Set up Master Fields

Master Fields can be text fields or shapes that are placed in the master. Via Presentation Settings in the empower® menu, these elements can have text entered into them, or be revealed or hidden. Once activated, Master Fields will be inserted on all slides of a presentation – this way a presentation can be marked as ‘confidential’ with just a few clicks.

To set up a Master Field you will need to change to the View tab in the PowerPoint® menu and open slide master view. Select the first, large layout (mother layout) of the master and insert a text field which will serve as a Master Field. Drag the shape to the desires position and format it to your requirements (e.g. font, font color, font size). Afterward, select the shape and the click on Define Master Fields to the top right.

You have three types of Master Fields to choose from:

• Text Master Field
• Options Master Field
• Fixed Master Field

If you select Text Master Field you can enter text into a Master Field via the presentation settings. In Name, you are required to enter a specification of this field which will later be displayed in the presentation settings. You can also enter a description for this field which will be displayed below the name of the field. You can also assign a language to the Master Field; by default the language is set to “Define for all languages”. This will display the field, no matter what language the presentation has been set to. If the Master Field is allocated to a specific language, it will only be available if the presentation is set to the same language. This way you can set the same Master Field multiple times and enter the description in the respective language. If you activate This Master Field is mandatory, the presentation settings will open automatically once a presentation is opened with this master.

When setting up an Options Master Field, you can provide a selection of texts that the user has to choose from using a drop-down menu. To add an option, click on the plus-symbol and enter the desired text. Selecting the option and clicking the minus-symbol will delete the entry while the arrow buttons will change the order of options.

The third option is a Fixed Master Field. Here, the user merely has the option to insert or remove the Master Field by clicking a checkbox in the presentation settings. This option is particularly useful if inserting the master field is optional or if only a fixed text is to be inserted. You can also use this function for the optional insertion of a specific shape or symbol/logo into a presentation.

After you have defined the Master Field, you should hide it by clicking Hide Master Fields. You can now save your master to the empower® library. In order to reveal the field at a later date e.g. to make further changes, you can click on Show Master Fields.

If you open a presentation with this master, you can edit the Master Field of the current presentation via the presentation settings.