Skip to content
Tilecast Docs

Add website content

Tilecast Players load Website Apps on the display. The page and its resources must be reachable from the Player; Tilecast Server does not download a copy of a website for offline playback.

Create a Website App

Section titled “Create a Website App”
  1. In Studio, open Content > Widgets and select Create Widget.
  2. Choose Website from the catalog.
  3. Under Content, enter the public address in Web address.
  4. Under Behavior, set Reload and If the page cannot load. Open Advanced to set the Load timeout (seconds), Allowed hosts, JavaScript, storage, cookies, and the user agent. The page’s own host is always allowed; add other hosts only when the site needs to navigate to them.
  5. Under Style, set the zoom, scroll position, and background color if the page needs them.
  6. Select the name in the header to rename the Widget, then select Save Widget.

The editor previews the page in a browser frame. Some sites refuse to appear inside another page; screens show them in their own isolated player view. To see what screens report when they load the page, select ⋯ > Diagnostics.

The Website App appears in the Media library’s Websites filter and in the content picker. Add it to a Playlist as fullscreen content or place it in a Layout with other content.

Add a Canva design

Section titled “Add a Canva design”
  1. In Canva, open your design and select Share > See all > Embed. Publish a public embed. A public view link alone doesn’t enable embedding.
  2. Copy the Smart embed link or the src address from the HTML iframe. Tilecast accepts the address, not the full HTML code.
  3. In Studio, create a Canva Widget and paste the link into Canva design link. Public design view links and https://canva.link/... links that redirect to a design view are also accepted. Tilecast resolves short links automatically when you preview or save.
  4. Turn on Slideshow to use Canva’s presentation/watch surface, or leave it off for Canva’s manual view. Canva may still require playback to be started; Tilecast does not currently force Canva’s autoplay control. Set Reload interval, name the Widget, then select Save Widget. Assign it to a Playlist or Layout after testing on your target Player.

Tilecast keeps the design’s access path and query parameters, removes utm_* tracking fields, and selects Canva’s embed surface. Slideshow mode uses Canva’s /watch surface; manual mode uses /view. Tilecast strips the unsupported autoplay query field rather than claiming it starts Canva playback. Editor, template, presentation-control, and published website links aren’t supported by the Canva Widget. If a short link is expired or can’t be resolved, copy a new public embed link from Canva.

Studio’s production security policy blocks external Canva frames. Studio reports a confirmed block and keeps Open in Canva available. In environments that allow external frames, Studio labels the attempted preview unverified: a browser frame can report loading even when Canva shows an access error or blocks embedding. If the preview is blank, select Open in Canva, check that the embed is still published, and test the embed address in a signed-out browser. Private embeds require a Canva account and cookie access; they aren’t suitable for unattended Tilecast playback. See Canva’s embedding instructions.

Canva needs a network connection and a Player with periodic web reload support (web.remote@2). Updated Android, Edge, Windows, and legacy Linux Electron Players provide that contract. Browser Player currently can’t play remote websites or Canva. Studio uses a browser iframe; native Players use isolated web views. A working Studio preview doesn’t establish that a particular TV or browser engine can play the design. Test the actual device, including fullscreen, Layout sizing, reload, and network recovery.

When Slideshow is enabled, Tilecast selects Canva’s watch presentation surface. This does not guarantee unattended autoplay: Canva may still open paused. Page duration, animations, and transitions remain controlled in Canva; Tilecast does not provide a per-slide duration override. For static or offline content, export an image or PDF. For playback that must not depend on Canva or the network, export an MP4 and upload it as media. See the Canva engineering contract and manual checks for supported URL shapes and platform verification.

Choose where the Player can connect

Section titled “Choose where the Player can connect”

Use HTTPS for public websites. HTTP is accepted only when both the server environment variable TILECAST_WEBSITE_ALLOW_PRIVATE_HTTP=true and Settings > Websites > Private HTTP enabled allow it, and the URL uses a private-network host.

The allowed-host list limits top-level navigation. Redirects are checked as navigation too: a page can continue only to its own host or another host you allowed. On Edge, each redirect hop and the final main document are checked again before the page can commit. A blocked redirect fails the Website item instead of displaying the unapproved destination.

The allowed-host list is not a firewall for every subresource. A permitted page can still request images, scripts, APIs, or frames from other network hosts according to the Player engine and the page’s own browser policy. Website Apps do not support imported login cookies, OAuth tokens, or Tilecast credentials. A site that requires an unsupported sign-in flow may not work.

Private HTTP permission applies to the Website address itself; it does not turn a public HTTPS Website into a general bridge to private-network pages. Keep the allowed-host list narrow and test redirects on the target Player.

Plan for interruptions

Section titled “Plan for interruptions”

Website playback needs a network connection from the Player. If the site cannot load, choose what If the page cannot load does: keep the last page that loaded, show a fallback image, show the Tilecast placeholder, or skip the item. Set the Load timeout (seconds) and Reload to match the site. The Playlist item duration controls how long the website plays.

Check that the exact display can reach the site. A page can work in your browser but fail on a TV or Linux Player because of DNS, network filtering, unsupported site behavior, or a site that blocks embedded browsers.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”