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Manage images on LAS Digital Signs

Steps and settings for posting and managing images to LAS digital signs

To post new billboards to your digital sign, the College of LAS uses the campus WebTools Blogs.  This makes adding images easy to do and accessible from anywhere.  

To add a new Image

  1. Visit http://illinois.edu/toolbox/.  
  2. Click manage under Blogs in the left hand sidebar
  3. Find your digital sign and click the name
  4. Click the Add Post tab just below the name of your sign
  5. Under the General tab (any fields not mentioned can be left with the default values)
    1. Enter a Title.  This is required but will only be used internally to identify different billboard images
    2. If you wish to schedule when the billboard will start and/or finish displaying, choose Yes for Schedule.
      1. If you choose yes, enter a start and end date and time.  (The default is 10 years which is silly for digital signs.)
    3. Set Post Summary to no.  (You will see a warning at the top of the page about no article provided.  You can ignore this.)
  6. Click the Article tab
    1. Click the None option under Enter Full Post since we will not be providing a text article.
  7. Click the Files tab
    1. Under Primary Image click the Add button
    2. Click the Browse button and locate the image you want to use on your machine.
    3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save button
  8. Click the Publish Post slider to make the image active
  9. Click the Back option in the navigation bar (not your browser's back button) to see all of your other images or to add another image.
If you have not set a schedule or have scheduled the image to appear right away, it will begin showing on your sign in about 15 minutes.

Removing images from your sign

If you have not set a schedule for your image, you can still selectively remove it from your sign by unpublishing it.

  1. Visit http://illinois.edu/toolbox/.  
  2. Click manage under Blogs in the left hand sidebar
  3. Find your digital sign and click the name
  4. Uncheck the Publish box for any posts that you no longer want to show on the sign
  5. Click the Save option at the top of the list.
  6. Your changes will take effect in about 15 minutes.

View all billboard images currently active for your sign

  1. Visit http://illinois.edu/toolbox/.  
  2. Click manage under Blogs in the left hand sidebar
  3. Find your digital sign and click the name
  4. Click the View All option above the list to be taken to a page that will show you all your images, one at a time.

Design Best Practice for Billboards

  1. Handy guide about universal design for your signs.
  2. Prefer simple, short and understandable text.
  3. Keep the font size large enough to read from across the hall/room.
  4. Put adequate spacing around each element and the edges of the billboard.
  5. Use contrasting colors; if it looks to you like the colors are very similar between foreground and background, do not mix them.
  6. Provide short urls that can be easily typed into a phone for calls to action.
  7. Also consider generating and adding a QR code for easy scanning. Do provide both a short url and a QR code.

Keywords:
digital signage,digital signs,billboard 
Doc ID:
74873
Owned by:
Tyler R. in University of Illinois LAS
Created:
2017-07-27
Updated:
2023-09-18
Sites:
University of Illinois Liberal Arts and Sciences