Learn how to schedule and source Media Zone content in Appspace. This article is for communicators who build and maintain multizone layouts. After reading, you can schedule an individual item, turn on playlist scheduling for a zone, and link a zone to one or more content sources.
For: Communicators — Multizone Signage Channel Content
What’s in this article:
Prerequisites
-
You must be a Publisher for the selected location, channel, or channel group, or have another role that allows you to manage channel content.
-
Create a Multizone Signage Channel with at least one Media Zone.
-
Create the source channel, or prepare the library folder, if you want the zone to play content from another channel.
How a Media Zone Gets Its Content and Schedules
A Media Zone plays a single playlist. Content reaches that playlist two ways, and the playlist can be scheduled two ways. All four coexist.
| Route | How it works |
|---|---|
| Directly allocated content | Items added to the zone with Create card, Upload Media, Generate Media, or Select from Library. Each item has its own playout properties, including scheduling. |
| Linked sources | A channel or library folder connected with Link source. The source supplies its content, its playback order, and its schedule. A zone can link several sources at once. |
| Item scheduling | Each item in the zone's playlist can be scheduled from its Playout Properties, with start and end dates, dayparting, and tag rules. |
| Playlist scheduling | Turn on Enable Playlist Scheduling for the zone to create multiple playlists and schedule them for specific dates and times. |
Note: A Media Zone uses the same playlist engine as a Fullscreen Signage Channel. If you know how to schedule content in a Fullscreen Signage Channel, the zone behaves the same way.
Open the Media Zone Playlist
The playlist editor is where you schedule items, enable playlist scheduling, and review everything the zone plays from every source in one list.
-
Select Channels from the Appspace menu.
-
Open the Multizone Signage Channel.
-
Select the Edit tab.
-
Select the layout that contains the Media Zone.
-
Click the + button in the zone.
-
Select Manage playlist.
The playlist opens for the selected zone, with the layout and zone names shown in the breadcrumb.
Tip: Clicking a zone anywhere other than the + button opens the same playlist directly.
The playlist shows:
-
The number of items in the zone and their total play duration.
-
A count of how many sources are linked to the zone.
-
Each item in playback order, with its type and duration.
-
The source each item comes from, listed beneath the item name. Directly allocated content shows no source.
Note: Use the drag handle to the left of an item to change the playback order, and the search field to find an item in a long playlist.
Schedule Content in a Media Zone
Schedule an Individual Content Item
Use Playout Properties to control when one item in the zone can play.
-
Open the Media Zone playlist.
-
Locate the content item you want to schedule.
-
Click the playout properties shown for the content item.
The Playout Properties panel appears.
-
Review or update the Content Duration.
-
Select the Start Date and Start Time, if the item should start playing at a specific date and time.
-
Select the End Date and End Time, if the item should stop playing at a specific date and time.
-
Configure Dayparting, if the item should play only on selected days or during specific time ranges. Use All Day to apply a selected day without a time range.
-
Click Add Tag Rules if you want to apply tag rules to the item.
-
Select the Transition option under Display Properties.
-
Select the Aspect Ratio option.
-
Select any Frequency restrictions, if needed.
-
Click Save.
The playout properties are applied to the selected content item.
Note: These are the standard content playout properties, identical to those on a Fullscreen Signage Channel. For a full description of each field, see Create a Fullscreen Signage Channel.
Enable Playlist Scheduling for a Media Zone
Playlist scheduling lets a zone hold several playlists and play each one during its own scheduled period, rather than running a single list.
-
Open the Media Zone playlist.
-
Click the default playout properties control, shown at the top of the playlist with the total duration.
The Default Channel Playout Properties panel appears.
-
Review or update the Default Transition.
-
Review or update the Default Aspect Ratio.
-
Review or update the Default Content Duration.
-
Review or update the Default Content Audio.
-
Turn on Enable Playlist Scheduling.
-
Click Save.
The Media Zone switches to playlist scheduling mode, and you can create multiple playlists and schedule them for specific dates and times.
