OPTASY: Drupal Web Development Agency Toronto
(416) 243-2431Drupal SupportRequest A QuoteQuote

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Services
    • Digital Strategy
    • Design
    • Web Development
      • Drupal
      • WordPress
      • Magento
      • Laravel
      • Shopify
      • Sharepoint
      • Contentful
      • Gatsby
      • Next.js
      • Node.js
      • React
      • AngularJS
    • Mobile & App
      • IOS
      • Android
      • Augmented Reality
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Virtual Reality
    • Maintenance & Support
      • Drupal Maintenance
      • Wordpress Maintenance
    • Staff Augmentation
  • Portfolio
    • Web
    • Mobile
    • Ar
  • About
    • Who we are
    • Values
    • Events
    • Awards
    • News
    • Careers
    • Partners
      • Acquia
      • Google
      • Pantheon
      • Shopify
      • Wordpress
  • Blog
    • Drupal
    • Drupal 8
    • HTML
    • CSS
    • Javascript
    • PHP
    • Microsoft
    • Web Design
    • Design
    • Tips
    • News
  • Contact
(416) 243-2431 Drupal Support Request A QuoteQuote

In light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic - OPTASY would like to offer DRUPAL website support for any Healthcare, Government, Education and Non-Profit Organization(s) with critical crisis communication websites or organizations directly providing relief. Stay Safe and Stay Well.

Drupal-Powered Digital Signage? Yes, That's Possible!
News

Drupal-Powered Digital Signage? Yes, That's Possible!

by Adrian Ababei on Jun 10 2017

Standard web pages have ceased to be the only data delivery medium available! And there's no way around it. You either respond to users' “pressing” expectations to be delivered up to the moment data, context-based data only, or, well, you'll be left behind! In this respect, Drupal-powered digital signage systems might just be the best solution to meet your customers' “new” needs and to remain relevant in your business!

There's no reason to “act surprised” or be skeptical about Drupal being the right technology to go for! You have:

 

  • data-rich APIs

     
  • outstanding content management functionalities

     

… so collecting data, turning it into “relevant”, contextual data, detecting a whole network of devices and sending out that data following a certain content model already looks like a plan.

A solid plan for you to build your first digital signage system on!

But let us dive into more details, (hopefully) answer all your legitimate questions and deliver you some of the key information you need for getting started with your digital signs project:

 

Digital Signage Systems: A Few Examples

What forms do these new types of digital experiences take? Where do we interact with digital signage in our day-to-day lives?

Here are some representative examples:

 

  • mall kiosks

     
  • touch screens placed in various means of transportation (planes, cars, trains)

     
  • voice interfaces

     

These are all real-data delivery means! Digital signage solutions that we interact with daily (even if only visually) and which have already become indispensable to us.

 

But Why Drupal? Why a Drupal-Powered Digital Signage System?

… when you have Angular, Node, Amber React and the whole “suite” of cutting-edge, modern technologies at your disposal?

The answer lies in Drupal's whole “culture” of empowering the end-user!

In other words: Drupal provides an improved user experience compared to other modern technologies focusing mostly on enhancing exclusively the developer's experience instead.

As simple as that! You need to build your signage system with your client (his team of content editors) in mind! It's them who will need to be able to grow independent once you pass them over the device; to be able to edit everything about it with the utmost ease.

And Drupal excels at empowering the non-developer, the non-technical user!

 

Real-Time Data Streaming = Managing Content With Great Ease

And Drupal's well reputed for its capabilities as a content management system.

It empowers those “in charge” with content with a whole structure of features and functionalities aimed at better organizing the editorial team, at handling and “refining” the delivered content (making it context-sensitive, as well).

Now, let us point out some of its “star” capabilities:

 

  • its whole “infrastructure of roles and permissions

     
  • its revisioning feature

     
  • its translation functionality

     
  • its content types building tool

     

How Does Drupal Handle External Data?

Having data “flooding in” from “outside” providers is something to consider when you decide to develop your Drupal-powered digital signage system! This data can range from:

 

  • social media

     
  • to weather data

     
  • to stock data

     
  • to news

     
  • to all kinds of crucial (for the passengers) public transportation-related data

     

And the way Drupal 8 copes with this “flood” of data goes like this: the provider API is sent out to collect this data, then Drupal gets it processed according to the content model.

Note: If content is king, then context is queen!

Make sure you contextualize the data you deliver via your digital signs, that you perfectly adjust it to the given context (you don't want to send out information about a train's schedule on the “wrong” platform or data news from Baltimore to people living in L.A. etc.)

