Media files widgets

Applies to Elementi 2017 and later.

Introduction

Elementi software features 250+ widgets, some of which are designed to automatically display the media content (usually images and / or videos) from a given location - could be a designated folder or a third-party provider such as: Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, Flickr, Instagram etc. Elementi widgets are a simple way to easily connect your media to a digital signage display that anyone can manage: a dedicated technical person or an assistant. Simply updating the media folder you use on a daily basis will update the content displayed on the screen.

Use the Elementi calendar widgets for any industry sector and across any organization size – from a startup to a large corporation. Here are just a few examples of how you can put your media files widget to use at best:

• Hospitality
• Corporate
• Education
• Healthcare

Getting started

1. Create a new Elementi project or open an existing one.
2. Click the "Widgets" tab in the Browse panel.
3. Open the "Media" folder.
4. Pick a widget (see the list below) that best fits how you want to present the data.
5. Drag & drop that widget from the Browse panel into the Preview panel or Edit panel. The widget is automatically copied within your opened project.
6. Configure the widget to display your data.

Tutorial:

Customize your Elementi 2015 media widget.

Media widgets

Elementi software comes with several calendar widgets accessible from "Widgets" tab within the Browse panel of the Elementi GUI.

Media files widgets in Elementi 2017 and 2018

• Media Playlist

  Displays a dynamic media playlist (images, videos) out of the files stored onto a given location.

• Media Crawler

  Displays the media items (images, videos) out of the files stored onto a given location, using a continuous scrolling effect.

• Animated Playlist

  Displays a media playlist using the Ken Burns effect animation.

• Slideshow

  Displays slides composed of media layers (images, videos) and text layers (file related details), out of the files stored onto a given location. The slides are displayed one after another, with or without a transition effect in between, similarly to a playlist. Each slide is displayed for a fixed duration.

• Horizontal Table, Vertical Table, and Table

  Displays slides composed of multiple cells of text & media layers, which are automatically filled out with data retrieved from the selected source. The slides are displayed one after another, with or without a transition effect in between, similarly to a playlist.

Configuration

Each of the widgets above can be customized using the options provided under "Properties" tab - for more details go to the dedicated page of each widget type, linked above.

Data source setup

To edit the properties related to the data source, click on the button. This opens the "Data Properties" dialog, which offers different parameters depending on the selected channel. The following are (almost) common to all channels:

• Channel

  Select the data source channel between:

  • Media Folder - a folder included into the project or located on a web server.
  • OneDrive Folder - file hosting service operated by Microsoft as part of its suite of Office Online services.
  • Google Drive Folder - file storage and synchronization service developed by Google. Added in Elementi 2018*
  • Flickr - online photo management and sharing application offered by Yahoo.
  • Instagram - online photo management and sharing networking service owned by Facebook.
  • Facebook Album - a popular application on Facebook allowing users to create photo albums.

• Filter

  Specify the file extension filter to be applied on the result set. Either select an existing filter or enter a custom one - you can use multiple extensions, separated by semicolons (for instance: *.mp4;*.avi;*.wmv;*.mpg;*.mp3;*.wav;*.wma;*.m4a;*.aac to list both video and audio files).

• Sort

  Select how the files are sorted, between: "Default", "Alphabetical", "Most recently modified", and "Most recently created".

• Max count

  Enable this option and specify the maximum number of items to be kept from the data set (starting from the first row).

• Refresh

  Specify the period after which the widget should refresh the data (this is useful especially when the widget is running in a loop); either select one of the provided options ("When document opens", 5m, 10m, ... , 24h) or enter a number, optionally followed by s (implicit), m or h; the minimum accepted value is 10 seconds. Using "When document opens" will refresh the data only when the document is re-opened.

Notes:

• At any point, the data source configuration can be tested by clicking on the "Test..." button.
• Only the files from the given folder are retrieved, but not those from the inner folders.

Media folder channel

"Data Properties" dialog for "Media Folder" channel

This channel refers to a folder containing media files. This folder can be included into the project or be located on a remote web server. Or a mix of the two as detailed below.

When the channel option is set to "Media Folder", the "Data Properties" dialog offers the following parameters:

• URI

  Enter the URI to the media folder as a local path into the project (like) or a remote HTTP(S) address. Examples:

  • "media" - the media folder is in the same location as the widget
  • "../media" - the folder is one level up comparing to the widget location
  • "https://myserver.com/media/" - the media folder is located onto a WebDAV-enabled web server

• Channel, Filter, Sort, Max count, Refresh

  Same as above.

