Full-featured production-ready system

Glass control surface. Operational signage core.

Screen Commander 3 is a comprehensive digital signage content management system built with CodeIgniter 4.6.4. It combines a polished admin panel, public display player, and API layer for heartbeat tracking, logging, and content updates across real-world screen networks.

Open SC3 Explore the system

CodeIgniter 4.6.4, PHP 8.1+, MySQL with the ds_ table prefix
Tailwind CSS 3.4.1, jQuery, DataTables, Select2, Chart.js, Sortable.js
Multi-zone playback, emergency overrides, service worker caching, and live monitoring

Retail Group / North Lobby Display / A3B7K9

Scheduled Playback Promo Loop + Playlist Sequence

Layout Zone Weather + News Applet

Emergency Layer Priority Override Ready

Heartbeat tracking Auto offline detection

Display updates Hash-based polling

Offline resilience SW + IndexedDB

Broadcasts Targeted or global

Dashboard analytics with Chart.js

Media upload with duplicate detection

Playlist builder with Sortable.js

Screen monitoring and auto offline status

Emergency broadcast override

Service Worker caching + IndexedDB fallback

North Lobby

Multi-zone

Emergency Feed

System capabilities

Everything needed to run a serious signage network.

From dashboard analytics to offline playback, SC3 is built as a complete CMS rather than a thin playlist wrapper.

Professional dashboard

Chart.js analytics, animated counters, storage usage, media distribution, activity logs, quick actions, and contributor visibility in one view.

Media management

Drag-drop uploads, multi-file ingestion, type detection, dimensions, waveform generation, duplicate checking, folders, tags, previews, and shortcodes.

Screen management + monitoring

Create and group screens, assign locations and resolutions, track last_seen, capture IP and user agent data, and detect offline devices automatically.

Playlist builder

Sortable.js drag-drop sequencing, item durations, transitions, shuffle, loop, Ken Burns effects, previews, versions, and rollback support.

Scheduling + layouts

Time windows, day patterns, date ranges, priorities, always-on schedules, multi-playlist playback, and per-zone layout assignments.

Emergency broadcast system

Priority-based overrides with time activation, optional media, and screen targeting for urgent messages that must supersede normal programming.

Manager hub + applets

Unified management for media, playlists, screens, schedules, plus countdowns, RSS, weather, news ticker, and announcement applets.

Display player

Screen, playlist, and media shortcodes, fullscreen playback, multi-zone rendering, emergency override, and support for images, video, audio, PDFs, and web content.

Architecture

Admin panel, display player, and API working as one system.

Core structure Dual frontend/backend architecture

Admin panel

/admin/* covers dashboard, media, screens, playlists, schedules, layouts, emergency broadcasts, manager hub, users, settings, help, and contact messages.

Public display frontend

/display/{shortcode} resolves screen, playlist, or media shortcodes and handles multi-zone rendering with emergency override support.

API endpoints

Heartbeat, event logging, and content update checking power monitoring and safe refresh behavior on active displays.

Security model

CSRF protection, XSS filtering, query-builder usage, secure sessions, role-based access, UUID identifiers, and contact-form rate limiting.

Content workflow

Upload media into the library and capture metadata automatically.
Create a playlist, set durations, transitions, shuffle/loop, and optional Ken Burns effects.
Attach layouts and zone mappings when a screen needs split or grid playback.
Schedule by time, date, priority, screen, or group with always-on options.
Display players poll content hashes, cache media, and stay resilient offline.

Framework CodeIgniter 4.6.4

PHP 8.1+, PSR-4 autoloading, MVC structure, migrations, filters, and service-oriented organization.

Frontend stack Tailwind + DataTables

Tailwind CSS 3.4.1, jQuery, Select2, DataTables, Font Awesome 6, Chart.js 4.4.0, and Sortable.js.

Display resilience Offline capable

Service Worker cache, IndexedDB metadata fallback, and content hash invalidation keep screens synchronized and stable.

Operations

Migration-driven schema, shortcode routing, and monitorable playback.

Database digital_signage

MySQL/MariaDB schema with the ds_ table prefix and 36 migrations deployed successfully.

Identifiers UUIDs + shortcodes

UUID-based admin entities plus 6-character shortcodes for screens, playlists, media, and schedules.

Core tables Users, media, screens, playlists

Plus playlist items, schedules, logs, settings, layouts, emergency broadcasts, schedule zones, versions, schedule playlists, and contact messages.

Monitoring loop Heartbeat + auto status

Track screen health, activity, scheduled content, and offline transitions with configurable thresholds.

Media support Images, video, audio, PDFs, web

Upload up to 50MB with duplicate detection and metadata extraction for smoother playback operations.

Management scale Bulk operations

Handle mass tagging, group changes, assignment flows, deletes, restores, and unified management tasks efficiently.

Database + development workflow

Built for maintainable change, not fragile patching.

Schema practices

All schema changes go through migrations.
Rollback is available for development issues.
UUID-based identification is standard across entities.
Soft deletes preserve auditability on core tables.

Development environment

Development server on port 8089.
Apache served on port 8088.
Tailwind source in public/assets/css/input.css.
Compiled output in public/assets/css/output.css.

System health

Authentication and role filters operational.
Display system functional with multi-zone support.
Monitoring active with heartbeat integration.
No critical issues reported in current system state.

Ready to deploy

Run your signage network from a single polished control layer.

Screen Commander 3 combines professional admin tooling, resilient display playback, and operational monitoring in one production-ready system.

Open Screen Commander 3 Talk to DigiSpell

FAQ

What teams ask before rollout.

Can it keep displays running when the network drops?

Yes. Service Worker caching and IndexedDB fallback preserve synchronized playback data so screens can continue working offline.

Can I run different playlists in different screen zones?

Yes. Layout templates and schedule-zone mappings support independent zone positioning, content, and transitions.

Does it support monitoring and automatic offline detection?

Yes. Heartbeat endpoints update last_seen and the monitoring dashboard transitions screens between active and offline states automatically.

How fast can emergency content override normal playback?

Emergency broadcasts are modeled as a priority override layer, so urgent content can supersede normal schedules immediately.

What media types are supported?

Images, videos, audio, PDFs, and web content are all supported on the display side, with upload validation and metadata extraction in the admin panel.

Is the system already fully operational?

Yes. The documented system status is production-ready, with all 36 migrations deployed and all core modules operational.