Standard use of the Playlists

The Playlist is a customized collection of content that you assign to players.

You can arrange the content in the desired order and schedule it for specific times and locations, creating an engaging experience for your audience.

Navigate to the Engage CMS playlists

To open the Playlist in Engage CMS:

1. Log in to Engage CMS: https://app.zetadisplay.io/
2. Click "Playlist" in the menu or go directly to: https://app.zetadisplay.io/playlists

Navigation

The navigation in Playlists works similarly to the Library navigation.

• Breadcrumb
  The breadcrumb trail shows your current folder location. Use it to navigate the folder structure.
• Back
  Click the back arrow to move one step back in the folder hierarchy.
• Search
  Quickly find content or folders by using the search function. You can filter search results by selecting the “Type” dropdown to narrow results to images, videos, URLs, templates, or audio files.
• Sorting
  Sort playlists by their status:
  • Disabled: The playlist is being edited and has not yet been scheduled or assigned to a player.
  • Published: The playlist is active and published on a player.
  • Expired: The playlist has finished playing and has no active schedule.

Action Button

The contextual button provides page-specific options. Hover over it to reveal actions related to your Playlists:

Navigation Create a New Playlist Folder

Use folders to organize and manage your playlists efficiently.

CREATE A NEW PLAYLIST

To create a new playlist:

1. Name and Set the Layout
   • You will need to give the playlist a name and select a default layout. With the release of version 1.26.0, the layout can be changed later in the playlist settings sidekick.

1. Enter the Player Setup Page
   The page is divided into three sections:
   • (1) Overview of Your Library
   • (2) Playlist Content
   • (3) Playlist Settings (including scheduling, targeting, and playlist mode)

1. Add Content from Your Library
   • You can either drag and drop files or click the “+add” button to include content.
   • The content will play in the order you add it by default (in the "Grouped" Playlist mode).
   • Rearrange Content: Drag-and-drop to reorder your content, or adjust settings via the content's three-dot menu.
2. Three-Dot Menu Options
   • The three-dot menu for a content file allows you to edit, schedule, or remove the content from the playlist.
   • Editing Media: Changes made to a media file will affect all playlists using the same content. These changes are saved when the playlist is saved.
   • Edit an Image: You can set the duration for how long an image will display in the playlist.
   • Schedule Content: You can schedule individual content files to play at specific times within the playlist. Note that a content schedule cannot be played outside the playlist schedule.

Scheduling a Playlist

There are three modes for scheduling a playlist:

• Always: The playlist will play continuously.
• Scheduled: The playlist will play at specific set times.
• Disabled: The playlist is inactive and will not play.

When scheduling a playlist, you can set:

• Start and End Date
  Example: Start Date: 17/03/2025 06:00 → End Date: 21/03/2025 18:00
• Play on Specific Days (Monday through Sunday)
  Example: This playlist will play on all days except Wednesdays.
• Play Times
  Example: Play from 06:00 to 11:30, then from 14:00 to 18:00, pausing during lunch hour.
  • If no time is selected, the playlist will follow the times set on the date selection.

You can have multiple schedules for a playlist. For example, to avoid playing during lunch, you can create schedules for different times or dates.

Targeting

The targeting option allows you to choose which players will display this playlist.

• Add Players or Groups: Click “+ Add groups” to add players or groups of players.
  • A pop-up will open showing your current Player library.
  • Select the players/groups you want and click “Continue.” 

• The pop-up will close, and you can preview which players are targeted.

For more information on managing players, groups, and labels, refer to this article.

Playlist Priority

The Engage CMS follows a multilevel scheduling system, where higher-level schedules take precedence over lower levels:

1. Power Schedules (Highest priority)
2. Playlist Schedules
3. Individual Content Schedules (Lowest priority)

Lower-level schedules cannot override higher-level schedules.

We are phasing out the playlist priority called "Exclusive." Instead, users can now combine playlist priority and playlist mode for more flexibility and control over content scheduling.

Playlist priority determines the order in which playlists are played based on their priority level. There are 5 levels of priority:

1. Highest Priority: This is the top priority level and will overwrite any other playlist, regardless of its scheduled time. It is always played first.
2. High Priority: This playlist will play if there is no active playlist with the highest priority. It will overwrite playlists of lower priority.
3. Normal Priority: This is the default priority level. It will play if no higher priority playlist is active but will overwrite any lower priority playlists.
4. Low Priority: This playlist will only be played if there is no active playlist with a higher priority.
5. Lowest Priority: This is the lowest priority level. It will only be played if nothing else is scheduled or active.

⚠️ Important: Using Exclusive priority alongside other priority levels, they may experience issues. When upgrading to the new priority system, it is best to remove all playlists using Exclusive priority to avoid conflicts.

Playlist Mode

Playlist mode defines how the content of the playlist is handled and mixed with content from other playlists. It no longer impacts the priority but governs the way content from various playlists interacts. The three available modes are:

1. Grouped: The content in the playlist will play in the order it is listed, without mixing content from other playlists. It stays "grouped" to the specific playlist. 
   
