Quick start steps for BrightPlates

Important: BrightPlates is End-of-Life as of Jun 9, 2022.

If you've just purchased a BrightPlates subscription and are not sure how to get started, follow the steps below. For the sake of brevity, these steps gloss over many features offered by BrightPlates. For a more complete explanation, see the BrightPlates Documentation section.

Terminology

These instructions use several terms that are unique to BrightPlates. Here's what they mean:

• player: A BrightSign media player. You will need at least one of these to use BrightPlates.
• subscription: A purchased pass that allows you to use a player with BrightPlates for a specified period of time (typically one year).
• presentation: A single screen that contains images, text, and/or video. Every presentation must be based on a template.
• template: A default layout for images, text, and/or video. Each template also includes some sample content to provide an example of how the layout will look. BrightPlates comes with a number of default templates; you can also build your own specially branded template or consult with a content-creation service to build one.
• publish: The act of assigning a presentation to a player. The player will then download the presentation and display it on the connected monitor.

Sign up for BrightPlates

1. Once you've received a "BrightPlates subscription key" Email, navigate to http://brightplates.biz/register.
2. Enter a desired account Name.
3. Specify the Email address you wish to associate with your BrightPlates account.
4. Enter and confirm a Password for your account.
5. Copy the subscription key from the "BrightPlates subscription key" Email and paste it into the Subscription key field.
6. Click Register.
7. Go to http://brightplates.biz and sign in using your new credentials.

Set up a Player

Before you begin publishing presentations, you need to add at least one player to your BrightPlates account.

1. Click Device Setup in the top-right corner of the page (or click Setup player under My BrightSign Players).
2. Enter a Name for the player. The player Description is optional.
3. (BrightSign Network accounts only) Use the Group dropdown list to assign the player to a BSN group.
4. (Optional) Check the Diagnostic Web Server box to enable the DWS on the player. The DWS allows you to troubleshoot the player on your local network. For more details, see the Diagnostic Web Server User Guide.
5. (Optional) Enter a Password for the DWS.
6. Check the Enable Wireless box if you want the player to connect to the Internet using WiFi (a Wireless Module is required to use WiFi). Enter the SSID and Security Key for the wireless network.
7. Click the Advanced Network Setup button if you need to manually configure the player to connect to your network environment. Use these options if your network uses a proxy server, restricts use of DHCP, etc. Contact your network administrator for more details.
8. Specify the Time Zone where the player is located.
9. Click Create setup files to download the setup.zip file to your computer. 
1. Unzip the contents of the setup.zip file.
2. Copy the setup files and folders (autorun.brs, current-sync.xml, etc.) to the root directory of your SD card (e.g. "SD:/")
3. Turn off the player by unplugging the power.
4. Insert the SD card into the player.
5. Turn on the player by reconnecting the power.
6. Give the player a few minutes to configure itself and connect with your BrightPlates account. Use the refresh button next to My BrightSign Players if you do not see the player after a few minutes.

Important: You must create a different set of setup files for each player you wish to add to your account.

Select a Template

Now that you have one or more players connected to your BrightPlates account, you can begin creating a presentation by selecting a template.

1. Click Create Presentation under My Presentations.
2. Select the Portrait or Landscape option.
3. Select the template type (e.g. Menu Board).
4. Click a template thumbnail to see a larger preview.
5. Once you've selected the template you wish to use to create your BrightPlates presentation, click the Next / Edit button.

Create the Presentation

You can now edit different elements of the template to create the presentation.

1. Click an image field to insert an image. 
1. Click Choose file to select an image from the media library. If you need to add a new image to your media library, click Upload file.
2. Select Size, Horizontal Align, and Overflow options for the image. These options are only necessary if the the size of your image is different from the size of the image field.
2. Click a Live Media Feed field to edit the media feed. 
1. Edit the existing items in the media feed, or click Create Feed to create a new feed.
2. Click the image fields to add images to the feed. Note that only some templates support feed images.
3. Edit the Title and Description fields of each item.
4. If custom fields, such as "price", are supported by the template, you can click Add Field to add them to the feed.
5. When you are finished editing the Live Media Feed, click Save feed or Save feed as..., then click Save to use the feed in the presentation
3. Click Change background image to replace the default background with an image or video.

Publish the Presentation

1. Click the Save / Publish button once you're finished editing the template.
2. Enter a Presentation Name.
3. Select the Player (or BSN Group) that will receive the published presentation.
4. Select the target player Model of the presentation.
5. Select the Video Mode of the display. Note that all system templates are intended for use with 1080p monitors.
6. Select the Connector type used to connect the player to the monitor.
7. To publish the presentation immediately, click Publish and Save. If you wish to save the presentation without publishing it, click Save Only.

The player will download and display the presentation within a few minutes. You can edit the presentation any time using the Edit button under My Presentations. While presentations can take a few minutes to update, updates to Live Media Feeds will appear on screen almost immediately.