Configuration Tool

See Frequently Asked Questions at the end of this section for more details on user inactivity and attract screens.

Attract/Inactivity Tab

The settings below appear on the main Attract/Inactivity tab.  This tab contains a “Custom Timeouts” button (when selecting “Use Inactivity Timer” in the Inactivity section) that shows the Custom Timeouts window, and a pencil icon (under the Additional Displays section) that shows the Additional Display Attract Screens window.  For details on these windows, see the sections for Custom Timeouts Window and Setting Up Attract Screens for Your Additional Displays that come after these Attract/Inactivity tab settings.

Inactivity

• Reset kiosk due to inactivity based on (also called “Inactivity Mode”) - Select the inactivity mode for your kiosk or computer: “Disabled”, “Use Inactivity Timer”, or “Use User Presence Device” (see below for more details on each).

Disabling Inactivity Mode

In the Inactivity section of the tab (see above), set the “Inactivity Mode” to “Disabled” to turn off the Inactivity Timer for your kiosk/computer and any devices being used with it.  The Inactivity section of the tab will look like the image above.

Using Inactivity Timer

Select the “Use Activity Timer” option, and the Inactivity section of the tab will look like the image below.

• Number of seconds with no activity until reset occurs (also called “Timer”) - Sets the seconds that the kiosk or computer can be inactive before the user session ends (Attract Screen mode starts; see Frequently Asked Questions below for more details on Attract Screen mode).
• Custom Timeouts - Select this button to set up custom timeout items (see Custom Timeouts Window below).
• Show Inactivity Warning - If checked, tells KioWare to show a warning at a set number of seconds before the user session ends (Attract Screen mode starts).  Set the number of seconds, and in the box below, enter the message that will show.  If you also want to show “Continue” and “Log Off” buttons on the warning, check the next checkbox.  This tells KioWare not to continue a user session until “Continue” is selected, and if no buttons are selected, KioWare ends the user session when the “Timer” (see above) counts down to zero.

Using User Presence Device

Note: This feature is only available with the Basic and Full models of KioWare.

Select the “Use User Presence Device” option in the “Inactivity Mode” dropdown, and the Inactivity section of the tab will look like the image below.

• User Presence Device - Select the user presence device for your kiosk or computer (“Digi Watchport/D”, “Larco Security Devices (Keyboard)”, or “Larco Security Mat (Serial)”) or select “[Disabled]” to turn off this feature (see below for more details on each setting).

Disabling User Presence Device

When the “Inactivity Mode” is set to “Use User Presence Device” (see above), set the “User Presence Device” to “[Disabled]” to turn off this feature for your kiosk or computer.  The Inactivity section of the tab will look like the image above.

Using Digi Watchport/D

• COM Port - This dropdown contains a list of all available communications (COM) ports on the system.  Select the COM port assigned to the Digi Watchport/D device, or you can enter a new one.  If you do not know what COM port is assigned to the device, use Windows Device Manager to find it.
  1. Open the Windows Control Panel.  (In Tile view of Windows 8 and higher, place mouse at the extreme bottom left corner of the screen and, after the tooltip appears, right click to display the hidden context menu.  Select “Control Panel” in this menu.)
  2. Click the “System” icon (“System and Security” icon in Windows 7 and higher).
  3. Click the “Hardware” tab (“Hardware and Sound” link in Windows 7 and higher).
  4. Click the “Device Manager” icon.
• Sensitivity - Move the slider to set how sensitive the device will be to detecting user presence (requiring a user to be closer or allowing a user to be farther away; use the default setting or a value from 1 to 9).  If the device does not support sensitivity, this control will be disabled.

Using Larco Security Devices (Keyboard)

Set the “User Presence Device” to “Larco Security Devices (Keyboard)”, and the Inactivity section of the tab will look like this.

Note: In Larco's SonicGuard application, use these keystrokes in your walk-away and walk-to setups.

Walk-Away	Left-Shift + Right-Shift + Left-CTL + Right-CTL + F12
Walk-To	Left-Shift + Right-Shift + Left-CTL + Right-CTL + F11

Using Larco Security Mat (Serial)

Set the “User Presence Device” to “Larco Security Mat (Serial)”, and the Inactivity section of the tab will look like this.

