# How does content get from the portal to a display?

Between an uploaded file and the picture in the shop window lie a few links that are always the same. Five of them form a fixed chain: media item, scene, playlist, program, display. Only three are mandatory.

> **Type:** concept
> **For:** everyone who opens the portal for the first time and wants to understand how it is built
> **Prerequisite:** an account with a role in your organization
> **Where in the portal:** sidebar, groups **Content** and **Operations**

## Five links, one chain

At the start is a **media item**: an image, a video, or a PDF file under **Media**. From it, you build a **scene** under **Scenes**, the designed surface of widgets that the display later shows. Widgets come with the installed **apps**: a weather map, a price board, a clock. The last step matters: A scene runs only once you **publish** it. As long as it has the status **Draft**, nobody but you sees it.

Several pieces of content in a row make a **playlist**: an ordered sequence of scenes and media, each element with its display duration. The playlist is practical but not mandatory. A **program** can also play a single scene.

The **program** answers the question of *what runs when*: a **base program** for the normal case and **program entries** at their times. What it does not answer is the question of *where*. That decision is made in a single place: the **assignment** on a display’s detail page, in the **Playback** tab. There, the display gets either a program or, if no weekly plan is needed, a scene, a playlist, or a media item directly. A display always carries exactly one assignment.

![A chain from the media item through the scene and the optional playlist to the program, and through the assignment at the display to the picture on site. Scene and playlist can also be assigned directly.](/docs/getting-started/bilder/4ee4dd12-content-chain.svg)

*Scene and playlist lead to the program, or take the short way directly to a display.*

## What happens on its own after the assignment

From here on, nobody intervenes. The platform condenses scene, times, and media into a **display state** and sends it to the device. The device stores it, also in case of a later network outage, and shows the content in full screen. Afterwards, it reports its status back, and the fleet under **Displays** shows you the result. Between **Publish** and the new picture, there are usually only seconds.

If the display stays on your brand’s placeholder, exactly one of three things is missing: a published version of the scene, the assignment on the display, or the pairing of the display itself.

![The sidebar of an owner with all seventeen areas: at the top the logo or the name of the organization (1), below it the dashboard alone above the groups (2) and the three groups Content (3), Operations (4), and Administration (5), at the very bottom the button for collapsing and expanding (6)](/docs/getting-started/bilder/67b56859-sidebar-groups.png)

## Where you find each link

The sidebar mirrors exactly this flow. Above the groups is the **Dashboard**, followed by three named groups.

| Group | Entries | What for |
|---|---|---|
| **Content** | **Media**, **Scenes**, **Playlists**, **Programs** | What runs and when it runs. |
| **Operations** | **Displays**, **Video walls**, **Devices**, **Apps**, **Analytics** | Where it runs and whether it ran. |
| **Administration** | **Team**, **Billing**, **Change log**, **Notifications**, **Settings** | Who works with you and what it costs. |

## What follows

- Only three links are mandatory: published content, an assignment, and a paired display. Playlist and program save work but are not required.
- A program runs nowhere as long as it is not assigned to a display. If two displays should show the same thing, both get the same program.
- Changes to a scene take effect only with publishing. If you see an old version on the display, you have usually only saved.
- The path does not end at the display: What actually ran is shown later in **Analytics**.

## Related

- [Your first display in 15 minutes](/docs/getting-started/first-display)
- [What is a program, and what does the base program do?](/docs/programs/about-programs)
- [How does a display decide what is playing?](/docs/getting-started/about-playback-decisions)