Load a Media File

Load a Video or Image File

Navigate to CONTENT / VIDEOS AND IMAGES and click NEW, then select a file, or drag one onto the Select Files window.

Once it has uploaded, click Add Details. You can change the file name by typing in the Description Window.

Select a START and END date from the calendar. This determines when a file starts playing, and when it will stop. The file will play from 12.00am until 11.59pm. If you’re ready to add your file to a Playlist, click APPLY then turn to PLAYLISTS on Page 14.

If you want Laqorr to control scheduling instead, click ENABLE AUTO SCHEDULING and assign options

Auto-Scheduling

With auto-scheduling enabled, Laqorr will automatically play a media file where you want it to play.

There are five options available:

Company Wide

media file plays across the entire network

State Wide

media file plays in a State or States of your choice

Region Wide

plays in a Region or Regions of your choice.

See Playlists for more about creating a Region.

Location Specific

plays on all players at a specific location or locations

Player Specific

plays on a specific player or number of specific player only

For added control, three Screen Type options are available. These ensure that media created for a particular layout plays on a matching screen format.

Screens of any orientation

media will play on both portrait and landscape screens

Portrait Screens Only

media will only play on portrait screens

Landscape screens only

media will only play on landscape screens

There’s another step to Auto-Scheduling

These autoscheduling options only apply if a playlist has an autoscheduling slot. See playlists for more detail.

Features of the Media Library

The Media Library is available in two views: tile and grid.

Tile View

Tile View shows a thumbnail of all media in the library. There is a search bar at the top so you can easily locate a file, or series of files. Under the thumbnail you will see

  • the file’s title

  • Its start and end date

  • Its duration if applicable.

  • The number of playlists it has been assigned to

Click on the icon at the top right of the thumbnail to preview the file.

Click on the thumbnail and you will see more data about the file. More about this on Page 10.

Grid View

Grid View shows the same content but displays more information about each file:

  • Description (the assigned title)

  • Name (Laqorr’s unique identifier)

  • File size File duration (for video files)

  • Start and End date

  • Active status

  • Shared status

  • Auto-schedule status

  • Upload date

Filter options are available. Click on the filter icon at the top of each column and set search parameters.

Click on the description and you will see more data about the specific file. More about this on Page 10.

Click on the thumbnail to preview the file.

All data on the media library can be exported to a CSV file by clicking the Export to CSV button at the bottom right. If you have a filtered view of the library, only the filtered content will be exported.

Anatomy of a Media File

Here you will see more detail about a specific file. This is the same page you arrive at when first uploading a file. You can also get here by navigating to CONTENT / VIDEOS AND IMAGES, and clicking on the file’s description (or name).

On this page, you can:

  • Download the file to your local drive (click the download button)

  • Edit the file (click edit to update the start / end date or auto-scheduling features)

  • Share the file (see below)

  • Delete the file (click delete to remove it from Laqorr)

  • Generate a Proof Of Play report (for more on reports, see Page 31)

  • Check on the transfer status of the file (see below)

  • See which groups and players the file has been assigned to on the Players tab

  • See the file’s dimensions (this is the physical resolution of the file)

  • Preview the file (click the thumbnail or icon to preview the file)

If you want to share the file, click the Sharing tab, click SHARE, enter an email address and send

The Queued Transfers tab will show you players that have yet to receive the file, while the Transfer History tab has data on when and where the file has gone, and how long it took to get there.

Finally, the Edit History tab has detailed information on the history of this file - who loaded it, moved it or affected some change to it (they added it to a playlist, for instance).

Add More than One File

You can add more than one file at a time. Either select a number of files from a directory at the same time, or drag and drop a number of files at once. Once they’ve finished uploading, click the BULK ADD button and apply attributes such as start / end dates, or Auto-Schedule options. Note that all files will be given the same attributes. If you want different features on different files, you’ll need to apply them to each file one by one.

File Duration

A video file will play its entire duration.

You can decide how long a still image will appear on screen. You can also decide whether there is a soft or hard dissolve between each still image, and how long that transition lasts.

This is managed at the player level - and each player can be different.

Click on NETWORK / PLAYERS and choose the player by clicking on its name.

Choose the LOCAL SETTINGS tab (about halfway down) and look for the MEDIA SETTINGS group at the bottom of the page.

DEFAULT SLIDE DURATION sets how long a still image will appear on screen (in seconds).

CROSSFADE DURATION sets how long it takes to perform a transition between one still image and the next.

1000 milliseconds = 1 second.

You can also set the audio volume of the player (for video) in this space, or mute the player if you prefer.

Other options, such as Screen Activation and Display Settings are covered in Players on Page 26.

Expired Files

When a file expires (today’s date is after the nominated end date on the file), it will not be deleted. It remains in the media library to be used again. It also remains in any playlist it has been assigned to. However Laqorr skips over it, and will not play the file. In playlist views it will either appear greyed out, or marked ‘expired’.

Deleting or Deactivating a File

There are several ways to stop a file from playing.

  • You can remove it from a playlist.

  • You can change its end date. Navigate to the file, click on the Name, click EDIT, change the end date to yesterday and it will stop immediately.

  • Alternatively, click on the IS ACTIVE button and remove the tick.

In all cases, the file will remain in the media library ready to be used at a later date.

Alternatively you can delete the file altogether. Navigate to the file in the media library, click on the name and click DELETE in the top right.

Warning

Deleting is Permanent

If you delete a file you cannot retrieve it for later use. Be sure you want to delete it.

Bulk Delete

If you have a large number of files you want to delete, navigate to NETWORK / COMPANY, click on your company icon, then the button labelled Choose Items To Delete.

This will show all files that are either Unassigned (not in a playlist) or that have expired (are past their End Date).

You can choose files individually, or select them all by ticking the top check box. Next click on the red button, Delete Marked Items.

This will delete files from Laqorr, but they may still reside on your media players (not being played). If you want to ensure a file is removed from you media players as well, you will need to perform a File Check (see Page 27).

Proof of Play Report

There are a number of reports you can perform in Laqorr, one of which is the media Proof Of Play report. This will tell you how many times a media file has played over a certain period.

This report can be accessed by navigating to REPORTS / PROOF OF PLAY or directly from the media file itself. Navigate to CONTENT / VIDEOS AND IMAGES then select a file by clicking on its name. Click Proof Of Play Report, adjust the dates you wish to examine and click Generate Report.

The report shows how many times the file has played, how many Players it played on, and the Group(s) those players were attached to at the time.

This report is especially useful when there is a need to monitor file behaviour, or to report to invested stakeholders and third party users of your network. We revisit the Proof Of Play report in the reports section.