Help / Screens and schedules

Schedules

Play different playlists by time of day, day of week or date, and schedule single slides.

Pixigns has two kinds of schedule, and you can use both together:

• A playlist schedule switches a screen to a different playlist at set times: breakfast in the morning, lunch at noon, a holiday playlist on Christmas Day. You set it on a screen, a group or a location.
• A slide schedule shows one slide only at set times within its playlist: the happy-hour slide from 4 to 6 pm, the weekend brunch slide on Saturdays and Sundays.

Both kinds of schedule come with the Basic and Premium plans.

Times follow your business's clock

Every time in a schedule is in your business's time zone, set in Settings. 7:00 means 7:00 where your screens are, wherever you are when you set it, and daylight saving changes nothing: a slide set for 7:00 still starts at 7:00 the day the clocks go forward.

Each screen keeps its schedule and switches by its own clock, so it switches on time even when the internet is down. A screen with two TVs switches both together.

Playlist schedules

Before you start: a usual playlist

A schedule says when other playlists take over from the usual playlist, the one that plays whenever nothing else is on. So the screen, group or location needs a usual playlist first. A screen that only plays the business's default playlist can't have a schedule; give it its own playlist first.

Where schedules live

A schedule belongs to whatever picks the screen's playlist:

• One screen: in Screens, open the screen. Its Schedule is in its details, under the playlist it plays.
• A location or a group: in Screens, choose the location or group on the left, then press Playlist. Choose its Usual playlist, and its schedule is below. It applies to every screen there that plays the location's or group's playlist. Location and group playlists come with Premium.

If a screen plays its location's or group's playlist, its details show that schedule and say so: changing it there changes it for every screen that shares it. See Groups and locations for which playlist a screen plays.

Add a time

1. Press Add a Time.
2. Choose Every Week or On Dates.
3. Choose the Playlist to play. Any playlist but the usual one is listed.
4. For Every Week, tick the Days and set From and To times. Leave both times empty to play it all day.
5. For On Dates, set From and To dates. Dates are whole days; for one day, use the same date twice.
6. Press Save.

You'll see Schedule saved. The screen changes within 15 seconds. A schedule doesn't need publishing: it takes effect at once. The playlists it plays do need to be published, though. A time whose playlist hasn't been published says not published yet, so the usual playlist plays.

To change a time, press Edit beside it. To take one out, press Remove; you'll see Time removed. The screens change within 15 seconds.

Times past midnight

A To time earlier than the From time runs past midnight. 22:00 to 02:00 on Friday plays from Friday 10 pm until 2 am Saturday: the time belongs to the day it starts.

Which playlist wins

1. A time on dates beats a weekly time.
2. A weekly time beats the usual playlist.
3. The usual playlist plays the rest of the time.

So a Christmas Day entry takes over from your weekday lunch time without you having to change it. Two weekly times on the same schedule can't overlap, and neither can two date ranges.

See the week, and preview any moment

Each schedule shows this week, Sunday first, as coloured bars: one colour per playlist, with a line at the time it is now. Under it, the usual playlist and each time are listed with their colours.

To see what the screens would show at a particular moment, pick a day and time in Preview at and press Preview. It plays the playlist that the schedule picks then, with that playlist's slides scheduled for that time, as last published.

Limits

• A schedule can have up to 50 times.
• Every playlist on a schedule has to fit on the screens at once, because each screen keeps a copy of all of them to switch by itself. If they come to more than a screen can keep, saving is refused with how much they come to and how much the screen holds. Take out some videos or some times first.

Slide schedules

A slide schedule decides when one slide plays within its playlist. Outside its times, the playlist simply skips it.

1. Open the playlist and the slide, then the Timing & Schedule tab.
2. Under Schedule, set any of:
   • Days: the days of the week it plays.
   • Start Time and End Time: the time of day. An end time before the start time runs past midnight.
   • Start Date and End Date: the first and last day it plays, for a promotion or a season.
3. Press Apply Changes, then publish the playlist.

Leave everything empty to show the slide all the time. A slide schedule is part of the playlist, so like any slide change it reaches the TVs when you publish.

Which kind to use

• A few slides change through the day, but most stay the same: slide schedules in one playlist.
• What's on the TVs changes completely, like a breakfast menu and a dinner menu: a playlist schedule.
• A one-off day, like a holiday or an event: a playlist schedule on dates.

If something goes wrong

• “That overlaps another weekly time on this schedule. Change its days or times first.” Two weekly times cover the same minutes on a day. Shorten one, or move it to other days.
• “Those dates overlap other dates on this schedule. Change them first.” Two date ranges share a day.
• “Give it a start and a different end time, or no times to play all day.” Only one of the two times is set, or both are the same.
• “Choose its usual playlist first.” Give the screen, group or location a playlist of its own before adding times.
• “Make another playlist first, then choose when it plays here.” A schedule switches to another playlist, so you need at least two.
• “Scheduling comes with the Basic plan.” An owner can choose a plan in Settings, under Billing. See Plans and billing.
• The screen didn't switch. Check that the scheduled playlist is published, that the business's time zone is right, and use Preview at to see what the schedule picks at that time.