Web Author: Create Signage Content in the Browser

Web Author is the browser-based content editor built into MagicINFO Server. It offers an easy way to create LFD content to play on a device — start from a template, add multimedia files, text, stickers, shapes, input sources, and widgets, then save the result straight to the server content list. It also supports DataLink content for real-time dynamic data, VideoWall content, and W Player dedicated elements, making it the tool of choice for content creators who work without a desktop authoring application.

What's in this section

• Starting Web Author — Launch Web Author from the Content menu, choose the file type, target device and resolution, and open the editor to start building content.
• Web Author screen layout — A map of the Web Author screen: main tabs for templates, media, text and widgets, the canvas, the toolbar and the page list, with what each one does.
• Choose a Web Author Template (LFD or DataLink) — Pick a Web Author template for your screen layout in LFD signage mode or DLK DataLink mode, including split-screen and multi-page templates.
• Adding various content elements — Add images, video, text, stickers, shapes, input sources, widgets and visual effects to a Web Author template, and decorate the page background.
• Editing elements — Edit elements on the Web Author canvas: the edit toolbar, element properties, moving and resizing, locking elements and working with layers.
• Web Author Formatting Tools: Font, Size, Color — The formatting tools that appear when you select an element in Web Author: font, text size and color, alignment and the other style controls.
• Editing pages — Add pages to Web Author content and manage them in the page list, so that one content file can hold several screens that play one after another.
• Page Transition Effects in Web Author — Add a transition between the pages of multi-page Web Author content: open the page list, click between two pages and choose the switching effect.
• Event Triggers in Web Author Content — Make Web Author content react to signals from sensors or devices over a serial or UDP port: set up the trigger and preview the event schedule.
• Saving content — Save Web Author content to the server or open existing files, including local ones. Saved content is added to the MagicINFO content list automatically.

DataLink Content

• Creating DataLink content — Create DataLink content in Web Author whose text and media update in real time from a DataLink server or from uploaded files, by template or direct input.
• Build a Digital Menu Board with DataLink — Worked example: build a menu board with DataLink text-to-image mapping, so prices and items change on screen whenever the data source is updated.

W Player Content

• W Player dedicated Web Author editing functions — Create content made only for W Player in Web Author by selecting W Player as the supported device, available once at least one W Player is registered.
• Add Styled Text in Web Author (W Player) — Use Web Author's ready-made text styles in W Player content to add animated or decorated text, then fine-tune it with the text element tools.
• Image Element Settings for W Player Content — Detailed settings for image elements in W Player content made with Web Author: place an image on the canvas and adjust it from the toolbar.
• W Player Widgets in Web Author — Add W Player widgets with group motion effects, such as rotating sets of images, to Web Author content and set how each widget behaves on screen.
• Visual Effects for W Player Content — Add visual effect elements that play only in W Player content by dragging them onto the Web Author canvas, and see what each effect does on screen.
• Animate Elements in W Player Content — Apply animation effects to text, images and other elements in W Player content from the Web Author toolbar, and preview the motion before saving.
• Create Custom CSS Animation Effects in Web Author — Write your own CSS animation effects for W Player content in Web Author, with tips for writing the CSS and a worked example you can adapt.
• W Player API Settings in Web Author — Set up web content elements for the W Player API in Web Author: refresh interval, UDP and DataLink listeners and user data, then test them in preview.

info

The available elements and modes vary by the selected file type and device type — for example, VideoWall mode restricts supported devices and page transition effects.