Digital Signage and Power Point Uploads
March 8, 2010 - 5:22pm
Can .PPT save as .JPG?
Can't .PPT save as .JPG? That would be a much more efficient than asking the site convert the content. You can even attach several images to a single node should you wish to keep all of the slides from a single .PPT together.
The next step might be taking a look at this tutorial. Using the mailhandler module, select users can e-mail content to the site.
-NP
March 8, 2010 - 10:37pm
Non technical users
I am concerned that the saving to JPG step would be too complicated for most of my users. My goal is that any ministry person could optionally use a power point file as input. I am not sure how emailing solves the problem since there would still be a conversion step. I am wondering if there is a way to embed a PPT viewer into an Iframe of a node (or something like that). All that matters is that the sign in the lobby be able to render the content.
March 9, 2010 - 12:41pm
iPaper?
Hey RL,
e-mail was not intended to avoid conversion, only save pastors the bother of logging in to post.
There are many ways to embed PowerPoint presentations, Google "embed powerpoint web" for lots of options. The only Drupal module I know which does this is http://drupal.org/project/ipaper. Truthfully, for me, it seems like a lot of overhead for what it does, but may be what you're looking for.
-NP
March 9, 2010 - 3:25pm
iSpring Free
iSpring Free is available for non-profits. It installs in PowerPoint and allows you to export a presentation in flash. iSpring has a separate site for the free version.
The only down side to the free version is that it is branded and links to iSpring's commercial site.
I've got a very simple presentation on the bottom of this page.
Curt
March 9, 2010 - 7:27pm
How about this...
Thanks for the input fellas.
What I am thinking about now I believe is very simple to implement.
Create a website to allow users to upload content (images, ppt, files, standard text stuff, etc.) This will be the front end to our digital signage system. I would have several CCK types depending upon what form folks wanted enter their content in.
At the church I have a system that polls the website for content that is to be displayed. This is just standard views stuff. A view would provide a feed for the stuff that can't be handled natively like PPT. The non native content attachements would be downloaded and converted to a video using iSpring or other software that can be command line driven. I would add the flv extension to the original file name. When the digital signage browser views the content (think views rotator), when a node comes up with content that is not native, a local link to the filename with an flv extension is substituted. I think I can handle that with theming much like you have a different site look for an iPhone browser. Any suggestions on how I can automatically add the FLV extension for certain content?
I have to provide a power point template that matches the site theme for ppt content. That is not a problem.
I could use any rss reader to automatically pull down the content and a simple python program can scan for new content and convert it.
I do like the idea of emailing content in. I want to force folks to supply start and end dates to the content so it is self editing. Nobody wants stale content after an event. How tacky. Additionally, I want them to specify times of day. For example, when LEAH home school group is taking over the building, they could have their events view at times when they are in the building. During service or between services, different types of content would display.
It is great to have a specialized forum like this to share ideas with. Let me know what you think or how to improve this idea.
Thanks for the website.
March 10, 2010 - 10:49am
Separating Content from Presentation
Rich,
I love your approach, and considered something similar in the past. I'd go you one further and simply remove the FLV and PowerPoint elements completely. Use your proposed views to create a full-screen format (no headers, footers, navigation) in the views rotator, and only let the users submit information as text, and maybe let them upload an image to go with it.
Of course, you might still run into problems with users sending in text that's too long to fit on a single screen, and other issues of that nature, but I think the complete separation of content from presentation might be the easiest solution to set up.
(As if your users will let you restrict them like that. But hey, we can dream, can't we?)
Micah
Hi,
I am the web designer for our church. We are planning on installing two wide format monitors. I want ministry leaders in the church to be able to post content to the displays from the convenience of their homes or workplace...
I am intending to use Drupal to manage the digital signage and content display. I want to make it easy for folks to add content if they are already familiar with Power Point. From a web site, what are some of the ways I can automatically convert uploaded power point files (ppt) to flash or images? Ideally, I would host the site with our existing provider. I would rather not stand up the server on site. I am planning on use Views Rotator module or similar to schedule the playback of content. There could be an offsite computer polling for files or operating from an RSS feed that could do the conversions. I am OK with that since it would be a client and not as exposed to the internet as a server.
Thanks for any ideas in advance.
Rich