Dashboard and Menu Items

Dashboard

Use the Dashboard to get a status overview of your players and jump into common BrightAuthor:connected tasks.

1. Content Mode

This drop-down menu enables switching between content that is Local (stored on your computer) and bsn.Content (stored on BSN.Cloud):

Local: Author presentations using content files located on your Mac or PC, and publish them using the Standalone, Local Network, or Web Folder publishing modes. Presentations authored with Local content cannot be directly accessed when bsn.Content mode is selected; content must first be uploaded to BSN.cloud before it can be accessed.

bsn.Content: Author presentations and feeds using content files that have been uploaded to your BSN.Cloud network. This option requires a bsn.Content subscription. Presentations authored with bsn.Content mode cannot be accessed when Local content mode is selected.

This drop-down menu is only available in the desktop version of BrightAuthor:connected. The browser version of BrightAuthor:connected uses bsn.Content only.

2. Nav Bar

Use the Nav Bar to navigate among the different sections of BrightAuthor:connected. Select the down arrow next to a heading to see additional options (for example, the dropdown menu under Dashboard allows you to access Network Status information).

3. Player Status Overview

This bar provides a quick overview of player health. Players must first have been added before their health can be displayed. The following statuses can appear in the status-overview bar:

Healthy: The player has checked in less than 5 minutes ago.

Connection Lost: The player has not checked in for 5 to 15 minutes.

Inactive: The player has not checked in for 15 or more minutes. There can be several reasons for an inactive player; please see this FAQ for a full list of causes.

Disconnected: The player has no subscription, or its subscription has expired (bsn.Content networks only; subscriptions are not required during the Beta period).

Click the Player Status Overview bar to jump to the Network tab, where you can get more detailed information about the current status of your players

4. Recent presentations

This pane provides a list of recently created/edited presentations. As noted above, you will only see locally saved presentations when Local content is selected. Select Manage Presentations >> to see all saved presentations.

5. Activate Player

Activate a player for BSN.Cloud.

6. New Presentation

Create a new presentation.

7. Manage Content

Manage content files on your BSN.Cloud network (this feature does not apply to local storage).

8. Manage Schedule

Create or modify presentation schedules for players.

9. Manage Network

Manage players that have been added to your BSN.Cloud network.

10. Get Help

Link to training and support resources.

11. Subscription Information

This section provides the following dynamic subscription information:

The subscription type
The total number of subscriptions available and the number that are in use
The number of days remaining on those subscriptions
The expiration date of the bsn.Content subscriptions

Menu Items

When BrightAuthor:connected is launched, three menus will appear in the menu bar along the top of the window. These menus offer additional functionality.

BA connected

Mac.

About BA connected

Displays which version of BrightAuthor:connected you are running, as well as copyright information.

Check for Updates...

This allows you to see if there are new BrightAuthor:connected versions, and to update your BrightAuthor:connected if you choose to do so.

Quit BA connected

Use this, or the corresponding key command, to quit the application.

File

New/Open/Import/Recent

These tools allow you to create a new presentation or schedule, open or import an existing presentation, and list recent presentations that can be reopened. As of BrightAuthor:connected 1.37.1, projects with User Events can be imported, such as BrightAuthor .bpf presentations that include User Events. This is useful for migrating projects from BrightAuthor to BrightAuthor:connected.

Close <Presentation Name>

This allows you to close the current presentation.

Save <Presentation Name>/Save As.../Export <Presentation Name>

These tools let you to save or export the current presentation, or to save it with a new name.

Edit

Undo/Redo

These tools allow you to undo or redo a previous action in the application.

Cut/Copy/Paste

These tools let you cut, copy, or paste information within the presentation.

Import States/Export States

These tools let you import and export presentation states.

Import Variables/Export Variables

These tools allow you to import and export user variables, which can save time when you are creating multiple presentations that use the same set of variables.

Import User Events/Export User Events

These tools allow you to import and export User Events from BrightAuthor or from another BrightAuthor:connected presentation. This can save time when you want to reuse events.

Note that you must be in Local Content mode to import and export User Events.

This feature is available in BrightAuthor:connected version 1.37.1 and above.

Replace Media File

This allows you to replace files within media states, but only in a local presentation. You will be prompted to save any unsaved changes.