In a large presentation, with many slides and which also happens to have many master slides, one may wonder: "Are all of my master slides actually in use?" It would be nice if there was some indication which would let me tell apart a master slide that's in use from one that isn't. Currently, and AFAICT, there is no such indication. Now, if such an indication is to be enabled always, it had better be rather subtle, so not anything like a visibly glowing frame, that would be kind of distracting. Although - a sectioning of the master slides view - first those in use, then the rest - while not subtle, still seems kind of legit. Another possibility is for the indication to only become visible by some trigger (e.g. toggle in a right-click menu in the master slides area); in that case, I would tolerate it being more pronounced. If the indication could also have some gradation of use, which clearly differentiates no-use from any-use, but also shows something more intense for more extensive use - that would be nice. A bar underneath the master slide when its in use, with the bar fill fraction indicating frequency of use? I don't know, again, just a thought; and only as something you toggle. So, please first ignore my attempts at bike-shedding and comment on the possibility in general, then feel free to bikeshed away.
Thanks for the suggestion. In a similar vein, MS PowerPoint tells the user in a tooltip how many slides use that master slide[1]. But I don't think there's a visual indicator like what you're suggesting. UX/Design team, what do you think? [1]: https://www.thearticulatetrainer.com/how-can-i-determine-what-slides-use-which-slide-master/ (see first gif)
(In reply to Stéphane Guillou (stragu) from comment #1) > Thanks for the suggestion. > In a similar vein, MS PowerPoint tells the user in a tooltip how many slides > use that master slide[1]. But I don't think there's a visual indicator like > what you're suggesting. The tooltip already satisfies my basic requirement. An extra boolean indication could be nice, like I said, but no strong opinion on my part about that. Another idea for it could be a slight-gray-out effect for unused masters. Or: A page-corner fold with what appear to be pages underneath the slide miniature, as an indication that such slides exist. And this visual indication could be toggleable, with default-off. Or not. Just throwing some ideas out there.
We discussed the topic in the design meeting. Although "Delete Master", being available only if the slide master is not in use, informs the user about the state, it wont hurt if there was additional clues such as the mentioned tooltip. The slide number could be italic, if not in use. But a dimmed appearance or something else not too obtrusive sounds okay.