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OnSign TV Zapier integrationAutomate OnSign TV with Zapier.

The OnSign TV Zapier integration gives you 2 triggers, 7 actions and 0 searches. Zapier can watch your screens and reports, upload content, manage playlists and tag players. Here is what each piece does, what it costs and where it trips up.

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Overview

What the OnSign TV Zapier integration does

OnSign TV runs digital signage: the content, playlists and campaigns shown on screens driven by players. Connected to Zapier, it works both ways. It can start an automation when a player goes offline or a report is ready, and it can receive files, playlist changes, tags and on-demand playback from your other tools.

Three results worth building. A screen watchdog: Player Offline starts a Zap that alerts the person on site, so a dark screen in a store or a lobby gets noticed. Content without the upload chore: a file dropped in your shared storage goes straight into the right playlist with Upload a File and Add It to a Playlist. Screens that react to events: Play a Campaign or Playlist on Demand lets another app decide when a player switches to specific content.

What Zapier does not do here: there is no search step, so a Zap cannot look up a player, a playlist or a file before acting. You pick them in the step itself. Both triggers are polling triggers, so an offline player is only noticed at Zapier's next check, not the second it drops. And the upload actions overwrite any file that already carries the same name, which matters a lot on a live screen.

If an outage must be spotted fast, a paid plan shortens the wait: 2 minutes on Professional, 1 on Team. If it needs your marketing team to feed screens from the tools they already use, it fits. For the platform itself, read our Zapier review, and if you want the team to learn it, see the Zapier training.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary, in one minute

Seven Zapier words come back on this page. Here they are, once each.

Zap
The automation you build on Zapier: one starting event, then one or more steps that run every time that event happens.
Trigger
The event that starts the Zap; once the Zap is on, Zapier waits for it. OnSign TV offers two: a new report and an offline player.
Action
What the Zap does once started: the step that uploads, plays, tags or removes something. OnSign TV offers seven.
Task
What Zapier bills: one action completed successfully. Plans count tasks, never triggers or checks.
Polling vs instant
Zapier checks a polling trigger on a timer and keeps only new items. An instant trigger is pushed by the app itself. Both OnSign TV triggers poll.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap go on only when the incoming data meets your condition, and stops it otherwise.
Multi-step Zap
Any Zap beyond one trigger and one action. A filter or a second action makes one, and it then needs a paid plan.
Cost

What an OnSign TV Zap really costs

OnSign TV is not a premium app, so it works on the free plan. You pay in tasks, and the trigger never costs one.

  • Free plan100 tasks per month
  • Free plan ZapsTwo steps: one trigger, one action
  • OnSign TVNot a premium app
  • OnSign TV triggers2 polling, 0 instant

Each action that succeeds counts as a task: one upload, one tag, one playback request. An action that fails is not billed, and Zapier checking OnSign TV for offline players or reports costs nothing, however often it looks. The free plan only builds two-step Zaps, so an alert for an offline player fits, but adding a filter to watch only some players makes it multi-step and paid. Both triggers are polling triggers, so your plan also decides how soon an outage is spotted.

Connect

Connect OnSign TV to Zapier

  1. 01

    Open the Apps page

    In Zapier, go to the Apps page of your account and click + Add connection. A connection is your OnSign TV account linked once, then reused by every step that uses OnSign TV.

  2. 02

    Pick OnSign TV

    Search OnSign TV by name in the dialog, select it, then click Add connection. The sign-in then takes place in a new tab, on the OnSign TV side, with your usual account.

  3. 03

    Sign in and grant access

    Log in to OnSign TV and allow Zapier in. You need your own account, plus write access on any player or playlist you do not own and want the Zap to change.

First Zap

Your first OnSign TV Zap

GoalWhen a store screen's player goes offline, the store team gets a message, but only for the players you care about.

  1. 01

    Build: start from OnSign TV

    Create a Zap, choose OnSign TV as the starting app and Player Offline as the event. Select the connection you set up a moment ago.

