Hello and welcome to ScreenCloud. We’ll get you started with an overview and step-by-step guide on how to use ScreenCloud’s digital signage platform.
Section I: Digital signage walkthrough
2. Download the ScreenCloud app on your device
3. Add screens
5. Adding apps
9. Assign content to your screens
Section II: General FAQs & how-tos
1. Screens
2. Channels
3. Playlists
4. Media
5. Links
6. Apps
You can also watch a YouTube demo on the core features of ScreenCloud Studio by clicking here.
Section I: Digital signage walkthrough
1. Select your hardware
ScreenCloud runs on most consumer hardware, delivering a convenient and flexible solution for showcasing your digital signage. We support a handful of popular media devices, smart televisions, tablets, and more.
Please visit https://screencloud.com/hardware to browse through our supported devices.
If you have any questions on supported hardware/operating systems or do not see your device listed in our hardware selector, please reach out to support@screencloud.com so we can help verify if your device can work with ScreenCloud.
2. Download the ScreenCloud app on your device
2.1. Once you have purchased your hardware, you can download the ScreenCloud app directly on your device. You can click here to view instructions for your device and how to download the ScreenCloud player to your respective device.
You can also try out ScreenCloud using your PC, macOS computer, smartphone, or tablet:
- Windows OS: Download the ScreenCloud desktop player here
- macOS: Download the ScreenCloud desktop player here
- Android OS: Download the ScreenCloud app from the Google Play Store
- iOS Device: Download the ScreenCloud app from the Apple Store
2.2. After downloading the ScreenCloud app on your device, open the app to view a pairing code that’ll be used to sync your screen with your account at https://studio.screencloud.com/screens.
3. Add screens
After downloading the ScreenCloud app on your device, the next step is to add a screen and use the pairing code displayed on your screen.
3.1. Make a note of the pairing code that’s appearing on your screen or device, this is used to add the screen into your account.
3.2. Visit the “Screens” section in the left-hand menu of your ScreenCloud account.
3.3. Click on the yellow “New Screen” button and enter your 6 character pairing code exactly how it appears on the screen.
3.4. If the code is correct, the window will re-load with information about your ScreenCloud player and to the right will provide you with options to set up the screen automatically. Please note, you’ll receive an error message is the code is incorrect.
3.5. Next, give your screen a name to keep track of easily.
3.6. You can also set up your screen into a group to help organize it for later. This is useful if you have multiple locations, segments, and departments that you’re using to manage different screens. You can choose to leave it ungrouped or create a new group from the drop-down menu.
Please note, you are charged per screen that is added to your account. If you’d like to test a screen-free of charge, make sure to check off the “Start screen in Trial Mode” option.
3.8. Click “Continue” and your screen will now be added into your account.
If you click on “Screens” from the left-hand navigation, you’ll be able to view a full list of all your screens connected in your account.
Next, you can get started on using ScreenCloud’s features for organizing and uploading content in your Media Library.
4. Media library
Media is where your content lives, organized like a dream.
4.1. Get started by uploading content into your “Media Library”. In the left-hand sidebar, you’ll see the “Media” tab, click here.
You can upload files from your computer or by using our Filestack integration to pull in content from popular services, social media, and more.
4.2. Click on the “Upload” button and you can get started on uploading your media. Click “Browse” to grab files from your computer or use third-party integrations to pull content into ScreenCloud.
You can also review information on supported file-types and how content is optimized in ScreenCloud by clicking here.
4.3. After uploading a piece of content, it’ll be available for use in your Media Library. You can view your content in either list or grid view by switching between the options available in the upper-right hand corner.
i) List View
ii) Grid View
4.4. To best organize your content, we recommend creating folders. Click the “New Folder” button in the upper-right hand corner and give your folder a name.
4.5. You can either drag and drop any of your content to the folder or hover all the way to the right of your media and click on the three horizontal dots to choose the “Move to” option to store it in any folder.
