What's it take to be a Sign?
You can buy one of our Signs, but anything that runs Firefox can be a Sign, so you really don't have to. Have an old Mac or PC laying around? Got an LCD display (or *gasp* a CRT)? You've got a Sign. You just have to set it up to run in what's commonly called "kiosk mode."
Firefox is available in over 40 languages for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Full system requirements are available here, but generally you need a computer that has:
- Windows 98 or later, MacOS X 10.2.x or later, or Linux kernel 2.2.14 or later
- 256 MB memory or greater
- 1 GB of storage (hard drive or flash-based) or greater
Multimedia functions like YouTube videos, Adobe Flash, QuickTime, etc. will add to the hardware requirements.
Build your Sign on anything that runs Firefox
First, download and install all required components
- Firefox: free download for Mac, Linux or Windows
- Full Fullscreen extension for Firefox: free download
- Customized Firefox sittings: make sure Firefox isn't running and then copy and paste these settings into your prefs.js file (in your Firefox profile folder)
Next, install and configure Firefox
- Open Firefox
- Right click, deselect "Full screen"
- Log into your Corktop account
- Click on the "Deliver" tab
- Create a new sign if you don't already have an existing one by clicking on "New Sign" in the lower right, entering the appropriate information, and clicking "Create"
- Click on the edit icon (the pencil) of the Sign under "My Signs"
- Copy the CID
- Go to the URL "https://corktop.theredpost.com/signs/[CID]", substituting "[CID]" for the CID you copied and pasted
- Go to Firefox > Preferences > Main and click "Use Current Page" to set this page as your default home page.
- Right click, select "Full screen"
- Quit Firefox to make sure the settings are saved.
Next, you need to do 2 things: set your computer to load Firefox automatically upon boot and turn off any screensavers, sleep modes, or anything else that would cause your Sign to go blank. Instructions vary depending on which platform you're on.
Mac -> Sign
There are several steps that will make your Mac a better Sign.
- System Preferences: Energy Saver
- Sleep: Set computer to never go to sleep
- Sleep: Set display to never go to sleep
- Options: Turn on "Restart automatically after a power failure"
- System Preferences: Desktop & Screen Saver: Screen Saver: Set "Start screen saver" to never
- System preferences: Dock: Check "Automatically hide and show the Dock"
- Hide the menubar & mouse (coming soon)
Linux PC -> Sign
Coming soon.
Windows PC -> Sign
Coming soon.
Run Wicker on any compatible hardware
Wicker is our customized version of Ubuntu with an 5 minute configuration process and all the kinks worked out for you. It boots off a USB flash drive, which you can buy from us pre-installed or download Wicker for free and install it on your own.
We will be certifying more hardware and components that are compatible with Wicker. For now, this is what's required:
Hardware Requirements
- x86 compatible processor
- 1 GB memory or greater
- 1 GB of storage or greater
- Zonet ZEW1602 series 802.11 b/g wifi card
Compatible Hardware
- VIA PC3500G series motherboards
