Slipshow: Ditch Slides, Scroll Through Content Instead

If you've ever given a technical talk, you know the struggle. You cram too much on a slide, then nervously click through bullet points while your audience tries to read ahead. Or worse, you're presenting code and have to jump between slides just to show a complete function.

Slipshow takes a different approach. Instead of discrete slides, it gives you a continuous scrollable "slip" that reveals content as you move through it. Think of it like a hybrid between a slide deck and a long-form document, designed for presentations where you want granular control over what your audience sees, without the awkwardness of slide transitions.

What It Does

Slipshow is a static site generator that compiles a Markdown-like input file into an interactive HTML presentation. The core idea is simple: you write your content in a single document, and the tool splits it into "slips" (not slides). Each slip is a horizontal row of content that can contain text, code, images, or embedded elements. As you scroll (or use arrow keys), the content moves vertically, revealing the next slip while keeping the previous ones visible if you need to refer back.

The real magic is in how you control visibility. You can mark specific parts of a slip to appear one at a time (like incremental bullet points), or let entire blocks show up at once. The author even thought about code blocks: you can highlight specific lines as you walk through them.

Why It’s Cool

No more "next slide" blindness. With traditional slides, once you advance, the previous content disappears. With slips, you can keep a running context visible. Think of it like a terminal that scrolls up, but the scroll is controlled by the presenter.

Code walkthroughs actually work. You can show a full function on one slip, then highlight specific lines one by one. No jumping between slides, no copy-paste errors. This alone makes it worth trying for technical talks.

Responsive and self-contained. The output is a single HTML file with no dependencies. It works offline, looks great on mobile, and degrades gracefully if JavaScript is disabled (you get a plain document).

No animation primitives. Unlike reveal.js or impress.js, Slipshow doesn't do fancy transitions. It's just scrolling. That's the whole point. It feels refreshingly honest.

How to Try It

1. Install with npm (or use the prebuilt binary from the releases page):

   npm install -g slipshow
   

2. Create a .slip file (Markdown-like syntax):

   # My Talk Title
   
   ~ Start with an intro slip ~
   
   > This is a slip with a quote and some code
   
   ```python
   print("hello world")
   ```~
   
   ~ Now let's show code line by line ~
   
   ```python
   def greet(name):
       print(f"Hello {name}")  # <- first reveal
       return name              # <- second reveal
   

3. Build and open:

   slipshow mytalk.slip -o index.html
   open index.html
   

4. Navigate with arrow keys (or click the scrollbar). That's it.

The GitHub repo has a full example and detailed syntax reference. There's also an online playground if you want to experiment without installing anything.

Final Thoughts

Slipshow won't replace keynote decks for marketing demos, but for technical presentations it feels like a natural evolution. It solves a specific problem that most slide tools ignore: how to show code, diagrams, or long-form content without losing your place. If you've ever felt frustrated by slide transitions during a code review or architecture walkthrough, give it a shot. It's free, it's open source, and it just might change how you think about presenting.

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