[CRITICAL UPDATE - Anyone using Office 2003 should install the critical
update as soon as possible. From PowerPoint, choose "Help -> Check for
Updates".]
[TOP ISSUE - Are you having difficulty opening presentations in PPT 2003
that you just created in PPT 2003? -
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=329820]
Hello,
PowerPoint does not have the capability of creating/adding custom
placeholders to the slide master and/or creating/adding customer slide
layouts which would take advantage of such custom placeholders. With
multiple master feature in PowerPoint 2002 and 2003 you can create a
variety of almost identical slide masters with different behaviors
(animations) and placement of title and object areas for AutoLayouts so
that when used in conjunction with the existing autolayouts you can get
some additional flexibility but you are still limited to the number and
type of placeholders on in the masters to those that are listed in the
"Master Layout" dialog. When that is still insufficient you can also create
slides that are laid out and formatted the way you want and then you can
use the Duplicate Slide command (or just copy/paste) to make a new copy of
the slide each time you need to create a slide that uses the same
layout/formatting.
Of course, if you (or anyone else reading this message) feel strongly that
some kind feature for creating custom placeholders and/or slide layouts
should be a built-in feature in PowerPoint, don't forget to send your
feedback (in YOUR OWN WORDS, please) to Microsoft at:
http://register.microsoft.com/mswish/suggestion.asp
It's VERY important that, for EACH wish, you describe in detail, WHY it is
important TO YOU that your product suggestion be implemented. A good wish
submssion includes WHAT scenario, work-flow, or end-result is blocked by
not having a specific feature, HOW MUCH time and effort ($$$) is spent
working around a specific limitation of the current product, etc. Remember
that Microsoft receives THOUSANDS of product suggestions every day and we
read each one but, in any given product development cycle, there are only
sufficient resources to address the ones that are MOST IMPORTANT to our
customers so take the extra time to state your case as CLEARLY and
COMPLETELY as possible so that we can FEEL YOUR PAIN.
IMPORTANT: Each submission should be a single suggestion (not a list of
suggestions).
John Langhans
Microsoft Corporation
Supportability Program Manager
Microsoft Office PowerPoint for Windows
Microsoft Office Picture Manager for Windows
For FAQ's, highlights and top issues, visit the Microsoft PowerPoint
support center at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=ppt
Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbhowto
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