 

Getting Started: How to Use Drupal for Powering Your Digital Signs 

Here are the very basic steps to take:

 

  • enter the right command in Drush for collecting your data

     
  • next store your credentials in Drupal 8

     
  • “trigger” caching (yet, be cleverly selective about what you cach, since you can't, obviously, cach everything when it's real-time data that you need to deliver)

     
  • parse your collected data, using Drupal 8 to “spread” it to all the right devices, following the right content model path

     

Getting Data from Drupal to Your Digital Signs: How Does It Work?

Before you go ahead and pick the obvious answers to this question, “pull” or “push”, you'd better consider all the “pieces of the puzzle”:

 

  1. you can't really rely on the pull method since that would put a tremendous pressure on your server's shoulders (and heat up your devices)

     
  2. you can't rely on a “multiple APIs” method either, since real-time data restricts you to a to a highly selective caching (unlike on web pages)

     
  3. you can't reload as many times as needed, like on the web

     
  4. there's limited or no user interactivity involved (the huge blue screen can be viewed by thousands of people and the only thing they can do is just... stare at it)

     

“Can't do this, can't do that: but what is it that I CAN do to make this data transfer work?”

“You use websockets!” It's this solution that will provide you with an almost instantaneous, two-way type of communication for a longer time!

 

It's One of Those Perfect Contexts of Use for “Exploiting” Drupal's Scalability

Apart from being incredibly flexible, Drupal's highly scalable, too! We all know it, even those that don't use Drupal know it!

A Drupal-powered digital signage system is the perfect “context” for leveraging this scalability. And it's going to be of great help when you think of the whole network of devices involved here!

Drupal's powerful enough to send out the collected data via one of the websocket channels that you'll use for transferring your data to your devices.

Moreover, it can multiply that data for as many devices as your network has. Unlimited scalability!

 

Think Beyond Content Model: Think “Device Model”, Too!

… for Drupal has the right capabilities for collecting, processing data and following the content model, yet you need to “give it some hints” regarding the devices, too. The devices that those digital signs will get displayed on.

Let it know what is it that these devices can do, which messages get “triggered” by which one of the digital signs.

In short: a well structured, crucial information-stuffed device model's needed, too!

 

Overall: What Does Drupal Need to Know?

If you want your Drupal-powered digital signage system to work at its full potential, then you need to “empower” Drupal 8 with all the key information:

 

1. what data goes to which one of your interconnected digital signage devices

2. the format that Drupal needs to display that data in (along with language, size screen, and other related key data)

 

And now in order to “proof” your data, to ensure that it's just your own devices that have access to it, you can:

 

  • whitelist your digital signage system (leveraging the metadata that Drupal can collect for you)

     
  • establish TFA for all the involved users

     
  • ensure that your services of choice (whether it's Google, Amazon or another one) ask devices for authentication

     

How Does a Drupal-Powered Digital Signage System Handle Security?

And this is, indeed, a “sore point” when dealing with digital signs! They're particularly vulnerable in case of cyber attacks.

Now that we've pointed out the “problem”, let's jump to the possible solutions that you have:

 

1. this is a no-brainer and yet, we feel like adding this “rule of thumb”, too: always change the passwords that your devices ship with!

2. consider restricted access to them

3. ensure that the software you're using comes along with a patch/updates schedule, too, and that you remember to run those updates, periodically

4. secure your source data: get it validated and audited before you “release it out into the wild”

5. use SSL 

 

And now all there's left for us to add is: good luck with your first Drupal-powered digital signage system!

Share the article

Development

We do Web development

Go to our Web development page!

Visit page!

Do you want a website

or app developed?

 

Get a Free Quote

and let's make it work!

