Signage

Signage runs your church's lobby and hallway TVs. Each screen is a display. You choose what each display shows (usually an announcement loop made in Present), group displays, schedule a different playlist for a season, and send an urgent message to every screen at once.

Where to find it

Open Publish > Signage. The top line says how many displays are online, for example "2 of 3 displays online". Below are three sections: Displays, Display Groups and Scheduled Playlists, and the Alert button sits at the top right. Most of the page works the same on the web app and in Tech Manager; the differences are listed under Good to know.

Add a TV with its own link

Use this for a smart TV with a web browser, or a small computer plugged into a TV.

1. Go to Publish > Signage and click Add TV screen.
2. Type a screen name (for example "Lobby TV") and choose what it shows.
3. Click Add screen.
4. A link appears. Click Copy link (or Open in browser if you are on that TV) and open the link in the TV's browser. Click Done when finished.

The link is that screen's key: anyone with it sees what the screen shows, and it is shown only this once. If you lose it, forget the screen and add it again.

Add a TV by the code it shows

A TV that opens one of your signage links before it has been added shows a code in the corner, with the words "Add this screen in WorshipMetrics: Publish > Signage, Add by code".

1. Go to Publish > Signage on the web app and click Add by code.
2. Type the Code on the TV (it looks like ABCD-1234) and, if you like, a screen name.
3. Click Add screen. You see "Screen added", and the TV appears in Displays.

Add a LAN display

A LAN display is a WorshipMetrics display box on your church network (a Raspberry Pi).

1. Go to Publish > Signage and click Add display.
2. Type the display name and its host name (for example lobbypi.local), then click Add.

In Tech Manager you can instead click Scan network to find display boxes on the network automatically.

Choose what a display shows

1. Go to Publish > Signage and find the display in Displays.
2. Open its dropdown and choose a presentation. The list is grouped: Present loops and Present playlists (made in Present) and Signage playlists. Choose — No presentation — to clear it.
3. You see "Saved" beside the name.

To put one presentation on every display at once, pick it in Cast to all and click the cast button (it names how many displays). Confirm in the dialog.

For a LAN display, choose Live to show Present's live output during a service, or Loop to play its assigned presentation on its own the rest of the week.

Group displays

1. Go to Publish > Signage and find Display Groups.
2. Click + New group, type a name (for example "Lobby Displays") and click Create.
3. On each display, use the group dropdown to put it in the group, or choose No group.
4. Click a group's name to rename it. Click the X to delete it; its displays become unassigned.

Schedule a playlist for a date range

Use this for a season, like Christmas or Easter: displays switch on the start date and switch back on their own afterwards.

1. Go to Publish > Signage and find Scheduled Playlists.
2. Click + Schedule event.
3. Fill in Event name, choose the Playlist, and set the Start date and End date.
4. Set Priority if events overlap (higher wins) and Applies to: All displays or one group.
5. Click Schedule event. A running event shows Active.

Use the pencil to edit an event and the X to delete it.

Send an urgent message to every screen

1. Go to Publish > Signage and click Alert at the top right.
2. Type the message, for example "Parking lot B is closed".
3. Choose when it Expires: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour or Until dismissed.
4. Click Blast Now.

The alert shows on your connected screens over whatever they were showing. While it is live, a strip under the page title shows it; click its X to dismiss it early.

Rename, refresh or forget a display

On Publish > Signage, in Displays:

• Click a display's name to rename it.
• Click Refresh on an online TV to make it reload what it shows.
• On a TV that shows a signage playlist, Copy URL and Open in browser give that playlist's public signage link. Another TV that opens it shows a code, and you add it with Add by code.
• Click the X at the end of the row and confirm Forget to remove it.

Troubleshooting

A display shows "Waiting for Present"

A Present loop or playlist is turned into pictures by Present itself. Open Present on any computer signed in to your church, and the screen fills in shortly after.

The TV says "Nothing is assigned to this screen yet"

Choose what it shows in its dropdown on Publish > Signage.

The TV says "This screen's link is incomplete"

The link was cut off when it was copied. Copy it again, or forget the screen and add it again for a new link.

The TV says "This screen was removed on the Signage page"

The screen was forgotten. Add it again on Publish > Signage to get a new link.

"No screen is waiting with that code"

Check the code on the TV and type it again. If the TV no longer shows a code, it has already been added.

"This organization has reached its screen limit"

Your church has as many screens as it can have. Forget a screen you no longer use, then add the new one.

A display shows as offline

Its last-seen time shows when it last checked in. Make sure the TV is on, on the network, and its browser is open on the signage link.

Good to know

• Add by code is on the web app only. Scan network is in Tech Manager only.
• A LAN display can show signage playlists or Present's live output; a Present loop plays on browser screens.
• A TV loops its presentation on its own. It does not follow the slides an operator is clicking in Present.
• Scheduled events use signage playlists. Loops and playlists you build in Present are assigned to displays directly.