Playlists

Overview

Playlists are essential organizational tools within Backstage that allow you to group related content for display across platforms. Whether you're curating collections for the homepage, organizing series episodes, or creating thematic content groupings, playlists provide the structure needed to deliver a cohesive viewing experience to users across mobile, tablet, and TV applications.

Backstage supports both Manual Playlists (where you individually select and order content) and Dynamic Playlists (which automatically populate based on tag filtering), giving you complete control over how your content is organized and presented to viewers.

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Playlist Presets

Playlist Presets are predefined templates with customized fields specific to different types of content collections. Each preset is designed to capture the relevant information and organizational structure for that particular playlist type, making content management more efficient.

Example Playlist Presets:

• Series: Used for organizing episodes of a show in sequential order

• Manual Playlist: For hand-picked selections of content with custom ordering

Selecting the appropriate preset ensures that you'll have all the necessary fields to properly categorize and organize your content, which enhances discoverability and the viewer experience.

Creating a Playlist

How to Create a Playlist:

1. Go to the left side of your screen and click on the "Playlist" tab.

2. Once on the playlist page, go to the top right corner of the screen and click on "New Playlist" and select the appropriate playlist preset (Manual for hand-picked content or Dynamic for tag-based filtering).

3. On the playlist creation screen, fill out the necessary information:

   • Title: Enter a descriptive name for your playlist (will be visible to users).

   • Description: Enter details about the playlist's content or purpose.

4. For Manual Playlists:

   • Click the "Add Media" button to search and select content for your playlist

   • Arrange content in your desired order by dragging items using the dots on the left side

   • Remove media by pressing on the "Trash" icon next to the asset you wish to remove

5. For Dynamic Playlists:

   • Under "Filter by Tags," configure the "Include" filters to specify which tags the piece of media must have

   • Configure "Exclude" filters to specify which tags will disqualify content from appearing in the playlist

   • Set sorting parameters to determine how content will be ordered (e.g., by publish date)

   Note: For the "Include" and "Exclude" filters, ensure the proper "Any" or "All" option is selected for accurate filtering.

   • Any - Only one of the selected tags needs to be present on the piece of content for the filter to apply

   • All - All tags must be preset on the piece of content for the filter to apply

6. When complete, click "Save & Publish" to make the playlist active in the system. Alternatively, press "Save" to save your work without making it Active.

Bulk Edit

The Bulk Edit feature enables efficient management of multiple video playlists simultaneously, allowing you to update tags or delete content across up to 100 playlists at once. This powerful tool streamlines workflow when you need to make consistent changes across multiple pieces of content.

IMPORTANT: Once a bulk edit operation begins, it cannot be stopped and must complete before you can make changes to any other playlist metadata. Monitor the progress bar at the top of the page to track the operation status.

How to Use Bulk Edit

Selecting Playlists for Bulk Edit:

1. Navigate to the "Playlists" section in Backstage.

2. Click the checkbox next to each asset you want to include in the bulk edit operation. You can select up to 100 playlists at once.

3. Once you've selected at least one asset, the "MANAGE TAGS" button will appear at the top of the page alongside a "DELETE SELECTED" option.

Managing Tags in Bulk:

1. After selecting your desired playlists, click the "MANAGE TAGS" button.

2. The Add/Remove Tags modal will appear, displaying two filter options:

   • All: Shows all tags currently applied to any of the selected playlists

   • Shared: Shows only tags that are common across all selected playlists

3. To add tags:

   • Use the search field at the bottom of the modal to find an existing tag, or type a new tag name

   • Click the "ADD" button to move the tag to the "Adding" column under the "Changes" section

   • Repeat for any additional tags you want to apply

4. To remove tags:

   • Click the "X" next to any tag displayed in the modal

   • The tag will move to the "Removing" column under the "Changes" section

   • Tags removed will be deleted from all selected playlists that currently have them

5. Review your changes in the "Changes" section, which displays:

   • Adding: Tags that will be applied to all selected playlists

   • Removing: Tags that will be removed from all selected playlists

6. Click "APPLY" to execute the bulk edit operation, or "CANCEL" to discard your changes.

Deleting Playlists in Bulk:

1. After selecting your desired playlists, click the "DELETE SELECTED" button.

2. Confirm the deletion when prompted.

3. All selected playlists will be permanently removed from the system.

Bulk Edit Status Messages

The system provides real-time feedback on your bulk edit operations through a banner at the top of the page:

• Bulk Edit in Progress (Blue): The operation is currently running. A loading indicator will display alongside this message.

• Bulk Edit Completed (Green): The operation finished successfully and all changes have been applied.

• Bulk Edit Failed (Red): The operation encountered an error and was unable to complete. Contact support if this issue persists.

NOTE: During bulk edit operations, you will not be able to edit individual playlists or start another bulk edit. Wait for the current operation to complete before making additional changes to your playlist library.

Adding Content to Playlist

Manual Playlist

1. Navigate to the "Playlist" tab on the left side of the screen.

2. Search for your playlist by name in the search bar and click on it to open.

3. Click the "Add Media" button on the upper right side of your screen.

4. Search for the content you want to add. Backstage will allow you to click the asset and it will be highlighted with a checkbox when selected.

5. Click the "Add" button at the bottom right of your screen to add the selected content to your playlist.

Playlist "Add" Modal

1. Once added, you can position the asset in whatever order you prefer by hovering your mouse over the dots on the left side of the asset and dragging it up or down in the list.

2. To remove content from a playlist, hover your mouse over the dots and drag it up to the drop zone, which will delete the asset from the playlist.

Playlist Drop Zone

1. Click "Save & Publish" to apply your changes. If the playlist is active on the homepage, your changes will appear immediately.

Dynamic Playlist

1. Navigate to your dynamic playlist and locate the "Filter by Tags" section

2. Configure your Include filters:

   • Select the tags or custom parameters that content must have

   • Choose "Any" if content needs just one of the selected criteria

   • Choose "All" if content must have every selected criteria

3. Configure your Exclude filters to prevent unwanted content from appearing

4. Set your sorting parameters to control the order content appears (e.g., by publish date, alphabetical)

Dynamic Playlist Examples

Example 1: Network Content with Premium Exclusion

• Include Tag - Any: A, B

• Exclude Tag - All: premium

• Result: Shows any content tagged with A or B, but excludes any content marked as premium

Dynamic Playlist Example 1

Example 2: Christmas Special Collection

• Include Tag - All: Christmas, Special, 2024

• Exclude Tag - All: inActive

• Result: Shows only content that has all three tags (Christmas AND Special AND 2024), while excluding any content marked as inActive

Dynamic Playlist Example 2

Note: Remember that for Include and Exclude filters, ensure the proper "Any" or "All" option is selected for accurate filtering results.

Image Keys Matrix

Playlist images are used to create landing pages by combining multiple image assets into a complete hero display. All specified image keys must be implemented to ensure proper visual presentation across platforms. When developing new show landing pages, verify display quality across mobile, tablet, web, and TV platforms.

Please refer to the screenshots below, which outline the necessary image keys for new shows:

Image Number Key	Image Key	Sample Resolution	Platform
#1	imgSeriesDesktopBg	1920x1080	Web, CTV, Roku
#2	imgSeriesLogo	1161x400	Web, CTV, Roku
#3	imgSeriesMobileBg	1242x1491	Mobile
#4	imgSeriesLogoMobile	1161x400	Mobile

Note: The dimensions and naming conventions are critical for proper display across all platforms. Always use the correct size and key for each image type.

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