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Indiana State University Course Transformation Academy

 

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Converting PowerPoint to HTML for Blackboard
There are 3 main steps to convert PowerPoint to HTML.  You may either proceed through this step-by-step, or if you know what step you need to begin with, click on the main heading below to jump to that particular step.
 
 

Convert PowerPoint to HTML

The images and steps are based on Microsoft PowerPoint 2000.  There may be some slight differences if you are using PowerPoint XP. Open the PowerPoint slide show you wish to convert.
 

Power Point menus
 

Once you have your PowerPoint slide presentation ready to convert, select "File" and "Save as Web Page".
 
 

File pull down menu
 

Before we actually save the PowerPoint, there are some modifications that need to be made to ensure that it will appear correctly on the web.  Click on the "Publish" button.
 
 

Windows file manager
 

Now, there are a couple of things that must be decided.  First, do you want to convert the entire presentation? Or is just a specific group of slides? Select the appropriate radio button.
 
 

Pulbish as web page dialog box
 

Next, if you use the speaker notes feature, you should decide if you want these included in the HTML version of the PowerPoint.
 

display speaker notes check box
 

The speaker notes feature can work wonderfully for a presentation, but you should decide if these are needed when you present the PowerPoint on the web.
 

speaker note example
 

Next, select the "Web Options" button.
 

web options button
 

Since you cannot accurately predict the size of the computer monitor that people will use, you should check the box to "Resize graphics to fit browser window."
 

general tab, resize to fit browser checked
 

And, you can then set the screen size.  Even though many people are using larger monitor screens, you will probably want to stay with the 720 x 512 (or even 800 x 600) screen size.
 

pictures tab, seven hundred twenty by five hundred twelve selected
 

Make sure that you click on the tab at the top "Files" and make sure that the box to "Organize supporting files in a folder" is checked.
 

file tab, organize files in folder selected
 

Then press the "OK" button.
 

Okay button
 

PowerPoint, by default, selects Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 as the default browser.
 

browser support dialog box
 

Since it is impossible to know what internet browser will be used, you should check the radio button "All browsers listed above".
 

all browser supported selected
 

Now, we need to actually publish (or save) the PowerPoint as a web page.  You will still have your original PowerPoint presentation (*.ppt) for use. All we are doing here is taking a copy of the PowerPoint presentation and saving it for the web.  Click on the "Browse" button.
 

publish copy as dialog box
 

Make sure that you publish these files in a location that you can easily find.  As you will see here, I publish mine to the desktop (since I'll later upload them). You can change the name of the file, but it is much easier simply to accept the default name (which is the same as your original PowerPoint presentation). Press the "OK" button.
 

file manager window
 

And then press the "Publish" button.
 

publish button
 

You will now have created first a .htm or web page, and a folder that has a very similar name which contains all of the supporting files.  Make sure that you don't change either the name of the web page or the folder as this will drastically affect how the web version will function.
 

h t m l file and folder on desktop
 

h t m l file and folder on desktop
 

To see how the converted PowerPoint slide show looks as a web page, simply double click on the htm or web page.
 

address bar
 

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Compress the converted PowerPoint files

There are many ways to compress folders and files.  One uses a program called WinZip.  You may visit the WinZip website by going to http://www.winzip.com/ and downloading WinZip. 

As a note, if you are running Windows XP, there is a compression function built into Windows.  You do not need to have WinZip on your machine if you are running Windows XP. For a quick tutorial on how to use the Windows XP compression function, visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/tips/edwards1.mspx.

If you are using a Macintosh, you will need to use StuffIt DropZip http://www.stuffit.com/mac/standard/index.html.

Make sure that you compress or zip both the folder and the htm page that were created by PowerPoint into one folder with a .zip extension otherwise it will not work when uploaded to Blackboard.

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Upload the compressed file to Blackboard

This will show you one way to upload the converted and compressed PowerPoint into Blackboard. You may choose to place your PowerPoint files at another place in Blackboard, but the steps you will be shown should work.
 
Enter your Blackboard course and click on "Control Panel".
 

blackboard control panel link
 

We will click on "Course Documents" located in the "Content Areas."
 

course documents link
 

Now, click Add "Item".
 

add itme button
 

The section of greatest importance to us is section 2, Content Attachments.  Scroll down the page and locate this section.
 

add item dialog box
 

Next to "File to Attach" select the "Browse" button.
 

browse button
 

Browse to the location of your newly created zip file. Select it.
 

select file image
 

The title or name of the file should appear below, and then click the "Open" button.
 

click open button
 

Since this is a zipped or compressed file, under special action, select "Unpackage this file".
 

unpackage file selected
 

Click the "Submit" button.
 

submit button
 

Now, you must select the starting page.  There are two methods to select the starting page. One is to select the .htm file that is NOT in the folder.  The other is to select the file within the folder called "frame.htm". Make sure either file is highlighted.
 

select first or index slide
 

Click on the "Submit" button.
 

submit button
 

Blackboard will confirm that you have added the zipped or compressed file.  You will know that it is a zipped or compressed file by looking and seeing that in parentheses it is called a "Package file." Press the OK button.
 

Content receipt page
 

Navigate back to your course, leaving the Control Panel.  Here, I placed the package in "Course Documents." I'll click on the link.
 

link to Power Point presentation
 

And, now my converted PowerPoint appears within Blackboard as a web page.  Since I selected show notes, you will notice that my notes appear below the slide image.,
 

power point presentation
 

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