DreamSignage

DreamSignage is a dynamic Digital Signage software solution powered by Node.js, designed to serve as an adaptable and efficient file viewer. Capable of supporting a wide array of file formats, DreamSignage can be easily deployed on any web server or cloud platform. Its compatibility with modern web browsers ensures a seamless user experience across a diverse range of devices.

From PDF, PNG, JPG/JPEG, GIF, SVG, WebP, MP4, to WebM, DreamSignage offers an intuitive way to display your files. It effortlessly scales content to fit your screen while preserving original aspect ratios, ensuring an engaging fullscreen viewing experience.

Features

• Versatile File Display: DreamSignage proficiently handles various file formats, offering effortless interaction with documents, images, and videos.
• Fullscreen View: Experience your content in distraction-free fullscreen mode, offering an immersive viewing experience.
• Responsive Design: DreamSignage's design is responsive, dynamically adjusting content according to the screen size and resolution to ensure optimal viewing across all devices.
• Multi-Site PDF Viewing: DreamSignage provides a comfortable reading experience by displaying PDF files one page at a time.
• Configurable Timer Display: Adjust the display duration of files to fit your needs with a configurable timer.
• Offline & Local Network Capability: DreamSignage can operate fully offline within a local network.
• Websockets Integration: By utilizing websockets, DreamSignage promptly reacts to file events, updating content automatically with each file change.
• Cross-Platform Server Deployment: The DreamSignage server can be deployed on both Linux and Windows platforms, ensuring comprehensive compatibility.
• HTTPS Support: DreamSignage offers the capability to run securely over HTTPS. This optional feature enables hosting of content with enhanced security, ensuring data is safely transmitted over the network. Elevate your experience with DreamSignage by utilizing the power of HTTPS.
• (Optional) Automatic ZIP Content Updates: DreamSignage offers a unique feature to automatically fetch and update content from a remote ZIP file. Centralize your content updates with ease, as DreamSignage periodically checks, downloads, and seamlessly integrates new content from your specified ZIP source, ensuring your displays always stay current.

How It Works

DreamSignage operates by tracking a designated 'content' folder. Any file within this folder (provided it's a supported file type) will be automatically displayed on the website. Through websockets, DreamSignage stays responsive to file events, guaranteeing that your content remains current with every change.

Compatibility

DreamSignage is compatible with all modern web browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and more. The server can be deployed on both Linux and Windows platforms, reinforcing its extensive adaptability.

Getting Started

To install DreamSignage follow one of the following instructions

Linux

Step 1: Install Node.js

Before you can run the DreamSignage application, ensure Node.js is installed on your system. Node.js is a runtime environment that allows you to run JavaScript on the server side. Check if Node.js is installed by running:

node -v

If Node.js is not installed, download and install it. On a Linux machine, use the apt package manager:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nodejs

Make sure to have at least NodeJS Version v18.15.0. This is the version im working on this project.

node -v

Step 2: Create a Directory for DreamSignage

Create a directory where you will install the DreamSignage application:

mkdir DreamSignage

Step 3: Clone DreamSignage repository from GitHub

After creating the directory, navigate into it and clone the DreamSignage repository from GitHub. This will create a copy of the application's codebase on your system.

cd DreamSignage
git clone https://github.com/Ammarillo/DreamSignage.git

Step 4: Install Dependencies

DreamSignage application relies on other libraries or modules. These dependencies need to be installed before you can run the application. This can be done using npm, the Node.js package manager.

npm install

Step 5: Install Forever

Forever is a simple CLI tool that ensures a given script runs continuously. Install forever globally using npm:

sudo npm install -g forever

Step 6: Start the Application with Forever

Once forever is installed, you can use it to start your application:

forever start DS.js

Step 7: Setup Automatic Restart on System Reboot

We will use the cron service to automatically restart the application whenever the system reboots. Open your crontab file for editing:

crontab -e

Add the following line to the end of the crontab file:

@reboot forever start --sourceDir /path/to/DreamSignage/ DS.js

Replace /path/to/DreamSignage with the actual path to your DreamSignage application directory. Save the file and close the text editor. The cron service will automatically load the new job and will start running the next time you reboot the system.

Congratulations! You have now installed and set up your DreamSignage application to run continuously and restart at every system boot.

Windows

Step 1: Install Node.js

First, we'll need to install Node.js:

1. Download the latest stable version of Node.js from https://nodejs.org/en/download
2. Run the installer and follow the instructions to install Node.js and npm, Node's package manager.

