Published Dashboards

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Published dashboards enable teams to build sets of chart views that are published in a rotating slideshow. Create different sets of dashboards for any area of your manufacturing facility, including the production line, morning standup meeting area, break room, board room, or main lobby.

A published dashboard is accessed via a URL, enabling it to be displayed on a variety of devices including TVs.

Building Published Dashboards

Creating a Published Dashboard

To set up a published dashboard:

Navigate to Settings > Published Dashboards.
Give your dashboard a descriptive name to segregate it from other published dashboards.
Select a layout option including full screen or split screen.
Click Add View to add existing chart views to the rotation.

Published Dashboard Configuration Options

For each chart view in your dashboard, configure the following:

Sort: The order in which this view appears in the rotation.
Chart View: The chart view to display.
Override Title: Optional custom title to display instead of the view's default name.
Filter Group: Optional saved display filter group to apply to this view.
Rotation Time (seconds): Sets how long the view is displayed in the slideshow rotation.

Launching the Dashboard

Click "Launch Dashboard" to open the published dashboard URL in a separate browser tab. Each published dashboard will be given its own URL.

Announcement Dashboards

Essembi ships with announcement dashboards in the Team Engagement > Announcements view space. To edit these:

Team Engagement > Announcements.
Select Customize and then select Customize View.
Edit the main picture element in the chart view.
Clear out the picture by selecting the 'x' in the field.
Upload the new image (PNG or JPG) file; it is best that this is a landscape image with a fairly large resolution.
Save.

Hardware Options for TV

Essembi's preferred device for published dashboards is an Amazon Fire TV or Fire TV Stick. Essembi provides a Fire TV kiosk package that turns one into a dedicated dashboard display. See Fire TV Kiosk Setup below.

Published dashboards can also be displayed on any other device that has a web browser. For other devices, Essembi recommends a built in web browser that enables full screen mode and a home page to be set (typically available on most Smart TVs).

Suggested TV Brands

The following TVs are suggested based on the web browser enabled: Samsung, LG, Amazon Fire TV, Sony, and Hisense. Many TV brands enable a user to be created that can be shared across multiple devices with browser home pages set by default (for example, LG's ThinQ and Samsung's Smart TV Remote apps).

Suggested Plug-In Devices with Web Browsing

The following devices can simplify the setup of published dashboards on a TV or be used to retrofit an old TV that does not have a great built-in web browser: Amazon Fire TV Stick (preferred), Roku Devices, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, and NVIDIA Shield TV.

TV Settings

Time Zone Setup

Ensure the TV time setting is in the local time zone as all reports and dashboards show in local browser time.

Screen Saver Disabled

Some TVs have screen saver modes. Ensure these are disabled in the settings, since the TV's browser will be set to a fixed URL and some browsers may otherwise sense that a screen saver should engage. The Fire TV kiosk package handles this for you.

Fire TV Kiosk Setup

The Essembi Fire TV kiosk package turns a Fire TV or Fire TV Stick into a permanent dashboard display. The device boots straight into your published dashboard, never sleeps or shows a screensaver, and brings the dashboard back automatically if it ever disappears.

Download the package: essembi-fire-tv-1.1.zip

Fire TV Requirements

A Windows PC with PowerShell.
The Fire TV powered on and connected to the same network as the PC.
The URL of your published dashboard (see Launching the Dashboard above).
The kiosk package downloaded and unzipped on the PC. It includes everything else needed, so there is nothing else to install.

Step 1: Enable ADB Debugging

On the Fire TV, using the remote:

Open Settings > My Fire TV > About. On some models, My Fire TV is called Device & Software.
Select the device name (usually the top entry) about 7 times, until the TV shows "You are now a developer!"
Go back to My Fire TV and open Developer Options.
Turn ADB Debugging on.
Open My Fire TV > About > Network and write down the device's IP address.

Tip: the kiosk connects to the TV by its IP address. For a permanent display, set up a DHCP reservation on your router so the address does not change.

Step 2: Run the Installer

On the PC, open PowerShell in the unzipped kiosk folder.
Run the installer, replacing the IP address with your Fire TV's address:
```
.\install-essembi-kiosk.ps1 -IP 192.168.1.50
```
If PowerShell refuses to run the script, run this instead:
```
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install-essembi-kiosk.ps1 -IP 192.168.1.50
```
Review the list of changes the installer prints, then press Enter to continue. Nothing changes on the TV until you confirm. Type n to cancel.
The first time this PC connects to the TV, the TV shows an "Allow USB debugging?" prompt. On the TV, check Always allow from this computer and select OK. Then press Enter on the PC. If you miss the prompt, press Enter to show it again.

