Set Up Players
This page / section pertains to BrightAuthor Classic, our legacy app. BrightSign Author is our latest app for managing content and players.
Development of BrightAuthor Classic has largely ceased and the app will eventually be deprecated and replaced with BrightSign Author.
Before you can publish presentations, you must first set up your BrightSign player(s). Follow these steps in BrightAuthor Classic to set up a player:
- Navigate to Tools > Setup BrightSign Unit.
- Configure your unit for one of the four publishing options described below.
- Save the setup files to a storage device (SD card or USB flash drive).
- Insert the storage device into the BrightSign player and power it up.
Once the storage device is inserted, your BrightSign player is ready to receive and play presentations. Training videos are available here.
The storage device must remain inside the player during playback—BrightSign players have no internal storage and, therefore, cannot download or play content without a storage device connected.
Publishing Options
There are four publishing options, depending on how you want to publish presentations to your players:
- BrightSign NetworkBrightSign Network: Use the BrightSign Network cloud-based content-management system (CMS) to remotely schedule presentations, distribute content, assign players to groups, and monitor the health of players.
- Local File NetworkingLocal File Networking: Publish presentations and schedules to players over your local network.
- Simple File NetworkingSimple File Networking: Publish presentations and schedules remotely using your own web server.
- StandaloneStandalone: Publish presentations directly to your player using an SD card or USB drive. Use this method if your player doesn’t have a network connection or if you do not plan to update the presentation frequently.
If you’re using the BrightSign Network, Local Networking, or Simple File Networking to publish your presentations, you must connect your player(s) to the local network via Ethernet or WiFi. Alternatively, you can set up players for use as standalone units that are not connected to a network. With this option, you will need to manually update the player storage (SD card or USB flash drive) each time you want to update presentations. For more details on the publishing process, see the Publishing PresentationsPublishing Presentations section.
Local File Networking is recommended for networks of 10 or fewer players, and Simple File Networking for larger networks.