Playlist in Playlist

1. Create the playlist you want to show inside another one and add your slides to it
2. Open the parent playlist in the editor and go to the slide where the sub-playlist should appear
3. Click Playlists in the top toolbar. Or click Plugins, search for "playlist" in the Add Plugin window, and click the Playlist-in-playlist tile
4. In the Playlists window, click the playlist you want to add. Click a folder to open it
5. Drag the box into place and resize it with the corner handles
6. Choose how long the slide plays. Click Set slide duration to ... to play the sub-playlist once, or turn on Advance parent after each loop
7. Click Publish

Playlists are found here: https://my.playsignage.com/playlists

Tip: The box starts with the same shape as the sub-playlist. If you want zones that fill the whole screen, create each sub-playlist with the exact size of its zone. See "How do I create multiple zones that fill in the master playlist completely?" in the FAQ below.

Add a sub-playlist to a slide

• Open the parent playlist in the editor
• Select the slide you want to use
• Click Playlists in the top toolbar, or click Plugins and then the Playlist-in-playlist tile in the Add Plugin window
• The Playlists window opens. It says "Choose a playlist to add inside this playlist"
• Find your playlist. You can sort by name, date or last publish, and type in the Filter... box to search. Click a folder to open it
• Click the playlist. It's added to the slide right away
• Move the box where you want it and resize it with the corner handles, or type exact values under Positioning (Left, Top) and Sizing (Width, Height)

Each tile in the Playlists window shows the playlist's total play time, its aspect ratio and how many slides it has.

The playlist you're editing isn't in the list, because a playlist can't contain itself. If you have no other playlists, you'll see You have no other playlists. A playlist cannot contain itself.

Note: The box keeps the shape of the sub-playlist. You can only resize it from the corners, and it can't be rotated. If you type a new Width, the Height changes with it, and the other way around.

In the editor, the box shows the first slide of the sub-playlist. If the sub-playlist also contains a playlist, the editor shows a smaller preview picture instead. Click Preview in the settings panel to see the sub-playlist play.

Choose how long the sub-playlist plays

The sub-playlist plays inside the parent slide for as long as that slide is on screen. The parent slide's duration decides when the parent playlist moves on, not the sub-playlist.

• If the parent slide is shorter than the sub-playlist, only the first part of the sub-playlist is shown before the parent moves on
• If the parent slide is longer, the sub-playlist starts again from its first slide
• If the parent slide is set to Play this slide forever, the sub-playlist keeps looping

You can set this up in three ways:

• Match one loop yourself: select the box and click Set slide duration to .... The button shows the sub-playlist's total play time and sets the parent slide to exactly that. If you change the sub-playlist later, click the button again
• Let Play move on after one loop: turn on Advance parent after each loop. The parent slide is set to Play this slide forever, and the parent playlist moves on each time the sub-playlist has played all of its slides. This is handy when the sub-playlist changes often
• Show one slide at a time: turn on Advance parent after each slide. Each time the parent slide comes around, one slide from the sub-playlist is shown, and then the parent playlist moves on. The next time, the next slide in the sub-playlist is shown

For zones, where the parent playlist has just one slide, leave the parent slide on Play this slide forever so all zones keep playing.

Note: Advance parent after each slide and Advance parent after each loop are only shown when the sub-playlist has a total play time. If any slide in the sub-playlist is set to Play this slide forever, these switches are hidden.

Change which playlist is shown

There's no setting to swap the playlist in an existing box. To show a different playlist:

• Note where the box is (or look at Left, Top, Width and Height in the panel)
• Delete the box (see "Remove a sub-playlist from a slide" below)
• Add the new playlist as described in "Add a sub-playlist to a slide"
• Move and resize the new box, and set the options again
• Publish the parent playlist

If you just want different content in the same spot, you don't have to change anything in the parent playlist. Edit the slides in the sub-playlist instead.

Edit the content of a sub-playlist

The slides of a sub-playlist aren't edited inside the parent playlist. You edit the sub-playlist itself:

• Select the box in the parent playlist
• In the settings panel, click the sub-playlist's name (with the small arrow icon) under the link heading. The sub-playlist opens in the editor in a new tab. You can also open it from the Playlists page
• Add, change or remove slides as you would in any playlist
• Click Publish in the sub-playlist

When you publish a sub-playlist, Play also publishes every group, schedule and tag that uses a parent playlist containing it. You don't need to publish each parent playlist yourself.

If you use the same playlist in several parent playlists, your changes show up in all of them.

Remove a sub-playlist from a slide

• Select the box on the slide
• Click the trash can in the toolbar (Remove), or press Delete or Backspace on your keyboard
• Publish the parent playlist so your screens stop showing it

This only removes the box. The sub-playlist itself isn't deleted, and you can still find it on the Playlists page.

