Slide Show Plugin
Introduction
There is already a defacto standard for presentations, why this plugin? This plugin makes sense for organizations that do already have lots of content in TWiki: It is easy to create a web based presentation that contains many links to related content. The plugin does not try to compete with the bells and whistles of the other presentation program, but compelling interactive presentations can be made using the TML (TWiki Markup Language) and plugins, such as TWiki:Plugins.ChartPlugin



"---++"
heading. There are two modes to view a topic:
- Normal topic view mode: Headings and text is shown in the usual TWiki rendering, representing the outline of the slideshow. This mode is useful to print handouts.
- Presentation mode: Each heading with text is shown as a slide; the format is based on a slide template.
Navigation
While in presentation mode you can move around slides using navigation buttons and keys: Button![]() |
Key | Action |
---|---|---|
![]() |
Esc | End presentation |
![]() |
Home | Go to first slide |
![]() |
End | Go to last slide |
![]() |
Right-arrow, Page-down | Go to next slide |
![]() |
Left-arrow, Page-up | Go to previous slide |
Syntax Rules
How to Create a Slideshow
- Start with
%SLIDESHOWSTART%
- Use the optional
template
parameter to specify your own slide template topic, e.g.%SLIDESHOWSTART{ template="MyOwnSlideTemplate" }%
- Use the optional
- Create the slides. Start each slide with a
"---++"
heading and add text like paragraphs, bullets, tables and images.- Hint: Make sure to keep each slide short enough so that you do not need to scroll to see all text of a slide during the presentation.
- Note: You can use any heading level you like, but use the same for all slides.
- End your slideshow with
%SLIDESHOWEND%
How to Link to Slides
The%SLIDESHOWSTART%
renders as a 
Slide_1
, Slide_2
, Slide_3
, etc. For example, write [[#Slide_3][Silly Introduction]]
to link to slide 3 of the presentation on the current topic in page view mode, which renders as Silly Introduction.
Write [[%SCRIPTURL{view}%/%WEB%/%TOPIC%?slideshow=on;skin=print#Slide_3][Silly Introduction]]
to link to a specific slide in presentation mode, which renders as Silly Introduction.
How to Create Your own Slide Template
To create your own template topic, copy the "Default Slide Template" section below into your own slide template topic and customize it to your needs. It can be activated as the default template in the plugin'sTEMPLATE
setting, or per slideshow with the %SLIDESHOWSTART{ template="MyOwnSlideTemplate" }%
setting.
- Use an HTML table that defines a slide. For example, create one row for the slide title, another one for the slide text.
- These keywords can be used:
Keyword What it means %SLIDETITLE%
The heading of the slide %SLIDETEXT%
The text of the slide %SLIDECOMMENT%
The comment of the slide (optional; appended to slide of missing) %SLIDENUM%
The current slide number %SLIDEMAX%
The last slide number %SLIDENAV%
The navigation buttons for "First", "Previous", "Next" slide %SLIDENAVALL%
The navigation buttons for "First", "Previous", "Next", "Last" slide %SLIDENAVFIRST%
The navigation button for "First slide" %SLIDENAVPREV%
The navigation button for "Previous slide" %SLIDENAVNEXT%
The navigation button for "Next slide" %SLIDENAVLAST%
The navigation button for "Last slide" - Only text between
%STARTINCLUDE%
and%STOPINCLUDE%
is used for the template.
Example
This is a short example of a slideshow. You should see a "Start presentation" button if this plugin is installed:
Slide 1: Silly Sample Slideshow

Slide 2: Agenda
- Silly Introduction
- Silly Feature
- Silly Conclusion
Slide 3: Silly Introduction
- why foo bar
- blah blah
Comments
- This text is not shown in the slide if HIDECOMMENTS is set to on.
Slide 4: Silly Feature
- it's foo bar
- more foo bar
Slide 5: Silly Conclusion
- foo is bar
- bar is foo
Default Slide Template
The part between the rulers defines the default format of a slide:
%SLIDENAVNEXT%
%SLIDETITLE%
%SLIDETEXT%
%SLIDENAVALL%
COPYRIGHT © 2025 by the contributing authors
Slide %SLIDENUM% of %SLIDEMAX%
SlideShowPlugin Global Settings
Plugin settings are stored as preferences variables. To reference a plugin setting write
%<plugin>_<setting>%
, i.e. %SLIDESHOWPLUGIN_SHORTDESCRIPTION%
- One line description, is shown in the TextFormattingRules topic:
- Set SHORTDESCRIPTION = Create web based presentations based on topics with headings.
