Digital Notice Board

A cork board says whatever somebody last pinned to it. A digital notice board says whatever you published this morning, and it says it to everybody walking past.

You do not need special hardware, and you do not need to install anything on the display. Everything here is a web page, so any screen that can open a URL will do: a smart TV, a streaming stick, a Raspberry Pi, or a browser in kiosk mode.

What goes on it

Your own words

An announcement, a closure, a welcome. If you run a WordPress site, Screenly Cast puts the posts and pages you already publish on the board, so you write it once.

News that updates itself

Any RSS or news feed, which is how a board stays current with nobody touching it.

The practical detail

What people actually stop to read: opening hours, a menu, the weather and air quality.

A clock

In one timezone or several. The single most looked-at thing on any wall.

Something worth pausing for

This day in history, a quote, or the phase of the moon, for the times nobody needs telling anything.

A countdown or a milestone

A timer to an opening or a deadline, a team milestone, or a birthday.

Where it goes

Schools

A corridor board carries term dates, the lunch menu and sports results. A screen beats paper because the person updating it does not have to walk anywhere, and because nobody has to notice that a new sheet went up.

Start with a news feed and opening hours, add a clock so pupils can see whether they are late.

Offices and reception

Reception is doing two jobs: telling visitors they are in the right place, and telling staff something they would otherwise get in an email nobody reads.

The weather, a world clock for distributed teams, and your own announcements covers most of it.

Churches and community spaces

Service times, this week’s readings, the hall booking. A village hall usually wants the board to look calm rather than busy.

One thing at a time on a slow rotation reads better than a dense dashboard.

What it costs

Nothing, for the apps. Every screen here is free to use and free of accounts, and the links work on any player.

If you want the software driving the screen to be free and open-source too, Anthias runs on a Raspberry Pi. If you would rather somebody else managed a fleet, Screenly does that commercially. Both open a URL, so neither locks you in.