Note: If the box is locked, unlock it first. Locked objects can't be selected.

Delete a playlist that is used as a sub-playlist

• Go to Playlists
• Click the settings button (the gear icon) on the playlist and click Remove
• Play first asks you to confirm with a window called Remove followed by the playlist name. Click Remove to continue, or Cancel to stop
• If the playlist is in use, a window called This Playlist is in use opens. Under Used as sub-playlist, you'll see which parent playlists and slides use it. Click one to open that slide instead
• Read the list carefully. If you still want to delete the playlist, click Remove. Otherwise click Cancel

What happens when you delete it:

• The sub-playlist is removed from the slides that used it
• If a slide contained nothing but this sub-playlist, that whole slide is deleted from the parent playlist
• If a slide also had other content, the other content stays. The empty spot where the box was is cleaned up the next time someone opens that slide in the editor, and you'll see Sub-playlist has been deleted, removed it from the slide as well.
• If the playlist is also the base playlist of a group, is used in a schedule or is used by a tag, those are listed in the same window and are changed too

Open the parent playlists afterwards, check that they still look right, and publish them.

Note: If you delete a parent playlist that was created from a pre-made layout, its zone playlists are deleted too. You'll see This will remove all sub-zones as well.

See where a playlist is used

• Go to Playlists
• Hover over the small sitemap icon on a playlist row
• You'll see the groups and schedules that use the playlist, and a line like "Slide 1 in Lobby screen" for each parent playlist that uses it as a sub-playlist

Important notes about Playlist in Playlist

• A sub-playlist is a link to another playlist, not a copy. Changes to the sub-playlist show up everywhere it's used
• When you publish a sub-playlist, every group, schedule and tag that uses one of its parent playlists is published too
• When you publish a parent playlist, its sub-playlists are published with it. Any saved but unpublished changes in a sub-playlist go live at the same time
• The sub-playlist uses its own slide durations and transitions. The parent slide's duration decides how long the box is shown, unless you turn on one of the Advance parent options
• Slide conditions inside a sub-playlist work. Each slide in the sub-playlist is checked on its own. If Advance parent after each loop is on and none of the sub-playlist's slides can play right now, the player skips that parent slide. Slide conditions are a Pro and Ultimate feature
• The sub-playlist keeps its own shape. On screen, it's scaled to fit inside the box. If the box has a different shape, part of the box stays empty
• A playlist can't contain itself, and two playlists shouldn't contain each other. If Play finds a loop when you publish, you'll see Detected sub-playlist circular reference loop starting with playlist ..., and the looping playlist isn't shown inside itself
• Each sub-playlist uses the player's memory and processing power. Keep nesting simple, especially on entry-level devices
• Zone playlists created from a pre-made layout can't be chosen as a group's base playlist. Use the parent playlist as the base playlist
• Playlist in Playlist is available on all plans

Ways to add a sub-playlist (in the editor)

• Playlists in the top toolbar
• Plugins → Add Plugin → Playlist-in-playlist

Options in the Playlists window

• Sort by name, sort by date and sort by last publish
• Filter...: search by playlist name
• Folders: click a folder to open it, and use the path at the top to go back

Options in the settings panel (select the box)

• Alignment: Fit to canvas, Align left, Align center, Align right, Align top, Align center (vertical), Align bottom, and Lock / Unlock
• Playlist info: total play time, number of slides, aspect ratio, and a Preview link that plays the sub-playlist in a new tab
• Set slide duration to ...: sets the parent slide's duration to the sub-playlist's total play time (one full loop)
• Continue from previously played slide (off by default): the player remembers which slide of the sub-playlist was shown last, and starts from the next one the next time the parent slide comes around. Without it, the sub-playlist starts from its first slide every time. Useful when the parent slide is shorter than the sub-playlist and you want every slide to get its turn, for example ads that take turns
• Advance parent after each slide (off by default): shows one slide of the sub-playlist, then moves the parent playlist to its next slide. Turning it on also turns on Continue from previously played slide, turns off Advance parent after each loop, and sets the parent slide to Play this slide forever. The sub-playlist's slides can have different durations
• Advance parent after each loop (off by default): plays all slides of the sub-playlist once, then moves the parent playlist to its next slide. Turning it on sets the parent slide to Play this slide forever
• How it works?: short explanations under each switch
• Link to the sub-playlist: opens the sub-playlist in the editor in a new tab
• Positioning: Left and Top
• Sizing: Width and Height (the shape stays the same)

Note: Turning off Advance parent after each slide or Advance parent after each loop doesn't change the parent slide's duration back. The slide stays on Play this slide forever, so the parent playlist won't move on from it. Open Slide settings and set a Slide duration (HH:MM:SS), or click Set slide duration to ....

