How to Use RSS feeds with OptiSigns – OptiSigns

RSS feeds is a popular way for organization to push out information. Whether you have a well-know RSS feeds like from the New York Times or one from your local community or company, you can put the feed on big screens TV with OptiSigns.

Viewers can scan QR codes to be taken to the news article.

This article will guide you through how to create and use RSS app with OptiSigns.

Below are example screenshots of how it look on your screens, you can view a live example here:

An RSS news wall on screen: headline, story text, thumbnail and a QR code

You can also use RSS feeds as Scrolling Strip like this. After creating the RSS feed app, you can read more info on Scrolling Strip here.
An RSS scrolling strip of news headlines and a clock running below an Instagram post on a screen

Let's jump in and get started:

First, you will need to have your screens set up and paired. For more information on how to do that, click here.

Then log on to our portal: https://app.optisigns.com/

Go to Files/Assets, Click on "Apps" and add RSS feeds on your Account.

The Files/Assets page with an arrow pointing at the Apps button in the left sidebar

Click RSS app:

The Add App dialog searched for RSS, with an arrow pointing at the RSS tile beside MRSS

Enter your RSS feed information:

The RSS Wall form: Name, RSS Feed URL, Display Mode, Theme, Speed, Show QR Code and Font Size

Name: Name of your RSS Feed app, this is the name of the wall in your asset list. It will not be displayed on your screens.
RSS Feed URL: an RSS feed format URL such as: https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/World.xml
More RSS feeds from the New York Times here.
Or: http://rss.cnn.com/rss/cnn_topstories.rss
More RSS feeds from CNN here.
Display Mode: Select from a variety of View options here. Choose the one which best suits how you plan to display your RSS feed.
Theme: Select a theme option. You can also customize your background color if you select Custom.
Speed: Select how fast you want the wall to scroll or switch between RSS feed items.
Show QR code: Display the QR code for the RSS feed.
Font Size: Set the font size for the RSS feed.

You can click Advanced and set:

The Advanced section: Filter Posts, Date and Time, Scrolling Strip Font Size, Publish Order, checkboxes

Filter Posts: By Time (i.e last 30 days) or by last XX number of posts.
Date & Time: Select the format for your date.
Scrolling Strip Font Size: If you put the RSS feed app to a SplitScreen zone that is a scrolling strip, you can set how big you want the scrolling text to be. This can be Customized:

Scrolling Strip Font Size set to Custom with a value of 20 in the stepper beside it

Publish Order: Choose which order you'd like to RSS feed to publish in, between Latest First and Oldest First.
Continue Playing Content in Playlist: In the playlist, the RSS feed app plays 10 items in the 1st round, and it will start with #11 item in the 2nd round.
Enable Static IP: Allows you to route this request through a fixed IP for those APIs which require whitelisting on your organization's firewall. That IP is 178.128.134.248 - with this checked, you'll need to whitelist this IP.

Click Save.

After Saving, you can Preview the wall. It may take several seconds for the app to fetch the RSS items and prepare your feed, so please be patient.

That's all! Congratulations!

You have created your RSS feed wall.
You can change the wall any time by click on it in the Files/Assets tab.

You can assign the newly created wall to your screen by going to Screens, click Edit screens and assign the wall to screens that you want.

You can put the created social walls in a Playlist, Schedule too.

If you have any additional questions, concerns or any feedback about OptiSigns, feel free to reach out to our support team at support@optisigns.com