Core Concepts

The key ideas in Stratos and how screens, content, schedules and people fit together.

A handful of ideas explain almost everything in Stratos.

The big picture

 Media  ──►  Playlists ──┐
   │                      ├──►  Schedules  ──►  Screens  ◄── Player (the device)
   └────►  Layouts   ────┘          ▲
                                    │
                    Time blocks · Locations · Groups · Priority · Overrides

You create content (media, playlists, layouts), then use schedules to say which content plays on which screens, when.

Workspace

Your workspace is your organisation’s private space in Stratos. Everything you create lives in it, and people only see their own workspace. It has a plan, a storage allowance and a number of screen licenses. See Plans & Subscription.

Screens and players

A screen is a display in Stratos: its name, size, rotation, location and what it plays.
A player is the software and device that actually shows content. You pair a player to a screen with a code.
A screen group collects screens so one schedule can target many. A location is a physical place (with address and time zone) that screens belong to.

See Screens, Screen Groups and Locations.

Content

Concept	What it is
Media	Images, videos and documents in your library.
Playlist	An ordered sequence of media, layouts and links that loops. Smart playlists pick media by rules.
Layout	A multi-element design (media, playlists, text, shapes, widgets) on one canvas. Drafts are published to go live.
Widget	Live content in a layout: clock, weather, menu board, feed.
Template	A layout saved as a starting point.
Tag	A coloured label for finding content and driving smart playlists.
Folder	A way to organise content and control who can access it.

Scheduling

Concept	What it is
Schedule	What plays, where, and when. Target a screen, group or location.
Time block	A reusable daily window, such as “Lunch rush”.
Priority	Decides which schedule wins when several overlap.
Override	A temporary replacement of a screen’s content. Emergency overrides beat everything.
Fallback content	What plays when nothing is scheduled.

See How Scheduling Works.

Ad Manager

For selling airtime: advertisers, campaigns (layouts, billing, targets) and proof of play (evidence of delivery). See Ad Manager Overview.

People and access

Members are the people in your workspace.
A role is a bundle of permissions. Groups share roles with several people.
Folder access gives people rights to specific folders.
The audit log records who changed what.

See Understanding Permissions.

Drafts and publishing

Layouts are edited as drafts and published to go live, optionally after approval. Playlists are live once saved, so Stratos asks you to confirm when you change one that’s in use. See Publishing Layouts.

Status words you’ll see

Word	Where	Means
Online / Stale / Offline	Screens	How recently the player checked in.
Draft / Published / Scheduled	Layouts	Whether it’s live.
Active / Paused / Completed	Campaigns	The campaign’s lifecycle.
In use / Unused	Media	Whether anything plays it.