# MS Power Point question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2006, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-power-point-question/344093 "2006-02-12T07:52:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-power-point-question/344093/1 "2006-02-12T07:52:23Z")
Is there a way to get power point to display slides randomly from a presentation? I am writing a little Power Point presentation to use as a study tool. Basically a slide has a “question” on it and the answer is revealed with a mouse-click. It is to take the place of some real-life flash cards I have. At the moment all the questions are in a set order, I’d prefer it to be able to fire them at me randomly. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-power-point-question/344093/2 "2006-02-12T07:53:50Z")
MS Office 2003 BTW. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-power-point-question/344093/3 "2006-02-12T08:10:57Z")
> [@1920s Style "Death Ray"](#): > > MS Office 2003 BTW. Nothing built in to power point allows that. But you can look for Add-ins and hope someone else wrote and distributed one for free or share. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-power-point-question/344093/4 "2006-02-12T09:18:12Z")
You can do this with a PowerPoint macro. Give me a moment and I’ll write you an example. But if you’d rather not use a macro, let me know and I won’t bother 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-power-point-question/344093/5 "2006-02-12T09:59:59Z")
Doh. I have to go to sleep now but I hope to get you one by tomorrow. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-power-point-question/344093/6 "2006-02-12T10:50:53Z")
I have no issues with using a macro. I’m in no hurry either so no need to rush, but I would appreciate an example when you get the time. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-power-point-question/344093/7 "2006-02-12T18:55:27Z")
You might try a handy dandy little application they have called Microsoft Ink Flash Cards. I got them as part of the Education Pack for Tablet PC, and they were free for me to download. As far as I can tell they wouldn’t actually require a Tablet PC to work. They do allow for random order review, a timer, flagging cards to review again, text and graphics, and some other features. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-power-point-question/344093/8 "2006-02-13T00:15:39Z")
Good thought **Harriet** , however Windows XP for Tablet PC is required (I tried it, it wouldn’t install.) Anyone know of any other flashcard programs? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-power-point-question/344093/9 "2006-02-13T03:11:18Z")
Sorry Death Ray, the PowerPoint turned out to be more difficult than I thought it’d be and it’s currently very buggy. I thought PowerPoint was a requirement; if not, would either of these two programs work? They’re both free and both are pretty similar. They’d be much easier to use and maintain than a rigged PowerPoint presentation. [Pauker](http://pauker.sourceforge.net/) [jMemorize](http://www.riad.de/jmemorize/) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-power-point-question/344093/10 "2006-02-13T05:14:08Z")
No worries **Reply**. PowerPoint is a requirment only because I already have the slides written up. I have been doing some searching on study software and if I find something that is quite good, it would be worth re-writing the slides for the new program (after all, puting this stuff together is quite good study in its own right.)