Message Managers and dynamic feeds

When a message manager logs in to signagelive, they simply choose the feed to update and change the text. This will dynamically update the screens showing the content. It’s a quick and easy way to show and update internal messages, price information or room availability.

The following animation shows a use case of the message manager role as well as the steps involved in creating a menu board.

Log in to Signagelive as an administrator or user

(Administrator or User)

Whilst logged in as an administrator or user within Signagelive, you will have access to all content creation tools, in this exercise, we'll look at the 'Message Manager Template Editor'. 

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Create a text based custom RSS feed

(Administrator or User)

Using the Message Manager Template Editor, you can create your custom RSS feed. We can create a text based feed or include media, we'll start by creating a feed containing only text.

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Create a media based custom RSS feed (MRSS)

(Administrator or User)

Once we've practised creating text based custom RSS feeds, we can include some media as a background This can then be used to create a menu board, welcome sign, schedule board or anything you can imagine using text and media together, really. 

Now that you have set up a text based RSS feed, or even added some media (MRSS), you can go ahead and assign a 'Message Manager'.  Have a look at the next steps to see how this is achieved. 

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Creating a layout for an MRSS feed

(Administrator or User)

 This step is only necessary if you wish to use an animated background behind your MRSS feed. By creating your MRSS with a transparent background (in our example, the resolution is set to 1920x1080 so will fill out a landscape display), you can then overlay it on to another piece of media, such as a video. This is great to create a really eye catching menu board, for example.

Assigning a message manager to a feed

(Administrator or User)

When you have assigned one or multiple message managers to your Custom RSS feed, you're ready to use it, so you can go ahead and publish this content. You can publish this as a playlist, which will display the content full screen, or you can add it to a layout, have a look a these steps to find out how. 

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Publishing a playlist

(Administrator or User)

You can only show one piece of media at a time when you publish a playlist. If you want to show your custom or MRSS alongside other content on screen, you should use a layout. 

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Publishing a layout

(Administrator or User)

Now, if you've chosen to include an MRSS within your layout, you can choose to show it within a specific area of your layout, or you can overlay it on top of another area by giving your MRSS a transparent background. Don't forget to check that your player supports these features, though.

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Logging in as a message manager

(Message Manager)

Now that you have been given access to a feed, whether that is a custom RSS or a MRSS (Media RSS Feed), you can simply log in, choose the feed and edit the item you require. You'll notice the simplified interface here, don't forget to use the Live Chat feature if you get stuck.

 Each time your message manager updates the message feed, it will be automatically updated on each player it is currently being shown on, so once set up, you can sit back and watch the information update dynamically.