4.6. Next, you can click on any piece of content to configure it or review information on the file. These enhanced options are ideal if you’re working with users and teams in your ScreenCloud account, helping to better manage your content.
i) Details: rename a file, view the format of a file, see which user uploaded it, and the date it was added into your Media Library.
ii) Tags (optional): Use keywords or phrases to tag your content. This way you can find it easily, later on, to assign it to a screen, add it to a playlist, or find it quicker to use with our casting feature.
ii) Schedule (optional): set both an availability and expiration date for any piece of content.
An available date & time is when content can be selected for use, and expiration date & time will automatically remove content from being displayed on any of your screens for dates specified and to fully delete the media from your account.
Click on “Enable schedule” to start picking your dates.
Once you’ve scheduled an availability/expiration date for your piece of media, you will see a calendar icon that can be hovered over with your mouse that’ll display your scheduled date/time.
iii) Cast: instantly takeover one, or multiple, screens. Emergency notices, company announcements, a quick message - you choose it, ScreenCloud can cast it. To learn more about ScreenCloud's casting feature, click here.
Click on the “cast” button in the lower right-hand corner of your media options.
You’ll be prompted to select from a list of your screens and confirm which screens you’d like to cast the media on automatically. Click the yellow “Cast” button to confirm and the media will take over your screen(s) selected instantly.
iv) Download or delete: download any piece of content from within your Media Library using the downward-arrow icon or delete it by using the trash can icon.
v) Favorited content: you can use the “starred” feature to favorite certain content by hovering over it with your mouse and clicking on the star icon.
5. Add apps
Browse and search through our diverse app store to start showcasing unique content on your digital screens. Most apps come with an app guide or video which walks you through step-by-step how to set it up. Click here for all apps how-tos.
5.1. In the left-hand sidebar, you will see the “Apps” tab, click here.
5.2. Click on the yellow “App Store” button to start browsing through our apps.
5.3. Simply click on any app and then press on the “Install App” button to add it into your Media Library.
5.4. Give your app a unique name so you can find it easily in your Media Library. Configure your settings for the app and then click the yellow “Save” button.
The app will be added to your installed apps. You can add an unlimited number of apps and as many instances of the same app as you’d like.
6. Add your links
Add links and webpages to display on your screens.
6.1. In the left-hand sidebar, you’ll see the “Links” tab, click here.
6.2. You can start adding your websites by clicking on the “Create New Link” button.
Copy and paste the public URL for your website into the empty section provided, then click enter on your keyboard. You will see a preview of your website appear on the right-hand side.
Next, you can use two options here for adding your public website below.
Name your website: ScreenCloud will automatically pull the name of the website and page URL name. For example, Android News - Android Authority was automatically populated from the website we used. You can rename it to anything you see fit.
Tag your website: You can set keywords or phrases to tag your website and find it easily, later on, to assign it to a screen, use it in a playlist, or to cast across your screens.
Once you’ve finished setting up your website options, click on the yellow “Add Link” button to finish adding your site into ScreenCloud.
Please note, our team is currently working on an enterprise-type solution for displaying private and internal dashboards. This will give you the ability to display content that requires a login and/or is not accessible publicly to be displayed on your screens. For more information, please reach out to support@screencloud.com and specify the type of program you're using (e.g. PowerBi, Tableau, etc.) and how many screens approximately you're planning to use with the service.
7. Create playlists
Playlists are used to organize your content and play everything in the order that you want to see it.
7.1. In the left-hand menu, press “Playlists” and click on “Create New Playlist.”
7.2. Name your new playlist, then you can start to drag and drop content from your media library on the right into any desired order in your playlist.
Please note, if you're having any trouble dragging and dropping any content into a Playlist it could be a web browser glitch. You can view more information on which web browsers to use with ScreenCloud by clicking here.
Pro tip: You can also create playlists directly from your “Media Library” by selecting a folder of content and using the three-horizontal dots setting menu to select “Create Playlist.” All of the content in that folder will be created into a playlist.
7.3. If you want to re-order the content in your playlist, simply grab it and drag it up or down.
7.4. To change the duration of any content, click on the time displayed next to each piece of content on the right and adjust how long you’d like for it to run.
8. Create channels
Like a TV channel, this lets you group content in a meaningful way, by theme, usage, department, topic or any other way you’d like. You can learn more about using channels with ScreenCloud by clicking here.
