Creating and Managing Channels
A Channel displays a sequence of content (images and videos) and also displays a website or a single-page application.
This page shows creating and managing channels for AEM Screens.
Pre-requisites:
Creating a New Channel
Once you create your project for AEM Screens, follow the steps below to create a new Channel for your project:
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Select the Adobe Experience Manager link (top left) and then Screens. Alternatively, you can navigate directly to
https://localhost:4502/screens.html/content/screens
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Navigate to your Screens project and select Channels folder.
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Click Create from the action bar.
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Select the Sequence Channel template from the Create wizard and click Next.
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Enter the Title as ScreensChannel and click Create.
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A Sequence channel is is now added to your Channels folder.
Channel Types
The following template options are available while using the wizard such as:
Working with Channels
You can edit, view properties and dashboard, copy, preview, and delete a channel.
Adding/Editing Content to a Channel
To add or edit content in a channel, follow the steps below:
- Select the channel you want to edit (as shown in the figure above).
- Click Edit from the top left corner of the action bar to edit the channel properties. The editor opens that allows you to add assets/components to your channel that you want to publish.
Uploading Videos to the Channel
Follow the steps below to upload videos to your channel:
- Select the channel where you want to upload the video.
- Click Edit from the action bar to open the editor.
- Select Videos under Assets and drag and drop the required videos.
Viewing Properties
To view or edit properties of a channel, follow the steps below:
- Click on the Channel you want to edit.
- Click Properties from the action bar to view/edit the channel properties. The following tabs allow you to change the options.
Viewing Dashboard
To view dashboard of a channel, follow the steps below:
- Select the channel you want to edit.
- Click Dashboard from the action bar to view the dashboard. The CHANNEL INFORMATION,ASSIGNED DISPLAYS, and PENDING LAUNCHES panel opens, as shown in the figure below:
Channel Information
The Channel Information panel describes the Channel properties, along with the preview to the channel. Also, it provides you the information on whether the channel is offline or online.
Click on the (…) from the CHANNEL INFORMATION action bar to view properties, edit the content, or to update cache (offline content) for the channel.
Viewing the Manifest
You can view the manifest from the channel dashboard.
Follow these steps to enable this option from the channel dashboard:
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Set the Channel to Offline
- Select the channel and select Properties from the action bar
- Navigate to Channel tab and make sure that you un-check Developer Mode (force channel to be online) option
- Click Save & Close
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Update Offline Content
- Select the channel and select Dashboard from the action bar
- Navigate to CHANNEL INFORMATION panel and click …
- Click Update Offline Content
You should see the View Manifest option from the CHANNEL INFORMATION panel in the Channel dashboard.
Online and Offline Channels
When you create a channel, it can either be defined as an online or an offline channel.
An Online Channel, will show the updated content in the real time environment whereas an Offline Channel, shows the cached content.
Follow the steps below to make the channel online:
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Navigate to the channel as TestProject –> Channels –> TestChannel.
Select the channel.
Click Dashboard from the action bar to view the status of the player. The CHANNEL INFORMATION panel provides information on whether the channel is online or offline.
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Click Properties from the action bar and navigate to the Channel tab as shown below:
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Check the Developer mode (force channel to be online) to make the channel as online.
Click Save & Close to save your option.
Navigate back to the channel dashboard and now the CHANNEL INFORMATION panel shows the online status of the player.
Automatic versus Manual Updates from the Device Dashboard
The following table summarizes the events associated with the automatic and manual updates from the device dashboard.
Assigned Displays
The assigned displays panel shows the display associated to the channel. It provides a snapshot of the assigned display along with the resolution.
The associated displays will list in the Assigned Displays panel, as shown below:
Additionally, click on the display in the ASSIGNED DISPLAYS panel, to view the display information, as shown below:
The Next Steps
The next step after creating a channel and adding/editing content in your channel is to learn how to create a location and display. Furthermore, then assign a channel to that display.
See the following resources, for next steps: