Release history - Slidewise

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2.6 (30 Oct 2024)

New Features (right-click menu option or in Slidewise tab)

• Export selected slides as an image or a PPTX file 
• Export selected original images 

Improvements

• Slidewise now detects and can replace fonts used in default shapes and textboxes
• When the user invokes an action and the presentation needs to be saved first, Slidewise will now retry invoking the action after the save completes
• The state of Fonts and Media, Slide Masters, Colors and File Review trees should now be preserved when the presentation is saved
• Image Audit now starts automatically when you navigate to it
• All categories are now always shown inside Image Audit
• Slidewise tab includes all new features
• Clearer warning and info icons
• Style and color changes

Bug fixes

• Fixed “delete empty placeholders” command not working properly when Slidewise is out of sync
• Fixed Slidewise commands showing up as “No Label” in Customize Ribbon/All Commands
• Fixed a bug allowing actions to be performed without saving first in some circumstances

2.5 (10 May 2024)

Bug fixes

• Added files to the installer to make OneDrive fix in v2.4 work. Doh🤦!
• Fixed bug causing text in error dialogs to be illegible in Windows Dark Mode

2.4 (09 May 2024)

Improvements

• Added “Empty placeholders (Notes pages)” node to the File Review tree - “Delete Empty Placeholders” commands are available on both of the “Empty placeholders” nodes so empty placeholders can be deleted from slides or notes pages separately
• When double-clicking on a slide under “Speaker notes” on the File Review tab, Slidewise now jumps to the notes page instead of the slide
• The Slidewise installer is now localised in German
• Added support for files accessed with OneDrive shortcuts in Windows Explorer
• Added an Information tip to the Video node in the Fonts & Media tab
• Minor UI text changes for clarity and consistency

Bug fixes

• Fixed OneDrive support for OneDrive client 23.184.0903.0002 and above
• Multiple bug fixes for files Slidewise could not analyse

2.3 (13 Mar 2024)

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug causing “Export Original Media…” to do nothing when invoked on individual media objects
• The “Change Source…” menu action is no longer erroneously shown for embedded charts with data removed

2.2 (13 Feb 2024)

Bug fix

• Fixed a bug causing Replace Fonts not to work within charts and Smart Art objects

2.1 (25 Jan 2024)

Features

• German Language
• Font replacement 10x quicker
• Free version (some features now 100% free)
• Design & usability improvements (see below)

Design & Usability Improvements

Treelist information improvements

• Top-level navigation tab buttons have been replaced with a new menu drop-down list

• Fonts & Media - 'Export Original Media' is now available on the Presentation node

• Consolidate Slide Masters now shows a summary dialog when complete

• Replaced source masters dropdown in Consolidate Masters with a checked list box

• Colors Index now includes 'Slide Masters' node a 'Slides' nodes.

• Colors Items more consistently ordered

• Replaced 'Slide Select' mode menu with a dropdown similar to the main tab select dropdown

• Changed Slide Selection refresh button caption from 'Refresh' to 'Refresh list' and replaced icon

• Slidewise now switches to the “Shape Format” Ribbon tab when jumping to supported shape types

Inspector improvements

• Media categories containing 2 or more objects in the Inspector now show the total size of those objects

• New notifications layout.

• Cropped state is now shown as a label alongside the shape type, instead of in the Inspector tree

• SVG and WDP images now have info tooltips in the Inspector

• Inspector no longer shows slide master/layout information when no shape is selected, and instead shows some more helpful text

• Inspector image nodes now show the number of shape references to that image

Usability improvements

• Many more clearer tooltips containing advice and tips

• More consistent positioning of tooltips for better navigation and usability.

• Menu options are more descriptive e.g. 'export image...' to 'export original image...'

