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Publish and roll back

Drafts, previews, publishing, versions and going back to an older one.

Drafts and published versions

Every change you make to a playlist goes into its draft: new slides, timings, transitions, music, the order. The TVs don't see the draft. They only ever play a published version.

When the draft is ready, you publish it. That freezes it into a new version, numbered 1, 2, 3 and so on, and every screen that plays the playlist switches to it. So you can work on a playlist for as long as you like without customers seeing anything half-finished.

A few things change on the TVs without publishing: menu prices and sold-out items, urgent messages, and screen settings such as TV power times.

Preview first

The preview at the top of a playlist plays the draft as it will look on your TVs. Press Preview for a bigger view. Both play every shown slide in order and ignore schedules. See Preview your playlist.

Publish a playlist

Open the playlist and press Publish at the top right. For a playlist that's been published before, the button says Publish Changes while there are changes, and is greyed out when there are none.

You'll see, for example:

• Published version 2. Counter updates within a minute.
• Published version 1. Add a screen to show it. if no screen plays it yet.

What's published:

• Every slide that's shown and complete.
• Not hidden slides, and not slides whose card says Needs a picture. They stay in the draft for later.
• The playlist's background music and anything falling over its slides.

A slide with a schedule is published like any other, and the TVs show it only at its times. If nothing can be published, you'll see Nothing to publish: add an enabled slide with an image or video first.

Owners and editors publish. Viewers can't.

Publish everything at once

At the top of every page, the Publish button counts playlists whose changes aren't on the screens yet, like Publish (2). Open it to see them, each with how many screens it's on, and press Publish all (or Publish for one). You'll see Published 2 playlists. Screens update within a minute. When there's nothing to send, it says All published.

It lists playlists that are on a screen or have been published before. A brand-new playlist that no screen plays stays a draft until you publish it from its own page.

How the TVs get it

Screens check for changes every 15 seconds. When there's a new version, a screen downloads only the files it doesn't already have, checks each one, and switches to the new version once everything has arrived. Until then it carries on playing the old one, so the TVs never go blank or show a half-downloaded slide. Most changes reach the TVs within a minute; a playlist with large new videos takes as long as they take to download.

Under the playlist's name you can follow it: Showing on Counter, up to date. when every screen has it, or Showing on Counter. 1 screen is still updating to version 2. while it's on its way. A screen that's offline picks up the new version when it's back: Counter is offline. It shows version 2 when it's back. See Offline play and alerts.

Versions and going back

Every publish is kept. To see them, open the playlist and, in its panel, press Show beside Version history. Each version lists its number, how many slides it had, and when it was published.

To go back to an older version, press Restore beside it. It's published again as the newest version, so nothing is lost: you'll see Restored version 1 as version 3. Screens switch to it within a minute.

When a playlist is too big for a screen

Each player keeps a copy of everything it plays, so it can play without the internet. That copy has to fit on the player, along with the other playlists it plays on a schedule. If a new version wouldn't fit, it isn't published, and you're told which screens and how much they need, for example:

Not published: it's more than a screen can keep. Counter needs 9.2 GB for it and its other playlists, and has room for 7.5 GB. Take out some videos, or play fewer playlists there, first.

Pictures are small; long videos take the room. Take out videos you don't need, use shorter or smaller versions (1080p is plenty), or play fewer playlists on that screen's schedule.

When a web page won't show

Some websites don't allow themselves to be shown inside other pages, and on the TVs they'd show an error. When you publish, Pixigns checks every web page on the playlist's shown slides. If one refuses, you're asked Publish anyway?, with the page's name:

The web page Opening Times won't show on the TVs: its site doesn't allow itself to be shown inside other pages, so the TVs would show an error instead.

Press Publish Anyway to go ahead, or close the question, take that slide out or hide it, and publish again. Sites change their minds sometimes, which is why it's checked every time.

Publishing and your plan

Publishing also checks that the new version only uses what your plan includes. If it doesn't, it isn't published, and you're told what needs which plan, for example YouTube comes with the Premium plan. An owner can choose one in Settings, under Billing.

If your business moves to a smaller plan, what's on the screens keeps playing. It's publishing something new that needs the plan again. See Plans and billing.

If something goes wrong

• The Publish button is greyed out. Either nothing has changed since the last publish, or the playlist has no shown slides yet.
• I published, but a screen still shows the old version. Check the line under the playlist's name. If the screen is offline, it updates when it's back. If it's still updating, it may be downloading large videos. If it plays another playlist, choose this one for it; see Choose which screens play it.
• A slide I added isn't on the TVs. It may be hidden, need a picture, or be scheduled for another time.
• A playlist wasn't published from Publish all. Each playlist that couldn't be published says why, such as the storage or plan messages above. The others are still published.