map to the "title" text box and answers tot he "content" text boxes in the master layout ??"

Meaning, what is each quiz question looking for on the Question Master when it places the objects?  I've got the title placeholder down.  However, the question answers (T/F, MC) and the FITB questions are still getting randomly placed because I can't figure out what the Quiz Manager is looking for to place them in.  I've tried placing a text and a content placeholder but that has not worked.

Does anyone know what placeholders need to be on the Question Master for the other fields to be put in the right place? 

Otherwise, if I try to move them manually I get the original problem where if I need to edit anything back in the quiz manager, when I exit out everything gets jumbled around again.  It's maddening!

(ETA my name) Vicky
sorry, I'm new here, haven't set up a siggie yet! :o)

Last edited by **_vjfrescas_** (2009-02-02 17:49:30)

**_dpmcnally_**

Re: Quiz Format and PPTs master slide

Hi Vicky/Rob

First of all thanks for the reply Rob, just getting round to trying your suggestions.

I went a bit more radical than your initial suggestion of reordering the master slides, i deleted all of them apart from the Theme Master and the Layout slide. (PPT seems to re-create other slides anyway). This way I can see which masters apply to which slides.

It seems then that the quiz dialogue will map the QUESTIONS to the MASTER TITLE STYLE text box, so whatever font/size is present and text box position, will be applied to the question, however, this can be over-ridden with the appearance dialogue with in the quiz manager.

The ANSWERS do not map to any PPT style or text box,  the Master Text Style box on the master slide has no effect on the answer formatting or position within the slide.

The only way to change the answer formatting is through the Appearance dialogue in the quiz manager.  This means that there is no way of choosing the place on the slide where the answers will appear. other than editing each page individually.  this will not be an option for me since i may have several hundred questions per presentation (of which 20 or so will be selected at random).

I've also noticed that the button placement is not very good, there are limited choices within the appearance dialogue and sometime the overlap each other with no way (other than manually) of separating them, then any editing in the quiz mangler (sic) places them back in the original over lapping location.

this is quite frustrating... |:o|

i had tried a demo of the Articulate Quiz Maker and Articulate Presenter prior to Adobe, it is far better in every way... unfortunately we ended up purchasing the Presenter along with the Connect Pro platform (which is very nice).  I'm thinking it would have been better to use the Articulate products and distributed them on the Connect platform.

so any more tips, ideas you may have on making the fight with Presenter any easier...do let me know...i'll try to keep any thing i find posted.  I'm seriously not looking forward to creating a 100 question quiz just for the Mangler to ...well... mangle it..

thanks

Dave

**_connect673_**

Re: Quiz Format and PPTs master slide

I too am completely frustrated with this erratic font placement. It would also seem that long answers with a return pose problems with the final output.
I just want to make a simple 20 question quiz but am at my wits end as to how to ENSURE that the final output is as it should be.

Any help welcome!

**_daskn_**

Re: Quiz Format and PPTs master slide

Hello!

I agree with all of you!
Quizformating in presenter is frustrating!
Easy formating the answers is not possible ... information slides within a quizgroup - not possible too.
Would be very nice, when there would be a presenter update in near future!
Maybe somebody looks here and recognizes the need of an update.

Soory for not posting an answer to all the questions ... but i