Folder location

Depending on the location of the media folder, there are three possible usage scenarios:

• On the player

  The media folder is included into the project itself and the files are imported into it using Elementi - upon publishing, the files are pushed onto the HMP, which assures total autonomy. This is the preferred solution, even though to update the content on the screen, you need to republish the project from Elementi. You could also use another WebDAV client to update that folder on the player.

• On a web server

  The files are uploaded on a server accessible via HTTP and having the WebDAV extension enabled on it (the widget won't work otherwise!). This assures high flexibility for updating the files independently of the project, however, as the HMP will play the media files from the server, this generally requires a reliable network connection; those media files will be locally cached for up to 2 hours.

  There are not too many public web servers offering WebDAV support, so this mostly refers to internal servers or NAS devices.

• Mix of the two above

  The files are located on a web server (with or without WebDAV support) and are periodically retrieved by the HMP into a predefined folder used as data source for the widget. This assures both autonomy and flexibility, however it might be more complex to set up as it employs advanced Scheduled Download or Pull Mode mechanisms.

OneDrive channel

Security is a fundamental element to consider when giving access to your personal data and we've created our data-driven widgets with that in mind. To ensure secure access and permission control, without exposing any user credentials, Cockpit must authorize any request for third-party data. For that, you need to do the following:

1. Create a Cockpit account, if you don't have one.
2. Register your Elementi license into your Cockpit account.
3. Add your players into your Cockpit account.
4. Connect your Microsoft account to your Cockpit account.

See more about secure data access.

"Data Properties" dialog for "OneDrive Folder" channel

When the channel option is set to "OneDrive", the "Data Properties" dialog offers the following parameters:

• Account

  Select one of the connected Microsoft online accounts or click "Connect account..." if none was previously connected.

• Folder

  Click on "Change..." button to browse within your OneDrive space and select the folder from which to get the files.

• Channel, Filter, Sort, Max count, Refresh

  Same as above.

OneDrive channel connection

When selecting this channel in the "Data Properties" dialog, your existing Microsoft accounts are automatically retrieved from Cockpit and displayed in the "Account" drop-down box. If you need to connect a new account, follow these steps:

1. Select "Connect account..." option .
2. Click the link displayed within the "Connect account..." dialog to open it in a browser.
3. If you are not signed into your Cockpit account, you are asked to do that.
4. Cockpit then checks that your Elementi license is registered into your Cockpit account; if not, you are asked to do that.
5. You are then redirected to the Microsoft website. Log into your account there, if you are not already.
6. Then, you need to authorize the SpinetiX app to access the specified information of your Microsoft account.
7. Once done, you are redirected back to Cockpit channels page and you can find your account listed under "Connected Accounts".
8. Then, return to Elementi and click the "OK" button within the "Connect Account..." dialog.
9. The list of accounts is refreshed and you can select the new one from the "Account" drop-down box.

Note:

The Microsoft online account can be disconnected at any time from Cockpit from the "Channels" page.

Google Drive channel

Added in Elementi 2018 for a limited number of users. Available to all users starting with Elementi 2018 Update 1.

Security is a fundamental element to consider when giving access to your personal data and we've created our data-driven widgets with that in mind. To ensure secure access and permission control, without exposing any user credentials, Cockpit must authorize any request for third-party data. For that, you need to do the following:

1. Create a Cockpit account, if you don't have one.
2. Register your Elementi license into your Cockpit account.
3. Add your players into your Cockpit account.
4. Connect your Google account to your Cockpit account.

See more about secure data access.

When the channel option is set to "Google Drive", the "Data Properties" dialog offers the following parameters:

"Data Properties" dialog for "Google Drive" channel

• Account

  Select one of the connected Google accounts or click "Connect account..." if none was previously connected.

• Folder

  Click on "Change..." button to browse within your Google Drive space and select the folder from which to get the files.

• Channel, Filter, Max count, Refresh

  Same as above.

