Creating Screensavers

OVERVIEW

The Screensaver channel enables you to create your own screensaver by setting a background, then dragging and dropping images, slideshows, text, videos, websites (within an iframe), color blocks or tickers onto your screensaver canvas. You can combine any of the above to create a customized screensaver.
The Screensaver channel is also ideal for Digital Signage.

You can choose from 2 available templates depending on the screen orientation of your targets: 

• Screensaver: landscape screensaver.
• Screensaver (Portrait): portrait screensaver. Can be used for vertical screens, kiosks and portrait TV monitors.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Please refer to the Windows App Profile Knowledge Base Article to see what settings need to be enabled when publishing Screensavers to your staff.

NOTE: September, 2021 - The default Exit Behavior for the Screensaver has been updated from ESC Key to Any Movement

HOW TO CREATE A SCREENSAVER

1. On your Dashboard, click on "Create Content"

2. Select Build Your Own and then choose Screensaver

3. Select Screensaver or Screensaver (portrait)

4. Select an Organization Theme - This will pull through primary Background color, Border color, and Text formatting etc. 

5. Select a folder to save your content in

6. Add a name for the Screensaver.

7. Press Start
   
    

THE DESIGNER CANVAS

The Screensaver requires a default background to be selected, the available options are:

• Image
• Slideshow
• Video
• Webpage
• Color

Image:
Background Image Recommended Size: 1920x1080 pixels.

• Supported image types: GIF, JPG, PNG, SVG.

Image URL

• Allows Click link to be added.
• Scale Mode options available (Center, Tile, Stretch, Fit, Fill)
  • Stretch mode is the selected defaulted.

Scale Mode breakdown

• Center – Image will be zoomed and focused on the center; this may result in image being cropped.
• Tile - Image will be placed on the top, this may result in the bottom of the image being cropped.
• Stretch – Image will fill the page with your background image. This may result in a loss of quality.
• Fit – Image will be placed in the center of the page and will be of high quality. This option may result in white spaces around the image.
• Fill – Image will be zoomed to fill all four corners of the page; this may result in image being cropped.

Slideshow:
Transition selection (None, Fade, Slide Up, Slide Down, Slide Left, Slide Right)
Image Display duration selector (2 seconds – 60 seconds)

• This selected duration is applied per slideshow image.

Scale Mode options available (Center, Stretch, Fit, Fill).

Video:
Supports one video source

• Additional Videos can be added using the Designer Mode.

Mute Video

• Enabling will mute video by default, however, still allows User interaction.

Allow Interaction

• Allowing interaction will show the video controls. Disable this to start the video automatically.

Add Offline Image

• Will be used if video is not accessible, i.e. No Internet connections.

*User Interactions include play, pause and mute.

Webpage:
Requires a valid URL address.

• Only webpages that are iframe friendly will appear.

Allow interaction

• User can only interact with the background if no other items are placed on top of it and the exit behavior is set to the ESC key.
  • Note: “Allow external URL in Screensaver" option in your App Profile needs be enabled. If not, no interaction at all is possible on any links in the screensaver.

Color:
Background Color

• Option to use the Primary color from selected theme.

Border Color

• Option to use the Primary color from selected theme.

Border Thickness

• Min option is 0, Max is 10.

IMAGE FORMAT

Supported image formats for the Screensaver are:

• GIF 

• JPEG

• PNG   

• SVG

For optimal resolution across all screen sizes, the uploaded image should be the same height-width ratio and should be based on the largest screen size that the Screensaver will be displayed on. This is commonly 1920x1080 or higher.
 

SCREENSAVER SETTINGS

Screen Fit:

• Stretch and fill – (Default) Resizes the width of the image to stretch and fit the screen so that there are no spaces around the edge of the image. May lead to some distortion.
• Fit to screen - Resizes and centers the image with locked aspect ratio to fit the height of the screen. May result in black space on the border of the screensaver.
  • High DPI Screens may result in the black borders around the edges.

Exit Behavior:

• ESC Key – Screensaver is only stopped when user presses ESC key on their keyboard.
• Any Movement - Screensaver is stopped with any movement.

Note: ESC Key will default to Any Movement on Mac OS Catalina, Big Sur and Monterey.

Display Duration:
When multiple screensavers are published this controls how many seconds the screensaver will display before changing to the next one. Leave blank to use the default. (120 seconds).
Note: If you have added a video to your screensaver, adjust the Display duration to be equal to the duration of the video + 5 seconds buffer. If the video is longer than the screensaver display duration, the video will not play in its entirety.
 

DESIGNER MODE

You can further edit your screensaver creation by clicking on the pencil icon to the left of the screen to enter into Designer Mode:

Designer Mode will allow you to explore the drag & drop modules available for customizing your Screensaver. Please view the Designer Canvas Knowledge Base Article to see more information.
 

The following modules are made available in designer mode once the default background has been selected.

• Image
• Slideshow
• Text
• Video
• Web Page
• Color Block
• Ticker
  • Standard headline ticker
  • RSS ticker

Each Drag & Drop module has its own various settings that can be applied.
These include:

• Align Center
• Bring forward
• Send backward
• Duplicate
• Remove

PREVIEWING THE SCREENSAVER

Use the Preview button to see how the content will appear to your end users:

You can share this interactive preview using a shareable link or via email, simply press the green Share Preview button.
 

PUBLISHING THE SCREENSAVER

Once you are satisfied with your Screensaver, press the Publish button to send it to your Targeted audience: