Most schedules play on a timetable. A Triggered schedule has no timetable: it waits until something starts it, takes over its signs for a set time, and then the signs go back to what they were showing.
Some ways customers use it:
A QR code next to a product that plays that product's video on the screen above it.
A code at reception that shows a welcome message for the visitor who scanned it.
An automation that plays a celebration slide when a deal closes in your CRM.
An emergency alert that takes over every screen until the alert ends. See Show emergency alerts on your signs (CAP).
How it works
It never plays on its own. Until something starts it, a Triggered schedule is invisible to your signs.
When started, it interrupts. It plays on the schedule's signs straight away, in place of whatever was scheduled.
It ends on its own. After its play time, the signs go back to their normal content. This happens even if a sign lost its internet connection in the meantime.
You choose what can start it. Each schedule lists the ways it can be started: a QR code scan, the API and automations, or both. Anything else is refused.
One at a time per sign. If two Triggered schedules are started for the same sign, the most recent one shows. When it ends, the other one shows for whatever time it has left. Starting a schedule again while it is playing keeps it on screen for at least its full play time from that moment.
Who can set this up: anyone who can create schedules can make a Triggered schedule and its QR code. Starting schedules from your own systems or automations needs an API key, which is included on Premium and Enterprise plans and is created by a user with permission to edit company settings.
Step 1: Create the Triggered schedule
Build the slides you want on screen when it plays.
Go to Schedules and add a new schedule, and give it a clear name, such as Lobby promo or Welcome visitor.
Set Schedule Type to Triggered. The start and end dates disappear, because a Triggered schedule has none.
Set Plays for: a number of seconds, minutes or hours, from 1 second up to 24 hours. This is how long it stays on screen after it starts. An automation can ask for a different length each time; a QR scan always uses this one.
Under Started by, tick each way that may start it:
The API and automations: Zapier, your own systems, emergency alerts.
A QR code scan: a printed code people scan with their phone.
A button on a slide is coming soon, for touch screens.
Check the Friendly name. MangoSigns suggests one from the schedule's name, such as
lobby-promo. It may contain lowercase letters, digits and dashes, and must be unique in your account. Automations can use it to name the schedule.Click Next, choose the signs it should play on, add your slides, and save.
The first time you save, MangoSigns brings you back to the schedule and shows its trigger code, a short code such as k7qm-4x2e. The code never changes, so you can rename the schedule or its friendly name at any time without breaking printed QR codes or automations.
In your list of schedules, a Triggered schedule has an orange lightning badge, shows how it can be started and its code, and says how long it plays for.
Step 2: Start it with a QR code
When A QR code scan is ticked, the schedule shows its QR code and the web address it opens.
Choose a Style: Traditional, Rounded eyes with lines or Circle eyes with dots.
Pick colors for the Dots and the Eyes. Keep them dark on a light background; pale or low-contrast codes are hard for phones to read.
Optionally fill in After the scan, send the person to: a web address the phone opens once the schedule has started, such as a menu, a product page or a sign-up form. Leave it empty and the phone shows a simple "Playing now" page instead.
Save the schedule, then click Print for a printable page, or Download SVG for a file your designer or print shop can use at any size.
What happens when someone scans it. Their phone opens a MangoSigns page that starts the schedule and says Playing now (then takes them to your redirect address, if you set one). Scans within 15 seconds of each other count once, and the page says Already playing, so a crowd scanning the same poster does not restart it over and over. Link previews and phones that open links in the background do not start it; only a person opening the page does.
Tips
Put the code within sight of the screen it plays on, so people see the result.
Test every printed code with a phone before putting it up.
Changing the style or colors does not change the code. Codes you already printed keep working.
To switch printed codes off without taking them down, untick A QR code scan. Scanning then says This code cannot be scanned right now.
Step 3: Start it from an automation or your own systems
This part needs an API key (Premium and Enterprise plans).
Go to Settings and open Developer.
Under Create a key, enter a name you will recognize later, such as Zapier.
Tick Play a schedule on demand and stop it early. Leave the other permissions off unless this key needs them.
Click Create key and copy the key. It is shown only once. If you lose it, revoke it and create another.
Make sure the schedule has The API and automations ticked under Started by.
To start the schedule, your system sends a POST request to the schedule's code or friendly name, with the key in an X-Api-Key header:
POST https://api.mangosigns.com/v1/triggers/lobby-promo X-Api-Key: your-key Content-Type: application/json { "durationSeconds": 300 }
The body is optional. Without durationSeconds, the schedule plays for its own Plays for time. To stop it early, send a DELETE request to the same address.
With Zapier. Add a Webhooks by Zapier action, choose POST, set the URL to https://api.mangosigns.com/v1/triggers/ followed by your schedule's code or friendly name, and add a header named X-Api-Key with your key as its value.
With tools that cannot add a header, such as IFTTT, your developer can create a private trigger address with the API instead. The full reference, with examples, is at api.mangosigns.com/docs.
Step 4: See what is playing, and stop it
On the sign's page. While a Triggered schedule is playing, the sign's page shows a banner such as "Lobby promo is on screen because it was triggered. Ends in 4m 12s", with a Stop now button. Stopping ends it on all of the schedule's signs and hands them straight back to their normal content.
Ask the sign. The On screen panel on the sign's page shows what the sign itself reports it is showing, with a thumbnail of the slide.
Afterwards. Triggered plays are counted in Settings → Playback Reports like any other schedule's.
Troubleshooting
The phone says "This code is no longer active." The schedule was deleted or is no longer the Triggered type, or the code was mistyped. Open the schedule and check its type and code.
The phone says "This code cannot be scanned right now." A QR code scan is not ticked on the schedule.
The phone says "Something went wrong." Try again in a moment. If it keeps happening, contact us with the schedule's name and code.
It started, but one sign did not change. Check that the sign is on the schedule and online. A sign that was offline catches up when it reconnects, for whatever play time is left. Also check Player time on the sign's page: a sign whose clock or timezone is wrong can start and end triggered content at the wrong moment.
An automation gets an error.
401: the key is missing, mistyped or revoked.
403: the key does not have Play a schedule on demand and stop it early, or the schedule does not have The API and automations ticked.
404: no Triggered schedule in your account has that code or friendly name.
Common questions
Can a Triggered schedule play on only some of my signs? It plays on the signs you chose for it. For different groups of signs, make one Triggered schedule per group.
Can someone misuse a QR code? A code can only start its own schedule, only in the ways you ticked, and repeat scans within 15 seconds count once. You can stop it at any time with Stop now, and untick A QR code scan to switch the code off.
Does starting it again make it play longer? Yes. Starting it again while it plays keeps it on screen for at least its full play time from that moment.