  2. 02

    Test the trigger

    Run the test. Zapier brings back the three most recent items of your account, so you build the next steps on a real offline player instead of a guess.

  3. 03

    Add the filter

    From the plus icon, add a Filter step: the field to look at, the rule, the value. Use what the test returned. The Zap is now multi-step, so it needs a paid plan.

  4. 04

    Add the message

    Add your messaging app as the action and write the alert with the player details OnSign TV returned, so the person on site knows which screen to check.

  5. 05

    Test, then publish

    Test each step once and read what came back. When the alert reads right, click Publish to switch the Zap on. Every offline player now reaches the store team.

Triggers

OnSign TV triggers in Zapier

2 events start a Zap when something happens in OnSign TV. Zapier checks for them at the interval your plan allows.

1

New Report

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new report is ready for download.”

Starts a Zap when a report in your OnSign TV account is ready for download. From there, the next step can file it in shared storage or send it to the person who reads it, so nobody has to log in to fetch it.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
your client or your manager expects the playback report in a shared folder, and fetching it by hand keeps slipping.
Watch out
only reports that become ready after the Zap is published are picked up; older ones stay where they are.
2

Player Offline

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a player goes offline.”

Fires when one of your players goes offline, so the screen it drives may stop showing your content. It is the trigger behind any outage alert. Each offline event starts the Zap once.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
screens sit in several stores or sites and nobody on the content team sees them during the day.
Watch out
on the free plan, an outage can go unnoticed for up to 15 minutes before the alert leaves; on paid plans the interval is shorter.
Actions

OnSign TV actions in Zapier

OnSign TV gives you 7 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Upload a File and Add It to a Playlist

Action

In Zapier“Uploads the file and add it to the desired Playlist”

Does the upload and the playlist placement in one go: the file lands in the playlist you pick, under the name you set.

When to use it
a new promotion visual must appear on the store screens without anyone opening OnSign TV.
Watch out
picking a name already in use replaces that file, so a reused name can swap content on a live screen.
2

Add a Tag to a Player

Action

In Zapier“Adds a Player Tag”

Attaches a tag to a player, which helps you group screens by site, region or purpose inside OnSign TV.

When to use it
a new store opens in your CRM and its player should join the right group of screens.
Watch out
both the player and the tag are required, so the source app must carry or let you pick them.
3

Update Custom Attribute

Action

In Zapier“Updates the value of a player custom attribute”

Changes the value of a custom attribute on a player, by attribute name. It keeps player data in OnSign TV in step with another system.

When to use it
a store's opening hours or manager change in your spreadsheet and the player record should follow.
Watch out
player, attribute name and value are all required; a misspelled attribute name will not match the one set in OnSign TV.
4

Upload File

Action

In Zapier“Uploads the file to your OnSign TV account.”

Puts a file into your OnSign TV account, ready to be used later in a playlist or a campaign. You give the file and the name it should carry.

When to use it
the design team exports visuals to shared storage and you want them in OnSign TV without a manual upload.
Watch out
the name needs an extension that matches the real file type, and a file with the same name is overwritten.
5

Play a Campaign or Playlist on Demand

Action

In Zapier“Plays a Campaign or Playlist on demand”

Tells a player to switch to a campaign or a playlist right now, instead of waiting for its schedule. You choose the target player in the step.

When to use it
an event in another app, such as a booking or an alert, should change what a given screen shows.
Watch out
the player is required, so one step drives one screen; several screens mean several actions and several tasks.
6

Remove a File From a Playlist

Action

In Zapier“Removes a file from a Playlist”

Takes a file out of a playlist, by playlist and by file name, so the content stops showing on the screens that play it.

When to use it
an offer ends in your e-commerce tool and its visual must leave the store screens with it.
Watch out
the file name has to match the one in the playlist exactly, so keep a naming rule across your uploads.
7

Remove a Tag From a Player

Action

In Zapier“Removes a tag from a player”

Strips a tag from a player, the mirror move of adding one, so the screen leaves a group it no longer belongs to.

