TV module

Content

1. Introduction
2. Installing the TV module
3. Connecting the module to a page
4. Managing the TV module
    4.1 Page slideshow configuration
    4.2 Scrollpage configruation
    4.3 Slideshow configruation
    4.4 Showpage configuration
5. Your TV pages on the TV set
6. Tips @ tricks for the TV module

1. Introduction

The TV module of Site@School is a simple solution to have a kind of message board via a TV set. The TV module enables you to update pages on the TV set.
You can have, for example, an old TV in the hall of the school to display messages, pictures, etc.
Multiple TV sets can be controlled via the TV module. To do this, for every location in school where you have a TV set, you need the following materials:

The TV module of Site@School can show pages of S@S in these ways:

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2. Installing the TV module

The TV module is now part of the Site@School v. 2.4 installation.

If you are migrating from an earlier S@S release, it has to be installed separately. Point your browser to: http://www.yourschool.org/starnet/install/install_tvmodule.php. The URL is fictional, replace the 'www.yourschool.org' part with the URL of your school. Follow the onscreen instructions. With a few mouse clicks the database tables are created and the TV module is installed on your system.

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3. Connecting the module to a page

Before you can use the TV module, you must add pages to it and you must prepare the computer's TV card.
The procedure to add pages slightly differs from the other modules. In the next section the adding of pages and scripts is discussed.
Preparing the computer is treated in 5. Your TV pages on the TV set

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4. Managing the TV module

The TV module uses 'scripts' to show pages on the TV set(s). These pages must be selected.

When you click on 'Module manager' > 'TV module', you will see:

[TV module opening ]
mod_tv_open.png

When you click on the dropdown menu, you will see the available scripts:

Select one of the desired scripts. The scripts are discussed below.
Now you will see:

[TV module: script added ]
mod_tv_script_added.png
Explanation:
  1. Trash can icon: Click to delete an entry.
  2. View page icon: Click to view the page as it is displayed on the TV set. This is useful to check whether you have made the correct choices in the configuration.
  3. (n): Location identifier. When having more TV sets in your school, you can specify on which TV set the page will be displayed. For configuration, see below.
  4. Script name: Now it shows the selected script name. Can be changed in configuration, see below.

    NOTICE: At this moment these scripts are available. These scripts are discussed in:
    4.1 Page slideshow configuration
    4.2 Scrollpage configuration
    4.3 Slideshow configuration
    4.4 Showpage configuration

  5. Active: You can show the page on the TV set by setting the radio button on the desired page and pressing the 'Save' button.
  6. Go back: To go back to the previous page without saving your work.
  7. Save: To save your work.

The selected script must be configured. To do so, click on the script name. The configuration window will open.
We will now discuss each script's configuration options.

4.1 Page slideshow configuration

When you have chosen the 'Page slideshow' script and you click on its name, you will see:

[ ]
mod_tv_config_pageslideshow.png
Explanation:
  1. Script type: Indicates the display mode.
  2. Script name: The chosen script name can now be changed to something that makes sense in your situation, for example: 'Today's classes'.
  3. Pages: Here you can specify the consequent pages, separated by commas.
    Page numbers can be found with the 'Page manager'. Here is an example:

    [ ]
    mod_tv_script_config_select_page.png

    Between the blue brackets the section and page numbers are given. The last number indicates the page number. Now you can see which page numbers you want to display. In this example it would be page 18. Remember page numbers and their order and enter them, separated by commas.
    Use the 'View' facility to quickly see your results. For a very quick inspection, you can set the speed to '1'.

  4. Speed: The number of seconds each page will be displayed.
  5. Welcome text: A welcome text at the top of the page can be given. You can use HTML tags to mark up the text.
  6. Location id: When you have more TV sets in your school, you can specify on which TV set will be used for display. See also below under 5. Your TV pages on the TV set
  7. Go back: To return to the previous page without saving your work.
  8. Save: To save your results and return to the previous page.

Use the 'View' facility to quickly see your results.

4.2 Scroll script configuration options

When you have chosen the scroll script and you click on its name, you will see:

[ ]
mod_tv_config_scrollpage.png
Explanation:
  1. Script type: Indicates the display mode.
  2. Script name: The chosen script name can now be changed to something that makes sense in your situation, for example: 'Week overview'.
  3. Page number: Here you can specify the chosen page.
    Page numbers can be found with the 'Page manager'. Here is an example:
    [ ]
    mod_tv_script_config_select_page.png

    Between the blue brackets the section and page numbers are given. The last number indicates the page number. Now you can see which page numbers you want to display. In this example it would be page 18. Remember the number and enter it in the entry field.
    Use the 'View' facility to quickly see your results.

