How do I set up my slideshow on my digital sign?
In WordPress go to Slides and add some. Go to Channels , add one, and add some of your slides. Go to Displays , add one, and subscribe it to your channel. Preview the display, note the URL (something like https://your.site/foyer/name-of-your-display), and load this URL in the web browser of your digital sign. Make sure this is a browser where you are not logged-in to WordPress. Your digital sign will now display the channel it is subscribed to. If you change the channel for this display in WordPress, the digital sign will change with it. You can even schedule channels on displays.
Set up a display for each digital sign for maximum remote flexibility.
What hardware should I use for my digital sign?
Generally speaking you need a computer with a web browser and internet connection, and a display linked to that computer. A Smart TV with built in web browser might work, but maybe not as reliable.
I recommend using a (mini-)computer with the Chrome browser in kiosk mode, and a Full HD (1920 x 1080) display.
When setting up multiple digital signs with their own content, each display needs its own (mini-)computer.
Can I use a Raspberry Pi mini-computer for my digital sign?
Sure! Be aware that transitions and video playback on the Pi will be very choppy though, if they work at all. Use the ‘No transition’ setting for channels, don’t add videos, and your Raspberry Pi digital sign will be fine.
I can recommend installing the paid version of Raspberry Digital Signage as operating system on the SD card of a Raspberry Pi 3 or higher. Just power up your Pi, enter the URL of your Foyer display when asked, and you’ll have an instant digital sign each time you power up.
Can I use an Android mini-computer or tablet for my digital sign?
Absolutely! Transitions and video playback should be smooth, of course depending on the hardware used.
I can recommend installing the free Fully Kiosk Browser & App Lockdown app on your Android device. Use this app instead of the default Chrome browser. Just enter the URL of your Foyer display when asked, and you’ll have an instant full screen digital sign each time you power up the device. This app also makes sure nobody can interact with the screen – handy for tablets – and avoids display sleep. You might want to use hardware that supports auto power-on after power outage.
The default Chrome browser will also work, but without the benefits mentioned above. Open your Foyer display URL in Chrome and tap ‘Add to Home screen’ from the Chrome menu. A shortcut will be added to your Home screen. When you launch this shortcut your display will be shown full screen.
Landscape or portrait?
You choose! Install your digital sign the way you prefer. Foyer will follow. Slide templates are designed to work in both landscape and portrait mode. Only the background image will be cropped differently, of course.
Can I change the looks of slides?
Yes, this is possible if you know how to write CSS. Just include some CSS in the theme of your website that targets the slide HTML. If you don’t have access to the theme you can add some CSS using the WordPress Customizer.
Can I change the template of a slide format?
Yes, this is possible if you know how to write WordPress templates. Create a foyer/slides/ directory in your theme. Next locate the template of the slide format you want to change in the public/templates/slides/ directory in the Foyer plugin directory. Copy the template file to your foyer/slides/ directory, without changing the filename. You should find the template in your theme now overrules the template included with the plugin. Note that this plugin is still in its early stages of development. You might have to copy the latest version of the template file and reapply your changes when major changes to the plugin are released.
Can I add my own slide formats?
Yes, this is possible if you know how to write WordPress templates, and how to register PHP functions to WordPress plugin hooks. Have a look at how the plugin adds slide formats itself, in includes/class-foyer.php. More documentation for developers is coming soon.
The top/bottom or left/right part of my image is missing, why?
All images are displayed in a way that they fully cover the display. So if your display has a landscape orientation, and you upload an image with portrait orientation, the image will still cover the entire width of the display, which is great. But of course the top and bottom part of that image will not be visible. The greater the difference between the display orientation and the uploaded image orientation, the greater the top/bottom part or left/right part that will be invisible.
The plugin always displays the center-middle part of each image. So if the important part of your image is in the top part of the image, that might not be visible. You might have to crop that image before uploading and adding to a slide.
If you want to have full control you can always create and upload images that have the exact same orientation and proportions as your display. For most displays this is 1920×1080 pixels (landscape) or 1080×1920 (portrait). That way the images will be 100% visible.
My changes are not directly visible on my displays, what’s happening?
Changes to displays, channels and slides are never instantly visible on your digital signs. Each digital sign tries to contact your website every 5 minutes to load any changes. If you changed the channel for a display, the new channel will be shown right after the slide that is currently being displayed. For any other changes, like adding slides or updated content, the new slides will be shown right after a full cycle of the slides that are currently being displayed.
My favorite shortcode (slider, builder, script, embed, etc..) doesn’t work on Foyer slides, can you help?
Using shortcodes (etc..) is possible, but it is not supported and unfortunately I can’t help you if they don’t work.
Some shortcodes will work, some won’t, and some work initially but will stop working after 5 minutes (when your display loads new slide content). This is because most shortcodes are simply coded to work on one static web page, not in the context of a Foyer slideshow.
That being said please go ahead and test your favorite shortcode on a Foyer slide. Preview your display and if the shortcode still works as expected after 10 minutes you will be fine. If not maybe a different shortcode will work. An alternative approach that does work with shortcodes is building a page that includes the shortcode, then display that web page within your Foyer slideshow using the External web page slide format.
Does Foyer work together with caching plugins like W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache?
Yes, but your cache settings might need some tweaking. Your display loads new content every 5 minutes. With page cache or browser cache enabled your display will not show the changes you made within 5 minutes but instead this might take hours. Make sure all cache layers are disabled for Foyer displays.
Settings for W3 Total Cache: Add /foyer/* on a new line under Performance > Page Cache > Never cache the following pages.
Where do I report security bugs found in this plugin?
Please report security bugs found in the source code of the undefined plugin through the Patchstack Vulnerability Disclosure Program . The Patchstack team will assist you with verification, CVE assignment, and notify the developers of this plugin.
