Learn how to schedule and source content in a Media Zone in Appspace. This article is for communicators who build and maintain Multizone Signage Channel 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
Prerequisites
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You must be a Publisher for the selected location, channel, or channel group, or have another role that allows you to manage channel content.
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Create a Multizone Signage Channel with at least one Media Zone.
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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 playlist of content. Content reaches that playlist two ways, and you can schedule the playlist two ways. All four coexist.
| Content route | How it works |
|---|---|
| Directly allocated content | Items added to the zone with Create card, Upload Media, Generate Media, or Select from Library. |
| Linked sources | A channel or library folder connected with Link source. The source supplies its content items, and the zone stays in sync with it. A zone can link several sources at once. |
| Scheduling route | How it works |
|---|---|
| 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. |
Important: Linking brings across content items only. It does not bring across the source channel's playout properties or its content schedules. If a source channel plays an item only on weekday mornings, a zone linked to that channel does not inherit that schedule. Set the schedule you want on the zone's own playlist, using either of the scheduling routes above.
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.
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Select Channels from the Appspace menu.
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Open the Multizone Signage Channel.
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Select the Edit tab.
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Select the layout that contains the Media Zone.
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Click the + button in the zone.
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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:
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The number of items in the zone and their total play duration.
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A count of how many sources are linked to the zone.
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Each item in playback order, with its type and duration.
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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.
Note: New items from a linked source append after the items already in the zone, in the source's order. A later reorder at the source does not rewrite items that are already in the zone. Change the zone order with the drag handle when you need a different sequence.
Schedule Content in a Media Zone
Schedule an Individual Content Item
Use Playout Properties to control when one item in the zone can play. This works for content you add directly and for items that arrived from a linked source.
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Open the Media Zone playlist.
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Locate the content item you want to schedule.
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Click the playout properties shown for the content item.
The Playout Properties panel appears.
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Review or update the Content Duration.
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Select the Start Date and Start Time, if the item should start playing at a specific date and time.
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Select the End Date and End Time, if the item should stop playing at a specific date and time.
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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.
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Click Add Tag Rules if you want to apply tag rules to the item.
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Select the Transition option under Display Properties.
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Select the Aspect Ratio option.
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Select any Frequency restrictions, if needed.
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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.
Note: Select Use default on Transition, Aspect Ratio, or Duration to inherit the Media Zone widget values. Configure those widget defaults in Manage a Media Zone Widget.
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.
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Open the Media Zone playlist.
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Click the default playout properties control, shown at the top of the playlist with the total duration.
The Default Channel Playout Properties panel appears.
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Review or update the Default Transition.
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Review or update the Default Aspect Ratio.
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Review or update the Default Content Duration.
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Review or update the Default Content Audio.
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Turn on Enable Playlist Scheduling.
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Click Save.
The Media Zone switches to playlist scheduling mode. The schedule timeline appears, with a Scheduling Mode switch, an Add button, and Day, Month, and Year views.
Note: The Default Schedule remains available in scheduling mode and shows a lock icon. You cannot edit or delete it as a schedule. You can still open its playlist. Custom schedules appear as additional rows on the timeline.
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.
Create a Playlist Schedule
After playlist scheduling is enabled, add a custom schedule for a date range and optional dayparting.
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Open the Media Zone playlist with playlist scheduling enabled.
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Click Add.
The Add Schedule sidebar appears.
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Enter a name in the Name field.
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Enter an optional description in the Description field.
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Turn on Exclusive Schedule if this schedule should be the only schedule that plays during its time period.
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Select the Start Date.
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Select the End Date, or leave it empty if the schedule should not end.
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Select Play All Day, or select Custom Days & Time and set the days and times.
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Select the Playout Properties tab if this schedule should use different transition, aspect ratio, duration, or audio values.
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Select the Tag Rules tab if this schedule should play only on matching devices.
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Click Save.
The custom schedule appears as a new row on the timeline. Click the schedule name to open that playlist and add content.
Note: The schedule window uses dates only. Intra-day start and end times belong in Custom Days & Time, not on the start and end date fields.
Note: When Exclusive Schedule is enabled, this schedule is the only one that plays during its configured time period and overrides all other schedules.
Delete a Playlist Schedule
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Open the Media Zone playlist with playlist scheduling enabled.
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Locate the custom schedule on the timeline.
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Open the more options menu for that schedule.
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Select Delete.
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Confirm the deletion.
The custom schedule is removed. This action cannot be undone.
Note: You cannot delete the Default Schedule. The more options menu is not available on that row.
Link a Media Zone to a Content Source
Link a source when you want a zone to play content that is maintained somewhere else, so the content is curated once and reused in as many zones as you need.
A link stays in sync. The zone always plays what is currently in the source: add an item to the source and it appears in the zone, remove an item from the source and it disappears from the zone. You do not need to revisit the zone when the source changes.
Important: Because removals propagate too, deleting content from a source affects every zone and channel linked to it. Check what is linked to a channel or library folder before deleting content from it.
Link to a Channel
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Open the Media Zone playlist.
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Click the down arrow next to + Add.
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Select Link source.
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Select Channel from the Source menu.
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Select a channel from the Channel menu.
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Select a zone from the Media Zone menu, if the source is a Multizone Signage Channel.
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Click Save.
The content items from the linked source appear 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. The Source menu offers Channel and Library folder.
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.
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Open the Media Zone playlist.
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Click the down arrow next to + Add.
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Select Link source.
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Select Library folder from the Source menu.
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Select a library from the Library menu.
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Select a folder from the Folder menu.
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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. You must also select a folder before you can save.
Configure Playout Properties for a Linked Source
The Link source panel includes a Playout Properties tab. Use it to set the default playout behavior for items from this source in this zone. Set these here, because no playout properties come across from the source.
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Select the Playout Properties tab in the Link source panel.
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Configure the fields as described in Schedule an Individual Content Item.
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Click Save.
The playout properties are applied to the linked source. Items from that source inherit these values unless you set different Playout Properties on an individual item in the zone playlist.
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.
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Select the Filters tab in the Link source panel.
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Select one or more types from Filter by Content Types, if the zone should play only those kinds of content. Options are Card, Image, Video, and Audio.
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Select one or more types from Filter by Post Types, if the source is a channel that contains posts. Options are User Post, Story, Page, Event, Poll, Praise, Question, and Live Event.
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Select Landscape or Portrait from Filter by Orientation, to match the shape of the zone.
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Select a range in Filter by Created Date, if the zone should play only content created in that period.
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Enter one or more tags in Filter by Tags, if the zone should play only tagged content.
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Enter a value in Max number of items to limit how many items the zone takes from the source.
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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. Max number of items starts at 100 on a new link. Filter by Content Types appears for a channel or library folder. Filter by Post Types appears for a channel, not for a library folder.
Note: Click Reset filters to clear the filter fields. Resetting does not restore the 100-item limit.
Manage a Linked Source
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Open the Media Zone playlist.
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Open Manage Sources.
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Select Edit on the source you want to change, or click the source name.
The Edit Source panel opens. You cannot change the source type. You can change the channel, media zone, library, or folder, and you can update Playout Properties and Filters.
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Click Save after you change the source.
To remove the source instead:
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Open Manage Sources.
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Select Remove on the source.
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Confirm that you want to remove the source.
Removing a source also removes all of that source's items from the playlist.
Interleave Content from Multiple Schedules
When playlist scheduling is enabled on a Media Zone and more than one schedule is active, 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: This property takes the value true only.
Note: Applying a device property requires a role that can manage devices. For the steps, see Add and Manage Device Properties.