Connecting Your First Display | easyCMS Digital Signage

A display is any screen running the easyCMS player app, a Windows PC, an Android media player, or a compatible smart display. Before it can show your content, it has to register with your CMS and be authorised by you. This is a one-time process per screen and takes about five minutes.

What you need

Your CMS address, normally https://app.myeasycms.com. Your welcome email confirms it; if you were given a different address, use that one.
Your CMS key, a secret code found in the CMS under the settings/configuration area. The key proves a player is allowed to talk to your CMS.
A playback device with the easyCMS player installed and a working internet connection.
A free display licence. Your account includes one; each additional display needs its own lifetime licence (99€).

1. Install the player

Install the easyCMS player app for your platform. Platform-specific instructions are covered in the dedicated guides for Android, LG webOS and Windows.

2. Register the player with the CMS

On first launch the player opens its connection settings. There are two ways to link it to your account:

CMS address + key (works everywhere): enter the full CMS address exactly as given (including https://) and the CMS key, then save. The player generates a unique hardware key and creates a new display record in your CMS.
Activation code (newer players): the player shows a short code on screen; in the CMS, use the “add display with code” option and type it in. The CMS then sends the connection details to the player automatically, handy when the screen has no keyboard.

If the player reports it cannot reach the CMS, double-check the address for typos (a missing https:// or a trailing space is the most common mistake) and confirm the device is actually online.

3. Authorise the display

Registration alone does not put content on screen, that would let anyone with your key add screens to your account. Log in to the CMS, open the Displays page, find the new entry and choose Authorise from its row menu. Authorising ties one of your licences to the display. Until you do this, the player will sit on its splash screen waiting.

4. Give the display a sensible name and a default layout

Rename the display to something you will recognise (“Reception left”, “Shop window”), the auto-generated name is rarely helpful once you have more than one screen. Then edit the display and assign a default layout: this plays whenever nothing is scheduled, so the screen always shows something rather than going blank.

5. Schedule content

Create a schedule event that targets the display (or a display group) with a published layout. The player checks in with the CMS at a regular interval, downloads any new content to its local storage, and plays it. Because content is cached locally, playback continues even if the internet connection drops, the player simply re-syncs when it is back online.

Verifying the connection

On the Displays page, the status column shows whether each display has logged in recently, along with a “last accessed” timestamp. A freshly authorised display should check in within a few minutes. If it does not, work through the offline display checklist.