Hi Dan, thanks for your reply. We appreciate the constant improvement of the software - the timeline feature is a great improvement because users can sync up various playlists to change as each one reaches their time destinations. It’s truly important for more complex content design.
We like to add to the conversation, we were not comparing the layout tool with crafted HTML/CSS, by no means. As you have stated, that’s a lost battle. As a design company for this medium, we would love the opportunity to resell our design services WITH a Digital Signage CMS solution to END USERS such as store managers, small business owners, office mangers, and so forth. However, with over one hundred DS CMS solutions out there on the market, there’s very few that allow the Digital Signage companies and Designers using these DS CMS software tools to provide the everyday user data input simplicity. The everyday user always have to wrangle their content around the design element, which makes it more complicated and frustrating.
We want to bring up a conversation that addresses the real interests of the everyday user. Of course, they like to have a nice designed piece of content, but what’s MORE important to them is to UPDATE that Content Quickly and Easily. We were trying to point out, most Digital Signage CMS over looks “this point” and does not truly provide a way to “Separate the Data from the Design.” It’s always presented to the everyday user (store managers, small business owners, office mangers etc,.) with the design as part of the interface.
We ask, why not “make an option” where the digital signage company can provide a separate GUI for the everyday users (the customers of the digital signage company) to enter their content data by the use of input text boxes, text areas, dropdown menus, radio buttons, etc where the DS Company has connected these input choices with snippets of code into the local HTML/CSS regions, or video/animation regions from the templates assembled within Xibo? Again, to provide the DS Companies a feature where they can Separate the Data from the Design so the digital signage companies can better serve their everyday end user. We understand the data table widget “touches” on this, but it does not allow flexibility for the data to be entered intuitively for the everyday user nor can the input data be cherry picked from the database table and arranged within the hand crafted HTML/CSS region.
If anyone has created a Widget Add/Edit forms, is truly interested in creating such a widget with these types of features please let us know. We understand it’s not an simple task, but it’s a feature that seems to be over looked yet an important one. For the Reseller who is a digital signage company that feels design is just as important as the simplicity of the everyday user updating the content, THIS could be THE Cornerstone to selling a Digital Signage CMS Services with Professional Design Services.
BWT Dan, we enjoyed your interview with Dave Haynes on Sixteen:Nine Podcast back in January this year!