Help Desk Telescript PRO to PRO Newsroom Setup
Telescript Pro Newsroom Setup Instructions
(Windows 10)
Note: This article was written for Windows 10. While most of these steps still apply, Windows 11 settings may vary. With the advent of Windows 11 security measures, it may be more difficult to set up shared folders or make changes to the sharing capability. This will vary from computer to computer.
1. Be sure you are running the latest version of Windows 10, including all Windows updates. Update both computers to the latest version of Telescript Pro software.
2. Once both computers have been upgraded to latest version, designate one computer to be a Host (computer that generates changes), and one to be a Client (computer that is the scroll computer)
3. Depending on your setup, you can use a single Ethernet cable to connect the two laptops. If you are using more than two computers, you will need to use a network hub/switch to connect all computers to the shared folder on the HOST.
Note: It is recommended that you turn OFF your wireless internet connection during this setup.
4. Windows 10 has preset your Network Sharing settings OFF. You need to turn them ON. In the Network & Internet settings section of Control Panel look for Network and Sharing Center. Click Network and Sharing Center and look for Change Advanced Sharing Settings. Click that.
5. Now that you are in Advanced Sharing settings, you will see three sets of dropdowns for Private, Guest or Public, and All Networks. Under Private Guest or Public, turn ON Network Discovery… turn ON File and Printer Sharing. Under All Networks, turn ON Sharing for Public Folders and turn OFF Password Protected Sharing.
6. Save these changes at the bottom of the screen
7. You should be able to see the computers that are connected together in the Network & Internet section of the Windows Explorer window. (It is important to know the designated names of the computers you are using by looking in the System window and finding the Computer Name in that window. System settings can be found in the Control Panel)
8. If you do not see one of the computers, perform the following task on all connected computers…
a. In the Type Here to Search area of your Taskbar (bottom bar on the left) type in TURN WINDOWS FEATURES ON OR OFF. Once you see that in the list of suggestions, click it to open.
b. You will see a window open up. Scroll down to turn ON SMB1.0. Check off the corresponding box to turn it on.
c. After you’ve clicked OK, type SERVICES in the Taskbar search area again. Open the Services app. In the list of services, look for the Function Discovery Resource Publication service.
d. You should now see all of the connected computers in your NETWORK area of Windows Explorer. If not, restart your computers.
e. If you STILL do not see one or more of the computers in question, you will need to make a shared folder on this computer and set it up as a Network Drive. This will be explained below in the section about creating a shared folder.
9. On the Host computer, you need to create a shared folder to store the shared scripts.
a. Create a new folder on the desktop.
b. Right-click the folder and select Properties
c. Click the sharing tab
d. Click the Share button
e. Click the arrow next to the Add button and select Everyone
f. Click Add
g. Now that everyone is added to the users, click the arrow next to Read under the Permissions column and select Read/Write.
h. On the bottom click Share and then Done.
i. Now click the Advanced Sharing button in the Properties window.
j. Check off the Share this folder box
k. Now click the Permissions button and check off all the boxes under the Allow column and click Apply. Click OK to close the windows and then Close the Sharing window. This folder is now discoverable by other computers.
l. If your HOST cannot be seen by the CLIENT computers in the Network area of the computers settings, you will need to make the Shared Folder a Network Folder. To do that perform the following steps:
1. Open File Explorer on the HOST and find and click THIS PC.
2. At the top click COMPUTER
3. Click MAP NETWORK DRIVE and select MAP NETWORK DRIVE
4. Assign a Drive letter from the dropdown
5. Now in the Folder area type \\ (name of the Host computer) \ (shared folder name). For example \\telescript1\show
6. Click Browse and you will see a Browse for Folder window. In the list of devices you should see the name of the Host computer. Click the arrow to the left of it if you don’t see the shared folder. Once you see the shared folder name, click on it and then click OK.
7. Click FINISH in the Map Network Drive Window and your shared folder on the host will now be listed as a Shared Drive in the THIS PC section of File Explorer. You can now navigate to this folder in TelescriptPRO on the clients. You will need to do this on every client that needs to see the Host shared folder.
10. On the Host computer, open Telescript Pro and click Tools at the top, and then select Preferences. Find the DEFAULT tab and make sure Apply Attributes is DE-SELECTED.
