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On-Premise Streaming - Server Administrator Guide

Ryan Barnes
  • Updated

Table of Contents

  1. Logging In
  2. Change Password
  3. Visit Content Catalog
  4. Administrator Menu
    1. Appearance Settings
    2. Client Content
    3. Category Manager
    4. Content Manager
    5. Content Transfer
    6. User Administration
    7. IP Restrictions

 

Logging In

From the Content Portal, select Login to navigate to the Administrator Portal Login Page.

The Administrator Portal is secured and only administrators with the proper credentials are allowed access.  Check with your Sales/Customer Support Representative for your administration credentials.

 

Change Password

To change your password, click Edit My Profile.

Enter your existing and new password, then click Save.

 

Visit Content Catalog

Click Visit Content Catalog link to navigate back to the Content Portal at any time.

 

Administrator Menu

After logging in, you will be presented with a menu specific to Administrators. 

 

 

Appearance Settings

Customize Your Site

  1. Log in as Site Administrator, and click the Appearance Settings tab. Customize the portal following the instructions below.

  2. Click the Save button and visit the catalog to see your changes

 

Theme

Select from several different colors and styles to modify the header and background.
  1. Select a theme by clicking on the display

 

Add a logo to display in the upper left corner of the portal.
  1. Click the upload button (ellipses) and locate the file for your logo (300 x 100 pixels recommended)
  2. Click the Reset button to preview the image

 

Fav/App Icon

Add an image that will be saved on a mobile device if the student chooses to "save to home screen" or may be displayed on some web browser's tabs. 

  1. Click the upload button and select your image file (64 x 64 pixels recommended)

  2. Click the Reset button to preview the icon

 

Client Content

Under Client Content, you can upload content then designate whether it will be shown in the Content Catalog as a standalone title or if it will play before the movie(s).

 

Add Videos

  1. To upload content to the Streaming Server, click the Add Client Content button.
  2. Under Video Location, select the location of your file.

 

Upload a Video File

Check your file to ensure that it meets the following specifications:

  1. MP4
  2. Video Codec: H.264, H264, MP4
  3. Audio Codec: AAC
  4. Profile: Baseline or Main
  5. Maximum Video Bitrate: 3 Mbps
  6. Maximum Audio Bitrate: 1 Mbps

Click the ellipses (...) and select the file to upload

Click the Preview button to preview your video

Under Title Name, enter a name for the video

 

To Upload a YouTube Video

Copy the YouTube URL from the web address bar or copy the link under Share

Paste the link into the YouTube Video URL field

Click the Preview button to preview your video

Under Title Name, enter a name for the video

Since the YouTube video is linked instead of being uploaded to the Swank server, the runtime of the video will not be displayed. Users will see a message, "Before your selected content plays, you may see a brief video".

 

Video Start & End Dates

The start date is the first date a video will play before an assigned movie. The end date is the final date a video will play before an assigned movie.

Leave the start and end dates for the video blank if the material is not time sensitive and may remain in the Content Catalog until you delete it.

If you prefer to designate dates for specific videos, click the calendar icons to specific the dates.

 

Designate Video Use

From one page, you can designate if the video should appear in theContent Catalog and be viewed individually like a movie or other content (Standalone) or if the video will be assigned to a standalone title and played as a commercial (Clip). A video may be designed for use as both a standalone and clip.

 

Use as a Standalone Video 

Toggle the Standalone button to on if you want the video to appear in the in the catalog.

You may then add any of the optional information:  Synopsis, image file and category

Click the Save button if you are finished managing this video.

 

Use as a Clip

Toggle the Clip button on if you want to be able to play the video before other content in the catalog like a commercial.

When you choose to use a video as a clip, you can decide if you want to assign the video to all titles in the Content Catalog or select the titles individually.

To assign the video to titles individually, click the field in the Assigned column next to the title(s), then click the Save button.

To assign the video to all of the titles in the Content Library, toggle the Assign to all Titles button "on". Click the Save button.

 

Additional Clip Options

  1. To allow the streaming server to randomly assign all of your videos to all of the titles in the Content Catalog, toggle the switch to "on" under Additional Clip Options. All clips with start and end dates may appear before your titles.
  2. The default number of clips shown per title is one. Click the Clips to play before each title field to allow up to five clips to be shown. This change applies to all of the videos designated for use as clips. If the number of clips is fewer than the number you select in this field, only the available number of clips will play. 

