# Create, configure, and maintain app contents

An app content is an app you set up once, such as “Weather Altona branch”, and then use wherever it should run. You change it in one place, and the change applies everywhere.

> **Type:** guide
> **For:** anyone who provides weather, news, calendars, clocks, and other apps as ready-made contents
> **Prerequisite:** an installed app and the permissions **Create app contents**, **Edit app contents**, and **Delete app contents** for the task at hand. Owners and Managers have them by default. Without **List app contents**, the library shows no app contents.
> **Where in the portal:** **Library** › **New** › **App content** · **Library** › **App contents**

## Steps

### Create an app content

1. Open the **Library**. If the content should live in a folder, choose the folder first.
2. Click **New** and choose **App content**. The dialog **What would you like to show?** opens. It has three steps: **Choose**, **Set up**, and **Show on displays**.
3. Choose the app: search under **Apps and connections** or pick a category on the left, click a tile, then **Next: Set up**. If the app is missing, use **More apps in the app store**.
4. Set up the content. The window is the same as in the scene editor, and the preview shows every change, see [Configure widgets: template, preview, and fields](/content/configure-widgets). Click **Next: Show on displays**.
5. Enter a **Name** of up to 120 characters. A name that says the purpose is best, such as “Weather Altona branch”.
6. Under **Where should the content go?**, choose **Keep it in the library** or **At the end of a playlist**. For the playlist, pick the **Playlist** below. Only manual playlists are offered, and only if you may list and edit playlists.
7. Click **Create**. Nothing exists before that.

### Configure an app content

1. Click the card, or choose **Settings** in its menu (the ⋮ icon).
2. The window header names the content and where it runs, such as “App content · Weather 3.0 · used in 3 scenes and 1 playlist”. The preview can show other shapes: **Landscape**, **Portrait**, **Bar**, and **Tile**.
3. Change what you need. The footer reminds you: **Changes apply wherever this content runs**.
4. Click **Apply**. The portal says **Saved, wherever the content runs**. **Cancel** discards your changes.

### Rename, copy, and delete

Open the menu of the card. **Rename** changes the name. **Make a copy** creates “Weather Altona branch (copy)” with the same settings. The copy runs nowhere yet and is independent from then on. **Delete** removes the content for good. There is no trash for app contents, so make a copy first if you want to keep a state.

> **Caution:** While a content runs somewhere, **Delete** is blocked and reads **Delete works once it runs nowhere**. Take the content out of its scenes, playlists, and programs first.

## Where an app content runs

In a playlist, an app content plays full screen on the display, in the colors of your brand. Add it in the library panel of the playlist, in the tab **App content**, or choose **At the end of a playlist** when you create it. If a zone of a scene plays that playlist, the app content fills the zone. Changes reach the displays without publishing the scenes again.

The card and the window header count where the content runs: scenes, playlists, and programs. A content in the brand colors follows the brand by itself, see [Brand: logo, colors, and fonts](/organization/brand).

### Needs attention

If an app content no longer works as it should, its card shows a warning instead of the usage, and the sidebar lists it under **Needs attention**.

| Warning on the card | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| **App not installed** | The app was uninstalled. The display skips the content. | Install the app again. The content then plays on its own. |
| **Widget not available** | The app no longer knows this widget. | Create a new app content from the current widgets of the app. |

## Check the result

The content appears as a card labeled **App content** in the **Library**, under **Everything** and **App contents**. The card names the app and the usage: “not used” for a new content, “in 1 playlist” for one in a playlist.

## If something goes wrong

| Symptom | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| **App content** is missing in the menu **New** | You lack the permission **Create app contents**. | Ask an Owner or Manager, see [Permissions by role](/organization/permissions-by-role). |
| **No matching app.** appears in the first step | The search or category matches no installed app. | Clear the search, choose **Installed**, or install an app through **More apps in the app store**. |
| **At the end of a playlist** is missing in the last step | You may not list and edit playlists, or there is no manual playlist yet. | Keep the content in the library and add it to a playlist later. |
| **Someone changed the content in the meantime. Please open it again.** | A second person saved the content while your window was open. | Close the window, open the content again, and repeat your change. |

## Related

- [Configure widgets: template, preview, and fields](/content/configure-widgets)
- [Create a playlist](/programs/create-playlist)
- [Manage the library: find, check, delete](/content/media-library)