VenueOS Quick-Start
Light up your screens
in one sitting.
A printable walkthrough for new K-12 districts. Everything you need to go from a fresh login to a hallway display rotating real content.
Before you start
This guide takes you through the four moves every new VenueOS customer makes on day one: connect a screen, upload your content, pick a template, and publish a playlist. By the last page you’ll have content rotating on a real screen.
What you’ll need
- A laptop and a stable internet connection
- One screen with a browser (any Smart TV, Chromebook, or kiosk)
- Your district’s admin login from the welcome email
- A few images, videos, or PDFs to show on the screen
What you’ll have at the end
- A paired display showing live content
- A reusable playlist your team can edit anytime
- A working schedule so the right content plays at the right time
- A clear path to set up emergency alerts (Chapter 5)
What’s in this guide
- 01Connect your first screenPair a TV, Chromebook, or kiosk in under five minutes.p. 4
- 02Upload your contentDrop images, videos, PDFs, or web links into your library.p. 5
- 03Build & publish a playlistChoose what plays, when, and on which screen.p. 6
- 04Or skip the slideshow — pick a template60+ ready-to-go full-screen layouts. Same Publish flow, different content.p. 7
- 05Emergency alertsLockdown, weather, evacuation — wired to every screen.p. 8
Connect your first screen
Any web browser becomes an VenueOS display. You don’t need special hardware — Smart TVs, Chromebooks on a wheeled cart, and existing wall-mounted kiosks all work the same way. Don’t have a screen handy? Pair a browser tab as your first display — see the test-it-from-your-laptop tip below the steps.
Open the player URL on the screen
On your TV or Chromebook, open edusignage.app/player. You’ll see a 6-character pairing code on a branded splash screen.
Open Screens in your dashboard
On your laptop, log in to the VenueOS dashboard and click Screens in the left sidebar. Click Pair Screen.
Enter the code
Type the 6-character code from the screen, give the screen a friendly name (“Lobby A”, “Cafeteria”, “Hallway 2”), and click Pair.
That’s it
The display flips from the pairing code to a Connected splash. You’ll see the screen on your dashboard list with a green ONLINE chip.
Upload your content
The Assets library is the bucket every screen pulls from. Anything you put here can be added to a playlist — images for posters and announcements, videos for morning news, PDFs for menus, even live web URLs.
Open Assets
From the dashboard sidebar, click Assets. You’ll see your media library, organized into folders.
Click Upload
The Upload button opens a folder picker. Pick the folder you want (or stay on All Files). You can also create a new folder right there with the + New folder button.
Drop your files in
Drag and drop any combination of images, videos, PDFs from your desktop. Each file shows a progress bar; once they hit 100% they appear as tiles in the library. To add a web URL instead, click Add URLand paste — we’ll fetch a screenshot for the preview.
What gets supported
JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, MP4, WebM, MOV, MP3, PDF, and any HTTPS URL. Up to 200 MB per file by default; ask support if you need bigger.
Build & publish a playlist
A playlist is the sequence of slides a screen plays. You can mix images, videos, and templates in any order, set how long each one shows, and decide which screens (and times) it runs on.
Create the playlist
Click Playlists in the sidebar, then + New Playlist. Choose Media Playlistfor a slideshow of assets, or From Template to start with a layout from Chapter 3.
Add content
Click Add Media. The picker opens your asset library — multi-select what you want and click Add to Playlist. Each slide’s duration is editable inline.
Drag to reorder
Grab any slide row and drag to reorder. The order on screen matches what you see in the editor, top to bottom.
Schedule & publish
Click Schedule to Screen. Pick the screen (or group), the days of week, and a time window if you want it to play only during certain hours. Two buttons at the bottom: Save stages the schedule as a draft; Publish sends it live immediately.
Or skip the slideshow — use a template
A playlist of slides is one way to light up a screen. A templateis the other. Templates are full-screen layouts we’ve already designed — a scoreboard lobby, a cafeteria menu board, a hallway schedule — that you fill in with a title, a subtitle, and a few photos.
Below are three working templates as they actually render on a screen. Each covers the whole display; no slideshow, no per-slide durations. Pick the look, change the words, publish.
New Playlist → From Template
Click + New Playlist on the Playlists page and choose From Template instead of Media Playlist.
Pick the look
Browse the gallery, filter by grade level (Elementary / Middle / High / All ages) and category (Lobby, Cafeteria, Hallway, etc.). Click a template to choose it.
Fill in the content
The template editor shows every field you can change — headline, subtitle, announcement, teacher-of-the-week, ticker messages, weather location. Save as you go.
Publish — same flow as Chapter 3
Click Schedule to Screen, pick the target screen and days/times, and hit Publish. The template takes over the full screen instead of cycling slides.
Emergency alerts
VenueOS can flash a lockdown, weather, or evacuation message across every screen in the district within seconds. The same infrastructure that pushes daily content carries the alerts — no extra hardware, no separate app to install.
Set your emergency content
From the dashboard, open Settings → Panic Button Integrations. For each alert type (Lockdown, Evacuate, Weather, All Clear) upload an image or video and short text.
Pick who can trigger
Under Settings → Users, flip the “Can trigger panic” capability on for the staff who should have access. By default, only admins do.
Test the drill flow
Open the panic page on your phone (URL on Settings → Panic), choose Drill, and hold the button for 3 seconds. Every paired screen should flip to the message within 5 seconds. The dashboard logs the trigger immutably.
Verify your safety net
On the Screens page, every kiosk shows a green “Emergency cache READY” chip when its panic content is downloaded to disk. No green chip = the screen will fetch from the network during an alert (still works, but slower).
Important: VenueOS emergency features are a communications layer, not a replacement for fire alarms, PA systems, 911 dispatch, or NFPA 72 / UL 2572 certified equipment. Every district should run drills with their primary safety systems first; treat VenueOS as a high-reliability secondary channel.
Need a hand?
We’re a phone call away. Pilot districts get direct access to the engineering team — most replies under an hour during school hours.
Help Center
Step-by-step articles, video walkthroughs, and a searchable knowledge base.
edusignage.app/help
Email Support
Get a real human, not a ticket bot. Most replies within the school day.
support@edusignage.app
Status Page
Live system health for every region. Bookmark this on every IT laptop.
edusignage.app/status
Pilot Concierge
Dedicated onboarding manager during your first 90 days. Direct line on your welcome packet.
In your welcome email
Thank you for choosing VenueOS. We built this for every district that ever wished their school’s signage just worked.