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Adding Links and Websites To Display With ScreenCloud For Digital Signage
Adding Links and Websites To Display With ScreenCloud For Digital Signage

With this guide, you can learn how to add links and websites, and include QR codes, to your Studio account

Updated over a month ago

1. How to add a link or website

1.1. Adding a public link or website

Please note, ScreenCloud Studio can also display secure or password-protected dashboards and websites. You can learn more by clicking here to view the ScreenCloud Dashboard feature guide.

1.1.1. In the left-hand sidebar, you'll see the Links tab, click here.

1.1.2. You can start adding your websites by clicking on the New Link button.

1.1.3. Copy and paste the public URL for your website into the empty section provided, then click enter on your keyboard. You will see a preview of your website appear on the right-hand side. You'll see a green checkmark once the website has been verified to play in ScreenCloud.

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1.1.4. Next, you can use the following two options here for adding your public website:

i) Name your website: ScreenCloud will automatically pull the name of the website and page URL name. For example, Android News - Android Authority was automatically populated from the website we used. You can rename it to anything you see fit.

ii) Tag your website: You can set keywords or phrases to tag your website and find it easily, later on, to assign it to a screen, use it in a playlist, or cast across your screens.

1.1.5. Once you’ve finished setting up your website options, click on the yellow Add Link button to finish adding your site into ScreenCloud.

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1.2. Adding a QR code to collect metrics of your link or website

1.2.1. When adding your URL with Links you have the ability to display a QR code, which is generated automatically.

Links QR code 1.png


1.2.2. You have the ability to position it into 4 different positions.

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1.2.3. The the preview of the the link once saved, may appear different then what you see on the screen and screen preview, as the size automatically adjusts to the dimensions of the screen so that it is clearly readable and scannable by a phone and not covering too much of the screen.

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1.2.4. You cannot adjust the QR code position once the link is saved, so if you wish to make changes, you will need to simply re-create the link.

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1.2.5. And this is not all - Each time a QR code is scanned, the data is collected in Metrics! This is useful, as it allows you to see which of your screens are receiving the most traffic and attention.

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To learn about Metrics, please review this guide.

Please note: The QR code metrics feature is only part of the Pro or Enterprise pricing plan. Please contact your customer success manager if this feature isn't already available in your account, or contact our support team at [email protected] if you wish to upgrade your pricing plan.


1.3. Adding a private link, website, or dashboard

With ScreenCloud, you can display content that requires a login and/or is not accessible publicly to be displayed on your screens from popular dashboard services. For more information, please click here to view the ScreenCloud Dashboards guide. To submit a request to use ScreenCloud Dashboards, you can also click here to fill out the ScreenCloud Dashboards inquiry form.

2. Frequently asked questions & troubleshooting links

2.1. Why won't my website display?

Certain websites have security restrictions placed on them which limit where and how they can be shown. On the whole, this is a good thing. It means, for example, that your online banking is more secure due to these types of restrictions. However, it also means that we can't display certain websites based on security restrictions set up for them which restricts how they perform on third-party services, such as ScreenCloud.


The only way around this is to talk to the administrator of the website and ask them about loosening their security restrictions. Specifically, they'll need to change the Content-Security-Policy to allow ScreenCloud to display the content. Here is an example of this code below:

Content-Security-Policy: frame-ancestors 'self' https://*.screencloud.com https://*.screen.cloud

2.2. Why are some internal websites (private or behind a login) unable to be displayed?

Currently, by default, websites that are private or hidden behind an internal dashboard/login cannot be displayed. To learn more about using private dashboards or webpages with ScreenCloud, please click here to view the ScreenCloud Dashboard setup guide.

Please note, links can work for internal pages at this time. Private dashboards or private links do not work with the links feature and require to use ScreenCloud Dashboards. As long as the ScreenCloud player device or app is running on the same network, the internal site can display an https or non-password-protected webpage.

2.3. Why won't my website refresh or update automatically on screen?

Websites are limited if you're assigning the website as a single content on the screen. You need to create a playlist and assign the website inside a playlist with one other content to force refresh the website. We recommend in this case to add two instances of your app and run them together in a playlist to keep your website refreshed and continue playing on the screen. You can also use the same URL twice but using a slightly different query string.

As an alternative, you can try implementing a refresh script (javascript) inside the website which refreshes the website after a certain duration. Currently, we do not have access to the details of that script, but this can give you a workaround for your website to work for digital signage. It will also give you the ability to control the refresh time as well. We recommend touching base with your website developer or administrator further to help get this added.

2.4. Why are videos on the website not playing automatically (i.e. autoplay)?

Basically, websites have scripts that detect the device OS (e.g. Android, Amazon, IOS, etc) as a mobile device and Android/iOS has a policy that doesn't allow autoplay on the video to work without a user gesture. Websites also respond and function differently whilst viewed through your PC/laptop on a web browser, or through a mobile device as noted prior to playing videos automatically. If the website is being used within a third-party service, such as ScreenCloud, this could affect how the videos respond and disable autoplay.

If you have your own website with an HTML video player you can ask your developer to add the following line of code to your video:

<video webkit-playsinline="webkit-playsinline" playsinline="" preload="auto" src="path/to/vidoe.mp4" style="object-fit: contain; display: block;"></video>
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