Multi-template campaigns

A multi-template campaign lets one campaign drive several different layouts at once. Instead of one template for every screen, you build blocks — each block is a template plus its own content plus its own list of screens. At launch, every screen receives a playlist compiled from its block.

Multi-template mode is a switch inside the campaign editor. It is the right tool when the same campaign should look different on different screens — for example a full-screen video on the entrance screens and a menu-with-ticker layout on the food-court screens.

What a multi-template campaign is

Turning the mode on adds a bar above the editor steps with a block for each template. Each block holds:

• a template (its layout),
• the content you put in that template’s zones, and
• a direct list of screens that block plays on.

The campaign’s schedule and dates are shared — all blocks run on the same schedule. Only the layout, content, and screen list differ from block to block. When you launch, the manager compiles a separate playlist for every screen from the block that owns it.

Turn on multi-template mode

Switch Multi-template on in the bar above the steps. Because this restructures the campaign, it asks you to confirm.

Enabling multi-template is a structural change, so it asks you to confirm

When you confirm, your current content and screens become block 1, and the bar shows that block plus an Add template button.

Add another template block

Click Add template to create a new, empty block. The bar shows a pill for each block — click a pill to switch to it. Switching blocks re-points the Create content and Choose places steps at the block you selected, so you always edit the active block.

Two blocks — click a pill to switch which one the steps below are editing

Assign screens to a block

Each screen belongs to exactly one block. In the active block, open Choose places → Parameters and pick screens as usual. A screen already held by another block is badged in another block in the picker — selecting it here moves it into the active block (it leaves the other one).

A screen held by another block is badged; picking it moves it into the active block

Note

If a screen somehow ends up listed in more than one block, the server binds it to the first (lowest-numbered) block. In normal use this can’t happen — the picker moves a screen out of its old block when you add it to a new one.

Replace or remove a template block

Every block pill has a ⋮ menu:

• Replace template — swap the block’s layout for a different template. Content already placed in matching zones is kept where it can be.
• Remove template — delete the block, along with its content and screens (it confirms first). Removing is disabled on the last remaining block — a multi-template campaign needs at least one.

Each block pill's menu — replace the layout or remove the block

What multi-template mode does not support

Multi-template blocks use direct screen selection only. Two targeting layers you may know from ordinary campaigns do not apply here:

Caution

Geo zones and tag targeting have no effect in multi-template mode. Each block targets its screens directly, by name. If you set geo zones on a multi-template campaign they are ignored at launch — the campaign publishes to every directly-assigned screen regardless. Use geotargeting only on ordinary single-template campaigns.

How content in a block behaves

Content works the same inside a block as in an ordinary campaign, including playlists:

Note

A playlist dropped into an empty zone stays a live reference, but editing that playlist does not change what plays until you re-launch the campaign. A playlist dropped into a zone that already holds items is copied once, as a snapshot.

Every block must have at least one media item, or the campaign can’t launch — the editor reports that the block needs content.

Turn multi-template mode off

Switch Multi-template off to collapse the campaign back to a single template: it keeps block 1’s template, content, and screens, and drops the other blocks. This does not need a confirmation.

See also

• The campaign editor — the four steps every block uses
• Templates — the layouts blocks are built from
• Geotargeting — a filter for single-template campaigns (not here)
• Playlists — how playlist content reaches screens