Senior Net Warkworth Microsoft Sway Notes Notes Office Sway is a presentation program and is part of the Microsoft Office family of products. Generally released by Microsoft in August 2015, Sway allows users who have a Microsoft account to combine text and media to create a presentable website. 1 SeniorNet Warkworth Microsoft Sway Symposium Notes May 2018 Author Brian Oakes Senior Net Warkworth Microsoft Sway Notes What is Sway It’s not a song from Frank Sinatra and it’s not a smooch y dance. Sway is a digital storytelling app for work, school and home that makes it quick and easy to create and share interactive reports, presentations, personal stories, and more. It’s like having your own personal web site You can add Photos, videos, sounds and of course text, as well as maps to a Sway and then send a link to your presentation which can then be viewed directly from the cloud on any type of device. There is no programme to download. Sway is web based and all you need to make a Sway is a Microsoft account and best of all its free and simple to use Sways are great for telling your family about your Holiday. You describe the places you visited on your trip along with any Photos and videos you have taken. You can even include sound clips as well maps of the area you visited. What about sending out an interactive Christmas greeting or a special Birthday message to your Family or Friends. In a Sway you can describe some of your activities throughout the year and include Photos and videos and even sounds. You can use Sway to send out a newsletter. Ideal if you are involved with running a club or Church group. All the details of up and coming events can go into a Sway along with photos of previous events. To use Sway all you need is a Microsoft account. You may have already set an account up if not however it’s a simple process and its free. To set up an account • Go to the Microsoft account sign-up page and tap or click Create account. • In the User name box enter your existing email address, or tap or click Get a new email address to create an Outlook or Hotmail address. • Fill out the rest of the form, and then tap or click Create account. 2 SeniorNet Warkworth Microsoft Sway Symposium Notes May 2018 Author Brian Oakes Senior Net Warkworth Microsoft Sway Notes Once you have your account and password you are ready to use Sway. The Sway App is built directly into windows 10 • In the windows 10 search box type Sway. From the menu Click on the Sway App • The Sway log in screen will open • If the App does not open then Type Swa .com in your browser address bar. • At the log in screen type in your email address (this should be the one you used to set up your Microsoft account.) • Press the Get started button • Enter your Password • Press Sign in • The Welcome to Sway screen will open • You are now ready to make your first Sway. 3 SeniorNet Warkworth Microsoft Sway Symposium Notes May 2018 Author Brian Oakes Senior Net Warkworth Microsoft Sway Notes Making a Sway You can build a Sway from scratch or try using one of the many templates available. In the bottom menu is a Tutorial Sway called How to Sway. It is strongly recommended that you view this presentation which tells you all about the powerful features of Sway. • Just click on the thumbnail to Start. Building a Sway from scratch • Click the Create New button • A Sway Title card will open in the Story Line mode. Storyline Storyline Click to add Title Card Play and Share Mode cards Controls 4 SeniorNet Warkworth Microsoft Sway Symposium Notes May 2018 Author Brian Oakes Senior Net Warkworth Microsoft Sway Notes • The centre section of the screen is the Storyline where you build your Sway. • At the top of the Storyline is the Title Card. • At the bottom of the Title card is a green plus sign. This is where you add further cards • At the top left are two tabs where you switch between the Storyline view and the Design view. • The Storyline view is where you make your Sway and add Headings, Text, Videos etc. • The Design View shows a preview of your finished Sway. • At the Top right is are Play buttons to view you Sway in its finished form and Sharea Share button. Cards are used to build your Sway. There are many types of cards • Heading 1 • Heading 2 • Text cards • Image • Video • Audio • Embed You can group image cards together to form different display options such as: - • Automatic • Stack • Comparison • Slide show • Grid 5 SeniorNet Warkworth Microsoft Sway Symposium Notes May 2018 Author Brian Oakes Senior Net Warkworth Microsoft Sway Notes There is also a Title Card. This is what you see when you first create a Sway. There is only one Title card and that’s the first one and is applied by default to a new Sway. The name that you type in the Title card becomes the name of the Sway. You can’t delete the Title Card but you can change the name of it as well as the picture. You don’t actually save a Sway once you have given it a Title that’s it. Any changes that you make will automatically be saved. Title Card The Title Card has a space on the left for an image (In the first Title card this is named Background but any others will be named Image). This can be one of your own images or one Napier suggested by Sway. Images are suggested according to the Title you have inserted. • Click on the Background box and a menu of suggested images appears to the left. • Here you can choose to view any of the suggested options or search your device or onedrive for an image. • You can also press the Insert button at the top right to open this menu. • When you Click on one of the options, Sway will display a selection of images it has found based on your Title. So in the case of the example above (Trip to Napier.) Sway will show a range of images depicting scenes from Napier or the surrounding area. Napier Displayed 6 SeniorNet Warkworth Microsoft Sway Symposium Notes May 2018 Author Brian Oakes Senior Net Warkworth Microsoft Sway Notes • The search results are based on images that are free to use without copyright protection. This is indicated by the checked Creative Commons Only box. If you untick this box, you will have more options but may have copyright issues. • You can also use the search box to search for an image. • You can also use an image from your computer or device • To do this Click on the downward facing chevron next to the Suggested button at the top left under the Sway icon. This will open a menu with a range of options. • Select My device to go to your computes file system and Browse to a Photo of your choice. • In either method Select a picture and drag it to the Background box. Be sure to choose one with a large pixel size otherwise you will see a pixelated image. • Your image will be inserted into your Sway. 7 SeniorNet Warkworth Microsoft Sway Symposium Notes May 2018 Author Brian Oakes Senior Net Warkworth Microsoft Sway Notes Preview • You can preview this image and text by clicking on the Design Tab at the top left. • You will see a preview of your Sway. However, you will only see the finished Sway which will include some animations when you press the Play button at the top right, but the Preview will give you a good idea how your Sway will look. • . • • • • • • Design View • gives a Preview of your Sway You can Edit the Sway in The Design Window. • Click on the Text and Click on the Edit button. • The Text will open in the Edit mode where you can make any necessary changes or add emphasis (Bold) or Accent. • To return to the Storyline click on the Storyline tab at the top left of the screen. Return to the Storyline 8 SeniorNet Warkworth Microsoft Sway Symposium Notes May 2018 Author Brian Oakes Senior Net Warkworth Microsoft Sway Notes Adding more content. To add more content to your presentation, click on the plus sign below any card to open up the Card menu. Card Menu • This menu gives you options to add various suggested cards:- Heading 1, Text, Image as well as some other options. • Notice there is no Title card as there is only one and that is used at the Start of your Sway. • To select a card, Click on the card button and it will be inserted into your Sway. • Clicking on the menu tabs opens up more options. Example:- Opening the Text Tab gives the option of Text as a large heading (Heading 1) or a smaller heading (Heading 2) or just Text alone All cards grouped below a Heading 1 card Example of 4 cards added to Sway by clicking + button. Each press adds another card. They are all grouped to the Heading 1 card. 9 SeniorNet Warkworth Microsoft Sway Symposium Notes May 2018 Author Brian Oakes Senior Net Warkworth Microsoft Sway Notes Note that after the Heading 1 card has been added, each time you add another card such as Heading 2, text or image, they are all grouped to the Heading 1 card.