Get a Quote

Recommended Stories

DrupalNews
Why You Should Choose Drupal 10 in 2023

Why You Should Choose Drupal 10 in 2023

  As technology continues to evolve, it is important for businesses to stay ahead of the curve and choose the right platform for their website. Drupal 10 was released in December 2022, and it promises to be a powerful and reliable content management system (CMS). With its advanced features, scalability, security, and flexibility, Drupal 10 is an ideal choice for businesses looking to build a modern website. In this article, we will discuss why you should choose Drupal 10 for your next web development project. Advanced Features of Drupal 10 Drupal 10 comes with a range of advanced features that make it an ideal choice for businesses looking to build a modern website. These features include: Automatic Updates: Drupal 10 offers automatic updates, so you can keep your website up-to-date without having to manually update the software. This ensures that your website is always running the latest version of Drupal and is secure from any potential security threats. Responsive Design: Drupal 10 comes with a responsive design that ensures your website looks great on any device, from desktop computers to mobile phones. This makes it easier for users to access your website from any device and helps to improve user experience. Accessibility: Drupal 10 is designed with accessibility in mind, making it easier for people with disabilities to access your website. This helps to ensure that your website is accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities. Multilingual Support: Drupal 10 supports multiple languages, so you can easily create a multilingual website that caters to a global audience. This makes it easier for businesses to reach out to a wider range of customers and expand their customer base. SEO Optimization: Drupal 10 comes with built-in SEO optimization tools that help to improve your website’s visibility in search engine results. This makes it easier for customers to find your website and helps to increase traffic and conversions.   Scalability and Flexibility  Drupal 10 is highly scalable and flexible, making it easy to customize your website to meet your specific needs. You can easily add new features and functionality to your website without having to start from scratch. This makes it easier for businesses to keep up with changing customer demands and stay ahead of the competition. Additionally, Drupal 10 is built on a modular architecture that allows you to easily add and remove modules as needed. This makes it easy to customize your website and keep it up-to-date with the latest features.   Security Benefits Drupal 10 is built with security in mind, making it one of the most secure content management systems available. It comes with a range of security features that help to protect your website from potential threats, such as SQL injection attacks and cross-site scripting. Additionally, Drupal 10 is regularly updated with the latest security patches to ensure that your website is always secure.   Cost-Effectiveness Cost-effectiveness is another major benefit of choosing Drupal 10 for your next web development project. Drupal 10 is an open source platform, meaning that it is free to use and customize. This makes it a cost-effective solution for businesses looking to build a website without breaking the bank. Additionally, Drupal 10 comes with a range of features and functionality that can help you save time and money when building your website.   Why Choose Drupal 10 in 2023? Selecting Drupal 10 in 2023 is a great choice for businesses looking to build a website that is secure, reliable, and cost-effective. Drupal 10 offers automatic updates, responsive design, multilingual support, SEO optimization, scalability and flexibility, and security benefits.  Migrate to Drupal 10 If you’re currently using an older version of Drupal, you can easily migrate to Drupal 10. The migration process is straightforward and can be completed quickly with the help of a professional web development team like Optasy. This will ensure that your website is up-to-date and secure, so you can continue to provide customers with the best possible experience. Contact us for more information about your migration process. Learn more about Drupal 10 by reading this blog post.   Photo credit: Unsplash.... Read more
Raluca Olariu / Jan 05'2023
DrupalNewsTips
Drupal 10 Is Here -Discover the Benefits and Features

Drupal 10 Is Here -Discover the Benefits and Features

  Drupal 10, the latest version of the most popular content management system Drupal is here. The new release comes with a lot of improvements and features that will make your life easier as a developer or site owner. "Drupal 10 includes many new features that appeal to developers and content creators alike. A stronger developer and site builder experience combined with easier content authoring and editing make this a key update for all users," says Dries Buytaert, Founder and Project Lead of Drupal. "The path from Drupal 9 to 10 is easier than ever, so we anticipate organizations will want to move to the latest version quickly to gain its benefits." In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the main benefits and features of Drupal 10.   Enhanced content editing experience CK Editor 5 is the new rich-content editor for the new version of Drupal. It has lots of new features that will make creating content more accessible than ever before. Drupal's popular web-building platform, Layout Builder, has been updated with some major changes. These changes include an improved user interface, which includes a new layout editor. Managing large blocks of content in the sidebar can be difficult and confusing; that's why improving this user interface has been on the list of upgrades, and it makes managing layouts so much easier.  There are also some enhancements to the Paste From Document feature. The new version of CKEditor boasts the ability to remove the extra markup that results from pasting from Microsoft Word or Google Docs, and it also automatically uploads images when pasting images copied from the clipboard instead of just inserting them into the page as tags.   Removed modules & improved content management experience Built on the latest Symfony 6.2 version, Drupal 10 has removed redundant core modules, focusing on its foundational strengths. Regarding upgrading processes and tools, they are the same as the previous major release. Drupal 10 has the majority of its code changes automated and three times as many contributed extensions as the previous version.   New themes with better functionality Claro theme is replacing the outdated Seven theme, which has been discouraged by giving the impression of an out-of-date site. Drupal 10 has been built according to the latest standards and has been adapted to use the most recent features of this CMS. The Olivero theme is Drupal 10's new front-end theme, and it was designed to harvest the new system's full capabilities.   Upgrading to Drupal 10 If you're currently using Drupal 7, you need to perform a full site migration to Drupal 9 or 10. It might sound overwhelming, but if you opt for a team of experts like Optasy to help you, you'll be in good hands.  If your current version of Drupal is 8, then there’s no direct upgrade path to Drupal 10. You need to upgrade to Drupal 9 first. Drupal 9 users need to take the following steps: Perform an environment readiness check through the Upgrade Status Module. Update any modules that need upgrading and use Drupal Rector to fix incompatibilities. Issues that can't be fixed automatically can be addressed manually using documentation. Update Drupal Core to Drupal 10.   Drupal 10 promises to deliver a faster, more secure, and more flexible website development experience. If you want to learn more about this new version or need advice regarding your migration, don't hesitate to contact Optasy.    Photo credit: Unsplash.... Read more
Raluca Olariu / Dec 16'2022
DrupalNewsTips
How The Project Update Bot Has Been Refreshed for Drupal 10

