With the Absorb Engage upgrade, you can motivate Learners and promote messages with eye-catching Billboards. A Billboard can present as a video or photo banner and appear in multiple locations on the Learner Dashboard.

A Billboard sits at the top of the Learner Interface. Billboards are an excellent place to make announcements, start new initiatives or promote available course resources.

How to Add a Billboard

To create a Billboard you must access the LMS with an Admin account that holds the correct permissions. The required permissions are discussed in the Permissions section below. Creating a Billboard is a streamlined process which can be customized based on your business needs. To add a Billboard, please complete the following steps:

1. Access the Admin Interface.
2. Click the Engage icon from the left-hand side menu.
3. Under the Engage menu, select Billboards. You will land on the Billboards page.
   
   
4. On the Billboards page, click Add Billboard from the right-hand side Actions menu. You will land on the Add Billboard page.
   
   
5. A Billboard consists of three components: General, Billboard & Availability. Focus on the General section first.
   
   • Title: The name of the Billboard. This will be the name the Billboard is referenced by for reporting purposes.
     • It is required to a have Title.
   • Description: A rich text box where you can store details, notes or important information about the Billboard.
   • Author: A drop-down field which populates with relevant Administrators. You may select the Admin you want to label as the author from the down-down for reporting purposes.
     • The Author field will automatically populate the name of the Admin who initially creates and Saves the Billboard.
6. Next is the Billboard section where you configure the content to be showcased by the Billboard.
   
   • Billboard Type: A choice between the Image or Video Billboard Types.
     • Additional details about the Image and Video Billboard Types are detailed in the section below.
   • Order: Enter a number to set the placement of the current Billboard in relation to others. For example, if you enter 3, the current Billboard will be placed 3rd in the sequence of existing Billboards.
     • This number is also used for the master ordering of all Billboards present within the LMS.  Learners will only see Billboards they have access to per the Availability Rules. Learners will always have their Billboards follow the master sequence, which will prevent displaying any Billboards that they are not permitted to view.
     • If this field is left blank, it will automatically default to the last position of the sequence.
   • Tags: A selectable drop-down field which populates with Tags you have built into the system. You may select any Tags to apply them to the Billboard. Tags can be used to categorize Billboards, for example, they can be used to assign a Billboard as Public or Private, corresponding with which Dashboard it should appear on.
7. The final section is the Availability section. Here you can apply Availability Rules which determine who can and cannot see this Billboard once it is Active.
   
   
   • Click Add Rule to start to create Availability Rules. Once you click Add Rule a new section will expand allowing you to build the rule based on your system configuration or business use-case. These rules can be refined. Only Learners who meet the Availability Rules will be able to view this Billboard.
     
8. Once you have configured each of the three sections to your liking, you may click the Save button from the right-hand side Actions menu.
   

You will know the Billboard was created successfully when you observe the Title present on the Billboards page.

Image and Video Billboard Types

When creating a Billboard you must select between one of two types: Image or Video. These selections vary slightly in how they can be used, the details are as follows:

Image Billboard Type

When you select the Billboard Type of Image.

You will be required to provide a large image file.

You can select Choose File and this will open the File Manager. Once you have selected the image file you would like to use, and confirmed the selection. It will appear above.

When using the Image Billboard Type it is possible to designate a Target URL. This allows you to insert a website address, or similar, so that when the Billboard is clicked the Learner is directed to the website address of your choice. The URL address needs to include "https://".

Video Billboard Type

When you select the Billboard Type of Video.

You will be presented with the option to add a Video (Poster). The size recommendations of the image file for the Video (Poster) are the same as the Image Billboard Type.

You may add the Video (Poster) by clicking the Choose File button.

Additionally, you must designate your Video Sources.

There are two kinds of video which can be uploaded under the Video Sources section. We recommend uploading both formats to provide alternatives for older browsers.

• WebM: The WebM format is a royalty-free version of the HTML 5 video format and is compatible with most web browsers, except with the Apple Safari browser.  If your organization does not have any Learners who may use an Apple-branded device to access the Learner Interface, this video format is acceptable to use.
• MP4: The MPEG-4 format is compatible with all web browsers and is the preferred file format to use in Absorb LMS, especially if Learners use Apple-branded products to access the Learner Interface.

If you do not want to use a file, but instead have a URL, you may select URL and input a valid web address instead.

URL Video Source

When URL is the selected Video Source, it is important to note that you must use a video uploaded to Absorb, alongside the URL available from the File Manager. An external URL will not operate as intended when creating a Video Billboard. When using a URL as a Video Source consider the following:

• If you have a local version of the video. Use the File option and upload the video files to Absorb instead of using the URL option.
• If the same videos have already been uploaded to Absorb and the preference would be to use the URL option, use the File Manager to retrieve the file URL within Absorb. Then use the Absorb URL for the uploaded video.
• If resolution, or formatting issues persist with a hosted video, use the Image Billboard type instead of Video, and set the Target URL to a preferred external URL.

Editing a Billboard

If you need to make a change, or update components of a Billboard, you want to use the Edit function. The Edit Billboard page is identical to the Add Billboard page and includes the exact same options. Please advise the following steps:

1. Navigate to the Billboards page via the Billboards option under the Engage menu.
2. Select the Billboard you want to Edit by clicking the checkbox next to it.
   
3. From the right-hand side Actions menu, click Edit Billboard. The Edit Billboard page will open.
   
   

Duplicating a Billboard

Similar to Editing a Billboard, Duplicating requires that a Billboard already exists. This action allows you to copy another Billboard and then Edit the copy to make changes, or apply a different configuration. Advise these steps to Duplicate a Billboard:

1. Navigate to the Billboards page via the Billboards option under the Engage menu.
2. Select the Billboard you want to Duplicate by clicking the checkbox next to it.
   
3. From the right-hand side Actions menu, click Duplicate Billboard. The Add Billboard page will open.
   
4. You can now make changes to the Billboard before saving. The Duplicated Billboard will default to the Inactive Status and will feature the string 'copy' in the Title. You can change both of these as you wish.
   
5. Once the required changes have been made, click Save from the right-hand side Action menu.

Permissions

The following default Admin roles will have permission to access this feature when the client portal is enabled. All other Admins will need to be granted a role with Engage Billboards permission to access this feature:

• System Admin

• Admin

The Engage Billboards permission is located under Engage when creating a Custom Admin Role.