Action buttons are another alternative for using PowerPoint objects to perform certain actions. PowerPoint includes 12 different action buttons:
Custom
Home
Help
Information
Back or Previous
Forward or Next
Beginning
End
Return
Document
Sound
Movie
These buttons function in much the same way as applying an action setting to an existing object. In fact, when you place an action button on a slide, the Action Settings dialog box appears. You can then specify mouse actions for the action button. Many action buttons perform common tasks such as moving to a previous slide; this action is already defined by default in the Action Settings dialog box.
To place an action button on a PowerPoint slide, choose Slide Show, Action Buttons. The Action Buttons palette displays, shown in Figure 14.10.
Tip
You can also create an action button from the Drawing toolbar by choosing AutoShapes, Action Buttons.
The Action Settings dialog box appears, in which you can accept the default action setting or specify the action to attach to this button. Enter the required information and click OK. The action button now displays on your PowerPoint slide, as illustrated in Figure 14.11.
Tip
An action button is similar to other PowerPoint objects—you can easily move, resize, copy, delete, and format it.
→ To learn how to move, resize, copy, delete, and format an object, see "Creating and Formatting Objects."