11. Now, find the Newsroom tab and make the following adjustments:
a. Newsroom Options : Select Network Remote Host
b. Adjust Program for: Faster Updates
c. Check off Allow Changes to Prompting Script
d. Remote Prompt File name: PROMPT.TRL
e. Command File Name: COMMAND
f. Watched Folder: Navigate using the Browse button to the shared folder. I like to find the folder following this path… Network, select the computer name that the shared folder is on, then select the shared folder
g. Newsroom Misc: Make sure TPW is selected for the Host Export conversion setting. Make sure you have checked off Unzoom Script. All the rest are user preferences that you can turn on or off at your discretion.
12. On the Client computer, open Telescript Pro and click Tools at the top, and then select Preferences. Find the DEFAULT tab and make sure Apply Attributes is DE-SELECTED.
13. On the Client computer, find the Newsroom tab and make the following adjustments:
a. Newsroom Options : Select Network Remote Client
b. Adjust Program for: Uninterrupted Scroll
c. Check off Allow Changes to Prompting Script
d. Remote Prompt File name: PROMPT.TRL (MUST match what you entered in the HOST settings)
e. Command File Name: COMMAND
f. Watched Folder: Navigate using the Browse button to the shared folder. I like to find the folder following this path… Network, select the computer name that the shared folder is on, and then select the shared folder. This also MUST match the shared folder selected in the HOST settings.
g. Newsroom Misc: Check off Disable editing in client mode, TPW is selected for the Host Export conversion setting and check Unzoom Script.
14. On the Host computer, place the scripts to be used inside the shared folder you created. Then open these scripts in Telescript on the host. It is likely that the scripts you have been provided are NOT TPW files (they are probably either DOCX or RTF). You must now SAVE AS each of these files in your Runlist as TPW files.
15. Now that you have a runlist created, and all the files have been saved as TPS files, save the runlist IN THE SHARED FOLDER and name the runlist PROMPT.TRL.
16. Now click CONNECT by clicking the H/C (Connect Disconnect) button on the Runlist toolbar, or select Tools, Newsroom, Connect on the top of the screen.
17. On the Client, click Tools and Connect. Your runlist with all the scripts should now appear.
18. Each time the Host makes a change to a script in the runlist, the user must click the Update button on the Runlist tool bar (or by hitting CTRL + W).
19. If you are making a change the script order, or adding/removing a script to the runlist on the HOST, you must click Update (CTRL + W) as well.
Notes:
A) When updating a scrolling script, you need to keep in mind that any changes made ABOVE the position of the script in the full screen mode (meaning a section of the script that has already been read by the presenter) there WILL be a shift in the position of the text on the screen. The user controlling the Host needs to be mindful of this so not to throw off the presenter or the Client computer operator. However, any changes made to any script that is upcoming (script that has not been scrolled to yet) there will be a millisecond flash indicating a change has been received, but text position will maintain and there will be no disruption in the text positioning. This flash is helpful as it alerts the computer operators that changes are flowing between the computers.
B) When shutting down, be sure the Client computer does NOT save the runlist. The Host computer should be the only computer to save the runlist or any scripts in the runlist when working in the Newsroom configuration. The Client computer must NEVER save any scripts or runlists while working in Newsroom mode.
C) If changes on the Client computer are enabled, be advised that any changes the Client makes to those scripts will be overwritten once the Host makes an update or saves that script.
D) It is helpful to create a shortcut on the Client computer to the Shared folder on the Host in case you want to backup the contents of the folder in a separate location.
E) Keep in mind, the HOST computer will NOT be able to scroll script while CONNECTED in Newsroom mode.
F) Finally, you can add as many Client computers as you’d like. All you need to do is plug the computer you are adding into the hub/switch and follow the setup for a Client computer above.
G) If at any time you need to disconnect the Host – when you reconnect do NOT Save the Runlist when the prompt appears. Select NO. If you select YES you will cause the runlist on the Client to become corrupt.
H) It is very important that if you are given one long script from production to break it into MULTIPLE ITEMS in the runlist. For instance if you have one script with all items (or speakers), take each item (or speaker) and put them into their own file in the runlist. This will ensure there are no disruptions to the script being prompted. As changes come in for each item, either make the change directly to your corresponding item, or if the change is more extensive, copy and paste from the revised script into your corresponding runlist item and update the Client.
I) You may consider placing the shared folder on a network drive so all files can be accessed if the computer where the shared files live goes down. That way, it will be easier to re-establish the newsroom if needed.