Google channel connection

When selecting this channel in the "Data Properties" dialog, your existing Google accounts are automatically retrieved from Cockpit and displayed in the "Account" drop-down box. If you need to connect a new account, follow these steps:

1. Select "Connect account..." option .
2. Click the link displayed within the "Connect account..." dialog to open it in a browser.
3. If you are not signed into your Cockpit account, you are asked to do that.
4. Cockpit then checks that your Elementi license is registered into your Cockpit account; if not, you are asked to do that.
5. You are then redirected to the Google website. Log into your account there, if you are not already.
6. Then, you need to authorize the SpinetiX app to access the specified information of your Google account.
7. Once done, you are redirected back to Cockpit channels page and you can find your account listed under "Connected Accounts".
8. Then, return to Elementi and click the "OK" button within the "Connect Account..." dialog.
9. The list of accounts is refreshed and you can select the new one from the "Account" drop-down box.

Notes:

• The Google account can be disconnected at any time from Cockpit from the "Channels" page.
• When searching for a target folder, the list shows all folders, including those located into the trash folder. Also, deleted files are returned as part of the original folders. The workaround is to empty the thrash.

Facebook Album channel

Data Properties

When the channel option is set to "Facebook Album", the following options are available:

• Account

  Select one of the connected Facebook accounts or click "Connect account..." if none was previously connected.

• Profile

  Select the profile to be displayed. It is possible to select the user profile or any public profile in Facebook. Use the Public pages... button to search for public profiles.

• Title

  Select the album to be displayed

• Size

  Select the size of the images to be retrieved - varies between thumbnail (130px) to large (960px).

• Channel, Max count, Refresh

  Same as above.

Facebook channel connection

When selecting this channel in the "Data Properties" dialog, your existing Facebook accounts are automatically retrieved from Cockpit and displayed in the "Account" drop-down box. If you need to connect a new account, follow these steps:

1. Select "Connect account..." option .
2. Click the link displayed within the "Connect account..." dialog to open it in a browser.
3. If you are not signed into your Cockpit account, you are asked to do that.
4. Cockpit then checks that your Elementi license is registered into your Cockpit account; if not, you are asked to do that.
5. You are then redirected to the Facebook website. Log into your account there, if you are not already.
6. Then, you need to authorize the SpinetiX app to access the specified information of your Facebook account.
7. Once done, you are redirected back to Cockpit channels page and you can find your account listed under "Connected Accounts".
8. Then, return to Elementi and click the "OK" button within the "Connect Account..." dialog.
9. The list of accounts is refreshed and you can select the new one from the "Account" drop-down box.

Notes:

• The Facebook account can be disconnected at any time from Cockpit from the "Channels" page.
• Business manager accounts are not supported.

Troubleshooting

Warning messages

• Problem detected with target device. Widgets using channels will not work properly. Are you sure you want to continue?

  This happens when trying to publish a project containing widgets that use third-party data providers and one or more of the target HMPs have not been added to Cockpit.

  To solve the issue, open the HMP Control Center and add the player to Cockpit using the same account as the one used to registered the Elementi license into Cockpit

• Data source uri cannot be reached, no content will be displayed

  This is displayed when using a media folder as data source from a server which doesn't have the WebDAV extension enabled. You must enable WebDAV on that server for the widget to work.

Known issues

• Multiscreen usage.

  These widgets can only be used on a single screen when creating a multiscreen project; for multiple screens, a data feed widget must be used instead.

• A blue x is displayed instead of the image.
  

  This happens when the image is outside the player specifications - you should make sure that the image is not larger than full HD resolution, for instance, by importing it into Elementi before uploading it on the remote location.

• My images are shown, but not (all) my videos.

  Mixing images with videos is generally supported, although not recommended, especially when third-party providers are used, because the download speed must be good enough to match the playback speed. Additionally, in case of "OneDrive" channel, the mime type for mp4 videos is wrongly reported as "application/octet-stream", which prevents them to be automatically displayed - the workaround for this is to use a dedicated widget for mp4 videos and manually set the "Media template" layer mime type to "video/mp4" from Layer Properties > Advanced tab.

• When using Google Drive as channel and searching for a target folder, the list shows all folders, including those located into the trash folder. Also, deleted files are returned as part of the original folders. The workaround is to empty the thrash.

See also

• Elementi 2018 Widgets, Elementi 2017 Widgets
• Media files widgets in Elementi 2016, Media files widgets in Elementi 2015, Media files widgets in Elementi 3.x
• Facebook widgets, Instagram widgets, Flickr widgets
• Data-driven widgets
• Data feeds
• Widgets