8.1. From the left-hand menu, click on the “Channels” button.
8.2. Get started by selecting “Create New Channel” and you’ll be prompted with a pop-up window to begin by naming your channel and selecting a color or icon for it.
Click on “Edit” to assign a unique color or image to keep track of your channel.
i) Select channel color
Assign a unique color to your channel. Once you’ve selected a color, click the yellow “Done” button to continue.
ii) Upload a channel image
You can upload a unique image for you to internally keep track of your channel. Select the “Image” option and click the blue “Upload” button.
Browse and upload your image, it will automatically scale to fit the channel icon size. You can choose to crop the image, circle taper the edges of the image or rotate it.
Click on the blue “Upload” button once you’re finished and the icon will be the image for your channel.
Select the yellow “Done” button to save your channel icon.
8.3. Next, click on the yellow “Continue” button and you’ll be prompted to choose your screen orientation for the channel. Please note, your channel will only play content in the orientation chosen between landscape or portrait mode.
8.4. Click “Create Channel” and you can get started on setting up content in your channel. Click the “Add Content” button to open the media picker.
8.5. You can select between playlists, media, apps, and links from the left-hand menu to add content into your channel.
Once you’ve finalized the content you’d like to add into your channel, click on the yellow “+ Add” button in the lower right-hand corner.
8.6. Once the content is in your channel, you have a range of flexibility to schedule and manage any piece of content you’d like to use.
i) Set advanced schedules: you can select the days of the week, set desired run times, and dates for specific pieces of content or playlists in your channels.
ii) Set content as a priority: setting a piece of content as priority overrides all other schedules and rules during the defined period.
iii) Channel zone layouts: This gives you the ability to use our pre-set templates or customize your own configuration to use zone layouts to split your screen(s) into sections.
Click on “Choose Layout” from the right-hand menu and select your zone layout to prompt a pop-up window to select your desired screen setup.
Once your layout is selected, click the yellow “Select” button to assign it to your channel. [g]
You can now switch between the zone sections for your channel to set up content split on your screen.
For example with the Main + Left Bar zone layout chosen, you can switch between your zones by clicking the “Main” drop-down menu and select between the zones from your layout chosen to add content. Below the screenshots showcase switching from the "Main" zone to the "Left bar" zone to begin adding content to that section of your channel to display on the screen.
8.7. Once you’re done setting up your channel, you can preview it by selecting the "Preview" option in the upper-right hand corner.
8.8. You can also make changes to your channel at any time by clicking the "Edit Channel" button in the upper right-hand navigation if needed.
You can learn more about ScreenCloud’s advanced channel features by clicking here.
9. Assign content to your screens
You can start displaying your content live for digital signage. There are two ways you can start pushing content to your screens:
i) Set to screen: you can display any single piece of media, content or an app directly from your account using the Set to screen feature.
ii) Assign a channel to a screen: get started on showing content by visiting “Screens", click on the drop-down menu designated as “Playing Channel” to the right of each screen in your account, and select the channel you’d like to display on your screen.
iii) Use the casting feature: ScreenCloud gives you the ability to instantly send content to a screen. Using this feature, you can immediately take over any screen with any file, playlist, app, etc. and cast it to any screen(s) of your choice. This feature can take over any content currently playing on screen, then resume your normal playlist once your casted content is scheduled to expire, or you can turn off the cast at any time.
Start casting by selecting the yellow “cast” icon as displayed below, which will open a new window of all your content, playlists, and apps to choose which one you’d like to display on the screen. To learn more about ScreenCloud's casting feature, click here.
Section II: General FAQs & how-tos
Please note, if any of these features do not work, we recommend using an alternative web browser such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Other web browsers are not recommended to use for ScreenCloud's website. Please visit web browsers to use with ScreenCloud for more information.
