Helpful Office Tips: 2013-03-31

June 10, 2015 Update - YouTube recently removed the "Old Embed Code" feature. To use the new embed code, please see my recent post here.

This post only applies to PowerPoint 2010, as the Insert Video from Website option is no longer available in PowerPoint 2013. Click here for a link to a good, and extremely complicated, to add that functionality back into 2013.

I thought I had the put-a-youtube-video-into-PowerPoint thing down with my blog PowerPoint and YouTube - Automatically Starting the Video. Then Microsoft did one of its updates. Suddenly everyone began getting this message:

Oh, just install a later version of Adobe Flash Player, right? Wrong.

I thought it was an issue with our office computers’ security, so I had IT come to my office. They tried five fixes over five weeks. Nothing. I brought in my home laptop. Same issue. I uninstalled Flash Player, reinstalled Flash Player, still nothing. I have a presentation in two weeks, so this was definitely a problem. I emailed IT one more time and they sent me the magic fix.

In my previous blog I told you how to add the autoplay feature in the html. Now we’re going to remove a feature. Here is the note from my IT department:

Now, using the Old Embed Code, paste the code into the PowerPoint, but before you click ok you need to remove the two items related to Version 3 (see highlighted example). Make sure you delete from everything from semi-colon to semi-colon.

<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wf_IIbT8HGk?hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wf_IIbT8HGk?hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Now, my IT department thought the cat video was pretty funny (it was, but no, I do not condone fat cats). I prefer a little more sophistication, so my favorite YouTube video is the Warsaw, Poland, cast of Les Miserables singing “One Day More” as a flashmob at a fancy mall. Here is the old embed code:

So first, we are going to delete the version stuff:

Now, let’s add the autoplay=1.

Now click Insert tab>Video>Video from web site to put into PowerPoint.

It may take a few seconds. Stretch it out to the size you want, then double click the big black rectangle to play. And enjoy the music.

I have several Excel files that have been edited by others over the years. Whenever I open some of these spreadsheets, I get the broken link window. I can click on Edit Links, but all that gives me is a window saying “Error: Source no found” for the broken link.

I tried going to the Formulas tab>Show Formulas. This turns all the formulas into text and spreads out the column width so I can see the formulas, but I still didn't find the broken links.

I googled “find broken links” and went to Microsoft’s community page. Here a wonderful contributor Dave Peterson (thanks again, Dave) posted a link to an add-in that he had discovered:

I'd use Bill Manville's FindLink program:

http://www.oaltd.co.uk/MVP/Default.htm

I was hesitant about grabbing an unknown zip file, but everyone on the community board was raving about it, so I tried. I had never looked at the Add-Ins tab, but now I had one called Find Links. I clicked, entered a few words from the error message and it found the broken link. Someone had put information on Sheet2 of the workbook. I hadn’t thought to look there.

(Quick tip: If you are using more than one sheet, make sure you give them names other than Sheet1, Sheet2 and Sheet3.)

I deleted the year old information on Sheet2, and saved the spreadsheet. When I reopen it, no more broken link message!

Helpful Office Tips

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Thursday, April 4, 2013

PowerPoint YouTube Video Won't Play: "You Must Install a Later Version of Flash Player." Really?

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Excel 2010: Finding a Broken Link

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