PPS comparrison of TOS FREE vs TOS+

[Duniagdra]

I've put together a PPS that compares the difference between TOS FREE and TOS+. The purpose of this is to try and get people who download TOS FREE to see the difference and hopefully jump on board and upgrade.

Here is the PowerPoint 2007 Version (3.007M)

Here is the PowerPoint 97-03 Compatible Version (3.276M)

I'd like some feedback. For one, if you do not have MS 2007, does the slide show still work for you? Another would be, as a new user of TOS+ or a current user of TOS FREE, what would be the biggest impact to you?

Soon, I'll begin work on Step-by-Step lessons in using TOS+, from beginner to expert, simple to advanced.

PowerPoint Viewer 2007
PowerPoint Viewer 2003

[scantrontb]

i DL'd all three of them but since i don't have PowerPoint, and use Open Office 3.0 the "2007 slide show" version doesn't work for me (.ppsx isn't recognized, no biggie) there were formatting differences between the 2 that were mostly minor, but sometimes the text overran the images and sometimes even itself and were illegible.

the one thing i think you should definitely change is the wording on the last page about how you can get all this for the low monthly cost... to a newb, or somebody that isn't familiar with the subscription setup we use, this implies that i can't use it at all unless i pay monthly, rather than the reality of that i pay a one time fee, and get a year's (?) worth of access to updates, and the contributors areas, etc... then, at the end of the subscription time, if i don't want to continue the subscription, i lose access to the updates and such, BUT my current version of the sheet WILL STILL WORK, though it won't be as up-to-date, as it could be... that could be a major selling hurdle in whether or not those with limited free cash buy it, rather than those that have the money this month (but not next month), NOT buying it because they KNOW they won't have the fundage to CONTINUE to pay for it every month. this also helps for those that want to give it as gifts... they spend a one time cost and they forget about it, rather than having "cousin jimmy's" birthday gift show up on their credit card statement every month for a year like some online games do. again, it's a perception thing, not how it really works.

[Duniagdra]

I don't know what to do about the first part, but here is an update for slide 14.

Was

In conclusion, TOS+ out weighs TOS FREE in what it can currently do and what it will do over time by leaps and bounds. With no further support from the author, TOS FREE will remain a stagnant and inferior character management tool. At a small cost of pocket change per month, no one can go wrong by upgrading to TOS+ and subscribing to the forums for tech support, expanding lists of races and classes, free upgrades with an active subscription to TOS+ forums, and just a general good time chatting it up with fellow users. With an active subscription to the TOS+ forums, you also gain access to an ever grown lineup of Play-by-Post games from both D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder RPG.

Is now:

In conclusion, this presentation demontrates how much more powerful TOS+ has become over the older TOS FREE. With no further support from the author, TOS FREE will not evolve.

A yearly subscription to TOS+ represents a very small cost per month, which is pocket change for many. The subscription grants access to the forums for technical support, an expanding collection of races and classes that can be downloaded, and free updates. Active subscribers even enjoy access to an ever growing lineup of Play-by-Post games from both D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder RPG!

TOS+: The Only Sheet worth your time!

And here are the viewers:

PowerPoint Viewer 2007
PowerPoint Viewer 2003

New uploads in first post. Copying the viewers to the first post too,

[admin]

The 97-2003 version does not have an image on Slide #6 (The difference in layout) when I open it in my 2003 PowerPoint.... Any ideas?
R

[Duniagdra]

I just looked at the slide and it works fine for me. Try looking at the slides as they are meant, as a slide show, and maybe you'll see it works fine too? This is not meant to be viewed in powerpoint at all. It's meant to be viewed as a slideshow. I just don't know how to force it to be viewed ONLY as a slideshow.

[cave_lion]

i DL'd all three of them but since i don't have PowerPoint, and use Open Office 3.0 the "2007 slide show" version doesn't work for me (.ppsx isn't recognized, no biggie) there were formatting differences between the 2 that were mostly minor, but sometimes the text overran the images and sometimes even itself and were illegible.

duni--the .ppsx with the x on the end is just the new 2007 format that apparently is a compression thing. You have the option to save them as a .pps in Powerpoint that will make them compatible for 2007 and prior Excel for sure, and also other software like the open office and google online programs... You just have to do a "save as..." and choose save as Powerpoint 97-2003 format.

[admin]

I just looked at the slide and it works fine for me. Try looking at the slides as they are meant, as a slide show, and maybe you'll see it works fine too?

Oh right!! Scrolling images! i forgot about those

I'll work to put this up on the Home page - THANKS JIM!!

admin

[Duniagdra]

i DL'd all three of them but since i don't have PowerPoint, and use Open Office 3.0 the "2007 slide show" version doesn't work for me (.ppsx isn't recognized, no biggie) there were formatting differences between the 2 that were mostly minor, but sometimes the text overran the images and sometimes even itself and were illegible.

duni--the .ppsx with the x on the end is just the new 2007 format that apparently is a compression thing. You have the option to save them as a .pps in Powerpoint that will make them compatible for 2007 and prior Excel for sure, and also other software like the open office and google online programs... You just have to do a "save as..." and choose save as Powerpoint 97-2003 format.