• COM Port - This dropdown contains a list of all available communications (COM) ports on the system.  Select the COM port assigned to the Larco security mat, or you can enter a new one.  If you do not know what COM port is assigned to the device, use Windows Device Manager to find it (see Using Digi Watchport/D, COM Port above for details on how to do this).

Session End Settings

• When the session ends, clear - Tell KioWare what should be cleared from its browser when each user session ends: “Nothing”, “Cookies Only”, or “All User Data, including Cache and Cookies”.
• Clear Spooler Print Queue - If checked, the Windows print queue for the default printer is cleared when each user session ends, to help prevent documents from printing.
• Clear Clipboard - If checked, all content that was copied and stored on the Windows Clipboard will be deleted when each user session ends.
• Reset Volume - If checked, use the slider to set the system volume level that KioWare will return to when each user session ends.

Attract Screen Mode

There are three attract screen modes: “Disabled”, “Local Folder Contents”, and “Web Page List”.

Disabling Attract Screen Mode

On the Attract/Inactivity tab, select the “Disabled” option to turn off Attract Screen mode.  The Attract Screen Mode section of the tab will look like this.

Using Local Folder Contents

Select the “Local Folder Contents” option, and the Attract Screen Mode section of the tab will look like this.

• Open Data Folder - Select this button to open your attract looper directory (found in your user data directory; see Configuration Tool, Frequently Asked Questions for details on your user data directory).  When Attract Screen mode starts, KioWare will automatically loop through all files placed in this folder.
• Override Zoom Level during Attract Mode - If checked, instead of using the default zoom level (see Browser Tab, General Browser Settings, Zoom Level), the attract looper will use the zoom percentage entered to the right.

Using Web Page List

Select the “Web Page List” option and these settings show.

• Continue with Next Screen - If checked, each time KioWare enters Attract Screen mode, it will remember which attract screen was last shown and display the next defined attract screen.  If unchecked, KioWare will always display the first defined attract screen whenever Attract Screen mode is entered.
• Default Screen Delay (sec) - The default time (in seconds) that an attract screen will be shown before showing the next attract screen.  This is used only when no specific timeouts are set for individual attract screens.
• Add Attract Screen - Select this button and enter the URL or file path to an attract screen.  A list of all attract screens will appear in the pane below.
  • Exit Action (unlabeled) - Tells KioWare how an attract screen will behave when its display timer (see below) counts down to zero (Return to Start Page, Stay on This Page, or Ignore).
  • Attract Screen Display Timer (stopwatch icon) - When the “Use Default Delay” label shows, the default “Timer” (inactivity timer; see above) will be applied to an individual attract screen.  To set a custom timeout for a screen, select the small stopwatch icon and set the timer (label will change to “Custom Delay”).  To remove a custom timeout and revert back to the default “Timer”, select the large stopwatch icon.
  • Delete (“X” icon) - Select this icon to remove a specific attract screen.
• Override Zoom Level during Attract Mode - If checked, instead of using the default zoom level (see Browser Tab, General Browser Settings, Zoom Level), the web pages (that are set up as attract screens) will use the zoom percentage entered to the right.

Additional Displays

Note: These settings are only available with the Full and Basic models of KioWare (see above image of main Attract/Inactivity tab).

• Disable User Interaction on Additional Displays - If checked, user interaction (pressing keys, touching a touchscreen, etc.) will not do anything on the additional display.  If unchecked, you can set a different start page for each additional display and tell KioWare to always display the first attract screen when entering Attract Screen mode, or to remember the last attract screen and start with the next one in the list (see Setting Up Attract Screens for Your Additional Displays, Additional Display Start Page URL and Additional Display Attract Screens, Continue with Next Screen below).
• Add New Display - Select this button to add a new display.
• Edit Display (pencil icon) - Select this icon to make changes to an additional display (see Setting Up Attract Screens for Your Additional Displays below).
• Remove Display (“X” icon) - Select this icon to delete an additional display.

Custom Timeouts Window

This window is shown when you select the “Custom Timeouts” button on the main Attract/Inactivity tab (see Attract/Inactivity Tab above).

