# Configure widgets: template, preview, and fields

Each widget has a settings window where you decide what it shows and how it looks: the wording of a text, the place of the weather, the colors of a menu board. A preview shows the result before you apply it.

> **Type:** guide
> **For:** anyone who sets up the widgets of a scene
> **Prerequisite:** the Owner or Manager role and an open scene
> **Where in the portal:** **Scenes** › open a scene › select a widget › gear icon

## Steps

1. Select a widget on the stage or in **Layers**, and click the gear icon on it. The settings window opens with the large **Preview** on the left and the tabs **Content**, **Appearance**, **Data**, and **Playback** on the right. A tab without fields is left out.
2. Change the fields. A typed value takes effect when you leave the field with Tab or by clicking elsewhere. The preview shows every change at once, and the scene stays as it is until you apply.
3. Click **Apply** to write all changes into the scene, or **Cancel** to discard them.

Position and size aren't in this window. You set them on the stage and under **Position**, see [Place and arrange widgets on the stage](/content/place-widgets).

### Templates

A widget with several designs shows them under **Template** on the **Appearance** tab, one small live preview each. Click a preview to use that design. If the widget sits freely on the stage and the template has a different shape, the widget takes the frame of the template when you apply, centered on its old position. In a zone, a template sets only the content, and the zone keeps deciding the size.

When you change the content, **customized** appears next to the template, and **Reset** goes back to it. The place and the background stay as you chose them.

### Colors and font

Under **Colors**, every app offers three choices:

- **Style of the app** shows the widget as the app designed it.
- **Brand colors** take the main color, accent, backgrounds, and fonts from your [brand](/organization/brand). You choose roles, not shades, so a later change to the brand reaches every widget on its own.
- **Custom** lets you choose background, accent, and text freely, with a hex value, the eyedropper, the colors of your brand, or recent colors.

Under **Font**, choose the font of the app, the brand font, or another font. A note below the colors says how readable the text is on its background. If the contrast is weak, the window suggests a fix such as **Choose a little darker**, and one click applies it. **Background** and **Corners** sit at the end of the tab.

### The preview

At the top left, choose the shape. **As in the scene** shows the widget in the frame it has on the stage. **Landscape**, **Portrait**, **Bar**, and **Tile** try other shapes without changing the scene. At the top right, choose the state: **Normal**, **Empty** without data, or **Fault**, which shows a display whose source doesn't answer.

A note below the preview says where the widget sits and where its data comes from. If the frame is too small for some content you switched on, the note names it, for example **Hidden in this frame: Next days.** With more room, the content appears on its own.

### Data and place

The **Data** tab shows where the widget gets its data. A widget with a data source offers its connection, source, and refresh here, see [Where do your apps get their data?](/content/data-sources). **Fetch now** requests fresh data for the preview.

Widgets such as the weather need a place. **Display location** uses the location of each display, so one scene works for all your branches. For displays without a location, choose a **Fallback place for displays without a location**. **Fixed place** shows the same place everywhere. **Preview for display** decides which display's place the preview uses.

The fields you change most often sit right on the toolbar of the selected widget: the **Template** and the **Colors**, plus up to two fields of the app, such as the background. An app content from the library opens the same window, see [Create, configure, and maintain app contents](/content/app-contents).

## Check the result

The stage shows the new content in the size the preview announced, and the status line shows no issues. After saving, the editor shows **All changes saved**.

## If something goes wrong

| Symptom | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| **Apply** is locked | A field contains an error, marked in red. | Correct the marked value. |
| A typed value has no effect | You haven't left the field yet. | Press Tab or click elsewhere. |
| Content you switched on is missing | The frame is too small, and the preview names what is hidden. | Make the widget larger on the stage, or choose a larger template. |
| The template doesn't change the size | The widget sits in a zone, or the template has the same shape as the frame. | In a zone, the size belongs to the zone. Change it through its dividers, see [Configure a scene: format, zones, transitions](/content/configure-scene). |
| **Brand colors** is locked | Your organization has no brand yet. | Set up the brand under **Settings › Organization › Brand**. |
| The text is hard to read | Background and text have too little contrast. | Apply the suggestion below the colors, or choose another background. |
| The widget shows no place | The display has no location with an address. | Add the address under **Settings › Organization › Locations**, or choose a fallback place. |
| **No editor form** instead of fields | This app has no settings. | Nothing to do. The widget works with its defaults. |

## Related

- [Place and arrange widgets on the stage](/content/place-widgets)
- [Brand: logo, colors, and fonts](/organization/brand)
- [Save, publish, versions, and conflicts](/content/save-and-publish)