UBCO Yodeck Digital Signage System

About:

The Yodeck signage system is a combination HTML5 Web Based editor and Raspberry Pi content player. Content is uploaded to the Yodeck website where it can then be scheduled, edited, added to playlists, combined with Yodeck supplied Widgets and then is assigned to local physical players on campus to be displayed. Custom Layouts can be designed and testing in the Web Interface before pushing to the players to verify the content is correct. Yodeck provides Templates for layouts as well as a searchable library of Images and Videos that you can use in your signage.

Cost:

Yodeck is subscription based per screen and must be purchased/renewed on an annual time basis. Pricing is available here: https://www.yodeck.com/pricing/ (Prices are in USD) and only the Enterprise plan is supported. When signing up for an annual plan Yodeck provides a player for free, but we highly recommend taking advantage of their upgraded player for an additional $20 USD. This allows for more advanced signage at a minimal investment. IT will charge the initial cost of the subscription and player to the requestors budget and afterwards will bill the cost of each individual departments subscriptions annually.

Acquiring a new or additional Yodeck sign:

Enter a ServiceNow ticket requesting a new Yodeck screen. We will meet with you to discuss location, screen size and check what services are available in that location. It is up to the requestor to add any additional infrastructure if any is needed (Power, network, special mounting needs). IT AV will help to create an order list for the items decided. All items will be purchased by the requestor with the Yodeck subscription being charged back to the requestor annually for as long as they are using the system.

Using the system:

Using the system means connecting through a Web Browser to https://www.yodeck.com and signing in with your UBC email address (first.last@ubc.ca). This will take you to the UBC CWL sign in page and once authenticated will ask for you to confirm with Duo.

Once logged in all Media uploading and Sign creation is done through the web browser. There are many example videos available at Yodeck's YouTube site here: https://www.youtube.com/c/Yodeck/videos. Once you create your signage you must then 'push' it to the players for it to be displayed.

The following would be the base steps to put content (a picture) on a screen that is currently configured for your account:

1. Login to https://www.yodeck.com
2. Click on the Media section on the left side of the page, click on the Images sub item, then click the Add Image button. Click the Image File button and upload an image file from your computer.
3. Give the image a name and then click the Save button.
4. Click on the Monitors section on the left side of the page (Yodeck refers to screens as Monitors)
5. Click on the Monitor name that you want the image to appear on and on the next page under the Default Content section change the selection to Media and in the Selection field to the right of that drop down list select the name you gave your image.
6. Click on the Save and Push to this monitor button. You can then check the thumbnail for the monitor to see that the image is being displayed.

The above example is a very basic example of how to put content on the screen. The system is flexible and can display multiple content types and information from other systems through the free widgets included with the service. It provides a scheduling system to allow you to schedule when items start and stop playing in advance. 

Support:

There are several ways to get help on using the Yodeck System:

1. On every Yodeck page there is an Orange circle with a question mark in the Bottom right corner. This button will bring up help for that specific page you are on as well as a link to the overall documentation. Most pages include tutorial videos on how to use the functions of that page.
2. You can access the Yodeck YouTube page which includes tutorials on how to use many parts of their system. That page is here: https://www.youtube.com/c/Yodeck/featured
3. You can enter a ServiceNow ticket to request training in the system. If possible, training is best in groups if multiple people are using the Yodeck system.