Select the “Add Custom Timeout” button and these settings will show.

• Custom Timeout Item (unlabeled) - Enter the URL or file path for a custom timeout item (program, web page, etc.).
• CONT - Select this icon to set matching for regular expressions (“REGX” label) or for CONTAINS matching (“CONT” label).
• Custom Timer - Set the time (in seconds) that a custom timeout item will use to override the default inactivity timer (see Inactivity, Using Inactivity Timer above).
• Edit - Select any setting above and make changes.  KioWare automatically saves them.
• Delete (“X” icon) - Select this icon to remove a custom timeout item.

Setting Up Attract Screens for Your Additional Displays

This screen is shown when you select the pencil icon for an additional display on the main Attract/Inactivity tab (see Attract/Inactivity Tab above).

• Additional Display Start Page URL - Home page of your additional display.  Enter a complete URL that begins with a protocol (e.g., “http://” or “file:///”).  If left blank, the default KioWare Welcome screen will display.
  
  
• Note: To show the above setting, you must first uncheck the “Disable User Interaction on Additional Displays” checkbox on the main Attract/Inactivity tab (see Additional Displays, Disable User Interaction on Additional Displays above).
  
  
• Optic Zoom for this Display - Instead of using the default zoom level (see Browser Tab, General Browser Settings, Zoom Level), the additional display will use the zoom percentage entered to the right.
  
  
• Note: To show the above setting, you must first uncheck the “Disable User Interaction on Additional Displays” checkbox on the main Attract/Inactivity tab (see Additional Displays, Disable User Interaction on Additional Displays above).  If this checkbox is checked, the additional display will use the Attract Screen mode zoom level (“Override Zoom Level during Attract Mode” on the main Attract/Inactivity tab), or it will use 100% if no Attract Screen mode zoom level is set.
  
  
• Override Zoom Level in Attract Mode - If checked, instead of using the default additional display zoom level (see “Optic Zoom for this Display” above), the attract screens on this additional display will use the zoom percentage entered to the right.
• Additional Display Attract Mode - Select the attract screen mode for your additional display: “Disabled”, “Local Folder Contents”, or “Web Page List” (see below for more details on each).

Disabling Additional Display Attract Screens

On the Additional Display screen (see above), set the “Additional Display Attract Mode” to “Disabled” to turn off Attract Screen mode for your additional display.  The tab will look like the image above.

Using Local Folder Contents

Select the “Local Folder Contents” option, and the Additional Display Attract Mode section of the tab will look like the image below.  Use the “Open Data Folder” button to open your attract looper directory (found in your user data directory; see Configuration Tool, Frequently Asked Questions for details on your user data directory).  Within the attract looper directory, place your files in the folder that is labeled with the same number as your additional display (numbers are listed in the Additional Displays pane on the main Attract/Inactivity tab).  When Attract Screen mode starts, KioWare will automatically loop through all files placed in this folder.

Using Web Page List

Select the “Web Page List” option and these settings show.

• Continue with Next Screen - If checked, each time KioWare enters Attract Screen mode on the additional display, it will remember which attract screen was last shown and display the next defined attract screen.  If unchecked, KioWare will always display the first defined attract screen whenever Attract Screen mode is entered.  Note: To show this setting, you must first uncheck the “Disable User Interaction on Additional Displays” checkbox (see Additional Displays, Disable User Interaction on Additional Displays above).
• Default Screen Delay (sec) - The default time (in seconds) that an attract screen will be shown before showing the next attract screen.  This is used only when no specific timeouts are set for individual attract screens.
• Add Attract Screen - Select this button and enter the URL or file path to an attract screen.  A list of all attract screens will appear in the pane below.
  • Exit Action (unlabeled) - Tells KioWare how an attract screen will behave when its display timer (see below) counts down to zero (Return to Start Page, Stay on This Page, or Ignore).
  • Additional Display Timer (stopwatch icon) - When the “Use Default Delay” label shows, the default “Timer” (inactivity timer; see Inactivity, Timer above) will be applied to an individual attract screen.  To set a custom timeout for a screen, select the small stopwatch icon and set the timer (label will change to “Custom Delay”).  To remove a custom timeout and revert back to the default “Timer”, select the large stopwatch icon.
  • Delete (“X” icon) - Select this icon to remove a specific attract screen.

