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FrontFace for Public Displays Changelog

What's new in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.7.4

Mar 20, 2024
  • Various improvements and product optimizations.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.7.3 (Feb 8, 2024)

  • Various improvements and product optimizations.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.7.1 (Dec 1, 2023)

  • NEW: Multi-page display mode for PDF, XPS and Print2Screen documents allowing to display multiple pages at the same time
  • NEW: Convert to Bitmaps option for PDF and Print2Screen has been optimized (improved rendering quality)
  • NEW: When viewing a PDF using the Chromium-based rendering, touch interaction is forced if toolbar or thumbnails is enabled
  • NEW: Support for HTML widgets (HTML code snippets)
  • FIX: Fixed an issue with incorrect rendering of SVG files containing elements outside the canvas
  • FIX: Player settings are now correctly applied in Preview mode when a player is selected
  • FIX: Fixed a problem with web server publishing when using the FTPS protocol
  • FIX: Several other minor bug fixes and improvements

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.7.0 (Oct 26, 2023)

  • New Media Library for managing media files in the FrontFace Assistant

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.6.7 (Jul 31, 2023)

  • Onscreen keyboard can open automatically on Web pages.
  • Web browser now supports touch interaction also in overlay mode.
  • Various improvements and fixes.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.6.6 (May 23, 2023)

  • Maintenance Release
  • Security Improvements
  • Minor improvements and fixes.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.6.5 (Apr 19, 2023)

  • New, improved video player for Android and optimized web page scrolling.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.6.3 (Dec 6, 2022)

  • Support for WEBP and HEIF image formats.
  • Cover image option for Click2Zoom.
  • Recently used list of color values.
  • Many improvements and fixes.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.6.2 (Nov 4, 2022)

  • NEW: Support for tables in text media objects
  • NEW: Explorer Mode for Hot Folders now with support for subfolders
  • NEW: Update of the integrated Chromium engine to version 106.0.5249.119
  • NEW: Tracking of user activities using the new Analytics Plugin (optionally available)
  • NEW: Auto-recovery function in case the content cache has been damaged externally
  • NEW: Validation of projects on loading and provisioning of automatic repair actions in case of corrupted projects
  • NEW: Note on how to fix SSL/certificate issues when displaying websites in preview mode
  • NEW: Improved automatic scrolling of web pages
  • NEW: The user manual has been enhanced with numerous screenshots
  • FIX: Fixed issue with encrypted URLs
  • FIX: Improved automatic alignment of buttons in touch menus

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.6.1 (Sep 9, 2022)

  • Support for the new Analytics Plugin (Usage and Content Tracking) and minor fixes.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.6.0 (Aug 25, 2022)

  • NEW: Each media object now has a “Container Style” attribute. This allows configuring drop shadow, background, and border settings for each media object for even more individual designs
  • NEW: Update of OSK (On Screen Keyboard) component to newer version
  • NEW: Background music now continues to play when navigating different content in a touch menu
  • NEW: If only one (daily) timer is defined in scheduling, the playlist will always be played, regardless of the actual date and time of the player’s system clock
  • NEW: If hidden or invisible containers are included in a layout, the container list is automatically displayed, and the hidden container is indicated semi-transparently
  • NEW: Pinboard layout has been improved and can optionally be updated (if already used)
  • FIX: Optimization of link support for PDF and XPS files
  • FIX: Fixed bug when scrolling/paging playlist pages
  • FIX: Loading of the provider logo in the weather optimized
  • FIX: Optimization of the automatic image reduction when adding large-sized images
  • FIX: Optimized brush picker/color picker and fixed bugs
  • FIX: Fixed bug when bulk importing images in touch menu
  • FIX: Fixed navigation problems (forward/back) with hot folders
  • FIX: The integrated, Chromium-based browser engine of FrontFace has been updated and numerous security fixes have been integrated

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.5.1 (Mar 22, 2022)

  • This release brings the new interactive Explorer Mode for Hot Folder and Slideshow media objects.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.4.9 (Nov 10, 2021)

  • This maintenance update adds support for Windows 11 plus several fixes and improvements.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.4.8 (Sep 14, 2021)

  • Transition effects in touch menus.
  • Improved image map editor.
  • Scrolling ticker tape now also supports images as separators.
  • Optional start page index when displaying PDF documents.
  • Various improvements and fixes.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.4.7 (Jul 16, 2021)

  • Highly accelerated preview function.
  • Multi user support for projects with dedicated access rights.
  • Improved text editor for text media objects.
  • Paging indicator (e.g. 1/x) for title texts in toolbars.
  • Various improvements and fixes.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.4.6 (Jul 1, 2021)

  • The latest version 4.4.6 of our digital signage & kiosk software FrontFace offers lots of improvements as well as a very special, new function that has repeatedly been requested by our customers: Multi-user support!