Tip: Only turn on one of the two Advance parent switches at a time.

In the editor toolbar of a zone playlist

• Preview parent: in zone playlists created from a pre-made layout, a small arrow next to Preview opens a preview of the parent playlist, so you can see all zones together

How do I create multiple zones that fill in the master playlist completely?

Use a pre-made layout when you create the playlist: go to Playlists, click Create playlist, pick a layout and click Create. Play creates the parent playlist and one sub-playlist per zone, all with the right sizes. If none of the layouts fit, you can build custom zones. Create one playlist per zone with the exact size of that zone, then add them all to one slide in the parent playlist. Our article on creating custom zones explains how: https://playsignage.com/support/zones/

How many levels can the playlists be nested?

We don't have a limit on how many levels of sub-playlists you can put inside each other. But each playlist uses the player's resources, so on entry-level devices we don't recommend more than 1 level of nesting.

If I make changes in a sub-playlist, do I also need to publish all parent playlists that contain the sub-playlist?

No. When you click Publish on the sub-playlist, Play automatically publishes every group, schedule and tag that uses a parent playlist containing it.

My sub-playlists are not nicely formatted.

On the Playlists page, zone playlists from a pre-made layout are shown indented under their parent playlist. When you create custom zones one by one yourself, Play doesn't know which playlist belongs to which (and you can use the same playlist in several other playlists). So those sub-playlists aren't shown indented. Don't worry, this is only how the list looks. Everything still works the same.

Can I put a playlist inside itself, or have two playlists that contain each other?

No. The playlist you're editing isn't offered in the Playlists window. If you build a loop through other playlists (A contains B, and B contains A), Play warns you with Detected sub-playlist circular reference loop starting with playlist ... when you publish, and the loop isn't played. Remove one of the sub-playlists to fix it.

Why does only part of my sub-playlist play?

The parent slide is probably shorter than the sub-playlist. When the parent slide ends, the parent playlist moves on and the sub-playlist stops. Select the box and click Set slide duration to ..., or turn on Advance parent after each loop. If you want the sub-playlist to carry on where it stopped the next time, turn on Continue from previously played slide.

How do I show one ad from a set of ads each time my playlist loops?

Put the ads in their own playlist and add it to a slide in your main playlist. Select the box and turn on Advance parent after each slide. Each time the main playlist reaches that slide, the next ad is shown, and then the main playlist moves on.

Why can't I see the Advance parent switches?

They're only shown when the sub-playlist has a total play time. If any slide in the sub-playlist is set to Play this slide forever, the sub-playlist has no end, so the switches are hidden. Give that slide a duration in the sub-playlist and they'll appear.

Can I change which playlist a box shows?

Not directly. Delete the box and add the other playlist in the same spot. If you only want different content in that spot, edit the slides of the sub-playlist instead.

Does the sub-playlist keep its own slide durations and slide conditions?

Yes. Each slide in the sub-playlist plays for its own duration, and its slide conditions are checked. The parent slide's duration still decides how long the box stays on screen, unless you use one of the Advance parent options. Slide conditions need a Pro or Ultimate plan.

Can a sub-playlist have a different aspect ratio than the parent playlist?

Yes. The box starts with the sub-playlist's shape and keeps it when you resize it. On screen, the sub-playlist is scaled to fit inside the box without being stretched.

Can I use the same playlist in several places?

Yes. You can add the same playlist to several slides, to several parent playlists, or more than once on the same slide. Changes to it show up in all those places.

What happens if I delete a playlist that is used as a sub-playlist?

Play warns you first and lists where it's used under Used as sub-playlist. If you continue, the sub-playlist is removed from those slides. Slides that contained nothing else are deleted from the parent playlists. Check the parent playlists afterwards and publish them.

How do I see which playlists use a playlist as a sub-playlist?

Open the parent playlists and check their slides. The sitemap icon on the Playlists page mainly shows groups and schedules, so it may say "This playlist is not assigned to any group or schedule" even when the playlist is used as a sub-playlist. When you delete a playlist, Play should list where it's used under Used as sub-playlist before anything is removed.

Can sub-playlists have a transparent background?

Yes. A transparent background in a sub-playlist lets the parent slide show through. See our Transparent Background page: https://playsignage.com/support/transparent-background/

Do I need Pro or Ultimate for Playlist in Playlist?

No. Playlist in Playlist is available on all plans. Some features you might use inside a sub-playlist, such as slide conditions, need Pro or Ultimate.

Which players support Playlist in Playlist?

All our player apps can play sub-playlists. Advance parent after each slide was added later, so keep your player app up to date.