How to Add an RSS News Feed to Digital Signage Screens

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced world, it is more important than ever to keep your audience informed in real time. Be it in a corporate lobby, a hospital waiting room, a school hallway, or a retail store, there is nothing more effective than live news headlines on your screens to capture viewers' attention and enhance their value.

The RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed will enable you to bring live, auto-updating content from news publishers directly onto your digital signage screens without the need for manual updates. This guide will take you through the entire procedure for the creation of an RSS news feed widget and publishing the feed to your digital signage screens, using a digital signage CMS. 

Why Use RSS Feeds on Your Digital Signage

The use of a live RSS news feed on your digital signage screens has several advantages:

• Automated updates on the content - changes do not have to be manually refreshed or changed.

• Real-time news headlines screen RSS keeps your audience always informed.

• Professional appearance - live tickers and scrolling news look polished and dynamic.

• Increase dwell time - engaging news content keeps people watching longer 

• Easy configuration via an RSS widget signage CMS - no technical expertise needed.

What You Need Before You Start

Before You Begin the setup of your RSS digital signage setup, you need the following ready:

• Access to a digital signage CMS with RSS widgets.

• A valid URL to an RSS feed of a news source of your choice (e.g., BBC, CNN)

• One or more in-service digital signage screens with your CMS.

• Usernames and passwords for your digital signage account.

Step-by-Step: How to Add an RSS News Feed to Digital Signage 

Step 1: Go to the Dashboard Section

Log in to your digital signage CMS and go to the home dashboard. The dashboard is your main platform where you can control screens, playlists, and even widgets, among others. This is where it all starts when setting up live RSS news television screens.

Step 2: Navigate to the Playlist section

On the dashboard, one should find and press the Playlist button in the left-hand sidebar or navigation menu. Playlists are lists of materials in the form of slides, pictures, videos, and widgets that are planned and shown on your screens.

Step 3: Press the +Create Playlist Button

Within the Playlist section, there is a button that reads “+ Create Playlist” that allows you to create a new playlist. It will require a special playlist where you can keep your RSS news feed widget and then publish it to your screen.

Step 4: Enter your credentials and click on Create Playlist.

A form will be displayed in which you will be required to give your playlist a name and input other related details. Type in a descriptive name - e.g., RSS News Feed or Live Headlines and fill in the necessary field. After that, confirm the creation of a playlist by clicking on the Create Playlist button.

Step 5: Your Playlist has been created

A confirmation of the creation of your playlist will be received. It has made it to your list of Playlists. Your RSS feed digital signage widget will be contained in this playlist.

Step 6: Go to the Widget Section

So, now you are in the Widget section. The playlists can be added with widgets, which are interactive and dynamic content blocks. This is where you can find the RSS feed widget of your digital signage RSS news feed set up.

Step 7: Click the RSS feed Widget

Go through the list of offered widgets and find the RSS Feed Widget. On it, you will find a widget configuration button. This is a widget that is particularly created to pull in live RSS news feed content on your screens.

Step 8: Create a New Widget

Select the choice of creating a new widget. This will bring about a form of setup in which you will be able to customize your RSS widget to your digital signage CMS. You will be required to give the RSS feed URL and other display options.

Step 9: Fill In Your Credentials and Click “Save”

Enter the necessary details like your RSS feed URL (i.e., BBC news feed), display options such as scrolling speed, displaying headlines, text size, etc., and any other options available with the widget. After filling in all the fields, go ahead and press the Save button to save your RSS widget settings.

Be sure that your RSS feed URL is publicly accessible. You can give it a test by pasting it in a browser; if it opens an XML page with news entries, then it is working properly.

Step 10: Your Widget has been created successfully 

You will see that you have a success message that your RSS feed widget has been created. It has been stored in your widget library to be used in any playlist. This is one of your major milestones in your RSS digital signage settings.

Step 11: RSS Feed Widget: Drag and drop the widget into your playlist

Go back to your playlist and drop into the playlist editor the new RSS feed widget that you have created. You are able to place it anywhere in the sequence of the playlist. That is what you use to relate the widget to the content rotation on your signage screen.

Step 12: Click the Full Screen Button and the Green “Next” Button

After adding your widget to the playlist, preview it by clicking the Full screen button, and it will be displayed on a screen. Upon being happy with the layout and appearance, the green Next button will allow one to pass through the publishing page.

Step 13: Target Your Screen and click “Publish.”

At this point, you will be presented with a choice of the screens on which you want this playlist to be published. Select your target screen or screens set in the list. After making the choice, press the Publish button to start the process of publishing your live RSS news signage screen setup.

Step 14: Click the Green “Continue” Button to Publish the Playlist

A confirmation dialog will be displayed. Check the publishing specifications and press the green Continue button to complete the publishing. The playlist that you are currently using, including the RSS news feed widget, will now be streamed to your digital signage screen.

Step 15: Your Playlist has been Published Successfully

After publishing a playlist, the success notification will be received. You have now added live RSS news to the digital signage screen. The content will automatically update by adding headlines from the RSS source.

Congratulations! Your Personal news feed is now on your digital signage screen. No updates of manuals required; it is automatically updated.

Final Step: Live RSS News Feed on Your Screen

This is what your digital signage screen will look like if your RSS news feed runs successfully. The live headlines ticker is smooth, which means that your audience can be fed with updated news information interestingly and professionally.

Tips for Getting the Best Results with RSS Digital Signage 

• Reliable and regularly updated headlines can be used with the help of reputable RSS sources like BBC News, Associated Press, or Google News.

• Change the scrolling speed of the RSS widget to suit your screen location - slow in waiting rooms, fast in busier locations.

• Add your RSS news feed with other content, like weather widgets, company announcements, or promotional slides, to have a balanced playlist.

• You can use your CMS scheduling options to schedule the RSS playlist to play at certain hours.

• Periodically ensure that your RSS feed URL is still working - some providers update their feed URLs.

Conclusion

The most efficient method of providing real-time content that is of interest to your viewers is to set up an RSS news feed on your digital signage screens with no further effort required. Through the actions proposed in this guide, including making a playlist to playlists, setting up your RSS widget signage CMS, and posting to your screens, you could have a professional live news display running within a few minutes.

Regardless of whether you are using it in in-house communication, external displays, or external information screens, RSS feed signage setup is a simple affair that will ultimately be rewarded in terms of audience attention and information delivery.