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Playlist

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A playlist displays a list of dashboards that are in a sequence. Use a playlist to build situational awareness or to present your metrics to your team or visitors. Grafana automatically scales dashboards to any resolution, which makes them perfect for big screens. This topic has the following sections:

Access, share, and control a playlist

Use the information in this section to access existing playlists. Start and control the display of a playlist using one of the five available modes.

Access playlist

  1. Hover your cursor over Grafana’s side menu.
  2. Click Playlists. You will see a list of existing playlists.

Start a playlist

  1. Access the playlist page to see a list of existing playlists.
  2. Find the playlist you want to start, then click Start playlist. The start playlist dialog opens.
  3. Select one of the five playlist modes available based on the information in the following table.
  4. Click Start .

The playlist displays each dashboard for the time specified in the Interval field, set when creating or editing a playlist. Once a playlist starts, you can control it using the navbar at the top of your screen.

ModeDescription
Normal mode
  • The side menu remains visible.
  • The navbar, row, and panel controls appear at the top of the screen.
TV mode
  • The side menu and dashboard submenu (including variable drop-downs and dashboard links) are hidden or removed.
  • The navbar, row, and panel controls appear at the top of the screen.
  • Enabled automatically after one minute of user inactivity.
  • Enable it manually using the d v sequence shortcut, or by appending the parameter ?inactive to the dashboard URL.
  • Disable it with any mouse movement or keyboard action.
TV mode (with auto fit panels)
  • The side menu and dashboard submenu (including variable drop-downs and dashboard links) are hidden or removed.
  • The navbar, row and panel controls appear at the top of the screen.
  • Dashboard panels automatically adjust to optimize space on screen.
    Kiosk mode
    • The side menu, navbar, ro and panel controls are completely hidden/removed from view.
    • You can enable it manually using the d v sequence shortcut after the playlist has started.
    • You can disable it manually with the same shortcut.
    Kiosk mode (with auto fit panels)
    • The side menu, navbar, row, and panel controls are completely hidden/removed from view.
    • Dashboard panels automatically adjust to optimize space on screen.

    Control a playlist

    You can control a playlist in Normal or TV mode after it’s started, using the navigation bar at the top of your screen. Press the Esc key in your keyboard to stop the playlist.

    ButtonResult
    Next (double-right arrow)Advances to the next dashboard.
    Back (left arrow)Returns to the previous dashboard.
    Stop (square)Ends the playlist, and exits to the current dashboard.
    Cycle view mode (monitor icon)Rotates the display of the dashboards in different view modes.
    Time rangeDisplays data within a time range. It can be set to display the last 5 minutes up to 5 years ago, or a custom time range, using the down arrow.
    Refresh (circle arrow)Reloads the dashboard, to display the current data. It can be set to reload automatically every 5 seconds to 1 day, using the drop-down arrow.

    Create a playlist

    You can create a playlist to present dashboards in a sequence, with a set order and time interval between dashboards.

    1. In the playlist page, click New playlist. The New playlist page opens.
    2. In the Name text box, enter a descriptive name.
    3. In the Interval text box, enter a time interval. Grafana displays a particular dashboard for the interval of time specified here before moving on to the next dashboard.
    4. In Dashboards, add existing dashboards to the playlist using Add by title and Add by tag drop-down options. The dashboards you add are listed in a sequential order.
    5. If needed:
      • Search for a dashboard by its name, a regular expression, or a tag.
      • Filter your results by starred status or tags.
    6. If needed, rearrange the order of the dashboard you have added using the up and down arrow icon.
    7. Optionally, remove a dashboard from the playlist by clicking the x icon beside dashboard.
    8. Click Save.

    Edit or delete a playlist

    You can edit a playlist by updating its name, interval time, and by adding, removing, and rearranging the order of dashboards. On the rare occasion when you no longer need a playlist, you can delete it.

    Edit a playlist

    1. In the playlist page, click Edit playlist. The Edit playlist page opens.
    2. Update the name and time interval, then add or remove dashboards from the playlist using instructions in Create a playlist.
    3. Click Save to save your changes.

    Delete a playlist

    1. In the playlist page, click Edit playlist. A prompts opens asking you to confirm the action.
    2. Click delete.

    Share a playlist in a view mode

    You can share a playlist by copying the link address on the view mode you prefer, and pasting the URL to your destination.

    1. From the Dashboards submenu, click Playlists.

    2. Next to the playlist you want to share, click Start playlist.

    3. In the dropdown, right click the view mode you prefer.

    4. Click Copy Link Address to copy the URL to your clipboard.

      Example: The URL for the first playlist on the Grafana Play site in Kiosk mode will look like this:

      https://play.grafana.org/playlists/play/1?kiosk.

    5. Paste the URL to your destination.