How to Use the OneDrive App – OptiSigns

In this article, we'll show how to play the images and videos in a OneDrive folder on your digital signs with OptiSigns.

What You'll Need
Creating a OneDrive App
Deploying a OneDrive App
Supported File Types
Limitations

With the OneDrive app, it's possible to play the images and videos in a OneDrive folder on your screens. The app turns the folder into a playlist and keeps it in sync, so when you add, change or remove a file in OneDrive, your screens update too. Your team can update what's on screen without ever signing in to OptiSigns.

Let's get started.

What You'll Need

An OptiSigns account - Standard Plan or higher
A Microsoft account with access to the OneDrive folder you want to show
An OptiSigns-enabled device
A screen, set up and paired with OptiSigns (see our Getting Started guide)

Creating a OneDrive App

From the OptiSigns portal, go to Files/Assets and select Apps.

OptiSigns Files/Assets page with the Apps button highlighted

Search for OneDrive and select the OneDrive app.

Add App dialog searched for OneDrive, with the OneDrive app card highlighted

Click Sign in and sign in with your Microsoft account.

OneDrive app window with the sign-in button highlighted

Enter your Microsoft credentials and allow OptiSigns to access your OneDrive.

Microsoft sign-in page asking for an email, phone or Skype name

Choose the folder you want to show on your screens:

OneDrive folder picker with a folder selected

The OneDrive app settings will open. Fill them in:

Name - The name of your OneDrive asset. This is for organizational purposes within OptiSigns only and will not display on your screens.
Folder - The OneDrive folder you chose.
Transition Effects - The effect between each image and video. Choose from None, Fade, Slide from Right, Slide from Left, Rotate In, Flip or Gallery.
Transition Speed - How fast the transition plays. Choose Slow, Medium or Fast, or Custom to set your own speed.
Duration for Image - How long each image shows, in seconds. The default is 10.
Max Video Duration - The longest each video plays, in seconds. The default is 0, which plays every video to the end. For example, at 60, a 90-second video is cut off after 60 seconds, while a 45-second video plays in full.

OneDrive app form showing the account badge, Name, Folder, transition and duration fields

Advanced

Click Advanced for more options:

Advanced section expanded, showing the Force Sync Interval field

Force Sync Interval - How often, in hours, OptiSigns runs a full sync of your folder. Changes are normally picked up automatically, and this scheduled sync catches anything that was missed. The default is 12, and you can set any value from 1 to 24.

Now hit Save. You'll have created a OneDrive app, and it will appear in your Files/Assets. Depending on how many files are in your folder, the first sync may take a moment, as every file is copied to OptiSigns.

TIP

Files play in order by name. To control the order, rename your files in OneDrive, for example by starting each name with 1, 2, 3.

OneDrive folder with files numbered 1, 2 and 3 to set the playback order

Checking and Refreshing a Sync

When files are added, changed or removed in your OneDrive folder, OptiSigns syncs the changes automatically. To see when the last change was synced and which file was synced last, open the app again from Files/Assets. To sync right away, click Refresh Data.

OneDrive app settings with the Refresh Data button highlighted

Switching Between Microsoft Accounts

When you create another OneDrive app, you'll be signed in to the same Microsoft account automatically. Microsoft ties its sign-in to the browser, so to use a different Microsoft account, switch to another browser (for example, Edge or Firefox if you used Chrome the first time), create a new Chrome profile, or use a different computer.

Chrome profile menu with Add Chrome profile highlighted

Deploying a OneDrive App

To push your OneDrive app to a screen, go to the Screens tab, then click Edit next to the screen you want to display it on.

Screens list with the Edit button highlighted on a screen row

The Edit Screen pop-up will appear. Select Asset under Content Type, then hit Change next to Selected Asset.

Edit Screen dialog with Content Type set to Asset and the Change button highlighted

The Select Asset window will open. Search for your OneDrive app, click it, then hit Select.

Select Asset dialog with the OneDrive asset selected

Back in Edit Screen, hit Save. Your OneDrive files will now play on your screen.

Your OneDrive app can also be displayed in a Playlist or Schedule, or as one zone of a Split Screen.

Supported File Types

The OneDrive app syncs these file types from your folder:

Images - JPG, PNG, BMP and GIF
Videos - MP4. For the best compatibility, we recommend MP4 videos encoded in H.264. If a video won't play, see How to re-encode video files.

Any other files in the folder, such as documents or spreadsheets, are skipped. For the full list of file types OptiSigns supports on its own, see What types of files are supported?

Limitations

Only the file types listed under Supported File Types are synced. Any other files in the folder are ignored.
Sub-folders aren't supported. Only files directly inside the folder you choose are synced.
To keep the app running smoothly, keep each file to 100 MB or less, and keep up to 200 files per folder. For large videos, we recommend uploading them directly to OptiSigns. For more than 200 files, split them across several folders.
Microsoft doesn't publish a service level for its change notifications, so a change can sometimes take a while to reach OptiSigns. That's why OptiSigns also runs a full sync on the Force Sync Interval.
You can create up to 100 OneDrive apps per account. If you need more, contact support@optisigns.com to discuss an Enterprise Plan.

That’s all!

OptiSigns is the leader in digital signage software. 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.