Adding content to your library

Everything you show on a screen starts here: you add it to the content library, and from there it goes into playlists.

There are two ways to add something. The drop area at the top of the list takes files only, either by clicking it or by dragging them in; CREATE NEW CONTENT takes either a file or a link and lets you set everything up front.

What sits at the top of the Content items column

These sit at the top of the Content items column:

1. CLICK HERE OR DRAG YOUR TRACKS — the drop area. Click it to open a file picker, or drag files onto it. See Way 1 below.

2. Date from / Date to — the period during which the files added through the drop area should play. Fill these in before you add the files.

3. CREATE NEW CONTENT — opens the dialog for adding one file or a link, with the title and dates set up front. See Way 2 below.

4. RELOAD CONTENT — fetches the list of items in the open category again. Nothing else on the page changes. Use it when something you (or a colleague) just added isn't showing yet.

5. The item toolbar — the row of icons just below, for acting on the item(s) you tick in the list: edit, select all, clear the selection, delete, and copy to clipboard. It acts on whatever is selected — see Working with several items at once.

First, choose or create a category

Content is filed in categories (folders). In the left column, select the category the new item should go into — or create one: type a name in the Create new category row at the bottom of the column. The + at the end of the row turns into an → once you start typing — click it, or press Enter, to create the category.

Set how long an item shows

• Video and audio play for their natural length — the length of the file.

• Images, documents and web pages have no length of their own, so you set one: select the item, click the pencil (edit) icon, enter the seconds in the Duration row and save.

Way 1 — the drop area (click or drag)

The quickest way for files you already have. It takes files only — for a link, use Way 2.

Set the dates first. If the files should only play during a set period, fill in Date from and Date to above the drop area before you add them — the window is applied as the files come in, so afterwards is too late. (These labels do the same job as Show from / Show until in the dialog.)

Then add the files in whichever way suits you:

• Click the CLICK HERE OR DRAG YOUR TRACKS area — a file picker opens; select one or more files and confirm.

• Drag one or more files from your computer straight onto that area.

Either way the files land in the open category. Set their titles and durations afterwards by editing each item.

Way 2 — CREATE NEW CONTENT (a file or a link)

Use this when you want to choose the type yourself, or when what you're adding is a link rather than a file. The first two steps are the same; after that, the file path and the link path differ.

1. Click CREATE NEW CONTENT at the top of the Content items column.

   

   The CREATE NEW CONTENT button

   
   

2. In the Add content dialog, choose what you're adding:

   • A file from your computer — pick a type under Create & upload: Image, Video, Document, Audio or Web page.

   • A link to something on the web — paste it into the Paste a link to auto-detect box at the top (impressBox works out the type), or pick the matching tile under External resources or Integrations.

   

   The Add content dialog

   
   

If you picked a file type 3. Click Choose File and select the file on your computer (or drop it on the area).

4. Optionally type a Title — leave it empty and the filename is used — and set Show from / Show until if the item should only run for a period. Each takes a date and a time. 5. Click ADD CONTENT. The button stays grey until a file is loaded; once your file is chosen it turns blue and can be clicked.

If you're adding a link

3. In the form that opens, paste the address into the URL field — there's no file to choose. impressBox detects the type automatically (page, video stream, image, document…).

   

   The URL / page form: paste the address, add an optional Title and a Show from / Show until window; the type is detected automatically

   
   

4. Optionally add a Title and Show from / Show until (each a date and a time).

5. Click ADD CONTENT.

Adding content from the web

Links — a web page, a YouTube or Vimeo video, a live stream, a Canva design, a Power BI report — are added through Way 2, either by picking the matching type or by pasting the address into the auto-detect box. Each source has its own page with the specifics: Add a web page, URL or YouTube video, Importing a Canva design, YouTube, Live streams (HLS / IPTV).

Adding several files at once

Only the drop area does this: click it and select several files, or drag a whole batch onto it.

The CREATE NEW CONTENT dialog takes one file at a time, and only of the type you picked — choosing Image, for example, offers image files only.

Because the Date from / Date to fields apply to everything that comes in through the drop area, set them before you add a batch. Titles and durations are set afterwards, item by item.

Aspect-ratio check (Agent-only)

If an image doesn't match a supported screen aspect ratio, impressBox offers outpainting — using AI to extend the image to fit the screen's shape (instead of stretching or cropping) — to reshape it. See Content doesn't fit the screen? Fix it with AI outpainting.

Date restrictions

In the Add content dialog you can set Show from and Show until (each a date and a time) so the item only plays within a window — a seasonal promotion, for example. See Show content only between certain dates.