When to use it
a store closes or changes region in your CRM and its player must drop out of the old group.
Watch out
the player and the tag are both required; pair it with Add a Tag to a Player so both moves follow the same source.
When it breaks

When an OnSign TV Zap breaks

Zapier links no help article to OnSign TV, and no OnSign TV-specific limit is documented. What breaks comes from Zapier's own rules and from the required fields.

Six cases to know before the Zap drives live screens. For step-by-step fixes, our Zapier troubleshooting page goes deeper.

  • A file name overwrites live content

    Both upload actions overwrite a file that already has the same name. A reused name can silently replace what a screen is playing.

  • Wrong extension in the file name

    The file name must carry an extension that matches the real type of the file. A visual named with the wrong extension breaks that rule, so check names before you publish.

  • Past events are never picked up

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after you publish it. Reports already ready and players already offline before that are ignored.

  • A loop that burns tasks

    If the Zap writes into the very place its trigger watches, it sets itself off again and again, and every lap eats another task.

  • A flood of events gets held

    When a trigger suddenly returns a huge batch, after a migration for example, Zapier's flood protection can hold the run back.

  • No double alert on polling

    On a polling trigger, Zapier remembers what it has already seen, so the same item does not start the Zap twice.
Need help

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FAQ

OnSign TV Zapier integration: frequent questions

01Is the OnSign TV Zapier integration free?
Yes, on the free plan, within limits. OnSign TV is not a premium app, so connecting it costs nothing. The free plan gives you 100 tasks per month and two-step Zaps: one trigger and one action. An offline alert or a simple upload fits. A filter to watch only some players, or a second action, makes the Zap multi-step and that needs a paid plan. No price is quoted here because plan grids change too often to publish.
02How many tasks does an OnSign TV Zap use?
One task per action that succeeds. Uploading a file is one, tagging a player is one, playing a campaign on one player is one. The trigger costs nothing, and Zapier checking for reports or offline players is free however often it looks. A failed action is not counted. Driving three screens with three playback actions in one Zap uses three tasks per run, so count your screens before you pick a plan.
03Does OnSign TV alert Zapier in real time when a player goes offline?
No. Both OnSign TV triggers are polling triggers: Zapier checks your account at a fixed interval and keeps only what is new. That interval depends on your plan: 15 minutes on Free, 2 on Professional, 1 on Team and Enterprise. On paid plans you can also run a check by hand from the editor. The type is set by OnSign TV and cannot be changed in the editor. So a dark screen always waits for the next check.
04What does it take to connect OnSign TV to Zapier?
An OnSign TV account, plus write access on any player or playlist you do not own and want the Zap to change. From the Apps page of Zapier, click + Add connection, search OnSign TV, sign in on the tab that opens and grant access. Before building, create the players, playlists and tags you plan to use, since most actions require you to pick existing ones from your account. Otherwise the dropdowns have nothing to offer.
05Can an OnSign TV upload replace a file on a live screen?
Yes, and that is the trap to remember. Both Upload File and Upload a File and Add It to a Playlist overwrite any file that already carries the same name. If your Zap reuses a fixed name, every run replaces the previous content, which can be exactly what you want, or a nasty surprise. Also give each file an extension that matches its real type, as the field requires. A clear naming rule keeps that risk down.
06What if the OnSign TV operation needed is not in Zapier?
Then this integration cannot do it directly. OnSign TV offers two triggers and seven actions, but no search: a Zap cannot look up a player, a playlist or a file before acting. Anything outside those nine operations stays a job for OnSign TV itself. The options are to rethink the flow around the operations that exist, to handle that part in OnSign TV, or to look at another automation tool. This page lists the full visible set at the date of reading.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for OnSign TV?
Decide by criteria, not by brand. On Zapier, OnSign TV brings two polling triggers and seven actions, and it runs on the free plan for simple two-step Zaps. Check three things: how fast an outage must be spotted, since the interval depends on the plan; how many screens each Zap drives, since each action is a task; and whether you need filters or several steps, which means a paid plan. Then compare those needs with what the other tools offer for OnSign TV.
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