# User Guides

These guides explain how to use Pulse Signage to create content, publish it to screens, monitor players, and operate displays.

- [Web guide](guide-web.md) - content creation, publishing, screens, players, and everyday web workflows.
- [Local Control guide](guide-local-control.md) - player-specific offline controls, synchronization, and troubleshooting.
- [Data Sources guide](guide-data-sources.md) - configuring, refreshing, and troubleshooting changing data.
- [Administration guide](guide-admin.md) - accounts and fonts.

## How Pulse Signage Fits Together

The main content objects have a simple relationship:

- A **template** defines the structure and appearance of a slide.
- A **slide** is a piece of finished content built from that structure.
- A **playlist** arranges slides into a sequence.
- A **screen** is the display destination for a playlist.
- A **player** runs the screen and reports its connected clients.

You can reuse a template across many slides, reuse a slide across many playlists, and change a playlist without rebuilding the slides inside it. This separation lets you update one part of a signage setup without recreating everything around it.

## Typical Publishing Workflow

For a new piece of signage, work through the application in this order:

1. Decide the screen size or aspect ratio and create a matching [canvas size](guide-web.md#canvas-sizes) if one does not already exist.
2. Choose an existing [slide template](guide-web.md#slide-templates), or create one when the design needs a new structure.
3. Build a [slide](guide-web.md#slides), add its content, and preview it at the intended size.
4. Add the slide to a [playlist](guide-web.md#playlists) and place it in the correct order.
5. Assign the playlist to a [screen](guide-web.md#screens).
6. Check [connected clients](guide-web.md#connected-clients) to confirm the player is online and displaying the expected content.
7. Use an [announcement](guide-web.md#announcements) or [data source](guide-web.md#data-sources) when the information needs to change independently of the playlist.

The web application is the main place where content and screen assignments are managed. Once a change is saved, the relevant players receive the updated state.

For deployment and service setup, see the [Compose guide](../../docker-compose/README.md).