Help / Screens and schedules

Groups and locations

Decide what each screen plays, for one screen or many at once.

How Pixigns decides what a screen plays

Every screen plays one usual playlist. Pixigns takes the first of these that's been chosen:

1. The screen's own playlist, if you chose one for it.
2. Its group's playlist, if it's in a group that has one.
3. Its location's playlist, if its location has one.
4. The default playlist for your whole business.

A schedule can then hand over to other playlists at set times, like breakfast, lunch and dinner. The schedule belongs to whichever of these chose the usual playlist, so a group's schedule runs on every screen that plays the group's playlist. See Schedules.

Each screen's card says what chose its playlist under Chosen by: Its own choice, Its group, Its location, The default playlist, or Its schedule, for now.

The default playlist

Your first playlist becomes the default by itself. To make another the default, open it in Playlists and press Make default, or choose it under Default playlist in Settings. The default playlist can't be deleted while it's the default; make another one the default first.

A screen's own playlist

Choose it in any of these places:

• Change Playlist on the screen's card in Screens.
• Playlist in its Screen Details, then Save.
• In the playlist itself, by ticking the screens that play it.

To undo it, choose None of its own. You'll see Front counter goes back to its group's, location's or the default playlist.

Locations

A location is a place your screens are, like Main street, Lobby or Cafeteria. Screens at a location share its opening hours, its TV times and, if you choose one, its playlist.

Give a screen a location

Type the location's name in the Location field when you add a screen, or in its Screen Details (then press Save). Pick one from the list, or type a new name to make a new location. You'll see Saved.

Your locations are listed on the left of Screens, with how many screens each has. Click one to see only its screens. No Location lists the screens that don't have one yet.

A location's settings

With a location chosen on the left, three buttons appear at the top of the page:

• Playlist: its Usual playlist, for its screens without their own or a group's, and its schedule. You'll see Playlist saved. The screens change within 15 seconds. If some of its screens play their own or their group's playlist, it says so: they keep those, and their schedules.
• Opening Hours: No set hours or Set hours, with an opening and closing time for each day (untick a day to make it Closed). Offline alerts for its screens go out only while it's open. A closing time before the opening time runs past midnight, like 18:00 to 02:00. You'll see Opening hours saved. See Offline play and alerts.
• TV Power: when its screens turn their TVs on and off. A screen with its own TV times keeps those. See TV power.

All times are in your business's time zone, set in Settings.

Groups

A group is screens that play the same thing wherever they are: all the menu boards, say, or every screen in a waiting area across several locations. A screen is in one group at most.

Make a group

1. On Screens, press + next to Groups on the left.
2. Give it a Name, like Menu boards.
3. Tick the Screens in the group. A screen already in another group says so; ticking it moves it to this one (“Moves from” the other group).
4. Press Add Group. You'll see Menu boards added. Choose its playlist under Playlist.
5. With the group chosen on the left, press Playlist and choose its Usual playlist. You can give it a schedule there too.

You can also put a screen in a group from its Screen Details, with the Group field.

Change or delete a group

Choose the group on the left and press Edit Group to rename it or change its screens, then Save. To delete it, press Delete there and confirm Delete Group: its screens stay, and play their own, their location's or the default playlist. The group's schedule is deleted with it.

Groups or locations?

You can use both. A restaurant with two branches might make each branch a location, for its hours and TV times, and put the menu boards in both branches into one group, so they always show the same menu.

Which plan you need

• Every plan: the default playlist, a screen's own playlist, and one location with its opening hours.
• Basic and Premium: schedules.
• Premium: groups, more than one location, a playlist for a group or a location, and a location's TV power times.

Trying one on a plan without it says which plan it comes with, for example “Screen groups, and playlists for a group or location, come with the Premium plan. An owner can choose one in Settings, under Billing.” See Plans and billing.

Who can do what

Owners and editors make and change groups and locations, and choose playlists. Viewers see everything: for a group, Screens in Group instead of Edit Group.