I'm not sure what you're saying. The compatible version is already up there. I have yet to see, however, anything that allows compatibility with other software, as open office.

[cave_lion]

Ah sorry about that--didn't catch that both of them were up--just read that someone tried to use it and couldn't because of the "ppsx" extension... Which would be solved by using the older compatible version that uses .pps (so that is not a problem obviously since you already have that covered.) I haven't looked at OpenOffice for a long time--doesn't it have a PowerPoint type program that reads .pps files? If so then this comment still applies--he would just need to use the compatible one instead of the 2007 one and OpenOffice should be able to open it. Rereading it--I think maybe that is what scantrontb is saying actually--that the 2007 one doesn't work but the other one does. So he just looked at that one...

They both open on my computer fine (using 2007). I tried downloading them to google docs (which is supposed to be able to handle .pps files up to 10mb) and got an error twice: "We were unable to upload this document because of this error: Sorry, that file is corrupt, or an unknown format." Not sure why that is happening...it opens fine and is within the parameters of their requirements for a file so?

[cave_lion]

Just tried uploading it to google docs with a simplified name (long names with - instead of _ sometimes messes with other programs) but got the same error. It is possible the error is from this problem and the compitibility checker is rejecting before it tries to rename it... I'll try this at my office later and see if I get the same results there.

[admin]

Using Power Point 2003, I converted the PPX into a PPS - this is the result.. When I play that PPS, some of the text is broken (over-written) on some slides...! Does anyone else sees this on their PC?

Cave_lion - your posts are though to read with the misplaced quotes... you don't check your post once you submit it or preview it?

admin

[Duniagdra]

When I preview this as a slide (pps, not ppsx) it works fine on my display. I have no trouble at all reading or viewing images.

[admin]

For example, on slide #4 (in PPS mode), I get this 'black' smudge - as if letters were overwritten

pps.jpg (52.91 KiB) Viewed 17542 times

[Duniagdra]

For example, on slide #4 (in PPS mode), I get this 'black' smudge - as if letters were overwritten

pps.jpg

Is that in slide show mode? or what you see in powerpoint 2003? Because what your image shows is the first complete sentence compressed.

For some reason, I'm not allowed to attach an image, so I'll link to it.



I have to ask, emphatically, are you viewing this in powerpoint, or as a slide show?

[admin]

I am viewing it with the PPS viewer - perhaps my version is outdated!! I'll see if I can update it
R

[Duniagdra]

Try the 2007 viewer and let me know. I'm most curious in why this happens.

[cave_lion]

Cave_lion - your posts are though to read with the misplaced quotes... you don't check your post once you submit it or preview it?

admin

Woops--sorry about that. Busy morning so was rushing. I usually do proofread and spell check posts before sending. Had I spent a decent amount of time thinking this morning instead of reacting, I probably wouldn't have posted at all--I obviously hadn't thought through what I meant to say and was also basing what I was saying on insufficient data.

While we are critiquing though--your posts are often hard to read too--due to the spelling errors--took me like 10 seconds looking at your post to figure out what you were saying (you spelled tough as though...)
cl

[Duniagdra]

CL, based on the two images above, I need to know two things, are you viewing the pps as a slide show, or through powerpoint. Which version of powerpoint are you running, same for the viewer. And what are you seeing. give examples if possible. That REALLY helps.

[cave_lion]

Oh right..feedback

OK I downloaded and viewed both versions on two separate computers using Powerpoint 2007. Layout looks great, and no problems noticed in anyway except the two slide-in illustrations (page 6 and page 13) do not show up in regular view mode. If I view them as a slideshow those images do slide in and after that they show up in the regular viewing mode also.

Was not able to download the file for google docs (even though it supposedly fits within there guidelines and should be viewable with their online "Powerpoint compatible" software.) No idea what the trouble is there. I doubt many people would use google docs to view this anyway though...

Nice work!

I do agree with scantrontb that it would be better to change the wording as far as what you get when you buy TOS+.