   By default, the playlist mode is set to Grouped.
2. Shuffled: The content from the playlist will be mixed with content from other playlists that are also in shuffled mode. It won't mix with playlists set to "Grouped" mode.
3. On-demand: This mode allows the playlist to be played only when manually triggered, meaning it won't play automatically based on the schedule.

Player Playback Logic

The player determines which playlist to play based on the priority and mode. It will always prioritize playlists with the highest priority level and mix content according to the playlist mode. The player transitions between playlists based on their priority level and the availability of content.

• Transition from Higher to Lower Priority: If a higher priority playlist finishes its content, the player will move to a lower priority playlist, finishing any content that is currently playing from the higher priority one.
  • Example: A High priority playlist scheduled to end at 20:00 will play until the content finishes, and then a Normal priority playlist scheduled until 21:00 will take over.
• Transition from Lower to Higher Priority: When a lower priority playlist ends, the player will immediately switch to the higher priority playlist without waiting for the current content to finish.
  • Example: If a Normal priority playlist is scheduled from 8:00 to 21:00 and a High priority playlist is scheduled from 11:00 to 20:00, the player will automatically switch to the High priority playlist at 11:00, without waiting for the Normal priority playlist content to finish.

This approach ensures that the most relevant or time-sensitive content is played without interruption while managing playlist transitions efficiently.

• Once you're happy with the new playlist, click "Save."

Expiration of a Playlist

When a playlist's end date has passed, it is considered “Expired” and will be moved to the bottom of the playlist list.

Sidekick

Playlist settings can now be configured directly within the sidekick, making it easier to manage schedules, targets, and modes without switching views.

You can access the sidekick view by directly clicking on any playlist. At the top of the sidekick, you will find basic information such as:

• Path: The folder where your playlist is located. This is clickable, allowing you to easily navigate to the playlist's folder destination.
• Status: The playlist's current status, including whether it's published, expired, or promoted.
  • The "Promoted" status means the playlist is awaiting approval from an admin before it can be published.
• Additional Information: This includes details about the playlist’s scheduling, targeting, and playback mode.

Below this section, you’ll see the content area of your playlist. Here you can select multiple files for individual scheduling or remove them from the playlist. The three-dot menu allows you to edit the media file.

Adding Media From the Playlist Sidekick
To add media files to the playlist:

1. Click on “+ Add” at the bottom of the sidekick. This opens an overlay of your library. Here you can multi-select files, upload files, add URLs, and create folders.

1. When files have been selected, click “Add” to add them to the playlist.
   • You can drag and drop the content to arrange it in the desired order.
   • A frame around the media file thumbnail will appear if the file does not match the set aspect ratio layout

• This warning highlights that the media file does not match the layout, but it will not affect your playlist, and you can save and play it. The file will scale proportionally to fit the layout.

File Action Tags

You’ll see tags on files that you’ve added, removed, excluded, or modified. These tags inform you of the actions you’ve made in the playlist. However, these actions will not be saved unless you click "Update". If you want to cancel changes, click the “X” in the top left of the sidekick, and you will be prompted to confirm whether you want to close without saving.

• Modified: The file has been modified in some way, such as being scheduled, rearranged, or edited.
• Excluded: The file has been excluded from specific players the playlist is set to play on.
  • This feature is only available when the Exclude Content feature is enabled for your workspace.
  • You must have Player edit permissions.
  • The player must be owned by or shared with your workspace.
  • Note: This functionality is not available for Virtual players.
• Removed: The file has been completely removed from the playlist.

Scheduled Individual Media

The schedule option allows you to set specific playtimes for individual content files within the playlist. Note: Individual content scheduling cannot play outside the Playlist schedule.

Comprehensive Scheduling Display:
Users can view the individual scheduling of media files.

• Hover Functionality:
  • Hovering over the calendar icon will display all schedules for that file. 

Playlist Settings

The playlist settings can be opened from the top-right cogwheel. A dropdown is available at the top of the Playlist settings panel to choose from available layouts in your workspace. After selecting a layout, the available areas within that layout will appear, and you can click to select where to apply the playlist. The selected area will be visually highlighted.

• Default: The main area of your workspace's default layout is pre-selected.

Automatic Content Orientation Validation

If changing the layout affects the content orientation, the system will automatically validate whether your media fits the new orientation. Mismatched content will be flagged for adjustment before saving.

Saving & Cancelling Changes

• Changes are saved by clicking “Update” or “Force Player Update” in the top right corner.
• To cancel, click the "X" button in the top left, which opens a confirmation modal with two options:
  • Cancel: Keep editing without saving.
  • Undo Changes: Revert all modifications and close the Playlist Sidekick.

Expand/Collapse in Playlist Settings

• Expand/collapse toggles have been added for long settings.
• Defaults:
  • The layout section is collapsed (less frequently adjusted).
  • Targets & Schedules are expanded (frequently used).
• Preferences are saved per session.

Version Control