Getting Started with Cast

To begin, go onto the Last Yard platform and log in with the username and password provided. If you do not have this information please contact support@lastyard.com for assistance.

In this article we have the following sections:

• Finding the Cast Dashboard
• What are Boards?
• How to Read the Cast Dashboard
• How to Make a New Board
• Populating a Board 
• Changing Order of Items in a Board
• Templates and their Uses
• Uploading Videos and Images
• Adjusting Tags
• File Specification

Click the Cast header in the left-hand menu bar, then the Dashboard sub-header. This is where your tv cast boards are created and organised.

Boards are the groups of items that get displayed on the tv screens. They can contain one or many items and can be set to run on one or several tv screens. On the dashboard created boards are listed under one of three categories:

Active Boards - All boards currently playing are shown here. They will move to the Expired Boards section once their schedule has ended.

Upcoming Boards - All scheduled boards can be found here. These will not appear until they have been published and their scheduled timeframe starts.

Expired Boards - All previous boards that have finished their schedule are found here. You can still edit their schedule to make them active again.

Board name - Given to the board during the creation process. This cannot be edited after.

Store - The name of the store where the boards are being displayed.

Scheduled Screens - These are the TVs that have been assigned the board. Click one to show what schedule has been set. You can assign more than one TV to display a board.

Layout - This is the overall layout and transitions of each “slide” within the board.

Last Published - Displays when the board was published. Boards that have been created but not yet published will say ‘never published’.

IMPORTANT: Even if a board is listed in the Current or Upcoming sections of the Dashboard they will not play on the assigned TV screens until they have been published.

Clone Icon - Makes a copy of the current board. You can select whether to also copy

the board’s assigned screens and schedules, and the content within the board.

Delete Board Icon - Deletes the board. Click this and then the Save button to

remove the board completely. This cannot be undone and the deleted boards

cannot be retrieved.

Save Icon - Saves any changes that have been made to the board (ie, to the

schedule or which tv is assigned). If something has been changed this icon will

turn blue to indicate it needs to be saved, it will then turn grey again once clicked.

1. Click the Create Board icon in the top right corner. This pop-up window will appear:

2. Give the board a name. Once the board has been saved this cannot be edited.

3. Assign a store to the board. Most stores will only have 1 to select from, in which case this will already be selected by default.

4. Select a Layout for the board. This is different to the templates used within the board. Once a board has been saved this setting cannot be changed, so ensure the correct layout is selected. The ones you will use is:

Portrait Carousel Full - Portrait orientated screen that shifts the full-screen advert when sliding to the next item. This template will play all the items within its board in rotation and then repeat.

You do not need to set a time limit or tags.

Click Create Board.

On the Dashboard (Board View) the new board will appear in the Upcoming Boards section.

5. Assign a TV screen for the board to display on. Click on the drop-down arrow where it says Select. This will present a list of your tv screens to choose from. Once you have selected a screen to assign, this Scheduling pop-up window will appear:

Active From (screen local time) - This dictates when the published board will start running on the tv screen. Select a date and a time. The time is in 24-hour format.

Active To (screen local time) - This dictates when the published board will finish running on the tv screen. Select a date and a time. The time is in 24-hour format.

You do not need to set the fields: Trigger At, Show For or Priority.

Click OK

To set more than one tv to display the board, repeat step 5 above. To clear all the screens assigned to a board, click the small x to the left of the drop-down arrow.

6. Click the Save button on the right-hand side of the new board’s row in the Dashboard (Board View) to commit these changes.

The new board row will stay under Upcoming Boards if the schedule is for a future date or move to be Active if a current date was entered. It can now have content added to it.

1. Click on the name of the board. This new page is where items can be added. A board can have multiple items in it. With the Landscape/Portrait Carousel Full layout they will display in order one after the other, showing for 12 seconds each.

2. Click New Item and then Blank Item.

A new pop-up window will appear asking you to select a Group, Template and Theme.
For the Group, choose Promo Group.

In the Template field there are several options. The ones to pick are:

Once you have selected the template you want to use, click Create. You do not need to fill out the Theme option.

Your new item will appear under the Promo Group as ‘Untitled Ticket’:

TIP: If you change your mind about which template to use, even after putting the product information in, you can choose a different one from the Template column’s drop-down list. Remember to click Save Board in the top right-hand corner to confirm this change.

3. Click the name of the item (initially ‘Untitled Ticket’). In the preview window at the bottom of the page fill out the fields you require. Once you have started filling in the fields on the left side, click the Save & Refresh button and the preview will display your selections.

Additional information about each template and how to fill them in can be found in the next section of this guide.

TIP: You can resize the view of the preview window by clicking and dragging the top edge of the preview window upwards.

Repeat steps 2-3 to add additional items to the board. Not all these items need to have the same template used. It can make your board more interesting to mix them up where appropriate.

4. Click Publish Board in the top right corner.

Boards can be published immediately (but they won’t appear on the tv until their schedule starts) or be set to publish at a later time.

If changes are made to any of the items in a board (ie changing the price of an item) the Save & Refresh and Publish Board buttons must be clicked again to update the edits.

IMPORTANT: Boards will not appear on screens, even if scheduled, if the board has not been published. If a published board is edited, the old version will continue to run until the Publish Board button is clicked again.

If the items in your board are not in the desired rotation order you can rearrange them.

1. Click on the three lines to the left of the item row you wish to move and then drag the row into its new position.

2. Click the Save button to confirm the changed order.

3. Click the Publish button again if the board has already been published so that the new version is displayed on the tv.

Portrait Foreground + Background
This template has two main fields for inputting information, a foreground and background. Its main purpose is to display video content from third parties that is already complete or videos and graphics you have made in a separate graphics program (like Photoshop or Illustrator). The next section of this user guide will explain how to upload your own files.

Portrait Pharmacy Product Advertisement
If you do not have a suitable video or large background photo of the product, or if the saving or offer is more valuable, then this template is best.

You may want to add additional background images and video to use on your boards.

1. Click on the Design heading in the left-side menu and then click Images.

This page shows view the currently uploaded images and videos, and allows you to upload new files and adjust the Tags assigned to each file.

TIP: Tags sort images and videos into the correct field inside a template. Make sure images have a tag or they will not appear in the Background or Product Image drop-down lists.

2. Click the Upload button in the top right corner of the screen and select the file you wish to upload. You can select more than one file at a time however they need to be the same type of file (ie several background images only, not images and video).

3. Select a Tag for the image. The next pop-up window will prompt you to tag the uploaded file. Select either Background or Product Image depending on which sort of image you are uploading.

If you wish to change or add more Tags to a file this can be done by ticking the box immediately to the left of the file’s name and then clicking the Tag button in the top right corner. This will bring up the pop-up window shown above again.

IMPORTANT: Uploaded files must meet the following requirements in order to display correctly. Larger files run the risk of crashing the player or making it load slowly.