Message Creation Tutorial
This quick start tutorial provides a basic introduction to message creation in Broadsign Publish. By following these steps, you will be able to schedule a single piece of content onto one of your screens.
Note: To schedule this content, you will use the message wizard. See About the Message Wizard .
Note: As a prerequisite to this message creation tutorial, your admin will need to have followed the Quick Setup tutorial. See Quick Setup Tutorial.
To access the message wizard:
- Log in to Broadsign Publish with the credentials your Admin provided.
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On the Your Messages page, select Create a new message.
The message wizard opens to the Content page. You must select content to continue with the wizard.
Note: Once you have accessed a page in the message wizard, while creating a message, you can advance and reverse pages as needed with the Previous and Next buttons.
The Content page displays a list of content that you can use. Your admin has set up the list of available content for you.
For information on templates, see What is a Template?
For information on asset collections and how they can be useful, see What is an Asset Collection?.
To add content:
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On the Your Messages page, click Create a new message.
The message wizard opens to the Content page.
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Using the search function, narrow down your list of choices.
If the content you need is not in your library, do one of the following:
- If you do not have the permissions to upload content, ask your domain Administrator to add it for you.
- If you have the permissions to upload content, add it yourself by clicking the
icon to access content on your computer.
If you add content and you don't have the Can upload without approval permission, then your content will need to be approved before you can use it.
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Select the content that you want. The editable information fields corresponding to this content are displayed on the right.
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Update the fields, as required.
- If you have selected a template in which it is possible to enter text, you can use the [enter] key to put text on a new line.
- If you have selected a template in which it is possible to choose between the default video, image or audio file or pick a new one from your library, see New Video, Image or Audio Choice.
- If you have selected a template in which it is possible to choose an image or audio file from a list, see Image or Audio Choice from a List.
- When you have finished updating your fields, in the lower-right, click Next. The Screens page appears.
You can check how the content displays under various aspect ratios. See Aspect Ratio.
Next, you will select a screen.
Media files (images, videos, and templates) come in a variety of formats and aspect ratios. The screens that play these media files also come in various aspect ratios. To make informed decisions on the aspect ratio of the content to be used, you can use Broadsign Publish to review the media file according to different aspect ratios. You can thus confidently publish the message without necessarily being close to the screen on which it will play.
Broadsign Publish supports the following ratios:
- 3:4 (Portrait)
- 4:3 (Landscape)
- 16:9 (Landscape)
- 9:16 (Portrait)
By default, the media file is shown with the 16:9 aspect ratio.
If the media file does not match the selected aspect ratio, it is cropped or white spaced.
If your administrator has shared a template in which it is possible to choose between the default video, image or audio file, or pick a new one from your library, the Browse button is available.
Do the following:
- Click Browse.
- In the window that is displayed, select a video, image or audio file from your library.
If the content you need is not in your library, do one of the following:
- If you do not have the permissions to upload content, ask your domain Administrator to add it for you.
- If you have the permissions to upload content, add it yourself by clicking the
icon to access content on your computer.
If you add content and you don't have the Can upload without approval permission, then your content will need to be approved before you can use it.
- If you are using an image, use the top-right image thumbnail called Original to crop the image and move the result around to have the best fit possible. The result is previewed in the Preview thumbnail below.
- When you are satisfied with the result, click Use this One.
The Screens page displays the screens available to you. Your message will appear on the screens you select.
Note: If you are unable to see a screen that you think should be on the list, contact your Administrator.
Tip: The Screens page may not be visible if Media Owners allow their clients to manage their campaign creatives. See Manage Creatives - Advertisers.
To select screens:
- Ensure that you are on the Screens page.
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From the list of available screens, select the ones that you want.
You can:
- Select an individual screen by clicking its check box.
- Select an individual screen group that has been setup by your Network Operator by clicking its check box.
- Select multiple screens or screen groups by clicking each of their check boxes.
- Select multiple consecutive screens or screen groups by clicking the first screen, pressing Shift, and clicking the last screen.
- Select a folder by clicking its check box. All the screens in that folder will be selected.
- Select all screens and screen groups by clicking the check box above the list of screens.
- Filter screens based on their selection status (Selected & Unselected, Selected, and Unselected).
Your message will appear on the selected screens.
- To advance to the Schedule page, click Next.
Next, you will schedule the message.
The Schedule page allows you to set the following information:
- The dates, times, and days of the week during which your message can appear.
- The message duration.
- The number of times (frequency) that the message will play compared to others.
To schedule your message:
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Ensure that you are on the Schedule page.
You have the following choice:
- Enter specific start and end dates by clicking the Specific button. This is the default behavior.
- Enter only a start date by clicking the No end button. Your message will play until you either enter specific start and end dates or you delete it.
- For this example, schedule the message with the following settings:
- Duration: 30s
Note: If the message duration is read-only, it means that the template you are using has a predefined message duration already set by your administrator. For more information, see params.json Reference.
Custom Schedule: 01 January 2023 - 31 January 2023 (or whatever date range you prefer)
Note: You are unable to select a date in the past.
- Specific days: Sa-Su
Hours: 9 - 5
- Duration: 30s
- Set the playback frequency to "2".
- A
- B
- C
- A
- B
- A
- A
- C
- A
- A
- To advance to the Confirm page, click Next.
Message playback frequency is the number of times (frequency) that the message will play compared to others.
Note: Only users with the Network Operator access or the Can manage message frequency permission can see the frequency selector. If you need this permission, contact your domain administrator. For more information, see Message Permissions.
This message will play twice more often than other messages in the same Ad slot.
For example, an Ad slot with the following messages:
Becomes the following if Message A has a playback frequency of "2":
You can set the frequency from 0 to 5.
When scheduling a message with content that is longer than the maximum message duration value, or uploading content that is longer than the maximum message duration value, the following warning is displayed:
Warning: Your message playback will be cut off at the maximum message duration ([Maximum Message Duration Value] seconds).
When scheduling a message with content that is shorter than the maximum message duration value, or uploading content that is shorter than the maximum message duration value, the message plays according to its shorter version, and then the next message plays in turn.
Note: If your message is not playing according to the schedule that you have set up, contact your administrator.
The Confirm page allows you to preview the message, check the number of screens, check the play frequency, and review the schedule.
If you are preparing an emergency message, you can also define an activation code in the Emergency SMS activation code field. This code is used to activate the emergency message by SMS. The activation code needs to be smaller than 100 characters. The code could be, for instance, FIRE.
For more information, see Activate an Emergency Message by SMS.
Note: The buttons offered at the bottom of the page differ depending on the permissions that have been assigned to you.
If you are satisfied with your message and its schedule, click one of the following buttons, depending on what is available on your screen:
- Publish: You have the permission to publish a message without approval. The Your messages page opens and your new message appears in the list.
- Approve & Publish: You have the permissions to approve a message and publish it. The Your messages page opens and your new message appears in the list.
- Send for Approval: You do not have the permission to publish a message without approval. The Your messages page opens and your new message appears in the list with the
icon. Your admin will need to approve the message before it is published.
- Prepare Message: You are preparing an emergency message. You cannot publish it right away. It can only be saved for later publishing when it is activated. For more information, see Activate an Emergency Message.
You can use the mobile version of Broadsign Publish to create a message directly from your mobile.
The message wizard steps are similar to those of the regular Broadsign Publish web page.
You will be able to upload a photo or video from your mobile and use it to create a message, as described in Upload a Photo or Video from a Mobile.