1. Screens
- Add a screen
- Delete a screen
- Deactivate or reactivate a screen
- Search for screens
- Add groups
- Move screens between groups
- Change the name of a screen
- Change the name of a screen group
- Adding Data/API values or notes
2. Channels
- Create a new channel
- Delete a channel
- Preview a channel
- Publish a channel
- Discard or revert changes made to a channel
- Share a channel
- Duplicate or copy a channel
- Change the name of a channel
- Search for channels
- Edit or make changes to an existing channel
- See which channels are currently playing on screens
3. Playlists
- Create a new playlist
- Change the name of a playlist
- Duplicate or copy a playlist
- Add or remove items from a playlist
- Change the duration of content in a playlist
- Delete a playlist
- Search for playlists
- Share a playlist
4. Media
- Name or rename media
- Create folders for media
- Move content into folders
- Upload content into folders
- Name or rename folders
- Delete a folder
- Delete media
- Selecting multiple items to delete or add into a folder
- Favoriting or staring items
- Search for media
5. Links
6. Apps
- Add an app instance
- Deleting an app instance
- Uninstalling an app (removes all instances)
- Naming or renaming an app instance
- Search for apps
Add a screen
Visit the “Screens” section of your account and click on the yellow “New Screen” button to get started on adding a new screen.
Delete a screen
Visit the “Screens” section of your account and click on the three-horizontal dots for the settings drop-down menu for your screen. Select “Delete” and you’ll be prompted to delete the screen from your account.
Deactivate or reactivate a screen
Visit the “Screens” section of your account and click on the three-horizontal dots for the settings drop-down menu for your screen. Select “Deactivate” and your screen will be paused from displaying any content live.
You can also select “Reactivate” at any time to resume using your screen.
Search for screens
Visit the “Screens” section of your account and use any keywords or tags in the search bar to quickly populate specific screens.
Add groups
Visit the “Screens” section of your account and click on the “+ Add Group” icon at the top of the page. You’ll be prompted to type a group name then click “Enter” on your keyboard to create the group.
Move screens between groups
Visit the "Screens" section of your account. Click any screen with your mouse, hold your press while you drag and drop the screen into a different group.
Change the name of a screen
Visit the “Screens” section of your account and hover over the name of your screen to prompt a pencil icon.
Click on the pencil icon to change the name of your screen.
Type in your text and click “Enter” on your keyboard to update the name of your screen.
You can also change the name by clicking on any screen to view the screen options. From here, you can click on the name in the upper left-hand corner of the screen to edit the text.
Change the name of a screen group
Visit the “Screens” section of your account and hover over the name of your screen group. Click here for the selection to turn grey and begin editing your group name.
Type in your text and click “Enter” on your keyboard to update the name of your group.
Adding Data/API values or notes
Visit the “Screens” section of your account and click on any of your screens you'd like to add API values to. Click on "Options", from here you can add values and notes to your screens.
Create a new channel
Visit the “Channels” section of your account and click on the yellow “New Channel” button to get started on adding a new channel.
Delete a channel
Visit the “Channels” section of your account. You can delete a channel using the following two methods:
You can click on the settings panel and select "Delete channel".
You can also delete a channel while editing it by clicking on the settings panel and selecting "Delete Channel".
You’ll be prompted to confirm deleting the channel.
Preview a channel
Visit the “Channels” section of your account and click on the channel you’d like to preview. Navigate to the "Preview" button in the upper right-hand navigation and select this to preview your channel.
Publish a channel
Visit the “Channels” section of your account and click on the channel you’d like to publish. When changes are made to a channel, you can click the yellow “Publish” button in the upper right-hand corner for the updates to appear live for any screen(s) using this channel.
Discard or revert changes made to a channel
Visit the “Channels” section of your account and click on the channel you’d like to revert any changes made to. When changes are published to a channel, you can select the drop-down arrow on the yellow “Publish” button to view the last update made and the option to discard any changes published.
Share a channel
You can share any Channels created between Spaces (i.e. a collection of screens, content, and media between teams) that are segmented in your ScreenCloud account. You can do this by clicking on the "Share" icon while viewing, previewing, or editing your channels to set permissions between Spaces (i.e. teams) that can access Channels you've created. This is useful for collaborating and sharing information between members of your organization.
You can click the "Share" icon wherever available in your "Channels" section to set sharing permissions. Please note, only account owners and administrators have full rights and privileges to set permissions.
You can also click on the "Share" icon while previewing or editing a channel.
