Extension IT has a digital signage system for managing digital signage in county Extension offices. These signs were initially made available to any Extension office where the network is maintained by Extension IT. The availability of these signs has now been extended to other offices. Contact the EIT Helpdesk if you have questions about a sign in your office.

About the Signage System

The digital signage system for N.C. Cooperative Extension county offices provides a way for marketing Extension to people in your building. The signage displays should be mounted in high traffic areas. Some examples of good places to mount the display include lobbies, waiting areas, or hallways.The content for the digital signage comes from various sources. Much of the standard content comes directly from the local county Extension website. There are slides showing county web pages, staff listings, and events directly from the county website calendar.  In addition, there are marketing slides from the state level that are included in the presentation.

Adding Custom Local Content

Managing content on a digital sign is accomplished through a web application at: https://signage.ces.ncsu.edu. With this application, county personnel can quickly create slides using built-in templates or can create custom-designed slides.

Creating Slides from a Template

1. Click on the green button Create: From Template.
2. Choose counties where your sign will display. You may choose other counties, however, please be respectful and only do this when the other county is aware that you are creating a sign that will be displayed in their county as well.
3. Choose the date for your slide to expire. The default date is 30 days away, however, you may choose any date in the future. Once this date passes, the slide will no longer display on your signage.
4. Enter a title for the sign.
5. Enter the message for the sign.
6. Select the template to apply to your sign.
7. Click Save

Once you have saved your slide, it will begin displaying on your signage. It may take up to 5 minutes for the sign to update.

Creating a Custom Slide

You also have the option of uploading an image for use as a slide on your digital signage system. You can create these images using a number of different applications. Some options include PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, Preview, Photoshop, etc.The file must be a valid image file and the ideal image size is 1920x1080 pixels. The minimum image size allowed is 960x540 pixels.

1. Click on the green button Create: From Upload.
2. Choose counties where your sign will display. You may choose other counties, however, please be respectful and only do this when the other county is aware that you are creating a sign that will be displayed in their county as well.
3. Choose the date for your slide to expire. The default date is 30 days away, however, you may choose any date in the future. Once this date passes, the slide will no longer display on your sign.
4. Click on the Browse Button to browse and upload your image to the system.
5. Click Save.

Once you have saved your slide, it will begin displaying on your signage. It may take up to 5 minutes for the sign to update.

Multi-County Slides

Specialists or Area Agents may have slide content that they want to be delivered in multiple counties. In this case, multiple counties may be selected and the slides will be delivered across multiple sites.

While this is technically allowed for anyone with access, please use discretion when adding content to another county's sign. While many slides might be appropriate for surrounding counties, in most cases it would not be appropriate to share slides statewide.

If a county decides that the content is not appropriate or doesn't apply to their county, someone in the county can edit the slide and remove their county from the list. Only the creator of the slide can delete the slide from the system.