- Debug plugin: (See output in
data/debug.txt
)- Set DEBUG = 0
- Default template for slides:
- Set TEMPLATE = SlideShowPlugin
- Hide text starting with a
---+++ Comments
heading:- Set HIDECOMMENTS = on
Plugin Installation Instructions
This plugin is pre-installed. TWiki administrators can upgrade the plugin as needed on the TWiki server.- For an automated installation, run the configure script and follow "Find More Extensions" in the in the Extensions section.
- Or, follow these manual installation steps:
- Download the ZIP file from the Plugins home (see below).
- Unzip
SlideShowPlugin.zip
in your twiki installation directory. Content:File: Description: data/TWiki/SlideShowPlugin.txt
Plugin topic data/TWiki/VarSLIDESHOWSTART.txt
Documentation of the SLIDESHOWSTART variable data/TWiki/VarSLIDESHOWEND.txt
Documentation of the SLIDESHOWEND variable pub/TWiki/*.gif
Various button image files lib/TWiki/Plugins/SlideShowPlugin.pm
Plugin Perl module lib/TWiki/Plugins/SlideShowPlugin/SlideShow.pm
Plugin core module - Set the ownership of the extracted directories and files to the webserver user.
- Plugin configuration and testing:
- Run the configure script and enable the plugin in the Plugins section.
- Test if the installation was successful: See example above.
Plugin Info
Plugin Author: | TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny![]() |
Copyright: | © 2002-2018 Peter Thoeny, TWiki.org![]() © 2002-2018 TWiki:TWiki.TWikiContributor ![]() |
License: | GPL (GNU General Public License![]() |
Plugin Version: | 2018-07-05 |
2018-07-05: | TWikibug:Item7841![]() |
2016-01-09: | TWikibug:Item7708![]() |
2015-01-15: | TWikibug:Item7604![]() |
2013-04-07: | TWikibug:Item7216![]() |
2013-01-13: | TWikibug:Item7091![]() |
2012-11-14: | TWikibug:Item7020![]() |
2012-09-05: | TWikibug:Item6837![]() |
2011-08-08: | TWikibug:Item6789![]() |
2011-07-09: | TWikibug:Item6725![]() |
2010-12-28: | TWikibug:Item6626![]() |
2010-05-16: | TWikibug:Item6433![]() |
02 Aug 2008: | Fixed corruption of preview |
29 Sep 2007: | Added VarSLIDESHOWSTART and VarSLIDESHOWEND to have them listed in TWikiVariables |
12 Feb 2007: | fixed construction of view urls (TWiki:Main/MichaelDaum![]() |
19 Nov 2006: | 12011: Preserve URL parameters in slideshow (suggested by TWiki:Main/ThomasWeigert![]() |
16 Mar 2005: | 1.005 Crawford Currie prepped for Dakar, and fixed multiple evaluation bug |
21 Nov 2004: | 1.004 Added support for %SLIDECOMMENT% template keyword (TWiki:Main/ArthurClemens![]() |
21 Mar 2004: | Internal change: Fixed unofficial function call |
14 Dec 2002: | Added %SLIDENAVALL% template keyword; added HIDECOMMENTS setting |
23 Nov 2002: | Added %SLIDENAVLAST% template keyword; using print Skin for presentation mode |
19 Nov 2002: | Added "Start presentation" and "End presentation" buttons; added %SLIDENAVFIRST% , %SLIDENAVPREV% , %SLIDENAVNEXT% template keywords |
17 Nov 2002: | Initial version |
CPAN Dependencies: | none |
Other Dependencies: | none |
Perl Version: | 5.005 |
TWiki:Plugins/Benchmark![]() |
GoodStyle 98%, FormattedSearch 99%, SlideShowPlugin 99% |
Plugin Home: | http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/SlideShowPlugin![]() |
Feedback: | http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/SlideShowPluginDev![]() |
Appraisal: | http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/SlideShowPluginAppraisal![]() |