Trouble Updating Existing Slides on Speaker Deck

Speaker Deck is a convenient platform for sharing presentation materials, but you may encounter a problem where you "cannot update existing slides." This can be a very frustrating issue until you identify the cause and find a solution. This article explains the cause of this problem and its solution.

Problem Overview

Even if you try to update slides on Speaker Deck, the changes may not be reflected. Even if the upload is complete and a "processing" message is displayed, the page may still show the old version.

Cause: Identical File Names

After investigation, it was found that the main cause of this problem is that the file names of the slides before and after the update are identical. Because Speaker Deck's system manages slides by file name, uploading a file with the same name does not recognize it as a new file. This can be said to be a bug or specification on the Speaker Deck side.

Solution: Change the File Name

The easiest way to avoid this problem is to change the file name of the slide you are updating. For example, if you are updating a file named "presentation.pdf," change it to a different name such as "presentation_v2.pdf" or "presentation_updated.pdf" before uploading.

The specific steps are as follows:

1. Edit the original slide file and make the changes.
2. Save the edited file with a different name than the original file name.
3. Log in to Speaker Deck and go to the edit screen of the slide you want to update.
4. Upload the new file (the one with the changed name).

With these steps, the slide should be updated successfully.

Other Points to Note

• Cache Effects: If the update is not reflected even after changing the file name, try clearing your browser's cache. Old information may remain in the cache, preventing the updated page from being displayed.
• File Format: Make sure you are uploading in a file format supported by Speaker Deck (mainly PDF).
• Speaker Deck Status: In rare cases, there may be a problem with Speaker Deck's own servers. In that case, try again after some time.

Summary

The problem of not being able to update existing slides on Speaker Deck can be easily solved by changing the file name. If you encounter a similar problem, try the above method. I hope this information will help you use Speaker Deck more comfortably.

I hope this blog post helps users who are struggling with the same problem.