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.4.5 (May 4, 2021)

  • Updated Onscreen Keyboard (with Multiscreen Support).
  • Sharing Feature (Printing, Send by E-Mail, etc.).
  • Theming for Touch Menu Dialogs
  • Symbolic File Links for Media Objects.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.4.4 (Mar 10, 2021)

  • FrontFace Assistant with improved user interface and new actions for controlling audio output.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.4.2 (Jan 19, 2021)

  • New player-based visibility options for pages and buttons.
  • Copy and move feature for menu buttons.
  • Optimized preview.
  • Bug fixes and improvements.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.4.1 (Dec 15, 2020)

  • NEW: Click2Zoom function now available for many media objects: Media objects can be displayed in a “full-screen mode” by interactively “clicking” on them. Perfectly suited for all types of digital notice boards!
  • NEW: Click actions are now available for many media objects.
  • NEW: Many media object dialogs have been revised and now also support the expert mode.
  • NEW: Audio Media Object – now WAV, MP3 or WMA files can be integrated as media objects, including optional, interactive control (play/pause, rewind and seek).
  • NEW: The audio playback action now enables the direct selection of audio files.
  • NEW: The integrated browser engine has been updated to Chromium 84 and brings many improvements, also in terms of rendering performance.
  • NEW: Optional “Download & Execute” function in the web browser is now available, e.g., to be able to view Office files on a SharePoint Web page.
  • NEW: Detailed description in the manual how to set up the publishing of content over the cloud (e.g., Dropbox) with the Android version of the FrontFace Player App.
  • NEW: Useful tips and tricks for working with FrontFace can now optionally be displayed on the FrontFace Assistant’s start page.
  • FIX: Scrolling web pages now also works with pages that previously did not scroll due to design limitations.
  • FIX: Improved security of the integrated web browser when the Safe Mode is activated (e.g., prevention of file uploads, etc.).
  • FIX: Improvement scaling of the Player App’s maintenance menu on systems with very high DPI values.
  • FIX: The ability to cancel long publishing processes and the loading process of the preview have been improved.
  • FIX: When starting sequential playlists by an event (e.g., using the Remote Control Plugin), a page index can now be specified from which the playlist should be started.
  • FIX: The integrated on-screen keyboard has been updated to the latest version.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.4 (Nov 16, 2020)

  • NEW: FrontFace Player App for Android (8.0 “Oreo” or higher) available.
  • NEW: Preview settings (resolution, etc.) can now optionally also be persisted per playlist.
  • NEW: New “Plain” theme for touch menus (completely without button artwork) for even more individual design options.
  • NEW: Support for certificate-based client authentication when accessing websites.
  • NEW: Expert mode available in almost all dialogs (increases clarity); If an expert setting has been changed, the expert mode is automatically activated in the relevant dialog.
  • NEW: Automatic check of the minimum version when opening projects (prevents projects from being opened with an outdated assistant!).
  • NEW: Log files now have the file extension * .log.txt instead of .log as before
  • FIX: Improved behavior when processing faulty / incompatible PDF files.
  • FIX: Warning if two web browser instances (Chromium) are using the same cache at the same time.
  • FIX: Last used text colors in the editor of the text media object are now saved project-wide and can therefore be reused more easily.
  • FIX: Paging buttons in touch menus are displayed correctly, even if there are hidden pages under the pages to be displayed.
  • FIX: Tooltips in the timer preview (time control) were sometimes displayed incorrectly.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.3.7 (Sep 21, 2020)

