Schedule content
Create a program in four steps with the assistant, then edit, stop or delete it.
The Schedule content assistant guides you through four steps: What, Where, When and Publish. The program is published in one go, then you follow its reception screen by screen.
Open the assistant
Click + Schedule content:
- on the Scheduling › Today page;
- on the Scheduling › Programs page;
- on the app’s home page.
From a screen’s page, the + Schedule this screen button opens the assistant with that screen already selected.
Required permissions
Scheduling content is reserved for the Owner, Administrator and Content manager roles. Other members see the message “Your role lets you view scheduling, not publish it.”
Create a program
What: choose the content
The “What do you want to show?” step has four tabs: Creations, Images, Videos and Playlists. Click an item to select it.
- Only playable content is listed: published creations, ready images and videos, published playlists.
- If you select several items, they form a loop, in the order selected. You can change the order (↑ arrow), remove an item (Remove) and set the duration in seconds of each image or creation (10 s by default for an image). A video plays for its own length.
- A playlist plays on its own: selecting it replaces the other selected items.
Click Continue →.
Where: choose the screens
The “On which screens?” step groups your screens by site. Select screens one by one, or a site’s checkbox to take all its screens.
A screen may carry the Inactive or No Player label: you can still schedule it, and it will play once activated or paired.
Screens on several sites
A program that targets screens on several sites is shared by the whole organization. If your access is limited to certain sites, schedule the screens of one site at a time.
When: choose the time
The “When?” step offers three choices:
| Choice | Use | Saved as |
|---|---|---|
| All the time | Whenever nothing else is scheduled. Ideal for your usual display. | Schedule |
| Certain days and times | Every week: choose the days, then the From and To times. | Schedule |
| Over a period | A time-limited operation: choose the From and To (inclusive) dates. | Campaign |
For days and times, an end time before the start time runs past midnight (for example from 22:00 to 02:00). An end at 00:00 means “until midnight”. Times follow each screen’s local time. See Schedules for details.
Check Takes precedence over other programs during these slots if this program should win over your other programs of the same type. See What a screen plays.
Publish: check and send
The last step sums up your program in one sentence, for example: “A loop of 3 items will play on 2 screens, every day, 08:00 – 12:00.”
- Name the program in Program name. By default, it takes the name of the first selected item.
- Check the Target screens table: the Ready to receive column shows for each screen Yes, Inactive: will play once activated, No Player: will play after pairing or Offline: will receive it on reconnection.
- Read the Already on these screens at the same times box if it appears (see below).
- Click Publish to 1 screen or Publish to N screens.
Programs already on these screens
Before publishing, the assistant checks whether other programs already use the same screens at the same times.
- Same priority, program created with the assistant: the assistant offers to replace it on these screens, checked by default (“Replace … on …: otherwise only one of the two would show.”). The old program no longer plays on these screens; if it has none left, it is deleted.
- Same priority, program from the advanced editor: a warning says only one of the two will show. Click Make this program a priority so the new one wins.
- Different priorities: a simple note tells you which one will take precedence, and from when.
If no other program is involved, the assistant shows “No other program uses these screens at these times.”
Two programs with the same priority
If you leave two programs with the same priority at the same times on a screen, there is no telling which will show. Replace the old one or make the new one a priority.
Follow the reception
After publishing, the assistant shows Published and the Reception by screen table. Screens usually apply the program in less than a minute. Each screen’s state updates on its own:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Preparing… | Pixlova is preparing the screen’s schedule. |
| Sent, waiting for the Player | The schedule is waiting for the player to fetch it. |
| Received, downloading content | The player is downloading the content. |
| Ready on the Player | Everything is downloaded. |
| Playing | The screen applies the new schedule. |
| Preparation error | The schedule could not be prepared for this screen. |
| Inactive screen: it will play once activated | The screen is not activated yet. |
| No Player: will play after pairing | No player is paired with the screen. |
An offline screen shows “offline, will receive it on reconnection”.
Then click View scheduling or Schedule something else.
The program list
The Scheduling › Programs page lists all your programs: schedules, campaigns and instant broadcasts. For each one you see its name, state, playback time, number of screens and content. If you have chosen a site in the app’s header, the list shows that site’s programs and those shared by the organization.
The possible states are Draft, Published, Scheduled, Active, Ended and Stopped.
Edit a program
Click Edit: the assistant opens with your previous input. Change what you want, then publish again: the assistant shows Changes published and the reception tracking.
If you change the kind of time (for example from “Certain days and times” to “Over a period”), Pixlova replaces the old program with a new one.
Programs created outside the assistant (with several time slots or exceptions, for example) show the Advanced editor button instead of Edit. See Schedules and Campaigns.
Stop a program
Click Stop: the program is no longer played and its state becomes Stopped. It stays in the list.
Delete a program
Click Delete, then confirm: “Delete …? Screens will no longer play it.” An instant broadcast cannot be deleted: it is stopped.
The loop created by the assistant
When you select several items, the assistant creates and publishes a playlist for you, named after the program with the suffix “· boucle”. It appears in your playlists. The assistant reuses and republishes it every time you edit the program.