Frequently Asked Questions

If the answers to your questions are not in this table, visit the KioWare website for more FAQs.

What are the different modes in KioWare?	There are two different modes in KioWare: User mode, when KioWare is in use (user session has started), and Attract Screen mode, when KioWare sits idle and will display any attract screens you set up (see below) or behave how you tell it to.
What happens when KioWare sits idle?	Setting the “Inactivity Mode” to “User Inactivity Timer”, you can set up an inactivity timer that will end the user session (enter Attract Screen mode) after it is inactive (no users using it) for a set number of seconds.  If you do this and have attract screens set up (see below), these screens will display once the inactivity timer counts down to zero.  If you have any custom timeouts set up (see below), these items will show before the first attract screen.  Or, you can set the “Inactivity Mode” to “Use User Presence Device” to let a connected device sense when user presence is far and start Attract Screen mode.
What is an attract screen?	This is any screen, html page, website, application, etc., that you tell KioWare to display once the inactivity timer reaches zero.  Use the “Add Attract Screen” button to set up multiple attract screens and tell KioWare the order to display them and how long to display each.  The ultimate goal of attract screens is to catch the attention of potential users and get them to use the kiosk.
What is the difference between an attract screen's timeout and a custom timeout?	An attract screen timeout tells KioWare when to stop showing an attract screen and start showing the next one.  Attract screens only show when the “Timer” (inactivity timer) for the user session counts down to zero.  With custom timeouts, you can tell KioWare to show a web page or run a program after the “Timer” counts down but before any attract screens are shown.  Pages/programs added on the Custom Timeouts window are considered part of the user session, and no attract screens will show until the last custom timeout reaches zero.  In other words, the order that KioWare shows items is: When KioWare is run, home page (see General Tab, Start Page URL) shows until inactivity timer counts down to zero. First custom timeout item shows until its timer counts down to zero. Second custom timeout item shows until its timer counts down to zero, and so on. When last custom timeout item counts down to zero, the user session ends and Attract Screen mode kicks in. First attract screen shows until its timer (default or custom) counts down to zero. Second attract screen shows until its timer (default or custom) counts down to zero, and so on.
What are regular expressions and CONTAINS matching for custom timeouts?	The “REGX” and “CONT” labels tell KioWare whether to do regular expression matching or CONTAINS matching on a URL or file path that is entered.  (For definitions of regular expressions and CONTAINS matching, see Browser Tab, Frequently Asked Questions.)  Once KioWare finds a URL/file path that matches one entered on the Custom Timeouts window, it will start the timer for that item and count down to zero.
How long will attract screens display?	Between 1 and 10,000 seconds.  You can change the “Default Screen Delay”, which tells KioWare to show all attract screens for a set amount of time, and you can also use the “Attract Screen Display Timer” setting to set up custom display times for individual attract screens.
How will an attract screen behave when its display timer counts down to zero?	Using the “Exit Action” dropdown, you can tell an attract screen to behave in one of three ways when a user touches the screen, keyboard, or mouse in Attract Screen mode: Return to Start Page - KioWare will display the home page that you set up (see General Tab, Start Page URL). Stay on This Page - KioWare will use an attract screen as the way to get back into the software. Ignore - KioWare will remain in Attract Screen mode, but move to the next attract screen once the attract screen delay counts down to zero.
How can I use attract screens for advertising?	“Stay on This Page” and “Ignore” behaviors (see above) can be used for advertising.  Each attract screen can be its own advertisement.  If there is more content for the ad, then the attract screen can be set up to redirect to itself (“Stay on This Page”), allowing users to go to and view that extra information.  Or, if no extra content is associated with the ad, then you can set up the attract screen to do nothing (“Ignore”), and the next attract screen (i.e., advertisement) will be shown once the attract screen delay time reaches zero.
How can I change the order of attract screens?	Select any attract screen in the Attract Screens pane and drag it up or down to reorder.