Step 2: Download DreamSignage repository from GitHub

To get your application files onto your computer, you can download the zip directly from GitHub and extract it:

1. Go to the repository at https://github.com/Ammarillo/DreamSignage.
2. Click the green Code button, then click Download ZIP.
3. Once the download is finished, extract the zip file into your desired directory.

Step 3: Install Dependencies

1. Open a PowerShell window.
2. Navigate to the DreamSignage application directory:

cd x:\\path\to\DreamSignage

3. Install the dependencies with npm:

npm install

Step 4: Install node-windows

node-windows is a module that allows you to interact with the Windows services.

1. Install node-windows globally using npm:

npm install -g node-windows

Step 5: Install the Service

Now install the service via this command:

node install-service.js

Now, your DreamSignage application will start automatically when your computer boots, and it will keep running in the background.

Step 6: (Optional) Uninstall the Service

If you need to uninstall the service you can do this by using the following command:

node uninstall-service.js

How to use DreamSignage Application

In this guide, we will walk through the steps to use this application.

Step 1: Install the Application

First, you need to install the DreamSignage application. Please follow the installation guide provided above according to your operating system (Windows or Linux).

Step 2: Adding Content to be Displayed

Once installed, find the public folder within the DreamSignage directory. Inside this public folder, there should be a content folder.
You can add any files you want to display on your web page into this content folder. The application will automatically pick up these files and display them on the web page.

Step 3: Access the Webpage

By default, the webpage can be accessed locally at http://localhost:3000/. If you've added content to the content folder, you should see it displayed on this page.

Step 4: Modify Application Settings

If you want to change certain application settings, like the content interval, HTTP port or other settings, you can do so by editing the default.json file located inside the config folder.
For instance, if you want to change the HTTP port to 8000, you would open the default.json file and look for the line with the "httpPort" setting and change it to "httpPort": 8000.
Please remember to save the default.json file after making any changes.

{
    "config": { 
        "scanIntervall": 5,
        "contentIntervall": 20,
        "backgroundColor": "#141414",
        "httpPort": 3000,
        "useSSL": false,
        "sslkey": "/etc/example/privatekey.pem",
        "sslCert": "/etc/example/fullchain.pem",
        "sslPort": 3001,
        "useZipDownload": false,
        "zipURL": "https://example.com/path/to/content.zip",
        "zipDownloadIntervall": 60,
        "keepFiles": false
    }
}

Step 5: Restart the Application

In order for the changes you made in default.json to take effect, you need to restart the DreamSignage application. Depending on how you've set up the application to run (as a service, with forever, etc.), the steps to do this may vary. Generally, you would stop the running process and then start it again.
Now, you should be able to use the DreamSignage application to display your content on a webpage.

Step 6: Updating your Content

Whenever you want to change the content being displayed, simply replace the files in the content folder with the new content you want to show. The application will automatically pick up these new files.
That's it! You now know how to use the DreamSignage application.

Optional URL ZIP Download Feature

DreamSignage provides an optional feature that allows users to automatically download content from a remote server via a ZIP file. This feature is particularly useful for users who want to centralize and easily update the content displayed across multiple DreamSignage installations. By simply updating the ZIP file on a remote server, all DreamSignage installations configured to fetch from that server will automatically update their content.

How the ZIP Download Feature Works

1. Configuration: In the default.json file located inside the config folder, there are a few settings related to the ZIP download feature. The "useZipDownload" setting determines whether the feature is active. If set to true, DreamSignage will attempt to download content from the URL specified in the "zipURL" setting.
2. Automatic Downloads: When the ZIP download feature is active, DreamSignage will periodically check the remote server for updates based on the "zipDownloadIntervall" setting (specified in seconds). If a new ZIP file is detected, it will be downloaded and extracted automatically, updating the content displayed by DreamSignage.
3. Content Overwrite: Each time a new ZIP file is downloaded, the existing content in the public/content folder will be overwritten with the new content from the ZIP file. It's important to note that any manual changes or additions to the public/content folder will be lost when a new ZIP is downloaded. You can disable this by changing keepUnchangedFiles to true.

Configuring the ZIP Download Feature

To activate and configure the ZIP download feature:
1. Open the default.json file in the config folder.
2. Set the "useZipDownload" setting to true.
3. Provide the URL of the ZIP file in the "zipURL" setting. For example: "zipURL": "https://example.com/path/to/content.zip".
4. (Optional) Adjust the "zipDownloadIntervall" setting to determine how often DreamSignage should check for updates. The default is set to 60 seconds.
5. (Optional) Change the "keepFiles" setting to true if you want to keep files which are not inside the ZIP file.
6. Save the default.json file and restart the DreamSignage application for the changes to take effect.