• Changed hyperlink and notification background colours

• The Enter/Return key can now be used to invoke the 'Show in PowerPoint' action

• The 'Replace Image…' action now shows the number of instances where the image is used

• 'Fonts' and 'Theme colors' nodes are no longer expanded by default

• Slidewise can no longer be docked at the top or bottom of the PowerPoint window

• Changed the presentation of the “unsupported cloud file” error

• The Inspector is now hidden when using the Slide Selection tab

• Category names in Image Audit have been clarified

• When selecting slides in Slide Sorter view, the view is now scrolled to ensure the first selected slide is in view (plus as many as possible of the others) and an issue is fixed where the thumbnail list in Normal view would sometimes not show the first selected slide

Bug Fixes

• Image Audit can now be disabled - previously the button just blanked the tree but didn't actually disable it.
• Fixed a bug that could cause shapes on notes/handout masters to fail to show details in the Inspector
• Fixed a bug causing the “text highlights” node on the Colors tab not to show the count of colours
• Fixed a bug causing line breaks in the slide title column of exported comments to be displayed incorrectly
• Fixed a bug causing Slidewise to categorise “group fill” images as Unidentified
• Fixed a bug causing the Consolidate Masters feature to behave strangely when more than one slide master exists with the same name
• Fixed a bug causing the Inspector to sometimes fail to show properties for shapes on handout or notes masters
• Fixed a bug causing Slidewise analysis to fail on presentations containing linked 3D models
• Fixed a bug causing Consolidate Slide Masters to fail if comments could not be added
• Fixed a bug causing the “Show in PowerPoint” command not to open the Comments or Notes pane when invoked from the menu on the File Review tab
• Fixed a bug causing the “auto-generated” node in Image Audit to be expanded by default
• Fixed a bug causing the Slidewise task pane to gain a horizontal scroll bar when resized to less than the width of the tab buttons plus the “Feedback” button
• Fixed a bug preventing Replace Image from working on shapes with colours associated with them
• Fixed the Slidewise “thinking” window appearing as a separate PowerPoint window in the taskbar

2.0 (25 Oct 2023)

Features

• Added a tab to view and manage all colors in the presentation.
• Find cropped images in the Image Audit tab
• New “File Review” tab (combined contents of “Notes and Metadata” and “Hidden Content”)
• Converted Transitions tab to Slide Selection which allows you to easily sort and filter slides by various criteria. It now includes a slide masters/layouts view
• Replace fonts dalog now warns when replacing bullets and symbol fonts with the theme font.
• New Information Alerts (Embedded objects, images Slidewise cannot replace, external links & unidentified content)
• Added the ability to right-click to access Slidewise action menus and options
• Slidewise can now be registered on a per-machine basis.

Improvements

• Open the correct PowerPoint tab when selecting images
• Theme fonts are no longer picked up unless they belong to a slide master (hopefully reducing noise without losing any important information)
• Fonts are now categorised into Text, Bullet and Symbol categories
• Added action buttons to the inspector
• Changed the order of tabs to: Fonts and Media, Slide Masters, Colors, File Review, Slide Selection, Image Audit.
• User-defined tag XML is now categorised under “Hidden data” instead of “Unidentified”
• All categories are now shown on the File Review tab, even when empty
• The “Show in PowerPoint” action is no longer shown if the shape in question is already selected
• The warning on the “Embedded chart data” node now shows an “info” icon and is no longer highlighted in red
• Slidewise now offers to save the presentation when attempting operations that require the index to be up to date.
• Multiple UI improvements
• Automatically expand Tree list child nodes when they are the only child node.
• Improved tooltips
• Updated Get Started Guide
• New Slidewise menu and ribbon options

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug causing tooltips to sometimes overlap popup menus (tooltips are now disabled while menus are visible)
• Double-clicking shapes on slide masters (or selecting “Show in PowerPoint” on them) now works - thank you Jamie Garroch!
• Fixed a Slidewise Core bug that sometimes caused the picture representations of embedded objects to not be associated with the correct shapes

1.10 (14 Jul 2023)

• Broken images are highlighted in their own section and can be replaced.
• Replace Fonts dialog now uses a checked list box.
• Rename root node 'Presentation'
• Some new icons
• Fixed a bug causing the trial status control to be obscured by the Inspector
• Fixed a bug causing analysis to fail when the presentation contained a theme override with no associated font scheme

