Everything you need to know about the OneDrive integration

Microsoft OneDrive is a cloud storage service that allows users to store, share, and access files from anywhere. This article contains everything you need to know when integrating OneDrive with PLAYipp.

What is OneDrive?

OneDrive is a cloud storage service provided by Microsoft. It allows users to store files in the cloud and access them from any device. With OneDrive, users can share files, collaborate in real-time, and keep their important documents synchronized across all their devices.

Key features:

Cloud Storage: Store files securely in the cloud with access from anywhere.
File Sharing: Share files and folders easily with colleagues and partners.
Real-time Collaboration: Work together on documents simultaneously.
Automatic Synchronization: Keep your files up-to-date across all your devices.
Integration with Microsoft 365: Seamless integration with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft applications.

In PLAYipp, you can display files from your OneDrive account on your digital screens:

Supported file types

The OneDrive integration supports a wide range of file types:

Microsoft Office formats:

Word: doc, docx, dot, dotx, dotm
Excel: xls, xlsx, xlsm
PowerPoint: ppt, pptx, pps, ppsx

Other document formats:

PDF and images: tif, tiff
Open Document: odp, ods, odt
Web formats: htm, html, markdown, md
Rich text: rtf
Email: eml, msg
Design files: dwg, dsn
E-books: epub
Other formats: form, note, page, task, wbtx

Microsoft 365 collaboration formats:

fluidframework, loop, loot, pulse, whiteboard

The files are displayed as images on your screens, making it easy to share information, reports, presentations, and documents with your team or customers.

Customizing Excel display

For Excel files, you have full control over what is displayed on your screens. The image is captured based on the print settings in Excel:

Open your Excel file
Go to Page Layout > Print Area
Adjust the print settings to show exactly what you want to display
Select specific cells or ranges that should be visible
Customize the layout, scaling, and formatting

The image captured by PLAYipp will reflect these print settings, allowing you to create perfectly tailored views of your data for your digital screens.

How it works

Static display: Files are converted to images that are displayed on your screens.
Automatic updates: The images are updated every 20 minutes to reflect any changes made to the files in OneDrive.
No public sharing required: Files only need to exist in your OneDrive account; they don't need to be publicly shared.

Technical specifications needed for connection

License requirements:

Active Microsoft account with OneDrive access
Access to the files you want to display

Authentication:

We use OAuth 2.0 authorization flow to access OneDrive with the following permissions:

offline_access
user.read
files.read.all

This means that when you authenticate the OneDrive integration, you will authenticate with Microsoft's authentication services.

Data flow:

You authenticate your OneDrive account in PLAYipp.
PLAYipp gets access to your specified files.
PLAYipp retrieves images of the selected files at regular intervals.
The images are updated every 20 minutes and displayed on your screens.

Key features in OneDrive

Below are some key features in OneDrive:

OneDrive is designed to integrate seamlessly with Microsoft 365 and other services, making it easy to create, store, and share files from virtually any application.

Microsoft 365 Integration:

OneDrive has strong integration with Microsoft 365 applications:

Word, Excel, PowerPoint: Create and edit documents directly in OneDrive.
Microsoft Teams: Share files and collaborate through Teams.
Outlook: Attach files from OneDrive in emails.
OneNote: Save notes and attachments to OneDrive.

Collaboration and Sharing:

Real-time co-authoring: Multiple users can work on the same document simultaneously.
Shared folders: Create folders that multiple users can access and edit.
External sharing: Share files with people outside your organization.
Version history: Restore previous versions of files if needed.

Security and Backup:

Automatic backup: Files are automatically backed up in the cloud.
Ransomware protection: OneDrive can detect and help you recover from ransomware attacks.
Encryption: Files are encrypted both in transit and at rest.
Access control: Control who can view and edit your files.

How to set up the OneDrive integration

Before we can publish our files, we need to create the integration between PLAYipp and OneDrive. Follow the steps below to get started.

Click on "Integrations"
Click on "Microsoft OneDrive"
Click on "Add to PLAYipp"
Click on "Sign in with Microsoft"

If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to log in with your Microsoft account.

Note: The integration will now search for all files it can access. These will be searchable under "Import files from OneDrive".

Search for and click on the file you want to display

The file will now be added under "Added files" on the right side. Here you can see the file name, file type, metadata (such as number of pages), and when it was last updated.

The integration will now take a snapshot of the file every 20 minutes. To display the file on your screens, you need to create a widget as described in the next section.

How to publish the OneDrive widget

Tip: For best results, the canvas size should be the same as the area you are publishing to in PLAYipp. You can check here to see how to find the size of your area: What is the resolution of the area I'm publishing to?

Click on "Signage"
Click on the location or group where you want to display the file
Click on the area where you want to display the file
Click on "Add new"
Click on "Automatic content"
Click on "Add Documents"
Click on the source you want to display
Here you can adjust the following settings:
- X and Y position: Adjust the horizontal and vertical position of the content
- Zoom: Scale the content to fit your area
- Interval between images: For files with multiple pages, this sets how long each page is displayed before transitioning to the next
- Smooth transitions: Enable smooth transitions between pages
- Background color: Set a background color for the widget
Click on "Add to playlist"
Here you can change the name of the widget
Click on "Select folder"
Select the folder where you want to save the widget
Click on "Select folder"
Click on "Save"