Do you have specific content, like a daily special, an hourly update, or a limited-time promotion, that you want to display on your screens only during a particular period? Signagelive makes it easy to schedule a playlist to play for a fixed amount of time using the "Between the chosen dates and times" publishing option.
This guide will walk you through the simple steps to ensure your content plays exactly when and for how long you need it to.
To learn more about publishing a Playlist, we have a short video tutorial below:
To begin, navigate to Content > Publish in your Signagelive network. You'll then be guided through three essential questions to set up your schedule:
Step 1: When do you want this content to play?
This is where you specify your Playlist's exact start and end times.
Choose "Between the chosen dates and times": This option gives you complete control over the schedule's duration.
Enter a Start Date and a Start Time:
Select the exact calendar date when you want your playlist to begin playing.
Specify the time of day (to the minute!) when playback should commence.
Set an End Date and End Time:
Crucially, to show your playlist for a certain amount of time, you must set an End Date and an End Time.
Select the calendar date when you want your playlist to stop playing.
Specify the time of day when playback should cease.
What happens if no End Date/Time is set? If you leave the End Date/Time blank, this schedule will run indefinitely until you manually remove or modify it from your player. For content with a specific duration, always set an end time.
Optional: Configure Weekly Recurrence: Below the date and time settings, you'll find the option for "Weekly Recurrences." If you want your playlist to play for a certain amount of time every day of the week, or every other week, you can configure these settings here. Learn more about setting up Weekly Recurring Schedules here.
Once you've configured these settings, your content will strictly adhere to this schedule.
Step 2: What would you like to publish?
Now it's time to choose the playlist you want to schedule.
Click on the Step 2 tab to expand the options.
Select "Playlist": this publishing method is for full-screen playlist content.
Choose your desired playlist. A window displaying all your created playlists will appear. Select the playlist you'd like to schedule for this specific time slot.
Preview your selection: A preview of the chosen playlist will appear on the left side of the screen. Take a moment to ensure it contains the correct content.
Step 3: Which Players do you want to publish to? (Your Screens)
The final step is to decide which of your players will display this timed content.
Click "Select Players": A window will open showing all players connected to your Signagelive network.
Choose your target players: Tick the checkboxes next to the player(s) you wish to send this playlist schedule to.
Review & Publish:
When you're ready, click the "Review & Publish" button. This will show you a comprehensive summary of all the settings you've chosen: the exact play times, the playlist selected, and the players targeted.
Carefully review this summary. If everything is correct, click the green "Publish to Players" option in the bottom right of your screen to send your timed schedule out to your chosen players.
What Happens After Publishing?
Our server queuing system is now processing your content and its new schedule. It will then be downloaded to your players' local storage shortly. The time this takes depends on:
The Content Check interval you've applied to your player (how often your player checks for new content).
The overall size of the content in your playlist.
The speed of your player's internet connection.
Important Considerations:
Content Fallback: Once your scheduled playlist finishes playing (at the End Date and Time you set), your player will automatically revert to any earlier active schedule or, if configured, the playlist designated to play "When nothing else is scheduled." If a player has no other content to play, a Signagelive green checkmark (tick) will appear, indicating it's ready to receive new content.
Editing Schedules: You can modify any part of the schedule you've created while still within the Publisher module. However, once you navigate away from this section in Signagelive, you will need to restart the publishing process if you wish to make further changes to this specific schedule.
By following these steps, you can effectively control your playlists' precise timing and duration on your Signagelive screens.