  4. Speed: The scrolling speed of the page. A low number is slow; a high number is fast. Experiment to find the right value for a page.
  5. Welcome text: A welcome text at the top of the page can be given. You can use HTML tags to mark up the text.
  6. Location id: When you have more TV sets in your school, you can specify on which TV set will be used for display. See also below under 5. Your TV pages on the TV set
  7. Go back: To return to the previous page without saving your work.
  8. Save: To save your results and return to the previous page.

Use the 'View' facility to quickly see your results.

4.3 Slideshow script configuration options

The 'Slideshow' is a full screen version of the Allbum slideshow
You can use the script in the same way as the scroll page script.

Be careful to have images of the same dimensions.

When you have chosen the 'Slideshow' and you click on the name, you will see:

[ ]
mod_tv_config_slideshow.png
Explanation:
  1. Script type: Indicates the display mode.
  2. Script name: The chosen script name can now be changed to something that makes sense in your situation, for example: 'Schooltrip pictures'.
  3. Album name: Here you can specify the name of the album.
    The name can be found with the 'Page manager'.

    NOTICE: Be sure to exactly copy the album name.
    Use the 'View' facility to quickly see your results.

  4. Speed: The transition speed of the images. A low number is slow; a high number is fast. Experiment to find the right value for the images..
  5. Width: Specifies the image width in pixels.
  6. Welcome text: A welcome text at the top of the page can be given. You can use HTML tags to mark up the text.
  7. Location id: When you have more TV sets in your school, you can specify on which TV set will be used for display. See also below under 5. Your TV pages on the TV set
  8. Go back: To return to the previous page without saving your work.
  9. Save: To save your results and return to the previous page.

Use the 'View' facility to quickly see your results.

You can give the transition type (only for Internet Explorer) and the width of the screen.

This can be done as in the following example:

http://www.yourschoolsite.org/addons/slideshow_full.php?album_name=albumname&s=1&t=3&w=800

4.4 Showpage configuration options

When you have chosen the 'Showpage' and you click on the name, you will see:

[ ]
mod_tv_config_showpage.png
Explanation:
  1. Script type: Indicates the display mode.
  2. Script name: The chosen script name can now be changed to something that makes sense in your situation, for example: 'Today'.
  3. Page number: Here you can specify the chosen page.
    Page numbers can be found with the 'Page manager'. Here is an example:
    [ ]
    mod_tv_script_config_select_page.png

    Between the blue brackets the section and page numbers are given. The last number indicates the page number. Now you can see which page number you want to display. In this example it would be page 18. Remember the number and enter it in the entry field.

  4. Welcome text: A welcome text at the top of the page can be given. You can use HTML tags to mark up the text.
  5. Location id: When you have more TV sets in your school, you can specify on which TV set will be used for display. See also below under 5. Your TV pages on the TV set
  6. Go back: To return to the previous page without saving your work.
  7. Save: To save your results and return to the previous page.

Use the 'View' facility to quickly see your results.

To conclude this configuration section, here is an example:

[ ]
mod_tv_example.jpg

A school with two TV sets; one for the Kindergarten entrance (location id = 0) and one for the entrance of the other groups (location id = 1).

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5. Your TV pages on the TV set

The browser which you use to display the TV pages has to be configured to run in 'Kiosk' mode. This means that no menu bar, buttons, etc. are displayed and the browser displays its content full screen.

Here are some links that describe Kiosk mode for various browsers:
Opera: http://www.opera.com/support/mastering/kiosk/
Mozilla: http://tln.lib.mi.us/~amutch/pro/mozilla/kioskmode.htm
Firefox: http://tln.lib.mi.us/~amutch/pro/phoenix/kiosk.htm
K-Meleon: http://tln.lib.mi.us/~amutch/pro/kmeleon/
This is a special library browser that seems particularly suited for the TV module.
Internet Explorer: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=154780

These are the steps to prepare a Windows OS and Internet Explorer for the TV module:

What remains is: adding the right URL and location identifier to the browser and set this URL as the default start URL.
The URL is:

http://www.yourschoolsite.org/starnet/addons/tv.php?loc_id=n

Where 'n' is the location identifier. When you have one TV set, its value is probably '0', without quotes.
Make this URL the home page of the used browser.
You can remotely change the script to another one, the tv.php script will check every 60 seconds for a change.
Good luck with your TV module.

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6. Tips & tricks for the TV module

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Author: Dirk Schouten <schoutdi (at) knoware (dot) nl>
Last updated: 2006-04-19