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Replace File References

Use Replace file in the Files menu to update references to a file without editing each content item individually. The replacement must be in the same folder and be the same type of file (an image for an image, a video for a video). Changes to file references are permanent.

Before: a Content, a Playlist and a Channel all use logo-old.png, while logo-new.png in the same folder is unused. After Replace file: all three use logo-new.png, and logo-old.png is no longer used, or deleted if Remove origin file is on

The replacement is a separate file with its own file ID. Replace file does not overwrite the original; it moves every reference from the original to the replacement: Datasources, Contents, Widgets, Playlists, Channels and Sub-channels.

Who can do this

Replacing a file needs the Content manager role or higher.

Only want a better thumbnail?

To change just the preview image shown in Files, without touching the file or anything that uses it, see Replace Preview Image.

Choose a replacement​

In the Files menu, right-click the file you want to replace and select Replace file. Then choose From computer to upload a new file, or From files to select a file already in the same folder.

Replace file dialog with From computer and From files options

From computer uploads the new file into the original's folder. The uploaded file inherits the original file's metadata, tags and validity dates, and its team assignments are merged with the original's automatically. It is available only where you could upload anyway:

  • in a regular folder, not in a synced (shared) folder,
  • not in a read-only folder,
  • for HTML files, only if you have permission to upload HTML files.

Where From computer is not available, use From files.

From files lists the other files of the same type in the original's folder. The selected file keeps its own metadata, tags and validity dates. Under Team assignments after replacement, choose which Teams the replacement should have:

Team assignment optionResult
MergeCombine assignments from both files.
Keep existingUse the original file's assignments.
ReplaceUse the selected replacement file's assignments.

The dialog shows the resulting Teams before you save, and remembers your choice for the next replacement.

Review and save​

Select the replacement file. If you also want to delete the original file, enable Remove origin file, then select Save. Leave the switch off to keep the original file in Files.

Selected replacement file and Remove origin file switch in the Replace file dialog

If the replacement fails on any Content, the Contents already changed are restored, so you never end up with a half-replaced file.

Proof of Play after a replacement​

Proof of Play records every play under the file that actually played. Because the replacement is a different file, each file reports only its own days, and nothing is moved from one to the other.

For example, logo-old.png plays from the 1st to the 15th, and on the 16th you replace it with logo-new.png:

Timeline of one month with the file replaced on the 16th: the Media files report shows logo-old.png for the 1st to 15th and logo-new.png for the 16th to 31st; a Content, Device or Channel report shows the whole month; with Remove origin file on, the old file's own rows are no longer shown

  • Per file (Analytics → Proof of Play → Media files, or the Proof of Play tab of each file): logo-old.png shows the 1st to the 15th, logo-new.png the 16th to the 31st. Look at both files to cover the month.
  • The whole month in one report: open the report of the Content, Device or Channel that shows the file. Their IDs do not change, so the 1st to the 31st appears in one place. Group by media file there to see both files side by side.
  • With Remove origin file on: the original file is deleted, and its own per-file rows are no longer shown in any report, including a media-file grouping. Content, Device and Channel totals for the month are not affected.
Keep the old figures

If you need the original file's own numbers later, leave Remove origin file off, or export its Proof of Play as CSV before you replace it.

Learn more: Proof of Play

Tips​

  • Use it for a new version of the same thing: this week's menu, an updated price list, a refreshed logo. Every screen that shows the file switches at once, and nobody has to open each Content.
  • Folder-based Content is not rewritten, and does not need to be. A Playlist, Channel or Widget that plays a whole folder simply shows whatever is in that folder. If you leave Remove origin file off, it shows both files, the old and the new. Turn the switch on when the old version should stop playing everywhere.
  • Prepare first, switch later. Upload the new version into the same folder ahead of time, check it, then use From files at the moment it should go live.
  • Files in a synced folder follow their cloud version on their own when the folder uses Active sync with Smart file update, which works the same way as Replace file. Learn more: About synced folders
  • Need the old version back? Replace again, this time choosing the original file with From files. That only works if you left Remove origin file off.
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