How The Project Update Bot Has Been Refreshed for Drupal 10

  Drupal 10 will be released on December 14th, 2022. The upgrade process from Drupal 9 to Drupal10 will be even easier than Drupal 8 to 9 was. Making projects that are already compatible with Drupal 9 compatible with Drupal10 requires removing deprecated API uses, which means that you'll have to remove them from your code. There are usually only a few deprecated API uses per module, but when we consider upgrading over 8,200 Drupal 9 modules on drupal.org hundreds or thousands of hours from our community could be spent on this task. The good news is that Drupal Rector is a tool developed by Palatir.net and Pronghorn Labs. that can be used by developers who want to make their modules compatible with Drupal 10. It can also be used to automatically fix deprecated API uses in existing projects. Using Drupal Rector is easy, but running it on all Drupal 9 projects could have taken hundreds of developer days to complete. Drupal Rector is an automated tool that generates patches for contributed modules. These patches will be made available to the community through the Drupal Association which has partnered with Acquia and Palantir. This means that developers will not need to write any code to upgrade their modules to Drupal 10. Instead, they will simply apply the patch. However, for some modules, it may still be necessary to manually replace deprecated API uses. This bot is not affiliated with any individual or company. It is a tool that will automatically post updates to issues created by the Project Update Bot. These updates will be posted to issues that were created during the Drupal 8 to 9 migration. Maintainers are encouraged to review the patches and provide feedback if they feel the patches are useful. If the project maintainers decide to use these patches, then they can help speed up the update process for modules for Drupal 10 dramatically. Related: Drupal 10 New Features and How to Prepare Your Migration.   Maintainer Options There are several ways to deal with these issues when maintaining a project: Leave the issues open and apply the provided patches to remove some or all of the deprecated APIs. The Project Update Bot checks weekly if Drupal Rector can remove new deprecated APIs and posts a new patch if possible, so you don't need to worry about it. If you would like to use this issue as a starting point please remove the "ProjectUpdateBotD10" tag from the issue. The bot will not post any updates if this tag is present. You can add the tag back and the update bot will start posting updates again. If you see an issue that is closed, please don’t reopen it. Closing an issue stops the bot from posting new issues. You can also flag the issue if you think it should be reopened.   For more information and support regarding your Drupal migration, please contact us and get in touch with our team of Drupal experts.      Photo credit: Unsplash. ... Read more
Raluca Olariu / Jul 15'2022

Browse cities

×

Toronto

WordPress Development Services in Toronto
iOS App Development Services in Toronto
Drupal Development Services in Toronto
Magento Development Services in Toronto
Laravel Development Services in Toronto

Montreal

WordPress Development Services in Montreal
iOS App Development Services in Montreal
Laravel Development Services in Montreal
Drupal Development Services in Montreal
Magento Development Services in Montreal

Vancouver

Magento Development Services in Vancouver
iOS App Development Services in Vancouver
Drupal Development Services in Vancouver
WordPress Development Services in Vancouver
Laravel Development Services in Vancouver

New York

WordPress Development Services in New York
Laravel Development Services in New York
iOS App Development Services in New York
Drupal Development Services in New York
Magento Development Services in New York

Need a new Project?

Dare us to shape and boost your idea(s)!

Start a Project

(416) 243-2431

Contact

(416) 243-2431

contact@optasy.com

Toronto Downtown

First Canadian Place,
100 King St. W. Suite 5700, Toronto

Toronto West

2275 Upper Middle
Rd. E, Suite 101
Toronto

New York

1177 Avenue of the
Americas, 5th Floor,
New York

Newsletter

Get the latest OPTASY news, tips and how-to’s on the go, right in your inbox!
OPTASY
clutch
Pantheon Premier Partner
  • Drupal 8
  • Services
  • Contact Us
  • Partners

  • Drupal
  • Google
  • Magento
  • Shopify
  • Wordpress
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Drupal
  • Cities
  • Support

© 2023 All Rights Reserved. Built with Drupal