  • NEW: Weather media object now shows the probability of rain for the forecasts.
  • NEW: Weather media objects comes with a brand new icon set called “Comic”:
  • FIX: Weather media object has a new icon for changing weather that is “more positive“ regarding sunshine.
  • FIX: Update to an entirely new, Chromium-based browser engine (using Chromium 79) with a fully isolated/sandboxed architecture for more stability and security.
  • NEW: Optional progress bar for countdown and egg timer mode of the date/time clock media object for visualizing the remining time.
  • NEW: PDF documents (local and Web) linked in Web pages can now be viewed using the Web page media object.
  • FIX: Starting with this version, FrontFace requires .NET Framework 4.8 (on most Windows 10 computers, this version of the .NET Framework is already preinstalled!).
  • NEW: Videos can now optionally be started automatically or not when being used in a touch menu button playlist.
  • FIX: Dedicated actions for showing and hiding the onscreen keyboard have been added as an extension to the previously existing toggle keyboard action.
  • FIX: Settings dialog of Player App (Maintenance Menu) is designed more clearly.
  • FIX: Fixed a problem with assigning non-existing playlists to event sources.
  • FIX: Idle timer to return to home page of a touch menu now also works correctly, when the user is interacting with a Web page that uses the “Chromium (for Touch)” browser engine.
  • FIX: Editing players within a player group now works correctly in all cases.
  • FIX: Fixed an issue with publishing player groups.
  • FIX: Fixed a problem with adding background audio files to playlist pages.
  • FIX: Fixed a problem with overlay playlists triggered by an event source that did not show up.
  • FIX: All actions that are only available in certain contexts are now context-sensitive.
  • FIX: To label the language selection buttons in multi-lingual touch menus, the language names are now used in their native representation (German, English, Français, etc.).
  • FIX: Whitelist filter of the Web page media object now also behaves correctly in case there are invalid entries in the whitelist.
  • FIX: Due to a change in the license activation system, it can happen under certain circumstances that your FrontFace license must be reactivated after the update. However, due to the change, the activation code is now much more robust to Windows feature updates, which in the past partially made a reactivation necessary when being installed!
  • FIX: Minor bug fixes.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.3.6 (Jun 22, 2020)

  • Fixed a problem with certain PDF documents and the new, free "Sticky Note" plugin is now available.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.3.5 (Jun 2, 2020)

  • New page visibility options and improved expert mode.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.3.3 (Mar 27, 2020)

  • Player Preview and new placeholder features.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.3.2 (Mar 2, 2020)

  • New Archiving feature for projects and several optimizations.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.3.0 (Feb 11, 2020)

  • Map editor, support for QR codes and many new and improved features.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.2.0 (Dec 6, 2019)

  • Support for Actions (expert mode) and several other improvements.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.1.3 (Nov 25, 2019)

  • Recommended maintenance release with minor bugfixes and improvements.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.1.2 (Nov 20, 2019)

  • New features for the news ticker tape and the integrated layout editor plus further improvements and minor fixes.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 4.1.1 (Oct 23, 2019)

  • Various improvements and optimizations with a special focus on the new interactive touch screen features.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.9.6 (Aug 31, 2018)

  • This version includes an update of the integrated browser engine to Chromium 64 and some minor fixes and improvements.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.9.5 (Apr 18, 2018)

  • This version includes the instant preview features by double click and also comes with an updated version of the integrated browser engine.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.9.4 (Jan 24, 2018)

  • This version includes new TextFX effects and also comes with an updated version of the integrated browser engine.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.9.3 (Oct 18, 2017)

  • This version includes some optimizations for PDF/XPS and Print2Screen content and also comes with an updated version of the integrated browser engine which is now powered by Chromium 60.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.9.2 (Aug 16, 2017)

  • This update of FrontFace now supports time-based page visibility settings with an annual repeat pattern. Furthermore some minor improvements and optimizations are included as well.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.9.0 (May 10, 2017)

  • This update of FrontFace comes with a brand-new, integrated browser engine for displaying HTML5/CSS3 based Web pages in playlists. The new browser engine is based on the latest release of Chromium.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.7.0 (Mar 22, 2016)

  • When loading Web pages, you can now make the player application display an optional progress indicator animation which is very helpful for slow-loading Web pages so that someone who looks at the screen gets to know that the page is currently loading.
  • The integrated Remote Control Service (RCS) which can be used with the optional Remote Control Plugin has also been improved. You can now use a REST-based API to integrate 3rd party applications in order to start or stop playlists and to set the values of text and image placeholders.
  • Finally, we added some new, modernized layouts for digital blackboards. Apart from the classic “pin board style” you can now also choose the modern “magnet board style”. The blackboard layouts have also been optimized to support any screen resolution and orientation.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.6.8 (Sep 16, 2015)

