Digital signage for IT phobic staff

[Theldron]

Hi all,

 

Looking for a free digital signage setup that is easy for non IT literate staff to use. Currently use Xibo, but the interface would confuse and bring fear to the admin staff. I am not at the school much anymore so need something basic that they can use. We currently have on our current setup, Powerpoint presentations (that I turn into videos), posters, the school website new section, but I would like the staff to take this on, so that they are not waiting on me all the time.

 

Any ideas?

 

Cheers

[supportman]

Xibo is old, requires a server and has a terrible interface, I certainly wouldn't recommend it for staff even I had trouble and gave up with it

 

Google slides seems to be a great way of doing it these days and very easy to use, all online.

 

Just make a computer that launches a web page in kiosk mode which is the google slide.

Edited November 27, 2018 by supportman

[LeMarchand]

Similar to @supportman but Powerpoint + Showpoint (free).

[mavhc]

One school I know of uses ChromeCasts and google slides

[PurpleTentacle]

We have had XIBO up and running for years.

 

The interface can be quirky, but once mastered it the displays look great.

 

We also use some Android based boxed as clients, if you are interested I'll try to find out more about them.

[aguacate]

We use brightsign, https://www.brightsign.biz/ , at its most basic level you can visually line up slides (saved as image files) and publish, you can have different presentations for different players, and you can do a ton more staff, youtube, radio feeds etc, but for basics, it works well.

[darkstar_bam]

+1 for Google Slides, we use a Chromebox in kiosk mode but used to use a laptop with an internet shortcut as a startup program. Can be edited on any device, anywhere and looks the same as powerpoint so they should be used to the interface.

[PD1279]

I have used Rise Vision in the past >> https://www.risevision.com/

It runs on Raspberry Pi too if you want a little project for yourself

Edited November 27, 2018 by PD1279

[mavhc]

I wouldn't bother expecting someone to learn something new, they'll likely just give up and let you do it, so something as similar to what they already know as possible

[Theldron]

I wouldn't bother expecting someone to learn something new, they'll likely just give up and let you do it, so something as similar to what they already know as possible

 

I am the only person to have ever used Xibo so whatever I pick it will be new. I just need something basic, as I am not at the school much anymore, so need to pass off some of the normal jobs I do.

[LeMarchand]

I am the only person to have ever used Xibo so whatever I pick it will be new. I just need something basic, as I am not at the school much anymore, so need to pass off some of the normal jobs I do.

 

I did get quite a nice Xibo installation set up years ago (had a news ticker, time, weather etc), but never got any content.

[Jamman960]

TrilbyTV works well for us, staff/pupils can share straight from their iPads, pupils need their content approving, The web interface is pretty good too.

[DaveTheTech]

I run a little net top box behind our TVs which are used for signage. Very basic windows install. Local user gets logged on at startup. A batch script then looks for new PowerPoint files on a share.

If its newer it copies across, overwritting the old one.

Removing all the PowerPoints from the share replaces the current one with a default.

Edited November 27, 2018 by DaveTheTech

[mavhc]

I mean new as in something they're not used to, so editing a powerpoint vs logging into a nice and easy to use web ui

[chazzy2501]

windows, running a scheduled task to load a PowerPoint every 5 minutes from a network share. Then have them edit in power point ( no new skills) and save the new document in the share when done. (or edit it live)

[mikeprice]

We use brightsign, https://www.brightsign.biz/ , at its most basic level you can visually line up slides (saved as image files) and publish, you can have different presentations for different players, and you can do a ton more staff, youtube, radio feeds etc, but for basics, it works well.

 

Hi - I've been asked to set up a system using one of these BrightSign things - they seemed damn expensive for something that just plays slides - any comments????

[DrBeaker]

Hi all,

 

Looking for a free digital signage setup that is easy for non IT literate staff to use. Currently use Xibo, but the interface would confuse and bring fear to the admin staff. I am not at the school much anymore so need something basic that they can use. We currently have on our current setup, Powerpoint presentations (that I turn into videos), posters, the school website new section, but I would like the staff to take this on, so that they are not waiting on me all the time.

 

Any ideas?

 

Cheers

 

I found that even the simplest tasks in Xibo required me to write-up very dumbed-down guides for the admin staff full of step-by-step instructions with screenshots etc, for them to be able to complete them. So I ended up doing the admin bits of updating content.

[DrBeaker]

We have had XIBO up and running for years.

 

The interface can be quirky, but once mastered it the displays look great.

 

We also use some Android based boxed as clients, if you are interested I'll try to find out more about them.

The ideas I had to develop Xibo at one place past the initial stages it had been setup with - I was never given the time and resources to do so, despite my requests. So it kept being put on the back-burner constantly. AFAIK some of the content on the screens when I left, was still the same content that was on there when I started.

[DrBeaker]

I did get quite a nice Xibo installation set up years ago (had a news ticker, time, weather etc), but never got any content.

 

Neither did I despite constantly asking the people who should have provided the content. E.g. the cameras in the news studio might work - but if they've got not news, there's nothing to report on.