FTP Widget

Using the FTP widget, a multiple number of users can mark a large amount of content to be ‘pulled’ by the NoviSign media player.

It actually allows you to take videos and images from an FTP URL, rather than from your Media Center in your NoviSign Studio account. The organization’s system administrator sets the time intervals when the FTP is scanned for new Creatives that are then added to the Playlists.

This solution is designed for highly dynamic implementation using large media files. In addition, as the internal organization network is accessed only at a single point of contact, the widget provides a perfect security solution.

The FTP site allows all FTP users to modify and create broadcasts without having direct access to the organizational Intranet.

Like most of the widgets, users drag the widget into the canvas of the Creative Composer, set size and location, configure the relevant FTP site, and set the time interval for the player app to scan for recently added file(s).

The widget can support many types image and video formats (as long as the media player itself supports them).

Say, that you have an FTP site with your media, called ftp://srv.novigames.com, the media is located in a root folder named “MyFolder” and the user to access this FTP is “myftpuser“.
In the widget, you’ll have to set the following settings:

1. 1. Protocol – Choose the protocol, either FTP or secured FTP (SFTP). In this example: ftp://srv.novigames.com it will be just FTP.
   2. Server – Type there your FTP URL. In this example: srv.novigames.com (remember not to put “ftp://” before the URL).
   3. User – Type there your FTP username. In this example: myftpuser
   4. Password – Type there the password of your FTP username.
   5. Directory – The folder where the media files are located. In this example: /MyFolder/ (do not forget to put slash before and after the folder name).
   6. Pattern – The pattern of the media files to be used. Example: *.mp4 will use all the mp4 video files, *.jpg will use all the jpg images, MyVideo.mp4 will play only the specific video called MyVideo.mp4, etc.
   7. Sort by name – Checking this checkbox will sort the media alphabetically, in case of multiple media files.
   8. Duration – The default duration for displaying an image slide. Remember that the FTP widget is actually a slideshow widget-like that can show videos and/or images. If the retrieved media file is an image, then it is irrelevant, since the duration will be the video’s actual duration.
   9. Check interval – The frequency (also in seconds) of checking the FTP folder for new media. Please notice that the only 2 cases where the FTP folder is checked for new media (new files or same files with different content) is when you press “Go” in the app or according the check interval. It is not checked when the creative starts playing, each playlist cycle.

Watch our step-by-step tutorial for a quick visual guide on how to set up and use the FTP widget to display media from your server.