Feature Preview: HTML Export
A frequent request over the last few years has been for the capability to export slide shows built using the Slide Show Builder. I'm happy to say that the feature is now available in the May 2009 Edition of SongShow Plus. One option is to simply export a slide show as a series of images. This allows for a variety of potential uses. However, more useful is the capability to export to a series of HTML documents. This lets you take a slide show you've built, and make it available for use on a website.
Below is an example result of exporting the demo Announcements slide show:
For this example, I chose to create a document per slide. You also have the option to create a document per slide step which is useful if you have things like bullet points that you want to have appear in steps. Each document contains a reference to an exported image. This process does not provide for transitions, animations, or motion backgrounds.
When exporting a slide show, you are provided with a handful of options that affect the appearance of the documents: Dark, Light, Plain, and Simple. These aren't much, and more may be offered later. But the export tool gives you flexibility in two ways: 1) the option to use your own CSS file to specify colors, fonts, etc. and 2) the option to use your own XSL file to completely define how the HTML document will be generated. The second option will likely be of most interest for anyone who wishes to integrate slide shows into an existing website because it will let you build the HTML documents exactly as you need them to be. I will demonstrate how to use these options in a future post.
The export to HTML option is available for those with a Professional Level license. The image export option is available to both Professional and Basic licenses.
(BE193)