REVELation Metadata Reference

New Presentation Quick Guide (Plain Language)

If you are on the New Presentation screen, these are the most important options:

Field	What it means in simple terms
`Presentation Title`	The main name of your presentation. This is what you will see in presentation lists.
`Slug`	The folder/URL-safe name for this presentation, which must be unique. This won't show in your slide content.
`Description`	A short subtitle or summary to help identify the deck later.
`Author`	Who created the presentation (name, ministry, team, etc.).
`Theme`	The visual style (colors/fonts/layout feel). You can change this later.
`Show Advanced Options`	Reveals extra technical settings. Safe to leave off unless you know you need them.
`Create a Title Slide`	Automatically creates a first slide with title details so you can start faster.

When Advanced Options are shown, common fields include:

Advanced Field	Simple explanation
`Thumbnail`	Image used as the preview card for this presentation.
`Creation Date`	Date metadata for sorting and record-keeping.
`Custom Stylesheet`	Extra CSS file for custom visual tweaks.
`Automatically start new slide on H1/H2/H3`	Splits slides by headings automatically (usually keep off when using Builder).

Recommended starting setup for most users:

Set Presentation Title.
Pick a Theme.
Leave advanced settings at defaults.
Keep Create a Title Slide enabled.

Slug is the name of the folder that your presentation is in. It is not stored as a normal YAML metadata field in front matter.

New Presentation Quick Guide (Plain Language)
YAML Front Matter
Basic Metadata Fields
Advanced Configuration
- Reveal.js Deck Configuration: https://revealjs.com/config/
Media Aliases
Macros
Authoring Commands and Macro Behavior

YAML Front Matter

Each presentation begins with a YAML front matter block enclosed by ---

The easiest way to edit this is by using the "Presentation Properties" feature in the Revelation (Electron) Presentation Builder

Below is a basic example of metadata at the top of a presentation file

---
title: My Amazing Presentation
description: A deep dive into amazingness
author:
  name: Jane Smith
  email: jane@example.com
theme: revelation_dark.css
thumbnail: thumbnail.jpg
created: 2026-02-19
newSlideOnHeading: false
version: 0.2.7
---

Basic Metadata Fields

Field	Type	Description
`title`	`string`	Main title shown in presentation lists.
`description`	`string`	Optional subtitle or summary.
`author`	`string` or `object`	Author name or object like `{ name, email }`.
`theme`	`string`	Required. Reveal.js-compatible theme filename (for example `revelation_dark.css`).
`thumbnail`	`string`	Preview image filename.
`created`	`string`	Date string (for example `2025-07-24`).
`version`	`string`	Version that last wrote the file.
`newSlideOnHeading`	`boolean`	(default true, normally should be false.) Controls automatic slide splitting on headings.

theme is required and should match a CSS file in the framework theme assets. thumbnail is expected near your presentation files.

Advanced Configuration

---
title: Welcome to REVELation
description: Multilingual, media-rich, modular
theme: revelation_dark.css
thumbnail: cover.webp
created: 2025-07-24

config:
  transition: fade
  controls: false
  slideNumber: c
  hash: true

stylesheet: style.css

alternatives:
  welcome_es.md: es
  welcome_fr.md: fr

media:
  fogloop:
    filename: fog_loop.mp4
    copyright: Background video by John Doe

macros:
  fogvideo: |
    <!-- .slide: data-background-video="media:fogloop" data-background-video-loop -->
    :ATTRIB:Background by John Doe
  darkbg: |
    <!-- .slide: data-darkbg -->

scrollspeed: 2.1
---

Field	Type	Description
`config`	`object`	Reveal.js configuration values. See https://revealjs.com/config/
`stylesheet`	`string`	Custom CSS file relative to the presentation folder.
`alternatives`	`object`	Alternate markdown files keyed by filename/path with language code; supports `self: hidden` to hide the current file from listing.
`media`	`object`	Named media aliases used by markdown and macros.
`macros`	`object`	Named reusable macro blocks.
`scrollspeed`	`number`	Optional notes variant auto-scroll speed.

For translation workflow and synchronized multi-language show setup, see:

VARIANTS_REFERENCE.md

Media Aliases

Define aliases under media:. These aliases can be used in media embeds and audio commands such as ![background](media:fog) or :audio:play:media:intro:.

media:
  fog:
    filename: fog_loop.mp4
    title: Fog Background Loop
    description: Soft misty fog video
    copyright: Video by John Doe

Key	Required	Description
`filename`	Yes	File inside `_media/`.
`title`	No	Display title.
`description`	No	Additional metadata.
`copyright`	No	Attribution text.

Macros

Define reusable macros in front matter:

macros:
  fogbg: |
    <!-- .slide: data-background-image="$1" -->
    {{attrib:$2}}

Macro invocation forms, built-in command catalog, and sticky behavior are part of slide authoring behavior and are documented in the Authoring Guide.

See:

Parameters support $1, $2, etc.

media:alias values in macro parameters resolve to _media/ paths during preprocessing.

Authoring Commands and Macro Behavior

This reference focuses on metadata structure.

For command usage, built-in macro lists, sticky behavior, and per-slide authoring syntax, use:

AUTHORING_REFERENCE.md

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