Duplicate or copy a channel
Visit the “Channels” section of your account and click on the channel you’d like to duplicate. Navigate to the “Options” section and hover over the “Duplicate Channel” button. Selecting this will immediately duplicate the channel.
Change the name of a channel
Visit the “Channels” section of your account and hover over any channel you’d like to change the name. A pencil icon will appear next to the channel name, click this to prompt typing in the new text.
Type in your new channel name and click “Enter” on your keyboard to save the changes.
You can also change the name by clicking on any channel and while viewing your Channel settings, hovering over the name in the upper left-hand corner to prompt a pencil icon to appear. Click here to edit and type any text for the channel name.
Type in your new channel name and click “Enter” on your keyboard to save the changes.
Search for channels
Visit the “Channels” section of your account and use any keywords or tags in the search bar to quickly populate specific channels.
Edit or make changes to an existing channel
Visit the “Channels” section of your account and click on any of your existing channels. From here, you'll be presented with the Channel Preview. You can click on "Edit Channel" from here to edit the content assigned to your channel and zone layouts.
See which channels are currently playing on screens
Visit the “Channels” section of your account and click on any of your existing channels. From here, you'll be presented with a computer icon in the upper right-hand corner. If you hover or click this button, you'll be able to view all of the screens in your account that are currently displaying the channel you're viewing.
Create a new playlist
Visit the “Playlists” section of your account and click on the yellow “New Playlist” button to get started on adding a new playlist.
Change the name of a playlist
Visit the “Playlists” section of your account and hover over any playlist you’d like to change the name. A pencil icon will appear next to the channel name, click this to prompt typing in the new text.
Type in your new playlist name and click “enter” on your keyboard to save the changes.
You can also change the name by clicking on any playlist and while viewing your playlist settings, hovering over the name in the upper left-hand corner to the playlist name. Click here to edit and type any text for the playlist name.
Type in your new channel name and click “Enter” on your keyboard to save the changes.
Visit the “Playlists” section of your account and click on the playlist you’d like to duplicate. Navigate to the settings panel in the upper-right hand corner and you can select this to reveal the "Duplicate" option.
Add or remove items from a playlist
- Add an item: click any piece of content with your mouse from the right-hand content selector, hold your press while you drag and drop the item into your playlist on the left.
- Remove an item: Hover over the X icon to the right of the item you'd like to delete. Select this to delete the piece of content from your playlist.
Change the duration of content in a playlist
Click on any playlist, then click on the time next to any item in a playlist. This will prompt you to change the duration for the item.
Delete a playlist
Visit the “Playlists” section of your account and click on the three-horizontal dots for the settings drop-down menu for your screen. Select “Delete” and you’ll be prompted with a confirmation to delete your playlist.
You can also delete the playlist by clicking on any playlist to view its options. Navigate to the settings panel while editing a playlist and click this to reveal the delete option.
Search for playlists
Visit the “Playlists” section of your account and use any keywords in the search bar to quickly populate specific playlists.
Share a playlist
You can share any Playlists created between Spaces (i.e. a collection of screens, content, and media between teams) that are segmented in your ScreenCloud account. You can do this by clicking on the "Share" icon while viewing or editing your playlists to set permissions between Spaces that can access playlists you've created. This is useful for collaborating and sharing information between members of your organization.
You can click the "Share" icon wherever available in your "Playlists" section to set sharing permissions. Please note, only account owners and administrators have full rights and privileges to set permissions.
You can also review any of your Playlists that are being shared by hovering over the "Share" icon notification. This will be present for any of the playlists you've set up to share between Spaces.
Name or rename media
Visit your "Media Library" section, hover over any piece of content and click on the pencil icon. You’ll be able to start editing the name for your media.
Once you’ve finished making your changes, click the “Enter” button your keyboard for the name to update.
You can also change the name of any piece of media by clicking on it from your Media Library and editing the name from your media options.
Create folders for media
Visit your "Media Library" section, click on the “New Folder" icon.
A new folder will appear that you can name. You can start dragging and dropping content or apps into the folder.
Move content into folders
Visit your "Media Library" section, click any piece of content with your mouse, hold your press while you drag and drop the screen into a folder.
Upload content into folders
Visit your "Media Library" section, click any folder you want to start adding content into.
