Layouts

A Layout is one screenful of content: a canvas at a specific resolution, divided into regions, each playing media or widgets. Layouts are the unit you schedule to displays.

How to get there: Sidebar → Layouts, or /layouts.

Page layout

Folder tree on the left, table on the right. The header carries five actions:

Icon	What it does
Template gallery (LayoutTemplate)	Browse pre-built templates and create a new layout from one.
New Layout (filled +)	Open the create dialog.
Import Layout (FileUp)	Upload an .xlf file exported from another OTS Signs instance.
Show retired (Archive)	Toggle visibility of retired layouts. Highlights when on.
Refresh	Force reload.

The table also auto-refreshes when you switch back to the browser tab (debounced to 2 seconds).

Columns

Column	What it shows
Name	Layout name. Click to open in the Designer (write permission required) — otherwise links to the read-only detail page.
Status	A colored badge: Valid (green), Invalid (red), Building (amber), or Draft (outline). Shows whether the layout is ready to play.
Published	Published / Draft / Pending / Retired. Retired wins over Published.
Duration	Total runtime of the layout (e.g. 1m 30s).
Folder	Folder name or “Unfiled” (lg+).
Updated	Relative time (lg+).

The toolbar provides search by name. If the list is too large to show all at once, a notice asks you to narrow the results.

Creating a layout

Click + to open New Layout. Fields:

• Name (required)
• Description (optional)
• Resolution (required) — picker shows enabled resolutions only. Manage them on the Resolutions page.
• Folder (optional) — defaults to whatever folder is currently selected in the tree.

On Save, the layout is created and the Designer opens automatically (a token exchange runs first to grant designer access). If designer access can’t be prepared, the layout is still created — you can open it manually from the row.

Template gallery

The Template gallery button opens a picker of saved templates plus built-in templates. Pick one, give the new layout a name, and the Designer opens with the template applied.

You can save your own layouts as templates from the row context menu — see “Save as Template” below.

Importing

The Import Layout action accepts .xlf files exported from OTS Signs. The import preserves regions, widgets, and timing — but media files are uploaded fresh into your library.

Layout lifecycle

OTS Signs uses an explicit edit / publish cycle:

Published ──Checkout──▶ Draft ──Publish──▶ Published
                          │
                          └──Discard──▶ Published (reverted)

Action	When it appears	What it does
Edit in Designer	Always (with write permission)	Opens the Designer. If the layout is published, a draft is created automatically.
Checkout for Editing	Published, not retired	Explicitly creates a draft copy.
Publish	Draft layouts	Promotes the draft to published. Choose Publish Now or Schedule for a specific date & time.
Discard Draft	Draft layouts	Throws away changes and reverts to the published version. Permanent.
Retire Layout	Published, not retired	Removes from new schedules but leaves existing ones running. Reversible.
Unretire	Retired layouts	Brings back to active.

Caution

Publishing pushes new content to every display the layout is scheduled to. Use Publish — Schedule for a specific date & time to roll out at a planned moment (e.g. after store close).

Other row actions

Action	Notes
Manage Folder Permissions	Opens the permissions dialog for the layout’s folder (or root if Unfiled — you’ll see a toast).
Copy Layout	Server-side copy with a new name — full clone of regions, widgets, timing.
Save as Template	Snapshot the layout as a template for the gallery.
Delete	Two-step delete. Schedules referencing the layout are affected.

Bulk actions

Select rows with the checkboxes. The toolbar swaps in:

• Tag N layouts — apply tags via picker.
• Delete N — two-step bulk delete; failures are reported but partial deletions are not rolled back.

The Designer

Opening a layout takes you to /layout-editor — the visual canvas. From here you arrange regions, drop in media, add widgets (clock, weather, RSS, datasets), set transitions, and preview. The Designer is documented separately and isn’t covered in detail here.

Tip

Editor sessions return to the Layouts page when you click Save and Close. Your scroll position and folder filter come back with you.

Permissions

• The page appears only when your role includes layout access.
• The Name column is a Designer link only when you have layout write permission. Otherwise it’s a read-only detail link.
• Lifecycle actions (publish, discard, retire) require write permission on the layout itself.
• Delete requires layout delete permission.

Related

• Media Library — sources of layout content.
• Playlists — sequenced playback (alternative to multi-region layouts for simple looping content).
• Resolutions — manage canvas sizes available to the create dialog.
• Schedules — assign layouts to displays.