1.9 (08 Nov 2022)

• Improved the stability with opening files synced with OneDrive
• Improved the startup speed for users who don't automatically open Slidewise.
• Stop Slidewise opening automatically by default
• Increased trial length to 30 days
• Multiple UI improvements
• Update getting started guide
• Made file:// URLs easier to read when you 'Copy link'
• Fixed a bug where Slidewise would fail to open or copy linked the file location.
• Fixed a bug when replacing fonts in an unsaved file
• Fixed analysis hanging when slide layout has no name
• Fixed an error when a placeholder is <pic> element instead of <sp>
• Fixed a bug where an error occurred when analysing certain problematic JPEG images

1.8 (14 July 2022)

• Improved slide masters tab including:
  
  • 'Consolidate masters' feature. Read more.
  • Improved reassign layout functionality
  • Slide masters now appear as active or unused
  • Addition of Delete all unused slide masters
  • Addition of Delete unused layouts from all masters
• The new Transitions tab shows a table of all transitions. Read more.
  
  • See transition type, duration and auto-advance details
  • Review and edit transitions in bulk
• Added the name of the presentation to the main index instead of 'Presentation'
• Added “Open File Location” and “Copy Path” actions to the main index root node
• Right-click context menu option on the main index now offers “Show in PowerPoint” that jumps to the content in PowerPoint.
• Added show in Slidewise right-click option for the Slidewise inspector (area below Slidewise main index) that jumps to the object in the Slidewise index.
• Improved the compatibility fix for OneDrive introduced in 1.7 - now Slidewise should be able to access all files.
• Multiple bug fixes to enable more content and presentations to be indexed by Slidewise.

1.7 (13 June 2022)

• Allow manipulation of images when using the replace image feature
• Remove data from one or all embedded charts
• Slidewise will warn you when excessive custom XML is detected
• PNGs autogenerated by PowerPoint can now be seen in the inspector and the Image Audit tab. Read more in our blog posts on SVGs and WDPs in PowerPoint
• Break links to all linked charts in one action
• Improved support for files with long paths
• Improved and simplified the main index
• Fixed compatibility with files synced with OneDrive
• Reset the 14-day trial before, so you can get another 14 days with version 1.7.

For full details read the What's new in 1.7 blog post

1.6 (06 April 2022)

• Automatic and manual check for updates
• Improved detection of empty placeholders
• Add option to delete empty placeholders
• Support for modern comments
• Slidewise now returns to the active tab when it reopens PowerPoint

1.5 (15 March 2022)

• The user interface has been hugely improved
• Export or delete speaker notes
• Export or delete comments
• Find empty placeholders
• Automatically identify problem images
• View image dimensions
• See font usage
• Export media
• Reset the 14-day trial before, so you can get another 14 days with version 1.5 if you have previously had a trial.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug with the Replace Image feature. Previously if you replaced an image with a smaller image the size of the presentation file wasn’t being reduced. 
• Fixed two more issues preventing OneDrive files from being found

1.4  (16 November 2021)

• Added the option to remove unused layouts
• Slidewise now indicates when a master has been set to be 'Preserved' alongside the name of the master.
• Added warning when a slide master and all of its layouts are not used in the presentation.
• Reassign individual or selected slides between layouts
• When selecting a slide, the Slide Masters view now jumps to the associated layout rather than the individual slide

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that could cause Slidewise to fail when analyzing presentations containing online video
• Fixed a minor bug causing a text editing caret to be displayed when clicking in the menu column on the Slide Masters tab.
• Fixed a bug causing analysis to fail when the presentation contains nameless slide masters and/or layouts
• Fixed a bug causing analysis to fail with some types of audio objects
• Worked around an issue causing analysis to fail when processing some files containing broken images, which PowerPoint can nevertheless open without complaining
• Fixed a bug causing a text caret to be shown when clicking in the columns where warning icons appear

1.3 (20 October 2021)