[Duniagdra]

Good, the purpose of making a slide show presentation is strictly for the purpose of viewing as a slide show. The reason the slide in images may not appear in preview is because they are not meant to. Most all the images are gif animations. So, because of this, in powerpoint you are only seeing the last instance from which the slide was last seen. So from what I'm gathering, all text and all images are working as they should in slide show viewing, which is all I'm concerned about.

i DL'd all three of them but since i don't have PowerPoint, and use Open Office 3.0 the "2007 slide show" version doesn't work for me (.ppsx isn't recognized, no biggie) there were formatting differences between the 2 that were mostly minor, but sometimes the text overran the images and sometimes even itself and were illegible.

the one thing i think you should definitely change is the wording on the last page about how you can get all this for the low monthly cost... to a newb, or somebody that isn't familiar with the subscription setup we use, this implies that i can't use it at all unless i pay monthly, rather than the reality of that i pay a one time fee, and get a year's (?) worth of access to updates, and the contributors areas, etc... then, at the end of the subscription time, if i don't want to continue the subscription, i lose access to the updates and such, BUT my current version of the sheet WILL STILL WORK, though it won't be as up-to-date, as it could be... that could be a major selling hurdle in whether or not those with limited free cash buy it, rather than those that have the money this month (but not next month), NOT buying it because they KNOW they won't have the fundage to CONTINUE to pay for it every month. this also helps for those that want to give it as gifts... they spend a one time cost and they forget about it, rather than having "cousin jimmy's" birthday gift show up on their credit card statement every month for a year like some online games do. again, it's a perception thing, not how it really works.

I'd like to know what you see after downloading the PP Viewers. I have them linked in the slide show. Honestly, unless admin asks that something be done about it, I'm not personally concerned about this working in anything other than MS. Being that users looking at TOS+ will likely have Excel, odds are they may have the others as well, but even if not, the viewer is free, like flash. I'm not looking for feedback on how it appears in open office or Google docs unless admin feels there is a need, in which case he's on his own to find a solution, since I have no knowledge of them or need of them. Call me selfish, I'm okay with that.

[cave_lion]

both viewers butcher the slideshow on my computer--like the pics are showing--black jumbled text all over.

[Duniagdra]

both viewers butcher the slideshow on my computer--like the pics are showing--black jumbled text all over.

Interesting, and confusing. I'm not sure what to do about this. You're getting the same result as admin shows on slide #4? The first whole sentence crammed into itself?

[cave_lion]

both viewers butcher the slideshow on my computer--like the pics are showing--black jumbled text all over.

Woops--this is inaccurate. Both files do this on the 2007 viewer. The 2003 viewer link posted leads to an error message.

As far as the errors--it was different for the two files--both of the files had multiple errors on multiple pages.

[Duniagdra]

both viewers butcher the slideshow on my computer--like the pics are showing--black jumbled text all over.

Woops--this is inaccurate. Both files do this on the 2007 viewer. The 2003 viewer link posted leads to an error message.

As far as the errors--it was different for the two files--both of the files had multiple errors on multiple pages.

Now I'm confused. Any way you can capture screen shots (alt+print screen button) and post them? That might help better.

[cave_lion]

I am apparently not allowed to use attachments in this Forum? No option to load one. I just opened up the 2007 viewer and captured the first error (on "The Control Panels"). I then closed the viewer and opened it again and did a second copy/paste on the first error (which again was on "The Control Panels).

The main thing for you to know is that the errors were different on the same page from the two times I opened the file. This is not a specific error on specific text or whatever--it is a problem that manifests in a similar way but in different places over time. Good luck figuring it out--tough one.

[Duniagdra]

Yes, I'm not sure how it happens, but there have been other threads where I have not been able to upload images to as well as this. I don't know why.

As far as what your say of the viewer, if the errors are different each time, and if I'm understanding you right, only with the 2007 viewer, then maybe it's an issue there. What happens in the 03 viewer? I'm wondering if there is really anything I'll be able to do about this. I wish others would give feedback.

[cave_lion]

I did not try the 03 Viewer because the link you supplied takes me to a microsoft search error:
We are sorry, the page you requested cannot be found.

There is a list of searches below the error and the top one looks like it leads to the 03 viewer--but it leads to the same error. It may be that microsoft has pulled the 03 viewer and no longer supports it or provides it as a download...

If I were you I would go page by page and try to completely redo each page (not copy/pasting anything) and check each page as you go in the viewer until the error shows up. It feels like it is a formatting error of some kind--I have had similar things happen in Word in the past and the only way I got rid of it was to do it over. It seems like something that happens when you do multiple formatting edits over a period of time--saving each edit over and over.

That's a best guess--I'm no expert by any means--but it is something to try anyway if no one else has any ideas. You can also find a forum with techies who troubleshoot powerpoint issues and get some help...or maybe do a search on google and see if anyone has had this issue. Just did that (search powerpoint text error) and the top page was this: http://forums.techarena.in/ms-office-su ... 050603.htm

[Duniagdra]

That's where the problem lies. I see no problems. And admin mentions nothing of getting errors. You're the first to mention this. But now there are only three of us giving feedback on this, or did I miss someone? Four maybe?

In any case, if I'm not able to duplicate it, then I'm unable to troubleshoot it.

[cave_lion]

By "errors" I just mean I get the black garbled text on the slides like admin pasted already)--there are no messages from Powerpoint or Windows suggesting anything is wrong.

[Duniagdra]

By "errors" I just mean I get the black garbled text on the slides like admin pasted already)--there are no messages from Powerpoint or Windows suggesting anything is wrong.

Ah. KK. I'll see what can be done.