Dan, I saw a simple and interesting functionality for lay users.
The scheduling screen had a choice of which period the content would be linked, for example:
Full Time: automatically sets as time 0:00 start and end time 23:59
Morning: automatically sets as time 6:00 start and end time 11:59
Afternoon: automatically sets as time and time start 12:00 end 17:59
Night: Automatically sets as time and time start 18:00 end 23:59
Dawn: automatically sets as time 0:00 start and end time 5:59
Custom: Opens the option flag to the User specify start and end times
Thinking about how this would look in the software, we’d need a UI for creating dayparts and assigning them to particular days (i.e. a different split at the weekend to the weekday). Then, as its a “user function” I suppose we would need a way to assign which user got which dayparts.
Then we’d need a way to adopt these slots in the scheduling when you are scheduling layouts (not when you are scheduling commands). We would most likely have a select list underneath the event type which contained each configured day part and then existing “always” and “custom” options - where “custom” would expose the start/end date.
Not sure, I had a little trouble following you there.
I think that with the current configuration as of 1.7.6, it would pretty much be the same as campaigns, scheduled to repeat every day, starting and ending at a predetermined time, and ran with priority. This way multiple layouts could be used to make up the daypart, or just one layout if desired.
Yes this would be great as separating out weekend and weekdays would be good. I think there are a few feature request that would also take care of.
I would think, if just using preset campaigns as the biases for dayparting, then just using the current structure for assigning permission to campaigns, I would think would work.
Are you suggesting that currently the user could create campaigns for “Morning, Daytime, Evening and Night”, schedule them accordingly and then do all scheduling by adding/removing layouts from campaigns? Or would we need some way to schedule Layouts within a Campaign? I suppose “nested campaigns” would also become a requirement if we did this?
Also are you suggesting that method so that something new doesn’t have to be developed? Or are you suggesting it because you think it will meet all the requirements?
Well sort of. A user can currently schedule a repeating campaign or playlist, but not with say an option for every Friday, Saturday between 4 and 9, show … but we can of course say run this at this time from now to xxx. So I would think( although I know nothing about the back end) with a bit of a tweak to the current setup, to add the ability to select days of the week in scheduling, could make a basic form of dayparting possible.
I would think that this should also be an option, and would help to complete the components of what I would think of as dayparting.
I don’t especially see a reason for this, I am sure someone will. But of course, where do you stop with adding to the feature? (This feeds a bit into the next)
I see it as the best of both worlds. It would at least add a great functionality to the existing format of the software, and could be implemented, hopefully, without too much trouble, while really fore-filling the definition of dayparting. But ultimately in my mind, I think the view of the schedule will soon need to be rewritten to look something like what Adobe Premier uses for their timeline on videos, if something like dayparting is implemented, along with the ability to do RSS overlays independent of the layouts showing beneath, and a few other, hopefully, being considered features dealing with overlays.
I don’t think we are quite on the same page yet - which is OK
I certainly agree that we need an option to select days of the week in some check box style affair - that is covered in another feature request somewhere.
I see day parting as something separate to campaigns which effectively splits the day up into predefined sections - imagine a drop down on the schedule form which allowed you to pick from:
Always
Morning
Daytime
Evening
Night
Custom
The only time you have to actually pick a date is if you select “Custom”. The others would get their dates from some pre-configuration.
You would also be able to schedule Campaigns/Layouts using the same approach.
The issue with this “drop down list” is that you would naturally want to create day parts and assign them times and names - which would need another interface. You could then say that you want these to be different for different users (because some people use the CMS to support multiple customers).
We always imagined that the Layout designer would be this beast and that you’d be scheduling the result of that to the display. The purpose of the scheduler is to answer the question “what layouts should I be playing now”, rather than “what content should I be playing now”. Perhaps this is where some of the confusion lies.
