Media playlist widgets

This page was updated for Elementi 2018 - the information below might not apply for older versions.

Description

This type of data-driven widget displays a playlist of medias (images, videos), created automatically from the items retrieved from a data source, such as RSS feed, folder containing media files, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, Flickr, Instagram etc.

The media playlist widget type can be found in several folders accessible from "Widgets" / "Library" tab within the Browse panel.

• RSS, Media and Data Feeds starting with Elementi 2015
• Flickr starting with Elementi 2016
• Instagram, starting with Elementi 2017
• Feed widgets in Elementi 3.x

Configuration

The widget can be customized using the options found on the "Properties" tab within the Edit panel:

Media Playlist properties

• Data source

  Click the button to open the Data Feed Properties dialog and edit the properties related to the data source from where the files for the media playlist are retrieved. Different data channels are offered depending on the widget family: Flickr, Instagram, Media etc.

• Media template

  Click the button to open the "Layer Properties" dialog and edit the properties (e.g., URI, media fit, media align, box formatting, effects etc) of the media layer used to display each media file retrieved from the data source. To create a dynamic address to the media file, the URI of the layer must contain a data placeholder (e.g., [[enclosure]], [[href]], [[link]] etc.; it is also possible to use something like http://my_server/images/[[name]].png if the entire URL is not provided).

Note:

To modify the playlist-related properties of the widget, click the icon from the toolbar to open the "Document Properties" dialog and change the transition, shuffle, looping, and default media duration as needed.

Troubleshooting

• Nothing is displayed when a remote folder is used.

  When the source folder is located on a web server, a reliable network connection is required and the server must have the WebDAV extension enabled for the widget to work. Furthermore, if the server is requiring authentication, you must first configure the credentials to get access.

• The following message is displayed: The media playlist is set to loop and its total duration cannot be determined; using the playlist within a schedule or a multiscreen project might cause problems.

  The alert message is usually displayed when the widget is included into a multiscreen project or a schedule file and it is set to loop - in which case, it may cause synchronization problems. The solution is to disable the widget's looping property.

  This message can also be received within regular projects, when dragging the project timeline or when any manipulation is done on the feed widget after 12 hours of playing time - in this case the alert message can safely be ignored.

See also

• Animated playlist widgets to display a media playlist using the Ken Burns effect animation.
• Media crawler widgets to display media items using a continuous scrolling effect.
• Slideshow widgets to display slides composed of text & media layers, one after another as a playlist.
• Table widgets to display multiple items on the same slide.
• Data-driven widgets