Boards are often watched rather than used: on a TV in a control room, a screen in a lobby, a tablet on a machine. This page covers display links for screens nobody signs in to, full-screen viewing, expanding one card and zooming into a drawing.
Display links
A display link shows a shared board on a screen without a sign-in. “Anyone with the link can see the dashboard until it expires or is revoked.”
Create one
- Open the shared board. You need Manage shared dashboards (“Display links need the permission to manage dashboards.”).
- Open the board menu and select Display links….
- Enter a Screen name, for example “Lobby TV”.
- Choose Expires after: 1 day up to 365 days.
- Select Create link. The dialog says Copy this link now: “It will not be shown again. Open it on the screen that should show this dashboard.” Select Copy.
Create one link per screen, so you can stop one screen without touching the others.
Set up the screen
- On the screen’s browser, open the link.
- Put the browser in its own full-screen or kiosk mode.
- In the board’s settings, turn on Fill the screen height so the rows stretch to the screen, and set a Refresh every (seconds) that suits the screen.
The link’s secret is the part of the address after #. The page reads it, removes it from the address bar and keeps it for that browser tab’s reloads. It is never sent in the address to a server or a proxy log.
What a screen shows
| On a screen | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Rights | The link acts as the member who created it, and never with more rights than that member has now. If they lose the right to share the board, the screen shows “This dashboard can no longer be shown here”. |
| Cards | Built-in widgets and shared custom widgets. Cards that use widgets only the creator can see stay off the screen; the dialog warns “N cards stay off the screen”. |
| Data | Cards refresh on their interval. There is no live connection. |
| Controls | Inactive. Nothing can be changed or sent from the screen. |
| Parameters | Titles show raw parameter values. |
| Process drawings | Shown. |
| 3D views | Not shown: “3D designs are not shown on a display screen.” |
| Menus | None. The board shows read-only, without the app’s menus. |
Manage and stop links
Display links… lists each link with its screen name, status (Active, Expired, Revoked, Stopped), Expires and Last used. Revoke asks “Revoke “
Under Screens on personal dashboards, administrators also see links members made on their own boards and can stop those screens.
Full screen
- Fullscreen in the board toolbar opens the board without the app’s menus. Exit fullscreen or Escape leaves. A link with
?fs=1opens the board this way. - Expand on a card (Full screen in its card buttons) opens that card alone in a large dialog.
Toolbar items in the board settings choose what viewers see on top: Time window, Parameters, Full screen, Refresh, Export. Show the dashboard title can be turned off for a cleaner screen.
Zoom into a drawing
A process drawing opened with Full screen opens fitted to the screen, in a zoom pane:
| To | Do |
|---|---|
| Zoom | Ctrl (Cmd on a Mac) + mouse wheel, a pinch, the + and - keys, or the Zoom in and Zoom out buttons |
| Fit again | 0 or Fit to view |
| Move | Scroll, the scroll bars, or drag |
Zoom runs from 100 % to 800 %. A press that does not move stays a click, so a symbol’s action still runs while zoomed.
A 3D card takes the mouse wheel only after you click inside it, and gives it back when the pointer leaves (“Click the picture to zoom it with the wheel.”). A map card zooms with the wheel only when Zoom with the mouse wheel is on.
Phones and tablets
On a narrow screen the board stacks its cards in grid order. In each card’s settings, Hide on small screens, Order on small screens and Height on small screens (px) tune the phone layout; Hide on large screens makes a card for phones only.
Troubleshooting
| The screen says | Fix |
|---|---|
| “This display link is not valid” | Check the address, or create a new link. |
| “This display link was revoked” / “has expired” | Create a new link. |
| “Nothing to show” | “None of the cards on this dashboard can be shown on a display.” Share the custom widgets the board uses. |
| A card is blank on the screen | It is a 3D card, or the creator of the link may no longer read that data. |