Get started

Allow a few minutes. No account or AI service is required.

What you need

• VS Code 1.95 or later.
• The Marp for VS Code extension, for preview and HTML/PDF export. It is declared as a dependency of DWA Slides and installs with it if it is available.
• The DWA Slides VSIX file (dwa-slides-<version>.vsix), provided by the team or built from the repository (see Contributing).
• The theme: theme/DWA.css from the repository, or your organization's theme distributed by the portal.
• Optional: Chrome, Chromium or Edge installed locally, for overflow measurement and automatic callout sizing.

Node.js is not required

Node.js and npm are only used to develop or rebuild the extension. The VSIX installs as is.

1. Install the extension

1. In VS Code, open the Extensions view.
2. … menu → Install from VSIX….
3. Choose the dwa-slides-<version>.vsix file.
4. Install Marp for VS Code if you have not already.

The extension is not published on the Marketplace: you install it from the file.

2. Choose the theme

Open your project's folder in VS Code (not a standalone file), create a Markdown file, then run from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

DWA : choisir le thème CSS pour DWA et Marp (choose the CSS theme for DWA and Marp)

Select theme/DWA.css. The command saves the path in the DWA and Marp settings of the workspace folder, replacing any previous entry with the same theme name and keeping the others.

Organization theme

If your organization uses the portal, use DWA : se connecter au portail (sign in to the portal) and then DWA : choisir un thème d’organisation (choose an organization theme) instead. See Organization themes.

3. Write the header

---
marp: true
theme: DWA
paginate: true
---

marp: true enables Marp and the DWA assistance. The theme name must match the @theme declared in the CSS.

Not sure about your header? DWA : préparer ce document pour DWA (prepare this document for DWA) adds marp: true without touching the theme or the other keys.

4. Create a slide

After an empty line, type ---. A grayed-out suggestion offers:

<!-- _class:  -->

Press Tab: the directive is inserted, the cursor is placed after _class: and the list of layouts opens. Choose content, then a composition such as cols-2, then with-title: the slide structure is prefilled. All that is left is to replace the text.

<!-- _class: content cols-2 with-title cards -->

# Two approaches

> ## First approach
>
> A short explanation.

<!-- -->

> ## Second approach
>
> Another point of view.

5. Preview and export

• Preview: the Marp preview button at the top right of the editor.
• PDF / HTML: the export command of Marp for VS Code.
• Editable PowerPoint: DWA : exporter un PowerPoint éditable (.pptx) (export an editable PowerPoint).

What's next?

• Follow the Your first presentation tutorial.
• Browse the layouts and keep the cheat sheet handy.
• If something does not activate: Troubleshooting.