  • Significant performance improvements of the Display Assistant when dealing with projects that are stored on a network folder
  • New overlay layouts for even more design options
  • A new version of the Clock plugin that now also supports “timer” and “countdown” mode
  • Publishing to a single player PC that is registered within a player PC group is now supported
  • The publication protocol is now more readable and supports an abbreviated and a verbose mode
  • The selection dialog for plugins in the Display Assistant has been improved and now also shows the version number of the plugins in use
  • Searching for updates and new versions (online) has been added as a new feature within the Display Assistant
  • The onscreen notification feature has completely been redesigned (CAUTION: If you are currently using the onscreen notification plugin, please contact mirabyte technical support before installing this update!)
  • Playlists that only have one single page that use a hot folder which contains a single video, XPS or PDF file can now also loop infinitely
  • Various minor improvements, optimizations and bug fixes in the Display Assistant and the FrontFace Player Application
  • See more at: http://blog.mirabyte.com/en/2015/09/07/frontface-for-public-displays-3-6-8/#sthash.2Sow3bP0.dpuf

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.6.5 (Feb 17, 2015)

  • These are the most important changes:
  • Availability of custom color values across the entire project
  • If you define any custom color values in the Display Assistant (e.g. for texts, news ticker or backgrounds) these are now available persistently in the entire project and can easily be reused. This is very useful if you have custom colors defined for your corporate identity and need to access them frequently.
  • Custom screen resolutions for the preview feature
  • Custom screen resolutions for the preview feature can now also be saved persistently within the project for quick access and more convenience.
  • Improved onscreen warning messages in case of errors and problems on the player PC
  • In case of any problems or errors, the FrontFace player application can now (optionally) display a small notification popup that helps you to easily diagnose any problems on the screen.
  • Web pages may now also have a transparent background
  • Web pages can now also be integrated with a transparent background color. In combination with the “Overlay” page layouts, this new feature opens up a huge range of new, creative design possibilities to you!
  • Placeholders can now be used also in the news ticker
  • The placeholder feature that is already known from text elements in playlists, can now also be used with the news ticker bar. You can e.g. use the news ticker for a personalized welcome message for visitors while the rest of the screen can still be used for your regular content.
  • Plaintext files are now supported as data source for the news ticker
  • The news ticker can be fed with custom text that is entered in the Display Assistant or by integrating a RSS news feed. Now, also plain text files (TXT) can be integrated as an alternative to RSS feeds which allows you to easily update the ticker content without having to re-publish your project using the Display Assistant.
  • Integration of AV sources (Web cams, video grabbers) is now possible without a separate plugin
  • AV sources such as Web cams or video grabber cards can now also be integrated without using an extra plugin. Only when you plan to integrate live TV channels, you still require the extra Live TV plugin.
  • Improved user interface for the Calendar event source plugin
  • The user interface of the Calendar event source plugin has been improved for even more convenience.
  • Enhanced and reworked user manual
  • The user manual has been improved and some new sections with valuable tips and tricks have been added.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.6.0 (Nov 27, 2014)

  • Event-controlled Scheduling of Playlists:
  • Apart from the common, timer-based scheduling feature of FrontFace for Public Displays, a new way of controlling playlists has been added with this release: Event-controlled playlists. Anything that is able to raise events (e.g. sensors or external systems like an Exchange calendar*) can be used to start playlists for a specified timespan. The event-based scheduling works hand-in-hand with the traditional, timer-based scheduling of playlists so that when a playlist is started by an event for a given timespan, the player application can later on “fall back” to the previously running playlist that has been started by a timer-based schedule. This makes event-based scheduling a perfect choice for implementing digital signage applications like short news breaks, notices, call-ups or ad hoc information inserts.
  • “Calendar” Event Source Plugin for Appointment-controlled Playlists with Placeholder Support:
  • By using so called “Event Source Plugins”, external systems that raise events can be easily integrated into the FrontFace software. By default we include the new “Calendar” event source plugin which adds a calendar to the Display Assistant that you can use to manage appointments. These appointments can then trigger a playlist of your choice once they become due. It is also possible to set the value of placeholder texts used in your playlists by an appointment in the calendar. So you can really easily implement e.g. a digital welcome board that welcomes visitors at your company’s site with a personalized welcome message! While the normal, timer-based scheduling is used to show playlists with general information during the time when no visitors are expected, the event-based scheduling pops up the personalized welcome message every time an appointment of the internal calendar is due. Further event source plugins will be released shortly on our Website for facilitating many other interesting use cases!
  • Plugin SDK is now available Free of Charge:
  • The FrontFace Plugin SDK allows developers to implement their own, custom functionality which can then be hosted in FrontFace for Public Displays or FrontFace for Touch Kiosks. By using the Microsoft .NET 4 Framework and the WPF technology, plugins can be developed in programming languages such as C# or VB.NET. Apart from normal plugins that can be used to integrate external data sources or systems into playlists or kiosk applications, the SDK now also provides the necessary interfaces to implement custom event source plugins so that you can also control playlist scheduling from external systems. The FrontFace Plugin SDK is now available free of charge and can be used both this trial version and the full version of any FrontFace product.
  • Other new Features and Enhancements in this Release:
  • Page shortcuts are now being checked for duplicates in the Display Assistant. A page shortcut allows calling up a certain page (also if marked as hidden) of a playlist when a specific key on the keyboard is pressed.
  • The overall usability of the scheduling in the Display Assistant has been improved.
  • Interacting with the Web browser engine of FrontFace by mouse, keyboard or touch now works in all cases as expected.
  • The overall compatibility of the built-in PDF viewer has been improved further.
  • Placeholders (for text elements) can now be used in playlists that are either scheduled by a timer or by an event.
  • The user manual of FrontFace for Public Displays has been reworked and now also includes a section that explains how to implement a “digital welcome board”.
  • The logging and tracing functionality of the FrontFace Player Application has been enhanced to simplify debugging in case of a technical problem.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.5.1 (Aug 5, 2014)