 

Search Videos

Enter a title or partial title in the Title Search field to quickly locate your videos:

 

Edit Videos

You may edit videos individually or multiple videos at once.

Select the video you wish to edit by checking the field next to the title, then click the Edit button.

For individual videos, you may edit the General settings or the assigned titles the video is set to play before like an advertisement.

When more than one video is selected, the Bulk Edit option is displayed.

When editing multiple titles at one time, the start date, end date and designation as a standalone or clip may be modified. Check the field next to the heading to add/modify dates or to change the toggle for standalone or clip.

Click the Save button when you are finished.

 

Delete Videos

You may edit videos individually or multiple videos at once.

Select the video you wish to edit by checking the field next to the title, then click the Delete button. you will be asked to confirm your decision.

When more than one video is selected, the Bulk Delete option is displayed. You will be asked to confirm your decision to delete the videos.

 

Category Manager

Titles in the Content Catalog may be viewed by category, which makes it easy to browse the library. As an Admin, you have the option of enabling automatic categories and creating custom categories. To get started, view this 3-minute tutorial or follow the steps below.

 


 

Automatic categories

Browsing the Content Library is easy when you enable any of the following automatic categories:

  1. Auto-Categorize on Ingest - When On is selected, new titles will be placed in a category that matches the title's genre (assigned by Swank) when it is uploaded. If no category exists for a genre, one will be created. You may also edit the category names. When Off is selected, new titles are placed in a default category. The default category may be renamed, and titles may be assigned or removed from the category.

  2. Recently Added Category - When On is selected, the category is added to the Content Catalog to highlight new titles which have been added within the last 30 days. When Off is selected, the Recently Added category will not be displayed.

When the Category display is selected and the automatic categories are enabled, they appear in the Content Catalog. There's also a convenient Category filter which will display only titles within a category when a category is selected.

 

Create a custom category

  1. From the Category Manager menu, click the Add Category button

  2. Enter a name for the category

  3. Follow the instructions to Assign titles to categories or click the Save button to assign titles to this category later. Once the category is saved, it will be added to the end of the Category Manager list, which means it will appear at the bottom of the Content Catalog. To rearrange the order of the categories in the website, follow the instructions to Organize categories. 

 Assign titles to categories

  1. In the Category Manager, click the Edit button of the category. If you just added a new category, go to the next step.
  2. Search for the title and click the Assigned field. A checkmark will appear, which assigns the title to the category. 
    • \
  3. Click the Save button at the bottom of the page.
    • Titles must be assigned to at least one category
    • Titles may have multiple categories
    • A category does not require titles be assigned. If the category does not have any titles assigned, the category will not appear on the site
    • If all content is assigned to a single category, then no category will be displayed  

Edit titles within categories

  1. Easily edit the titles within a category using the Category Manager. To edit categories by title, go to the Content Manager.
  2. In the Category Manager, click the Edit button next to the category. 
  3. Click the Assigned header to sort the title list by the assigned titles.
  4. To remove a title from the category, uncheck the Assigned field. To add titles to the category, check the field.

Note: Total Assigned for Television Series

When assigning television shows to a category, all of the episodes in the series will be included. The total under "Titles Assigned" will reflect one title for the entire series.

 

Edit category names

  1. In the Category Manager, click the Edit button of the category.
  2. Type your changes in the Category Name field and click Save at the bottom of the page.

Organize categories 

  1. When viewing titles in the Content Catalog in Category view, all of the categories in the Category Manager will appear in the order you designate. Categories at the top of the list will appear at the top of the Content Catalog. If you have chosen to enable Recently Watched and Recently Added categories, these categories will always appear at the top of the portal and you may organize the remaining categories in the list.
  2. From the Category Manager page, click the icon next to the title and drag the category to the desired location to specify the order
  3. Click Save at the bottom of the page.

 

Content Manager

The Content Manager allows you to easily manage all of the content in the Content Catalog. To get started, view this 4-minute tutorial or follow the steps below.

 

 

Overview

The Content Manager displays all of the titles in the Content Catalog, along with license information and links to view the content as well as manage categories and bumpers.

