ScreenCloud offers tools to showcase web content on digital screens effectively. However, when it comes to displaying only specific parts of a web page (such as selected news posts or specific sections), there are certain limitations and considerations. Below, we outline key details and recommendations for partial webpage display customization.
Overview of display limitations in ScreenCloud Dashboards
ScreenCloud's Dashboards feature generally captures and displays an entire webpage screenshot, refreshing it periodically. This default functionality works best with websites that have distinct, separate sections or content "boxes," as these can sometimes be individually displayed. However, if the source website's layout does not provide visible distinctions between sections, the system will capture and display the entire webpage as a single entity.
Key Limitation:
If the source website does not allow for breaking content into distinct, mappable sections, ScreenCloud cannot isolate and display specific portions (e.g., only the first three news posts).
Recommendations for selective webpage display
If you wish to showcase specific sections of a webpage while excluding logos, navigation bars, or other elements, ScreenCloud provides the following features for enhanced flexibility, depending on the webpage structure:
Links: Certain use cases may be addressed by embedding individual links or segment-specific URLs that point directly to the desired content.
Page Scroll: This feature allows some control over which parts of a webpage are visible by adjusting the starting position or scroll range. This can help in focusing on certain sections of the page.
Playgrounds: You can customize the app's CSS settings so that it zooms in and crops out areas you don't wish to see on screen.
These options are dependent on the configuration of the webpage. Websites with a clear structural layout (e.g., segmented sections or anchor points) provide better usability for these features.
Note:
Ensure the webpage you are targeting is designed in a way that its individual content sections can be distinctly selected or scrolled to.
The websites must be publicly available.
Structural dependencies and examples
Websites with distinct sections: Ideal for partial displays, as ScreenCloud can differentiate and target these segments effectively.
Websites without defined sections: May require displaying the entire webpage due to the inability to isolate specific content for display.
For instance, if news stories are listed in a continuous feed without segmentation, only the entire feed may be displayed. However, if each news story is in a separate, clickable box or section, you may be able to use ScreenCloud’s features to display just those stories without additional elements.
Conclusion
To effectively control what is displayed on your ScreenCloud dashboard, it’s important to consider the structure of the source website. Leveraging features like Links, Page Scroll or Playgrounds may help in targeting specific content, but success depends on the webpage design. For sites that lack segmentation, displaying the entire page may be the only option.