Playlist scheduling vs slide scheduling

Introduction

A playlist contains slides, and both can be scheduled. There are three places a schedule can live: on the playlist (one schedule for all its slides), on each slide (independent schedules), and on the playlist's slot on a screen (this screen shows the playlist only at certain times). This article explains how they relate. There is no longer a separate Set individually toggle: the playlist's own schedule window decides which of the first two applies.

Layer 1: One schedule for the whole playlist

Use this when the playlist is a unit, such as a five-slide Christmas campaign that should run 23.–26.12.:

• Open the playlist editor and click Schedule playlist (FI: Ajasta soittolista) in the toolbar.
• The same schedule window as for a slide opens: Always visible, Date and time, or Weekdays and time, plus Show or hide.
• If some slides already have their own schedules, the Platform asks: "Apply schedule to all slides? All other schedules will be reset and this schedule will be applied to all playlist slides." Click Continue.
• Click Save schedule. The schedule is copied onto every slide in the playlist, and each slide row now shows the Scheduled pill with the dates or weekdays.
• Click Publish.
• While the playlist schedule is on, the Schedule button on each slide is locked with the note "This playlist uses one schedule for all slides. Edit scheduling from playlist settings." The toolbar button shows a Scheduled pill.
• Slides you add to the playlist later pick up the schedule automatically the next time you save or publish.

Layer 2: A schedule per slide

Use this when slides inside one playlist need different times, such as a news playlist where the morning bulletin runs 07:00–09:00 and the afternoon update 15:00–17:00:

• Make sure the playlist's own schedule is set to Always visible. This hands scheduling to the slides.
• Click Schedule on each slide and set its schedule.
• Different slides can now have different schedules, and slides without one play in every loop.
• To schedule several slides the same way at once, click Select, tick them, and click Schedule.

Switching between the two

What happens when you change your mind:

• From per-slide to playlist-wide: open Schedule playlist and set a schedule. The confirmation dialog warns you: every per-slide schedule is replaced by the playlist's. Note them down first if you might want them back.
• From playlist-wide to per-slide: open Schedule playlist and pick Always visible. The schedule is cleared from every slide and the per-slide Schedule buttons unlock. Then schedule slides individually.
• Either change is a draft until you Publish the playlist.

Layer 3: The playlist's slot on a screen

A playlist placed on a screen is a single slide there, and that slide can have its own schedule:

• Open the screen, click the playlist row, and click Schedule playlist in its settings.
• This schedule applies on this screen only. The playlist itself and other screens aren't affected.
• It stacks with the layers above: the device checks the slot's schedule first, then each slide's own schedule. Both must allow the slide for it to play.
• This is how you combine dates and weekdays: schedule the slides by weekday inside the playlist, and schedule the playlist's slot on the screen by date.
• If the playlist has a playlist-wide schedule, the slot form is replaced by the locked note; edit the schedule in the playlist instead.
• You need edit rights to the playlist. Otherwise you see "You don't have permission to edit this playlist's schedule."

Which layer is right?

Match the layer to the content:

• Playlist-wide for campaigns where every slide should appear at the same time.
• Per slide for variety inside a playlist.
• Screen slot when the same playlist should play at different times on different screens, or to limit a weekday-scheduled playlist to a date range.
• When in doubt, start playlist-wide. It's the most common pattern and the easiest to reason about.

Summary

Schedule playlist copies one schedule onto every slide and locks the slides; setting it to Always visible hands scheduling back to the slides. The playlist's slot on a screen adds a third layer that stacks with the other two. Publish after every change.