Set Up a Schedule

Schedules are one of HipDeck's most powerful features. They let you control exactly when specific playlists play on your screens — by time of day, day of week, or date range — so the right content always appears at the right moment, without any manual intervention.

Whether you want to show a breakfast menu in the morning, a promotional reel on weekday afternoons, or a seasonal campaign over a specific date range, schedules make it effortless. This guide walks you through creating your first schedule from start to finish.

Step 1: Open the Schedule Editor

From your HipDeck dashboard, navigate to the screen or screen group you want to schedule content for. In the screen's detail view, select the Schedules tab, then click New Schedule. This opens the Schedule Editor, where you'll build out your full programming plan.

Give your schedule a clear, descriptive name — something like "Weekday Promotions" or "Holiday Campaign" — so it's easy to identify later. You can have multiple schedules saved for a screen and switch between them at any time.

Step 2: Create a Time Slot

Inside the Schedule Editor, click Add Time Slot to define a window of time when a playlist should play. Set a start time and end time, then choose which days of the week the slot applies to. Schedules can repeat weekly, so a slot you set for Monday through Friday will automatically recur every week without any extra setup.

If you need a slot to run only during a specific period — like a two-week sale — you can also set an optional date range to limit when the slot is active. You can add as many time slots as you need, and if any slots overlap, HipDeck resolves the conflict automatically using priority order: the slot with the higher priority number takes precedence.

Step 3: Assign a Playlist to the Slot

With your time slot defined, click Assign Playlist and choose from your existing playlists. The selected playlist will play on your screen whenever that time slot is active. If you haven't created a playlist yet, head over to the Playlists section first and build one — then come back to complete this step.

Before saving, use the Week Preview to see a full visual overview of how your schedule plays out across all seven days. This is a great way to catch any gaps or unintended overlaps before your content goes live. Once everything looks right, click Save Schedule to apply your changes.

What's Next

With your schedule saved, you're ready to take your screens live. Head to the Publishing guide to learn how to push your content to displays, monitor playback status, and make real-time updates whenever your programming needs to change.