Introduction to Billboards

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.

Awarded the largest and most prominent space in the entire Learner Interface - the first page, top, and center, Billboards are an excellent place to make announcements, start new initiatives, promote the resources available.

Note: Your Absorb LMS environment may come with four pre-built Billboards. These serve as an example of how to use and configure settings. Feel free to modify or delete these as needed.

Instructions:  How to Add a Billboard

Step 1

Navigate to the Collaboration Report page by clicking the Engage button from the Admin Menu and choose Billboards from the sub-menu.   You will be routed to the Billboards Report page.

Step 2

From the Billboards Report page, click the Add Billboard button from the right-hand context menu. You will be routed to the Add Billboard form.

Step 3

Configuring General Settings

The first section of the Add Billboard form is labeled General.  Here you will configure the following:

• Published: Click the toggle button to change the status setting.
  • Yes = Once saved, the Billboard will be immediately displayed and visible to Learners the next time they navigate to their Dashboard.
  • No = The Billboard will not be visible to Learners and only accessible from the Admin Interface.
    
    
• Title: Enter a Title for the Billboard.
  • This information is not visible in the Learner Experience and is used for administrative identification only.
  • This is a required field.
    
    
• Description: Enter a description of the Billboard.
  • This information is not visible in the Learner Experience and is used for administrative identification only.
    
    
• Author: The Author field will automatically populate the name of the Admin who initially creates the Billboard.
  • You can change this value by clicking the field and selecting a new name from the drop-down menu.
    
    

Step 4

Configuring Billboard Type Settings

• Billboard Type: Click the radio button of the format type you want to apply to the Billboard: Image or Video.
  • The default selection is Image.
    

Step 4 (Continued Instructions for Billboard Type - Image)

• Choose File: Click the Choose File button to upload an image file. (950 x 366 pixels)
  
  
• Target URL: Enter the URL address of an external site, internal site, or a link directly within the LMS.  Learners will be directed to this address when they click on the Billboard Image.
  
  • The URL address needs to include "https://".
    
    
• Order: Enter a numeric value to set the sequence of the current Billboard in relation to others.
  • Important: This number 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: Click this field to open a menu to search for and select Tag(s) to apply to the Billboard.

Step 4 (Continued Instructions for Billboard Type - Video)

• Choose File:  Click the Choose File button to upload an image file to serve as the Video Poster, a static image placeholder shown until the video is played. (950 x 366 pixels)

Video Sources (Required)

Note: Only one of the following is required. However, we recommend uploading both formats to provide alternatives for older browsers.

• • WebM: Click the radio button of the format type you using and follow the prompts.
    • 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: Click the radio button of the format type you using and follow the prompts.
    • 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.
      
      
• Order: Enter a numeric value to set the sequence of the current Billboard in relation to others.
  • Important: This number 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: Click this field to open a menu to search for and select Tag(s) to apply to the Billboard.
  
  

Step 5

• Availability: Click the Add Rule button to create and apply Availability Rules to the Billboard.

  • The Availability Tab is where you establish rules to identify which learners will have visibility of the Billboard.

  • Default settings will automatically include all users within your Absorb LMS environment.

Step 6

Click the Save button to save and close the Billboard.  You will return to the Billboard Reports page.