  • maintenance update that further improves the native support/compatibility for PDF files and that simplifies the configuration of a proxy server.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.5.0 (Jun 25, 2014)

  • Highlight: Native PDF Support:
  • Starting with this version, FrontFace for Public Displays now supports the PDF document file format natively. This means that you can integrate PDF documents in the same way you can integrate images, videos, XPS documents or Web pages into your playlists. Also multi-page documents are supported. Features like page transition effects that are already known from the existing XPS support are now also available for PDF documents. And best of all: On the player PC, no extra prerequisites (e.g. Acrobat Reader) are needed in order to display PDF documents!
  • Improved Hot Folder Feature with full PDF Support:
  • The popular Hot Folder feature of FrontFace that allows you to instantly integrate files from a shared network folder “live” into your playlists has been vastly improved: It now supports full automatic updates so you can simply add, delete or update files in the hot folder in order to make them appear on the screen within your playlists instantly. There is no need to republish your project using the Display Assistant. The Hot Folder feature can now display PDF documents, XPS documents, images, videos and of course HTML pages.
  • AutoRecovery:
  • The intelligent AutoRecovery functionality of the player application provides a fully automatic recovery procedure in case of a problem or failure, either of the player application, a third party application or even the underlying operating system. Especially if you display a lot of Web pages in your playlists that contain large Flash movies, there is a certain risk of memory-related problems. With the new AutoRecovery feature, you can now safely run your player PC 24/7 without having to care about scheduled reboots or fiddling around with other workarounds.
  • Enhanced Weather Widget:
  • The design of the weather widget can now be customized even further to totally fit to your individual requirements. You can e.g. set the font that is used for displaying text and select from two different icon sets (“flat” and “photorealistic”). Additionally, new layouts are available for the weather widget. You can now integrate the weather widget into very narrow containers on a screen (either horizontally or vertically) or display on the current weather conditions standalone without the 3-day forecast!
  • Customizable Ticker Font:
  • You can now also set the font of the news ticker tape (either custom text or RSS news feeds) as well as the colors and the scrolling speed. This allows you to perfectly match also the ticker to your corporate identity.
  • Improved Screen Layout Selection:
  • The selection drop down for Screen Layouts in the Display Assistant has been improved and is now much cleaner and easier to use than before.
  • Integration of Password-Protected Web Pages:
  • Websites that require the user to enter a password and a username in order to access the pages can now be integrated into your playlists as well. It is possible to enter specific login credentials directly in the Display Assistant for every Web page that isembedded in the playlist. Both Basic Authentication and NTLM authentication scheme are fully supported.
  • Updateted User Manual with many new Tips & Tricks:
  • The user manual has been updated and enhanced further. We added new chapters that deal with relevant topics such as the setup of player PCs using the free FrontFace Lockdown Tool or how to remotely administrate a player PC using remote desktop functionality.
  • Further improvements and new features in this release:
  • The browser cache can now be cleared when the player application is started
  • The user interface of the scheduling section in the Display Assistant has been improved
  • Context-based help has been integrated directly into the Display Assistant in many places
  • More than 40 improvements, enhancements and minor fixes have been added

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.4.6 (Jan 30, 2014)