Note: The Default Schedule remains available in scheduling mode. Custom schedules appear as additional rows on the timeline.
Note: When Exclusive Schedule is enabled, the schedule is the only schedule that plays during its configured time period and overrides all other schedules.
Important: Layout scheduling and zone playlist scheduling are different things. Layout scheduling, enabled from Settings > General, controls which layout plays. Playlist scheduling, enabled here, controls which playlist plays inside one zone. A channel can use both.
Link a Media Zone to a Content Source
Link to a Channel
Link to a channel when you want the zone to play what that channel plays, including its content schedule.
-
Open the Media Zone playlist.
-
Click the down arrow next to + Add.
-
Select Link source.
-
Select Channel from the Source menu.
-
Select a channel from the Channel menu.
-
Select a zone from the Media Zone menu, if the source is a Multizone Signage Channel.
-
Click Save.
The content from the linked source appears in the zone's playlist, and the source count increases.
Note: The Media Zone menu appears only when the source channel has multiple zones. A Fullscreen Signage Channel has a single content area, so there is nothing to choose.
Tip: You can also select Link source directly from the zone's + button menu in the layout preview, without opening the playlist first.
Note: Repeat these steps to link more than one source to the same zone. Linking is useful when a schedule should be maintained once and consumed by several zones or channels.
Link to a Library Folder
Link to a library folder when you want the zone to play the contents of a folder rather than a channel.
-
Open the Link source panel for the Media Zone.
-
Select Library folder from the Source menu.
-
Select a library from the Library menu.
-
Click Save.
The zone plays the content in the selected library folder.
Note: The Library menu lists the libraries you can access, such as Common Library and your group library.
Configure Playout Properties for a Linked Source
A linked source sits in the zone's playlist like any other item, so it has the same playout properties. Use them to control when the linked source plays in the zone and how it appears.
-
Select the Playout Properties tab in the Link source panel.
-
Configure the fields as described in Schedule an Individual Content Item.
-
Click Save.
The playout properties are applied to the linked source.
Note: A linked source has two levels of scheduling. The source channel controls when its own content plays. The playout properties here control when the linked source plays within this zone.
Filter the Content from a Linked Source
Filters narrow what the zone takes from the source, so you can link a whole channel or library folder and still play only part of it.
-
Select the Filters tab in the Link source panel.
-
Select a type from Filter by Content Types, if the zone should play only one kind of content.
-
Select a type from Filter by Post Types, if the source contains posts.
-
Select an option from Filter by Orientation, to match the shape of the zone.
-
Select a range in Filter by Created Date, if the zone should play only content created in that period.
-
Enter one or more tags in Filter by Tags, if the zone should play only tagged content.
-
Enter a value in Max number of items to limit how many items the zone takes from the source.
-
Click Save.
The zone plays only the content from the source that matches the filters.
Note: Every filter starts unrestricted, at All content types, All post types, and All orientations, and Max number of items starts at 100. Click Reset Filters to return all filters to these defaults.
Interleave Content from Multiple Schedules
When a Media Zone plays more than one schedule, the default behavior is to play all the content in one schedule before moving on to the next. Interleaving changes that, so the zone plays one item from a schedule and then moves to the next schedule.
Set the following device property on the device, applied to the Media Zone widget:
custom.playlist.interleave = true
For example, with two schedules:
| Schedule | Content |
|---|---|
| Schedule A | Content A1, Content A2, Content A3 |
| Schedule B | Content B1, Content B2, Content B3 |
| Behavior | Playout Order |
|---|---|
| Default | A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3 |
| Interleaved | A1, B1, A2, B2, A3, B3 |
Note: This device property is supported on Appspace App 2.48 and above.
Note: For a Media Zone, this property takes the value true only. The {"option": 1}, {"option": 2}, and {"option": 3} sequencing values apply to interleaving between multiple playlist channels published to a device, not to a Media Zone. See Configure Content Playback Properties: Dayparting, Frequency, Scheduling, in a Playlist Channel.
Note: Applying a device property requires a role that can manage devices. For the steps, see Add and Manage Device Properties.