Playlists, schedules, and priority

A template defines layout. A playlist is a rotating sequence of assets (or templates). A schedule says when and where a playlist plays.

Playlists

Create one from Playlists → New playlist:

• Give it a name (e.g. "Morning announcements loop")
• Add items — each item references an asset (image, video, announcement) or a sub-template
• Set dwell duration per item (how long each one shows, in milliseconds)
• Pick a transition (fade, cut, slide, wipe)

Playlists can be nested: a playlist item can itself be a playlist. This is useful for "day of the week"-style variations.

Schedules

A schedule binds a playlist to a target (screen or screen group) for a specific time window:

• Date range — start and end date (end date optional)
• Days of week — any subset of M T W Th F Sa Su
• Time range — e.g. 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM
• Priority — higher number wins when two schedules overlap

Priority and conflicts

When multiple schedules apply to the same screen at the same time, the one with the highest priority wins. For ties, the most recently created schedule wins.

Common priority conventions:

• 0–10 — default content, daily announcements
• 50 — special event overrides (pep rallies, guest speakers)
• 100+ — reserved for emergency-adjacent scheduling (don't use casually)
• ∞ — emergency alerts (bypass schedules entirely — nothing overrides them except an all-clear)

Preview before scheduling

From any playlist detail page, click Preview to see a 1:1 render of what the playlist looks like on a 1080p display. This runs entirely in your browser — no screens are affected.

Scheduling tips

• Don't stack too many schedules on one screen. If you have more than 3 overlapping schedules, it becomes hard to reason about what's showing. Consolidate into a single playlist with internal day-of-week rules instead.
• End-date everything. Open-ended schedules accumulate over years and eventually confuse everyone. Use a one-school-year end date by default.
• Test schedules against a test screen group before rolling out district-wide. Easy to get the time zone wrong.