  • New Content Type: “Hot Folder” (a.k.a. Dynamic Playlists):
  • The new Hot Folder content type allows the integration of dynamic, file-based content into your playlists. By specifying a (shared network) folder that serves as hot folder, the FrontFace player automatically scans this folder for displayable content (pictures, videos, XPS and HTML files) at runtime and shows it on the screen. With this feature you can update your playlists without having to re-publish them using the Display Assistant – Simply add, remove or update files within the hot folder!
  • Optional Station Logo Available in all Screen Layouts:
  • For all screen layouts you can now define a so called “station logo”. This (transparent) PNG image is then shown permanently in the upper right corner of the screen while the playlist is running in order to mimic the effect of a station logo as known from various TV stations.
  • New Screen Layouts with Transparent News Ticker Overlay:
  • The new screen layouts with the transparent news ticker overlay allow placing the new ticker bar over (!) the actual content of the playlist instead of below the content. By selecting transparent or semi-transparent colours for the news ticker tape you can create stunning effects with these new layouts!
  • Support for LED Video Walls (Using Screen Capturing):
  • Many LED video walls come with a special driver software that captures the content of a fixed area of the screen of the PC which controls the video wall. This technique is called screen capturing or screen scraping. FrontFace now also supports this method by providing optional command line switches which start the player application in a windowed mode instead of the full screen mode. The size and the position of the player window can be adjusted freely.
  • New Transition Effects: “Slide Up” and “Slide Down”
  • The transition effects for scrolling the content into the view from the right or the left side of the screen are available in FrontFace for Public Displays since version 1.0; but why are similar effects for scrolling the content from the upper or the lower side of screen not included? We have asked this question ourselves and have now also included these effects as well. By using all four slide effects in combination, you can achieve great-looking visual effects on your screen!
  • Support for Player Groups (Deployment of the Same Content to Multiple Player PCs):
  • It is now possible to also set up player groups in the Display Assistant. You can easily assign playlists or complex schedules to Player groups. This helps to save a lot of manual work when working with multiple player PCs in a network that are supposed to mostly show the same content.
  • Additional new features and improvements:
  • You can now skip specific player PCs or player PC groups when performing a publishing operation in the Display Assistant.
  • The user manual (PDF) for integrating live TV channels into playlists has been revised and updated.
  • Possible conflicts in the scheduler are now reported during the publishing process.
  • The behavior of scheduled triggers regarding their priority has been improved further.
  • The digital signage screensaver feature (for use in combination with interactive kiosk software) has been improved.
  • The support for removable USB and SD drives for performing offline updates of player PCs has been enhanced further.
  • Playlist pages that are marked as ”hidden” or that have a time-based visibility are now highlighted in the Display Assistant for a better overview.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.4.0 (Oct 11, 2013)

  • Scheduling of playlist pages:
  • It is now possible to schedule the visibility of individual playlist pages. This allows you to create a playlist that contains, apart from general content, also special content that is only shown at a specific time or during specific days of the week!
  • Improved page layout selection:
  • We recently added quite a lot of new page layouts to the software for all kinds of different visualizations on the screen. The new selection menu for page layouts gives you a better overview by grouping the different page layouts so you can pick the one that is right for you much faster!
  • Improved Print2Screen dialog with integrated update feature:
  • After creating a Print2Screen printout you can now choose if you want to use the content as a new object in your playlists or if you want to update an existing Print2Screen object with only one click. This saves a lot of time when updating existing Print2Screen content in your playlists!
  • Improved performance of the “Slide“ transition effects:
  • The performance of the “Slide“ transition effect has been improved and is much smoother now.
  • Improved multi-user support:
  • If a project is opened by a user and has, at the same time, being opened by another user, a dialog is shown which also states the name (Windows logon) of the user which has opened the project in order to help avoiding conflicts.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.3.0 (May 16, 2013)

  • An explicit loop count can now also be defined for Print2Screen and XPS documents as well as Web playlists (similar to the settings that are already available for slideshows!)
  • The language of the integrated browser engine (“HTTP Accept Language”) can now be set explicitly
  • The weather widget uses shorter update intervals to present even more up-to-date weather information
  • The security settings dialog of the Adobe Flash plugin can now be reached directly from within the Display Assistant
  • The selection boxes for transition effects and stretching options have been improved to be even more intuitive
  • A partner logo (co-branding) can be integrated into the title bar of Display Assistant window (for OEM partners)
  • Apart from the predefined screen resolutions for the integrated preview feature, it is now also possible to define any custom screen resolution (e.g. for special display types)
  • The wording of the weather widget has been slightly improved in all languages to prevent ambiguities
  • Multiple pages of a playlist can now be copied into another playlist of the same project
  • When using the bulk import feature for images, videos or XPS documents, the name of the generated pages corresponds to the name of the imported files (instead of page 1, page 2, etc.)
  • The context menus (right mouse button) for playlists and playlist items haven been enhanced (copy, move, delete, etc.)
  • The length of a video is now also being shown in the Display Assistant
  • The way how page names in a playlist are being shown has been improved
  • Furthermore, several minor improvements and bug fixes have been added as well in this version

