Slideshare is a popular online presentation viewing service. Members can upload presentations in multiple formats, host them in the cloud and deliver them through Slideshare’s viewer. You can also use the company’s built-in WordPress shortcode feature which embeds your slide show right on your WordPress site.
What you end up with is a picture-perfect slide show presentation viewer like the one shown below, and it was added with one simple line of code.
The beauty of a Slideshare presentation is that it can be shared via multiple social media networks, and even through email as a link. It’s one of the reasons the Slideshare platform has helped thousands of presentations go viral in mere minutes. It also looks nice when expanded to full screen!
If you’ve got a WordPress site and a Slideshare account (Free or pro) here’s how you can add your presentation.
Step 1: Navigate to My Uploads
The first step is to navigate to the My Uploads section of your Slideshare account. You can find that in the drop down menu on the right side of the top menu bar.
Step 2: Select the Presentation
Your uploads screen will show all the presentations added to your account and available for viewing or sharing. Simply click on the presentation you wish to share and
Simply click the presentation thumbnail image and you will be taken to the presentation viewing screen. This is the same screen your readers will see should they watch your presentation on Slideshare’s site.
It is set up similar to YouTube in that you’ll see the presentation front and center with a commenting box below it. To the right, in a sidebar, you’ll see some related presentations from the Slideshare network, and a tab where you can view activity on Facebook related to that presentation or related presentations.
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For our purposes, we need look no further than the top menu bar of our presentation player.
Step 3: Copy the WP Embed Code
Most video and slide show players require an iframe or longer html code, and Slideshare is no different there…except when dealing with WordPress. On the top right on the player menu bar you can click the <>Embed link and a modal window slides down with more options (shown in the image below).
Underneath the iframe code is a “Customize” button, which when pressed drops down additional options, in particular:
- the ability to remove related content slides from the end of the presentation
- start on any slide you want – not just at the beginning of the presentation
- modify the size and shape of the embedded player
And below those settings you’ll see a custom snippet in the form of a handy short code that can be used only with WordPress blogs. Copy that code and pop over to your blog post or page. Paste it in the editor screen and save your changes.
No messy iframe code or complicated options to add onto HTML or URLS. Just a nice, neat shortcode and a fancy presentation player…on your blog!
I believe that this shortcode only works in WordPress.com blogs; self-hosted users would need to install a plugin.
Yes, it’s working on all the sites we’ve tested. Thanks for the note too @jerry bates.
Yep, slideshare.com was added to the oEmbed provider whitelist for 3.5
http://codex.wordpress.org/Embeds
I discovered the hard way this doesn’t work with self-hosted sites. As Shea Bunge suggested, a plugin is needed. I installed the one by Yoast, and now all is well.
So I’m grateful for the post, but I think an update is in order.
Lane,
The site you’re reading now is a self-hosted site, and, as you can see in this post, i’ve used the shortcode to embed the slideshare player.
It’s possible there is a plugin or other code on your site interfering with the oembed functionality. It’s also possible you’ve entered the code incorrectly.
If you post how you’re trying to use it, we might be able to troubleshoot.
Hey Craig, thanks for the superb post :)
@Lane @all : You would just need to paste the embed code in the HTML Editor and not the visual editor and it would work without any issues. I just tested it successfully on my self hosted lab site.
Cheers :)
Thanks, @pc. @Lane – let us know that it works, or post a note if you have further issues.
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I do know to add shortcodes in the Text (stupid new WP 3.5 name for HTML) tab, but to be sure, I did these steps:
1. Disable Yoast plugin.
2. Switch to edit page in Text tab.
2. Delete shortcode and Update.
3. Paste shortcode and Update.
Still all I get is the shortcode printed at http://www.learninglane.net/chapter-1-raw-materials-of-life/
I’ll leave the page that way for now, in case anyone wants to see it.
As far as other plugins or codes interfering with this function, if it’s true it will remain true. I’d rather use Yoast’s plugin than go through the headache of trying to track down the culprit. Been there, done that. :-)
Tt’s just showing a message below the post title: Sorry, but you do not have permission to view this content.
That’s a function of a plugin restricting the content view (like a membership or restrictive content plugin). It could also be the post has been set to private.
that’s not a function of the slidehare short code.
I regret that is happening. I’m using a plugin to restrict access to registered members, and I forgot to make this page publicly visible while working on this plugin.
It should show up now.
Lane,
See PC’s comment about where the shortcode should go. It looks like you might be having trouble with placement.
I did the best I could, as described in my December 18th, 2012 @ 9:41 am post above. I think it’s time for me to move on to problems that don’t have a current solution. :-)
My solution for this one is to activate Yoast’s plugin.
Thanks to all for the conversation and suggestions.
Lane
Hi Craig,
I’ve done all this and have the slideshare in my posts, but one problem.
Do you know how can I make it a responsive slideshow window in my WordPress post? When I resize my browser’s window and don’t have it maximized, I can’t see the slides change their sizes proportionally to my browser. I want the slides to become smaller as well!
Would really appreciate it if you could help me.
Thanks,