Step 3: Set the Dashboard URL and Text Size

The installer pauses and opens Fully Kiosk Browser on the TV. Two settings must be set on the TV itself:

Open Fully's settings by selecting the gear icon or pressing Menu on the remote.
Set Start URL to your published dashboard URL, including https://.
Open Web Zoom and Scaling and set Set Font Size to 150 to 200% as a starting point.
Return to the PC and press Enter.

The TV then restarts and should come back up showing your dashboard. The installer reports whether the dashboard opened and whether the watchdog is running.

Sizing the Dashboard for the Room

A TV is viewed from much further away than a monitor, so a dashboard at 100% is usually too small to read. Adjust the font size in Fully at any time by pressing Menu on the remote and opening Web Zoom and Scaling. There is no need to re-run the installer.

Check the size from where people will actually stand, not up close.
Font size alone is usually enough. Only use the other zoom settings if the layout itself needs to shrink.
If the dashboard suddenly stacks into a single column, the font size is too large. Lower it one step.

How the Watchdog Works

Fire OS sometimes closes the dashboard, for example after an app crash or an overnight system update. The Essembi TV Watchdog, installed with the kiosk, runs in the background and reopens the dashboard when that happens.

It starts automatically when the TV turns on and checks the screen every 30 seconds.
It needs no setup on the TV and does not appear on the Fire TV home screen.
It does not interrupt someone using the remote. It only reopens the dashboard after 2 minutes with no remote activity, so you can safely open Settings at any time (for example, to change Wi-Fi or pair a remote).

To see the watchdog's status screen (whether it is running and how many times it has reopened the dashboard), run the following from the kiosk folder. Opening the status screen also restarts the watchdog if it was stopped. Press Back on the remote to close it.

.\adb\adb.exe -s 192.168.1.50:5555 shell am start -n com.essembi.tvwatchdog/.MainActivity

Installer Options

Add these options to the install command if needed:

-Watchdog InstallAndReboot: The default. Installs the watchdog and restarts the TV into the dashboard.
-Watchdog InstallNoReboot: Installs the watchdog without restarting the TV.
-Watchdog None: Skips the watchdog and the restart.
-Yes: Skips the confirmation prompt.

The installer is also the updater. It is safe to run it again on a device that is already set up.

Removing the Kiosk

From the kiosk folder, run:

.\uninstall-essembi-kiosk.ps1 -IP 192.168.1.50

This removes both apps and restores the TV's sleep, display, and screensaver settings to typical factory defaults (20 minute sleep, 10 minute display timeout). Add -KeepWatchdog to leave the watchdog installed.

Fire TV Troubleshooting

Run each command below from the kiosk folder in PowerShell, replacing the IP address with your Fire TV's address.

Cannot Connect to the TV

Confirm the TV's IP address has not changed.
Confirm the TV is awake and on the same network as the PC.
If you see "unauthorized", accept the "Allow USB debugging?" prompt on the TV (see Step 2). If no prompt appears, confirm ADB Debugging is still on in Developer Options. A Fire OS update can turn it off.

Dashboard Does Not Return After a Restart

Open the watchdog status screen (see How the Watchdog Works). This restarts the watchdog if it was stopped. If the watchdog is running but the dashboard still does not appear, run:

.\adb\adb.exe -s 192.168.1.50:5555 shell appops set com.essembi.tvwatchdog SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW allow

Dashboard Keeps Flickering or Reloading

Check the relaunch count on the watchdog status screen. If it keeps climbing while the dashboard is on screen, run:

.\adb\adb.exe -s 192.168.1.50:5555 shell appops set com.essembi.tvwatchdog GET_USAGE_STATS allow

TV Returns to the Dashboard While in Use

This is expected after 2 minutes with no remote activity. If it happens sooner, or while you are pressing buttons, check the watchdog status screen. If it shows "Accessibility service: NOT connected", run the installer again. It repairs this without changing anything else.

Fully Kiosk Tile Is Missing From the Home Screen

The tile should appear in the apps row automatically. If it does not, run:

.\adb\adb.exe -s 192.168.1.50:5555 shell am force-stop com.amazon.tv.launcher

To move the tile to the front of the row, highlight it on the TV, press the Menu button on the remote, and choose Move to Front.