Click on the “Upload” button to start adding media directly into the folder selected.
Name or rename folders
Visit the "Media Library" section of your account and hover over your folder. Click on the pencil icon that appears to change the name of your folder.
Delete a folder
Visit the “Media Library” section of your account and click on the three-horizontal dots for the settings drop-down menu for your folder. Select “Delete” and you’ll be prompted to delete the folder.
Delete media
Visit the “Media Library” section of your account and click on the three-horizontal dots for the settings drop-down menu any piece of media. Select “Delete” and you’ll be prompted to delete the media.
Selecting multiple items to delete or add into folders
Visit the “Media Library” section of your account and use the following commands on your computer keyboard to select multiple items.
macOS: Hold Cmd ⌘
Windows: Hold Ctrl or Shift
You can select as many pieces of media you’d like. You can either bulk delete or create new folders for all of the media selected.
Favoriting or staring items
Visit the “Media Library” section of your account and hover over the star icon underneath any piece of content. Click this to favorite/star the item to easily find it later on.
Search for media
Visit the “Media Library” section of your account and use any keywords or tags in the search bar to quickly populate specific screens.
Add a new link
Visit the “Links” section of your account and click on the yellow “New Link” button to get started on adding a new website.
Name or rename a link
Visit the "Links" section of your account, hover over any link and click on the pencil icon. You’ll be able to start editing the name for your media.
Once you’ve finished making your changes, click the “Enter” button your keyboard for the name to update.
You can also change the name of any link by clicking on it and editing the name from your link options.
Deleting a link or website
Visit the “Links” section of your account and click on the three-horizontal dots for the settings drop-down menu for your website. Select “Delete” and you’ll be prompted to delete the website from your account.
Links can also be deleted by clicking on the website from your list and selecting the trash can icon from your website settings.
Search for links
Visit the “Links” section of your account and use any keywords or tags in the search bar to quickly populate specific links.
Add an app instance
Visit the "Apps" section of your account and click on the yellow “App Store” button to browse through apps.
Select the app you’d like to use and click on the yellow “Install App” button to start setting it up.
Set up your app as prompted and click the yellow “Save” button to add it into your account once you’re finished.
To add new instances of an existing app, visit your “Apps” section and click on any apps you’ve installed.
Once you’ve selected from one of your installed apps, select the yellow “New instance” button to set up your new instance.
Deleting an app instance
Visit the "Apps" section of your account and click on any of your installed apps you’d like to delete an instance for.
Once selected, find and click on the three-horizontal dots for the settings drop-down menu for the app instance. Select “Delete” and you’ll be prompted to remove the app instance from your account.
Please note, this app instance will no longer display live on any screens, channels, or playlists it’s been added to.
Uninstalling an app (removes all instances)
Visit the "Apps" section of your account and click on any of your installed apps you’d like to uninstall from your account. Please note, uninstalling the app will remove every instance of the app being used on any screens, channels, or playlists. This will permanently remove the content from your account, we recommend to review and use the “Delete” feature instead if you’re trying to only delete a specific instance.
Once selected, find and click on the three-horizontal dots for the settings drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner. Select “Uninstall” and you’ll be prompted to uninstall the app with a total number of app instances you’re removing from your account.
Name or renaming an app
Visit your "Apps" section, hover over any of your apps installed and click on the one you’d like to rename app instances for.
Hover over any app instance and click on the pencil icon. You’ll be able to start editing the name for your app instance.
Once you’ve finished making your changes, click the “Enter” button your keyboard for the name to update.
You can also change the name of any app by clicking on it while viewing your installed app instances. You’ll be prompted with the pencil icon in the upper left-hand corner and can make name changes through your app settings.
Once you’ve finished making your changes, click the “Enter” button your keyboard for the name to update. Select the yellow “Save” button to make these changes to your app instance.
Search for apps
Visit the “Apps” section of your account and use any keywords in the search bar to quickly find apps in our store.
If you have any additional questions on how to use ScreenCloud, or any other questions or feedback about our service, feel free to reach out to our support team at support@screencloud.com or give us a call at our toll-free support line at +18885575335.
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