Validity and display period: control when content shows

Validity and Display period determine when content is visible on your screens. The difference is the level they work on: you set Validity on a file in Files and it applies everywhere that file is used, while you set Display period on a single item inside a playlist and it applies only there. Outside the period you set, the screen skips the item automatically.

Setting the validity of a file

Go to Files in the sidebar.
Right-click a file and choose Set validity.
Set Valid from to Immediately or From a specific time.
Set Valid until to Never expires or Until a specific time.
Click Save.

Times apply in the screen's time zone, not in the one your own computer runs on. In Files, the file carries a label showing the period you set, or Expired.

Validity is the outer limit: a file that has expired no longer shows up anywhere, not even when it sits in a playlist or a schedule.

Setting the display period of a playlist item

Want to use the same file differently at different moments? Then use Display period per item.

Go to Playlists and open the playlist.
Right-click an item and choose Display period.
Set Valid from and Valid until.
Click Save.

You can add the same file to a playlist more than once, each copy with its own display period. That way you can show a different image on a particular day and go back to the original afterwards, without duplicating the file.

Want a new item to stay hidden for now? Set the display period as you add it, and it won't go straight to your screens.

How the two work together

If a file has a validity and its playlist item has a display period, the overlap wins: the item only plays while both periods are active. The file's validity stays the outer limit; a display period can only narrow the window, never widen it.

Clearing content automatically

Both dialogs let you clear things out once the period has passed. Both options only appear after you set an end date.

On a file: check Automatically delete this file after it expires. The file moves to Trash, where you can restore it.
On a playlist item: check Automatically remove from this playlist after it expires. Only the item leaves the playlist; the file itself stays in Files.

Clearing runs automatically in the background, not to the second. A check runs every 5 minutes and removes the item roughly 10 to 15 minutes after it expires. For each company, the check uses the westernmost time zone among your screens.

Frequently asked questions

My screen has gone blank

If no item in the playlist is currently valid, the screen shows nothing. The playlist warns you about this with the message No item is currently valid. The screen will show nothing until an item becomes valid.. Widen the validity or the display period of at least one item.

The item doesn't appear even though the period is running

Check whether the underlying file itself has expired. A file's validity always takes precedence over the display period in the playlist.