Weather and Clock Elements

The Weather and Clock elements bring live, real-time data directly onto your display. Whether you want guests to glance at the current temperature or check the time at a moment's notice, these two elements are among the most practical additions you can make to any layout.

Weather Element

What It Is

The Weather element displays live meteorological data fetched from an online weather service. It can show current conditions such as sky state (sunny, cloudy, rainy), temperature, humidity, wind speed, and a short-range forecast — all updated automatically at a configurable interval. It is ideal for lobbies, waiting areas, outdoor venues, and any environment where ambient conditions are relevant to your audience.

How to Add It

To add the Weather element to your layout, follow these steps:

1. Click the Add Element button (or drag from the element panel on the left sidebar).
2. Locate the Weather element and click to insert it.
3. Resize and reposition the element on the canvas as needed.
4. Open the element's settings panel to configure location, display options, and styling.

Setting a Location

The Weather element requires a location to retrieve accurate data. Location is specified by zip/postal code.

Once a location is saved, the element will immediately attempt to fetch current conditions. A small location label can optionally be shown on the element itself so viewers know which area the data refers to.

Display Options

The Weather element offers several display options to control what information is shown:

• Current conditions — Toggle the display of a weather icon (e.g., sun, cloud, rain) alongside a short text description such as "Partly Cloudy" or "Heavy Rain".
• Temperature unit — Choose between Fahrenheit (°F) and Celsius (°C) to match your audience's regional preference.
• More display options will be provided in future editions.

Refresh Interval

Weather data is fetched from the server at a configurable refresh interval. You can set how frequently the element polls for updated conditions:

• Minimum interval: 10 minutes — Polling more frequently than this provides no benefit, as most weather providers update their data on a 10–15 minute cycle.
• Recommended interval: 30 minutes — Balances data freshness with network efficiency.
• Maximum interval: 24 hours — Suitable for low-bandwidth environments where only a general daily overview is needed.

If the element fails to retrieve data (e.g., due to a temporary network interruption), it will display the last successfully fetched data along with a subtle "last updated" timestamp until connectivity is restored.

Design Customization

The Weather element can be styled to match your brand or layout theme. Available customization options include:

• Font family and size — Select from available system fonts or your uploaded brand fonts.
• Text and icon color — Set individual colors for temperature values, condition labels, and icons.
• Background — Apply a solid color, gradient, or transparent background to the element container.

Clock Element

What It Is

The Clock element displays a live, continuously updating time readout on your layout. It synchronizes with an internet time server (NTP) to ensure accuracy, making it suitable for environments where precise timekeeping matters — such as conference rooms, transit hubs, hospitals, and retail spaces. The element can show the time alone or be combined with a date display.

How to Add It

Adding the Clock element follows the same general workflow as other elements:

1. Open the layout editor.
2. Click Add Element or drag from the element panel.
3. Find the Clock element and click to insert it.
4. Resize and position the element on the canvas.
5. Open the settings panel to configure time format, timezone, date display, and styling.

12-Hour vs 24-Hour Format

The Clock element supports both common time notation formats:

• 12-hour format — Displays time with AM/PM notation (e.g., 3:45 PM). The AM/PM label can be shown or hidden depending on your design preference.
• 24-hour format — Displays time in military/international notation (e.g., 15:45). This format is preferred in many countries and professional environments.

You can also choose whether to display seconds alongside hours and minutes, or keep the readout to hours and minutes only for a cleaner look.

Timezone Settings

By default, the Clock element uses the timezone of the device running the display. You can override this with a specific timezone to accommodate multi-location deployments or international audiences:

• Device timezone (default) — The clock automatically reflects the local time of the player device. No manual configuration is needed.
• Fixed timezone — Select any IANA timezone (e.g., America/New_York, Europe/London, Asia/Tokyo) from the dropdown list. The clock will always show the time in that zone regardless of where the player is located.

Date Display Options

The Clock element can optionally show the current date alongside the time. Date display is fully configurable:

• Date format — Choose from common formats such as MM/DD/YYYY (US), DD/MM/YYYY (international), or YYYY-MM-DD (ISO 8601).
• Day of week — Toggle the display of the full or abbreviated day name (e.g., "Wednesday" or "Wed") above or below the date.
• Month display — Show the month as a number or as a full/abbreviated text label (e.g., "March" or "Mar").
• Date position — Place the date above, below, or beside the time readout depending on your layout design.

Font and Color Customization

The Clock element offers extensive visual customization to integrate seamlessly with your brand identity:

• Font family — Choose from system fonts or your own uploaded brand fonts. Different fonts can be applied to the time and date sections independently.
• Font weight and style — Apply bold, regular, or light weights, and optionally use italic styling for the date label.
• Font size — Set the size of the time digits and date text independently using pixel or percentage values.
• Text color — Apply any hex, RGB, or brand color to the time digits, AM/PM label, date text, and timezone label separately.
• Background — Set a solid color, gradient, or transparent background for the element container.
• Text shadow and glow — Add a subtle shadow or glow effect to improve legibility against complex or bright backgrounds.

Internet Connection Requirement

Both the Weather element and the Clock element rely on an active internet connection to function correctly. The Weather element requires connectivity to fetch live meteorological data from the weather service, while the Clock element uses an NTP (Network Time Protocol) server to synchronize and maintain accurate time.

If the internet connection is interrupted, the Weather element will continue to display the last retrieved data until connectivity is restored, and the Clock element will fall back to the device's local system clock. For mission-critical deployments, ensure your player devices are connected to a stable, always-on network to guarantee uninterrupted live data.