Media files widgets in Elementi 2016

This page is about the media files data-driven widgets included Elementi 2016. For other versions, see links below.

Introduction

The media-files widgets can be used to automatically display the media content (usually images and / or videos) from the following data source types (further called "channels"):

• Media Folder

  This is a regular folder containing media files. A filter based on the file name / extension can be applied.

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

  • Local source

    The source folder is included into the project itself and the files are imported into it using Elementi (or another WebDAV client). It is thus located on the HMP, which assures total autonomy, but might be less flexible because the content is updated by republishing the project.

  • Remote source

    The source folder is located on a web server and the media files are played directly from there. This assures high flexibility for updating the files independently of the project, however, it requires a reliable network connection; furthermore the server must have the WebDAV extension enabled for the widget to work.

  • Mixed

    The files are periodically retrieved from a web server by the HMP into a local folder, which is used as data source for the widget. This assures both autonomy and flexibility, though it might be more complex to set up. Also the WebDAV extension is not required in certain cases.

• Flickr

  This is the well-known online photo management and sharing application offered by Yahoo.

Media widgets

Media files widgets in Elementi 2016

Under the "Media" folder of Elementi 2015 Library, you can find three ready-to-use widgets that automatically display media files from a given folder:

• Media Playlist

  Displays a playlist of media items (images, videos) out of the files included into a given folder.

• Media Crawler

  Displays the media items (images, videos) out of the files included into a given folder, using a continuous scrolling effect.

• Slideshow

  Displays slides composed of media layers (images, videos) and text layers (file related details), out of the files included into a given folder. 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.

Note: The current version of these widgets is not compatible with multiscreen content.

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.

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:

• Media Folder (default)
• Flickr

Note: At any point, the data source configuration can be tested by clicking on the "Test..." button.

Media folder channel

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

"Data Properties" dialog for media files widgets - Media folder channel

• Channel

  Select the media files data source type between "Media Folder" (default) and "Flickr".

• URI

  Enter the URI to the media folder - this can be a local path into the project or a remote HTTP(S) address.

• 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, to list both video and audio files, the filter can look like this: *.mp4;*.avi;*.wmv;*.mpg;*.mp3;*.wav;*.wma;*.m4a;*.aac

• 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 events 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.

For each item of the result set, it generates the following output columns:

• creationdate: Creation date of the file / folder.
• filename: Name of the file / directory (without the path).
• getcontentlength: Size of the file in bytes or "null" for directories.
• getetag: Unique identifier for the file (can be used to check if the file has been modified) or "null" for directories.
• getlastmodified: Last modification date for the file / folder.
• href: Path to the file (can be used to display the media file).
• resourcetype: Resource type - "collection" or "null" (for files)

Note: Only the files from the given folder are retrieved, but not those from the inner folders.

Flickr channel

When the channel option is set to "Flickr", the "Data Properties" dialog offers the same parameters as for the Flicker widgets.

See also

• Media files widgets, Media files widgets in Elementi 2015, Feed widgets in Elementi 3.x
• Data feeds
• Data-driven widgets
• Elementi 2016 Widgets
• Display media content tutorial
• Publish Location feature in Elementi