• Added “Slide Master” view to the task pane, showing all slide masters and layouts and the slides using each layout, and allowing double-click to jump to the relevant object in PowerPoint
• Added “Reassign Slides” feature, allowing the user to replace one layout with another for all slides using that layout
• The full name of the presentation is now included in error reports (this will be either a full path or a URL)

Bug Fixes

• Fix a bug causing the “Show the Slidewise pane when opening a presentation” preference not to be saved when PowerPoint is closed

1.2 (12 October 2021)

• Added Preferences dialog and removed “Re-Enable ‘Close File’ Warning” button from Ribbon (this is now in Preferences as a checkbox named “Warn me when Slidewise needs to close my file”)Added support for ink
• Added support for 3D models
• Sizes are now hidden for media objects that are zero bytes in size
• Cloud fonts are no longer flagged as “substituted” and are included in the “replace with” list when replacing fonts
• “Media” node has been removed, pulling the nodes inside up under “Presentation” instead
• Media objects now show the number of shapes using them in parentheses after their names, if they’re used by more than 1 shape (e.g. “image1.jpeg (2)”)
• The version of Slidewise and the name of the file are now included when copying error reports to the clipboard

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Slidewise not reopening after replacing fonts or after other operations requiring the PowerPoint file to be closed and reopened
• “Action” menu buttons now behave more like actual menus
• Fixed Slidewise failing to analyze files containing references to embedded fonts that aren’t actually embedded in the file - these files can now be analyzed but Slidewise font substitution warnings might not be correct
• Fixed a bug that could cause an embedded video to be unidentified

v1.1 - 23 August 2021

• Slidewise now opens automatically by default when a presentation is opened
• The automatic opening of the Slidewise index can be disabled by following this support guide.
• Fixed an issue where Slidewise would not work with some files synced with OneDrive/SharePoint
• Slidewise can now show and replace fonts used as default text styles
• More strings displayed in the index (e.g. “Slide”, “Slide Master”, “Theme” etc) are now localizable

1.0 (26 May 2021)

• Reset evaluation period storage, so a new 14-day evaluation period starts when this build is used.
• Added “Help Center” button to Slidewise Ribbon tab
• Fixed a bug with the Replace Fonts feature. When using the feature with files containing XML parts over 1.3MB in size the process could fail to finish, leaving the file in an indeterminate state.
• Fixed many UI bugs  

0.96 (18 May 2021)

• Slidewise now works with files within folders that have been added via “Add shortcut to OneDrive”.
• Fixed a bug where Slidewise would not open when a non-default theme was used in PowerPoint.

0.95 (11 May 2021)

• We have a new Replace Image Instance feature. This allows you to replace all the instances of a JPEG or PNG with another image - imagine updating a logo that has been copied and pasted onto every slide. Currently, it will only allow you to replace like for like, so a PNG for a PNG.
• We've substantially extended our support for working with files synced with SharePoint/OneDrive. Slidewise will now be able to work with many more files than in version 0.94, plus we have enabled all the features for these files that were previously disabled in v0.92.
• We've fixed some high-dpi scaling issues that crept into version 0.94 - sorry about that if you were affected.

0.94 (09 Apr 2021)

• Introduced user warnings (fonts have been substituted and broken/missing links)
• Improved support for files opened from OneDrive or SharePoint
• Improved linked media feature
• Improved detection and classification of audio/video objects
• Introduced a Slidewise Ribbon tab
• Multiple UI fixes and improvements
• Multiple bug fixes

0.93 (15 Mar 2021)

• There’s a new Linked Media node in the index that shows all external content that the presentation links to. From the ellipsis menu, you can access the “Open source”, “Open file location”, “Copy path”, “Copy URL”, “Update now”, “Change source” and “Break link” actions.  Available options will depend on the type of object. We also show the full path or URL in the inspector for linked media.
• We have added limited support for files in some cloud locations like your own synced folders in OneDrive. However, due to the many ways in which these systems can be configured, and also the many ways files can be accessed, we are not yet certain how best to extend the support further. We have added a warning when you try to open a file from a location we do not yet support asking to share more information so that we can identify the main areas on which we need to focus.
• We have re-ordered the categories, organized all media in descending size order, and now also hide any categories that have no content by default to reduce noise in the index.
• When you click on an object on the slide now it immediately jumps to the item in the Slidewise index - previously you would have to double-click it in the inspector to open it in the index.
• We now ask much more politely before closing and reopening your presentation for any changes that require us to do so.