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.2.0 (Apr 9, 2013)

  • Improved performance of Print2Screen and XPS content on slower PCs: This optimization makes displaying content and the news ticker tape much smoother, even on PCs with less powerful hardware.
  • Transparent background color for Print2Scren and XPS content: You can now set the background color of Prin2Screen content to “transparent”. This gives you much more possibilities than just a plain white background that most printouts usually have!
  • Multi-page Print2Screen and XPS content now use transition effects (e.g. fade transition or one of the popular 3D transition effects of FrontFace)
  • New, free plug-in “Tag Cloud“: The Tag Cloud plug-in allows you to show words and text on the screen as an animated tag cloud. This great-looking effect can be used for a lot of create applications!
  • Text with place holders now also works with multi-line text. Simply enter a | (pipe) in the text at the position where you want to show the line break.
  • The included sample project has been reworked and new features have been added.
  • All list views (playlists, pages, etc.) in the Display Assistant now support context menus which can be accessed by using the right mouse button.
  • The user manual (English and German) has been enhanced further and updated.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.1.0 (Feb 5, 2013)

  • Intelligent publishing mode (reduces the amount of data that needs to be transferred when updating player PCs up to 90%!)
  • Remote update over the Internet using cloud storage services like Dropbox, SkyDrive or Google Drive
  • A log output is now optionally possible in the content update folder
  • RSS feeds for the news ticker can now be added from a built-in preset of common feeds
  • The Display Assistant now allows modifying the colors and the scrolling speed of the news ticker*
  • Improved text editor for entering formatted rich text
  • Improved word wrapping for vertical containers in playlist pages
  • Bugfix regarding the “one time only” trigger for scheduled playlists
  • Entries from the list of recently used projects in the Display Assistant can now be removed by using the right mouse button
  • Enhanced and simplified documentation (available in German and English)
  • An intuitive configuration/setup dialog has been added to the player application
  • Many small improvements and optimizations!

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.0.2 (Jan 15, 2013)

  • New content element type “Slide Show” which allows a very easy integration of slide shows into playlists (incl. Motion Zoom and transition effects)
  • New templates (page layouts) for transparent text (inserts and overlays)
  • New TemplateA realistic-looking, digital pin board (with digital sticky notes!)
  • Improved selection of page layouts (“gallery” style)
  • Improved page editor for playlist pages
  • Print2Screen print driver is now certified and fully compatible with Windows 8
  • Shuffle mode for random playback of playlist pages
  • Digital signage screensaver mode (perfect for kiosk systems)
  • Plug-Ins can now also be shown in preview mode when the project is stored on a network share
  • An issue with embedded playlists and hidden pages within these playlists has been fixed
  • Smaller bug fixes in the Display Assistant Software
  • Projects with many playlists can now be viewed in a well-arranged way; furthermore it is also possible to order playlists for a better overview
  • Very large pictures (e.g. those made with a digital camera) can now be resized automatically for a better overall performance
  • Hidden pages within a playlist are now visually highlighted
  • An issue that occurs when publishing a playlist with background music has now been fixed
  • Many small fixes and improvements
  • Support for faulty and non-standard conformant RSS news feeds has been added

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 3.0.1 (Dec 17, 2012)

