Introduction

Sign Manager is an Appspace extension that provides a dedicated workflow to create, manage, and publish applications for digital signs. It provides users with the ability to start building apps from a library of common templates or create their own by using the built-in Visual Editor interface.

Application Templates

App creation typically begins with selecting the right template that provides some built-in features and functions. The application library provides you with centralized management of all apps on the server and access to common app templates (comes out of the box or can be downloaded from the Appspace Marketplace). There are lots of customizable templates that can be used to build both passive and interactive app experiences with a variety of features and functions.

Layouts

A digital sign application will typically contain at least one but possibly multiple layouts. Layouts can be considered as the “canvas” on which you may rearrange the various media and asset elements of your application. Applications with multiple layouts can be effectively utilized to present information organized in different styles and physical location on the display screen.

Visual Editor

The Visual Editor is the primary app building tool and user/designer interface which provides drag-and-drop layout editing capabilities and several app preview modes. The VE is a very powerful and dynamic layout tool for content creators to construct and create layouts for applications that are bound only by their imagination and creativity.

Widgets

Widgets appear and are utilized on each application’s presentation layouts. They are the building blocks that define both the visual presentation as well as the data sources that can be incorporated into an app (e.g. weather information, RSS tickers, media zones). The widget library is constantly expanding and consists of additional visual as well as data source components. Dynamic widgets can be integrated with live data sources and deployed within applications for real-time updates.

Scheduling

Proper scheduling is key to applications with multiple layouts in order for the sign manager app to correctly display the desired content at specific dates or times for the proper durations. When properly coordinated, scheduling becomes a very powerful parameter that can display selective media assets which can be defined and sorted through advanced tagging rules.

App Scripting

Advanced app scripting capabilities allow designers and developers to apply custom actions. Digital sign applications can be further customized with special event-driven actions that can respond to user interaction and widget data or media updates to create more complex application experiences through XML-based app scripting.