0.92 (02 Feb 2021)

• We have updated Slidewise to make it (almost) work with files in OneDrive, Sharepoint, etc. From version 0.92 onwards it should now index the content of these files.
  
  It is limited, however, in that it won’t let you replace fonts, or embed/subset fonts. These features require us to modify the XML directly and we’ve observed some intermittent sync issues that occasionally trip the action up and prevent the change from sticking. To avoid customers having a bad experience we’ve deactivated these features by default if the active presentation is a cloud file.
  
  You can optionally override the restriction by following these instructions.
  
  
• The Slidewise task pane is now pre-loaded during startup to minimize any delay when the Slidewise button is clicked for the first time.

0.83 (08 Oct 2020)

• Improved robustness of font replacement (fixed some cases that could trigger the error message “Sorry, an error occurred and fonts have not been replaced”)

v0.82 28 (Sept 2020)

• Fixed bug causing the 32-bit installer to fail on 32-bit Windows

0.81 (19 Aug 2020)

• Removed “Full Expand” and “Full Collapse” options from the main tree context menu
• Fixed some remaining (subtle) high DPI issues and generally improved the layout of the font embedding confirmation, registration, and font replacement dialogs
• Hooked up AcceptButton/CancelButton properties so Return/Esc keys work to accept/cancel all dialogs
• Added a simple message box in case font replacement fails
• When replacing fonts, panose, charset, and pitchFamily are now set (or removed if replacing with a theme font) as well as the typeface attribute

0.78 (13 Aug 2020)

• Modified installer to add Neuxpower to the local machine’s Trusted Publishers certificate store to suppress scary ClickOnce prompts
• Removed redundant Inspector label from the Slidewise task pane
• Manifest files should now be properly signed using “Neuxpower Solutions Ltd” certificate
• Fixed bug causing null reference exception when handling certain broken SVG images
• Added “Enter key…” button to task pane Expired state
• Added “Save as…” button to task pane Not Saved state
• Added new task pane Cloud Saved state with “Save as…” button (prompting the user to save the file locally)
• Changed “trial expired” text in About box to match the text in the task pane Expired state
• Tweaked status panel in various ways, mostly to make it clearer that it can be clicked when changes are detected
• Tweaked “free trial” panel to look better and occupy less space
• Removed label from Inspector and have it display a prompt when no shape is selected
• Moved some of the less interesting information from the main tree into a new “Other” category

0.74 (06 Aug 2020)

• Fixed bug preventing Replace Fonts dialog from being submitted

0.73 (05 Aug 2020)

• Improved appearance of the main tree (it has a thicker border than the Inspector for some reason but looks more cohesive than before)
• Fixed images looking blurry at high DPI by adding DPI-specific bitmaps for warning icon, button images, and main task pane “ellipsis” button (Slidewise logo in About box is not scaled so it isn’t blurry, just currently too small at high DPI)
• Fixed DPI scaling issues in About box (still not perfect and needs work but at least it’s usable at high DPI now)
  

0.71 (03 Aug 2020)

• Fixed DPI scaling issues everywhere except the About box (most of the UI is uglier than before so we’ll need another pass through to polish)
• Added draggable splitter between the main tree and Inspector
• Fixed DPI scaling issues in “global status” pane (the pane that shows when Slidewise status is Error, Trial Expired, Not Saved etc.) and in “trial status” pane that appears at the bottom of the Inspector when in trial mode - however, *many* DPI scaling issues remain
• Removed version number from the bottom of the task pane (this might be reinstated later but it was getting in the way of DPI scaling fixes)
• Fixed a bug causing the task pane to stay in the Trial Expired state after registering