  • Motion Zoom effect for pictures: The Motion Zoom effects makes your photos look more dynamic by automatically adding zooming and panning effects. This is a great feature to make slide shows look more interesting!
  • For Web pages in a playlist you can now define a reload interval (very useful if you display Web pages with frequent status updates!).
  • You can now define a start time for video clips (useful for splitting up longer videos).
  • The new media type “Web Playlist” makes integrating Web CMS and Intranet software much simpler than before. The Web Playlist shows a sequence of Web pages which are defined by an RSS feed.
  • The FrontFace player software is now also able to parse corrupted or non standard-conformant RSS news feeds.
  • It is now possible to update a dedicated player PC without having to update all other player PCs at the same time (for multi-player PC setups).
  • The publication process (for updating player PCs) is now also fully scriptable via command line interface (for custom automation scenarios).
  • The new page layout “Photo Frame” allows you to place any media object in front of a custom background.
  • The scheduling feature has been completely redesigned and now comes with a comfortable calendar preview. This helps you to instantly see which playlist is running at a given point of time.
  • Apart from the scheduling feature, you can now also directly assign a playlist to a display without having to use the scheduler.
  • It is now possible to lock the player PC settings in the Display Assistant. This can help to prevent that an inexperienced user might modify the configuration by accident.
  • Date and time of the last publication (update) of a player PC are now being shown in the Display Assistant.
  • The Print2Screen driver now supports totally borderless printing. Additionally, a pre-defined 16:9 paper form has been added which allows you to easily create content for 16:9 displays with Print2Screen.
  • The user manual has been reworked and now also contains a lot of information about various advanced topics (available in both English and German).
  • The installation process on Windows XP Embedded (XPe) and POSready 2009 has been improved.
  • The FrontFace player now also supports streaming audio (e.g. Internet Radio) as background music. This allows you to underlay a playlist with custom live music.
  • The support for keyboard shortcuts in the Display Assistant has been vastly improved.
  • Plug-Ins can now also be configured using a graphical user interface in the Display Assistant.
  • Screen and page layouts as well as Plug-Ins of an existing project can now be updated with a single click.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 2.9.3 (Nov 17, 2012)

  • Completely rewritten and updated PDF manual (available in English and German)
  • New section in the manual about professional content creation
  • Support for streaming video (either from external media players or from the Internet)
  • Text objects can now have an optional padding/margin
  • Different login credentials for the content update folder can now be assigned
  • Integrated feature to “upgrade” templates and plug-ins of existing projects
  • Improved Print2Screen printer driver
  • Simplified facility to enter the license key in the player software
  • Improved and simplified user interface in the Display Assistant
  • Plug-ins now also have a graphical user interface for configuration options
  • New free “clock” plug-in for integrating analog or digital clocks in playlists
  • Many small improvements and fixes

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 2.7.9 (Aug 21, 2012)

  • Drag & drop support for media files: Directly drag & drop files from the Windows File Explorer into a playlist or empty containers of a playlist page.
  • Support for placeholders (variables) in text objects (perfect for personalized welcome or reception screens).
  • Easy creation of shortcuts on the Windows Desktop which allow you to open a display project or to automatically publish a project with a single click (very useful when totally inexperienced users are supposed to update the content on the screen).
  • Improved publication protocol in the Display Assistant.
  • Many small but yet very helpful productivity improvements in the Display Assistant software.
  • Improved text rendering which now totally abstracts from the actual screen resolution of the target screen (prevents problems like cut-off text).
  • Ability to show ad hoc notifications, not only as a semi-transparent “overlay”, but also as a full screen message (e.g. for fire alert or emergencies). The notification system can be hooked up to any existing altering system or call up software.

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 2.7.6 (Aug 21, 2012)

  • Improved support for the integration of live AV sources (TV, DVD, Web Cam, etc.)
  • Native support of Flash and Silverlight content
  • Completely rewritten PDF manual (includes the description of many advanced configuration options and customization features)
  • Many improvements in the Display Assistant (e.g. a feature to easily copy pages within a playlist)
  • New page layouts with “rounded” container elements
  • Simulation of various screen resolutions (16:9, 4:3, etc.) in the preview feature of the Display Assistant

New in FrontFace for Public Displays 2.7.3 (Aug 21, 2012)

  • The latest version of our powerful digital signage software comes again with a lot of improvements and great new features. It is for example now possible to perform a mass import for images or videos with only one click.
  • Apart from several usability improvements in the Display Assistant (management software), another exciting new feature is the ability of FrontFace for Public Displays to now integrate any live AV source seamlessly into playlists like any other content. This includes any AV streams from hardware such as Web Cams or digital TV receivers (DVB-T, DVB-S, DVB-C) or external DVD/Blu-ray players and hard disc players.
  • Finally, a new messaging feature extends the possible use cases of FrontFace for Public Displays. It is now possible to show ad hoc text messages on the screen while the regular content/playlist continues to play. Text messages can be triggered by mobile phones, regular computers or by integrating external systems (e.g. call up systems) via a Web service interface. By using the messaging feature, you can use FrontFace for call up systems in waiting rooms or guidance systems that help to manage visitor flows.