  1. Search for a title

  2. Filter content 

  3. Sort the content by clicking any header

  4. Export details to a csv file

  5. Assign or edit categories for a title

  6. Assign or edit bumpers for a title

 

Searching & Filtering

  1. To search for a single title, enter a title or partial title into the search field. Titles with your key words will be displayed.
  2. To search for multiple titles, there are three filters:
    • Expiring Soon - Titles expiring in 30 days
    • Custom Content - Titles of the content you have uploaded to the Content Catalog
    • Recently Added - Titles that were added to the Content Catalog in the past 30 days
  3. To clear a filter, select None or click on the filter to deselect it.

 

Exporting Title Details

  1. In the Content Manager, click the Select all button. A check mark will appear next to every title. Or, select individual titles by clicking the field next to each poster.

  2. Click Export Selected Content Details. Access the csv file in your downloaded files. 

 

Edit Content Categories

The Content Manager provides convenient links to update the category associated with titles. To update all of the titles for a category, please see the instructions under Category Manager.

 

  1. In the Content Manager, click the Categories link under the title
  2. Check or uncheck the field next to the categories, then click the Save button.  The title will appear under the newly assigned categories in the Content Catalog.

 

Edit Clips

The Content Manager provides convenient links to update clips(s) assigned to titles. 

  1. In the Content Manager, click the number under Clips Assigned.
  2. Under the Assigned column, select or deselect the clips by checking the field next to the clip title.
  3. Click the Save button at the bottom of the page, and the newly assigned clips will play when the title is selected in the Content Catalog.

 

Content Transfer

Configuration

Content transfer rates and windows can be controlled by administrators.

Note: This is applicable only to Resident Select (ResSelect) customers.

To restrict the download rate enter the rate in Kbps.

To restrict the download window specify the start and end times.  This feature can be used to either create an exclusion window or an inclusion window.

 

Ingest Monitor

The Ingest Monitor section displays the progress of titles being ingested from a hard drive or via eDelivery (Aspera) to the Streaming Server. The Ingest Monitor maintains a history of title ingests. 


 

 

User Administration

 About User Roles 

The Streaming Server portal has three levels of access:

  • User: The User role allows for licensed content to be viewed. A log in (username/password credentials) is only required when the website is not secured via IP restrictions. 

  • Admin: The Admin role allows for branding and management of other portal configurations.

  • System Admin:  The System Admin role allows for Swank Digital Support to modify additional and more advanced configurations of the portal.

User Permissions

Feature

User

Admin

System Admin

Search licensed titles

Play licensed titles

Access Appearance Settings  
Access Bumper Manager  
Manage Content Categories  

Access Content Manager

  

Manage Custom Content  
Manage Manual License Updates  

Manage Content Transfer Settings  
Manage Users  
Manage IP Restrictions  
Configure Advanced Portal Settings    

 

Create a User

Add Individual Users

  1. From the Users menu, click the Add New User button.

  2. Enter the name and password. Passwords must have at least one digit and one uppercase letter.

  3. Click the Create button.

Import Users

  1. Prepare your file to upload. The bulk import tool requires a CSV (Comma-separated values) file with two columns with the headers "Username" and "Password": 


  2. From the Users menu, click the Bulk Import Users button.

  3. Click the ellipsis to select the CSV file from your computer.

  4. Click the Import button.

Change User Permissions

  1. From the Users menu, locate the name of the user by entering a name in the search field.

  2. Click anywhere under the column for the role you want to assign

  3. A green check mark will appear under the role

 

Lock/Unlock a User

You can control who has access by locking accounts as needed. When you lock an account, the user's session ends immediately and he/she will be notified that the account is locked.

  1. From the Users menu, locate the name of the user by entering a name in the search field.

  2. Click the Lock (or Unlock) button

 

IP Restrictions

Portals can be configured with user-based authentication (username/password) or IP restrictions. If IP restrictions are turned off, then user-based authentication will be on by default. See User Administration for details on managing user-based authentication. All networked computers have an Internet Protocol (IP) address.  Access to a streaming portal can be managed through a list of approved IP addresses. To add to the list of approved IP addresses select the Add New Rule button. After adding or editing IP restriction rules you must select the save button to save your changes. Select the Remove button next to a rule to delete the rule. At the current time, the UI only permits the user to enter an Allow List (meaning that all addressed entered are allowed).

 


Four IP address rule types are supported.
  1. Single IP Address:
  2. IP Range:
  3. CIDR Range:
  4. Subnet Mask:

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