# Create a playlist

A playlist plays scenes, images, videos, and app contents one after another in a loop. Create it, put the items in the order you want, watch a test run, and save.

> **Type:** guide
> **For:** anyone who wants several pieces of content to take turns on a display
> **Prerequisite:** the Owner or Manager role, and published scenes, processed media, or app contents in your library
> **Where in the portal:** **Playlists** › **Create playlist**

## Choose the kind of playlist

| Kind | What it plays | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| **Manual** | The scenes, media, and app contents you pick, in your order, up to 100 | A handful of hand-picked items, such as a menu and two offers |
| **Folder** or **Tags** | Whatever is in a folder or carries certain tags | Content that others keep adding, such as weekly offers |
| **OneDrive** | Whatever is in a OneDrive folder | Teams that already keep their files in OneDrive |

This page covers the manual playlist. For the others, see [Fill a playlist automatically from a folder or tags](/programs/automatic-playlists).

## Steps

### Create the playlist

1. Open **Playlists** and click **Create playlist**.
2. Choose **Manual**.
3. Enter a **Playlist name**, such as "Lunch menu".
4. Set the **Default duration per item (seconds)**. Every image, scene, and app content without a duration of its own runs this long. Videos run their natural length.
5. Under **First item**, pick a scene or click **Pick media**.
6. Click **Create playlist**. The playlist opens.

![The New playlist dialog with the question “Where should this playlist take its content from?” and the four source cards: Manual (1), Folder (2), Tags (3), and OneDrive (4)](/programs/bilder/49692fd6-new-playlist-source.png)

### Add and arrange items

1. In the **Library** below the sequence, choose **All media**, **Images**, **Videos**, **Scenes**, or **App content**.
2. Click an item to add it at the end, or drag it to a specific place. The library stays open, so you can add several in a row.
3. Drag a card by its handle to change the order. The top of the **Sequence** shows the number of items and the total length of one loop.

![An open manual playlist from top to bottom: the header with Test run, Discard, and Save (1), the collapsed defaults with their summary (2), the sequence with a card for each item including duration field and transition (3), and below it the library with the tabs All media, Images, Videos, Scenes, and App content (4)](/programs/bilder/907fe9f4-playlist-sequence-and-library.png)

### Add app contents and PDFs

The **App content** tab shows every app content of your library as a tile with a live preview, such as the weather of a branch. A click adds it to the end of the sequence. If you change it in the library, the change applies in every playlist that holds it. The tab appears only with the permission **List app contents**. Without any app content yet, **Create app content** leads to the dialog for a new one, see [Create, configure, and maintain app contents](/content/app-contents).

A PDF sits in the **All media** tab, not under **Images** or **Videos**. Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files become PDFs on upload and sit there too. A PDF runs as a series of its pages. **Choose pages** on its card opens a dialog where you deselect pages, such as a blank back page. For a document with more than 50 pages, the first 50 are available.

### Set the duration and transition of each item

1. Enter seconds in a card's duration field. If you leave it empty, the card shows the default, such as **10 s (default)**. A video with a duration of its own is cut off after that time, or holds its last frame if it ends sooner.
2. For a PDF, the field applies to each page. Left empty, every page runs 8 seconds, not the default of the playlist.
3. Choose a transition: **Default**, **None**, **Fade**, or **Slide**.
4. For images and videos, choose **Fill (crop)** to fill the display or **Fit (letterbox)** to show the whole picture. A new PDF starts on **Fit (letterbox)**, so that every page stays whole.

The default duration and the default transition are under **Defaults** at the top of the playlist. Videos from your library play without sound. For sound, use the [YouTube](/apps/youtube) or [Live stream](/apps/stream) app.

> **Tip:** Leave each item on screen long enough to read it twice. A short headline needs a few seconds, a menu with prices much longer. Keep the loop short, because nobody waits through twenty items for the one they need.

### Test and save

1. Click **Test run**. The playlist plays full screen in a new window, with the real durations and transitions. Scenes and app contents run with their current data, as on the display, and a PDF runs page by page. **Next** and **Previous** jump to the next or previous item, and within a PDF to the next or previous page. Press Esc to end it.
2. Click **Save**. **Discard** goes back to the last saved state.

## Check the result

The playlist appears under **Playlists** with the **Manual** badge, the number of items, and the total length. It reaches a display only once you assign it, directly or inside a program. There, an app content plays full screen and a PDF plays page by page.

## If something goes wrong

| Symptom | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| **Create playlist** is grayed out | Your role doesn't allow creating playlists. | Ask someone with the Owner or Manager role. |
| A file is missing from the **Library** | It hasn't finished processing. | Wait until the library shows it as **Ready**. |
| The **App content** tab is missing | Your role lacks the permission **List app contents**. | Ask an Owner to add it, see [Roles and permissions](/organization/permissions-by-role). |
| A card says **The app is not installed, so the content is skipped on the display** | The app of this app content isn't installed. | Install the app again, or remove the card. |
| A PDF is locked, with **Pages are still being prepared** below it | The page images are created during upload and aren't ready yet. | Wait a moment. If it says **Pages could not be prepared**, see [Manage media: details, usage, and deleting](/content/media-library). |
| **Mixed orientations in this sequence** | The playlist mixes landscape and portrait. One of them runs with black bars. | Make two playlists, one for each orientation. |
| **Never published — will be skipped on the display** | The scene is still a draft. | Publish the scene. |
| A scene is **blocked, not included in your package** | The scene uses something your package doesn't include. | Choose another scene, or change your package. |
| **Save failed** | A field has an invalid value. | Correct the fields marked in red and save again. |

## Related

- [Fill a playlist automatically from a folder or tags](/programs/automatic-playlists)
- [How does a display decide what to play?](/programs/about-programs)
- [Assign a program to a display](/displays/assign-program)
- [Add an ad break to a playlist](/advertising/add-ad-break-to-playlist)