# QR Code

The QR Code app passes something from the display to a viewer’s phone: a web address, access to your guest Wi-Fi, a contact card, or a short text.

> **Type:** app
> **For:** anyone who wants to offer viewers something to scan
> **Prerequisite:** the app installed, and permission to edit scenes
> **Where in the portal:** **Apps** › **Discover apps** › **QR Code**. The widget is in the scene editor under **Text & design**.

## What the app shows

The app comes with one widget: a real code on a white plate, and beside it, in a few words, what scanning offers. The code is created on the device from the widget’s settings, without an outside image service and without any call to the outside. The widget fetches nothing and stores no data of its own.

The code looks after its own quiet zone, contrast, and error correction: dark modules on white, a light margin of four modules all around, and error correction that forgives reflections. The plate stays white on every background, because a code on a colored ground scans less reliably.

Five templates place the code at a suitable size:

| Template | Size | Shows |
|---|---|---|
| **Tile** | 360 × 420 | the code at the top, headline and sentence below it, centered |
| **With text** | 640 × 300 | the code on the left, overline, headline, and sentence on the right |
| **Upright** | 340 × 560 | the code across the full width, the headline large below it, the sentence at the bottom |
| **Bar** | 1200 × 160 | a small code on the left, headline and sentence in one line each, **Scan with your camera** on the right |
| **Guest Wi-Fi** | 360 × 480 | the headline **Guest Wi-Fi**, the code, and below it network name and password as text |

After that, the widget arranges itself to fit its frame: the texts go beside the code in landscape, below it in portrait, and in one line in a bar. If the frame becomes too small, the sentence drops out first, then the overline, and finally the headline. The code always stays, and no text gets smaller than legible. The settings window names what drops out below the preview. Without texts, the code stands alone and as large as possible.

On the display, the widget speaks your organization’s language: **Guest Wi-Fi**, **Network**, **Password**, and **Scan with your camera** appear in German or English.

Two examples: A pharmacy puts a tile next to the register with **How did we do today?** and a code that leads to its review page. A café hangs the **Guest Wi-Fi** template in the entrance so that nobody has to ask for the password at the counter.

## Settings

Open the settings with the gear icon on the toolbar of the selected widget. They are on the tabs **Content**, **Appearance**, and **Data**. Only the fields of the chosen **Type** are ever visible. The values of the other types are kept when you switch back and forth. The toolbar also offers **Template** and **Colors**, plus the **Background**.

![The settings window of a QR code in the scene editor, Data tab, type Wi-Fi: the Type switch with its four values (1), the Network name field (2), the password (3), and the encryption (4)](/apps/bilder/d1f312d1-qr-code-choose-type.png)

| Setting | Tab | Meaning | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Type** | **Data** | **Web address**, **Wi-Fi**, **Contact**, or **Text**. Determines what the code carries and which fields are visible. | Web address |
| **Web address** | **Data** | Only for **Web address**, required: the page the scan leads to, at most 500 characters. If `https://` is missing, it is added. | empty |
| **Network name** | **Data** | Only for **Wi-Fi**, required: written exactly as in the router, at most 64 characters. | empty |
| **Password** | **Data** | Only for **Wi-Fi**: at most 64 characters. It appears legibly beside the code. Use the code only for a guest network. | empty |
| **Encryption** | **Data** | Only for **Wi-Fi**: **WPA**, **WEP**, or **Open**. WPA also covers WPA2 and WPA3. | WPA |
| **Name**, **Phone**, **Email**, **Company** | **Data** | Only for **Contact**: the details of the contact card, at most 80 characters each. At least one is required. | empty |
| **Text** | **Data** | Only for **Text**, required: at most 500 characters, encoded unchanged. | empty |
| **Overline** | **Content** | One or two words above the headline in uppercase, at most 40 characters. Not for **Wi-Fi**. | empty |
| **Headline** | **Content** | Says what the scan offers, at most 80 characters. Not for **Wi-Fi**, where it reads **Guest Wi-Fi**. | empty |
| **Sentence** | **Content** | A short sentence below the headline, at most 160 characters. Not for **Wi-Fi**. | empty |
| **Colors** and **Font** | **Appearance** | **Style of the app**, **Brand colors**, or **Custom** colors, plus the font. See [Configure widgets](/content/configure-widgets). | Style of the app |
| **Background** | **Appearance** | **White**, **Sand**, **Night**, **Glass**, or **Transparent**. The code always sits on white. Also selectable on the toolbar above the widget. | White |
| **Corners** | **Appearance** | **Rounded** or **Sharp**. | Rounded |

## Limits

- *Only web targets for the Web address type.* Only targets with `http` or `https` are encoded there, and anything else produces no code. Nobody can see what is behind a target before scanning.
- *No code without the required detail.* If the detail for the chosen type is missing, the widget stays empty on the display. The editor says what is missing, for example **No web address yet**.
- *The colors of the code, its margin, and its error correction are fixed.* A light code on a light ground or a margin that is too narrow could not be scanned. That is why these settings do not exist. The **Colors** on the **Appearance** tab apply to the surface and the texts, and the plate under the code stays white.
- *The headline has at most three lines, the sentence two.* Longer text ends with “…”, and the code keeps its size. In the bar, each text stands in one line.
- *Content that is too long does not fit.* If the detail no longer fits into a code, the widget stays empty instead of showing half a code. Shorten long addresses.
- *Timing:* The code is a still image and never changes by itself. A change reaches the display with the next publication.
- *Offline:* The app needs no connection to the outside. It does not check whether the target of the scan can be reached.

## If something goes wrong

| Symptom | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| The display stays empty, and the editor says **No web address yet**. | The **Web address** field is empty, or the target is not a web address. | Enter an address, for example `beispiel.de/bestellen`. |
| The display stays empty, and the editor says **No network name yet**. | The **Network name** field is empty. | Enter the network name exactly as it appears in the router. |
| The code scans up close but not from five meters. | The modules are too small for the distance. | Give the widget more area or shorten the texts, and the code gets larger. |
| The sentence is missing on the display. | The frame is too small for all texts. The settings window names what drops out below the preview. | Drag the frame larger or choose another template. |
| The phone does not connect to the network. | Network name, password, or **Encryption** do not match. The network name is case-sensitive. | Compare the details, and for an open network choose **Open**. |
| The widget stays empty although everything is filled in. | The content no longer fits into any code. | Shorten the address or text considerably. |
| The last name is wrong in the address book. | The last name is derived from the last word of the **Name** field. | Write the name as first name and last name, with no title at the end. |
| The widget cannot be inserted. | The app is not installed, an update is waiting for your decision, or it shows **Not in your package**. | Check the status under **Apps** ([When an app doesn’t work](/help/apps-troubleshooting)). |

## Related

- [Configure widgets: template, preview, and fields](/content/configure-widgets)
- [Notice board](/apps/notice-board) — the written text whose first link becomes the code.
- [Place and arrange widgets on the stage](/content/place-widgets) — how much area a code gets.