I want to automatically loop through many images that are in the same folder.	Set the “Attract Screen Mode” to “Local Folder Contents”.  Use the “Open Data Folder” button to open your attract looper directory (found in your user data directory; see Configuration Tool, Frequently Asked Questions for details on your user data directory).  When Attract Screen mode starts, KioWare will automatically loop through all files placed in this folder.  For additional display attract screens, select the pencil icon on the main Attract/Inactivity tab, set the “Additional Display Attract Mode” to “Local Folder Contents”, and select the “Open Data Folder” button.  Within the attract looper directory, place files in the folder labeled with the number of your additional display (numbers are listed in the Additional Displays pane on the main Attract/Inactivity tab).
I want to use attract screens for advertising and show each screen the same number of times.  How can I be sure that each time a user session ends, KioWare picks up where it left off and does not start over with the first attract screen?	Checking the “Continue with Next Screen” checkbox helps KioWare to always remember the last attract screen that was displayed.  When the next user session ends (Attract Screen mode kicks in), KioWare can then start where it last stopped, ensuring that all attract screens are displayed an equal number of times.  Note: When this checkbox is not checked, KioWare's default behavior is to start with the first defined attract screen each time it enters Attract Screen mode.
All but one of my attract screens need to be shown for the same amount of time.  How do I set a custom timeout for one screen only?	You can set the “Default Screen Delay” for all attract screens. Then, add the attract screen that you want to show for a different time, and select the stopwatch icon to set the timeout for just that screen.
Can I use a video as an attract screen?	Yes, using the “Add Attract Screen” button, you can add a video file as an attract screen.  You can also add an HTML page that contains a video file.  Note: When a video file is used as an attract screen, it may take some time to load before it starts to play.  You may need to make the video's “Attract Screen Display Timer” longer to account for load time.
I set my attract screen to a file stored on the computer that is running KioWare, but it is not showing when my co-workers run it.	Be sure the person(s) running KioWare have permissions to access the file.  Right click the file, select “Properties”, and “Security” tab.  Be sure the permissions are set to “Everyone”.
I set up two monitors to run with KioWare: a touchscreen to be the user interface and an LCD screen to display pages based on input to the touchscreen.  I am using JavaScript to change the URL that the second monitor displays, so why am I seeing errors?	For the dynamic setting of second monitor URLs to work, you must have at least one attract screen set up on the second monitor.  Use the “Add New Display” button to let KioWare know that you have an additional monitor connected to your kiosk or computer, and then select the pencil icon to set up attract screens for that monitor.
I need help with custom designs of attract screens.	For help with custom attract screens, contact KioWare via phone (Toll Free USA: 877-843-4790; International: 1-717-843-4790) or our website (www.kioware.com).  Also visit the Custom Development section of the KioWare website for more details on KioWare's custom development.
What are additional displays?	They are other monitors, touchscreens, LDC screens, etc., that are connected to the kiosk or computer that is running KioWare.  KioWare allows an unlimited number of additional displays to be used, and each display can show its own attract screens.  Use the “Add New Display” button to tell KioWare that you are adding new displays to your kiosk or computer.  Then use the pencil icon to set up attract screens for each display.
What happens when the “Disable User Interaction on Additional Displays” checkbox is unchecked?	When this checkbox is unchecked, pressing keys and touching a touchscreen actually do things on an additional display, and a few other things are also done for each additional display you set up: Settings reset when booting your kiosk or computer (just like with the main display). Browsers reset whenever a user session ends (Attract Screen mode starts). When in Attract Screen mode, an attract screen list will loop, and will stop when there is an active session. If the “Continue with Next Screen” checkbox is checked for an additional display, KioWare remembers which attract screen was last shown and displays the next defined attract screen the next time Attract Screen mode starts. A different start page can be set for each additional display (enter it in the “Additional Display Start Page URL” box). A virtual keyboard shows on each additional display whenever you place mouse cursor in (or touch if using a touchscreen) an entry box (see User Interface Tab, Virtual Keyboard for more details on virtual keyboards). The additional display number is logged to Event Logs with all of the normal statistics (see Browser Tab, Frequently Asked Questions for more details on Event Logs).
What are cookies and where do they come from?	They are small text files (.txt files) that contain information about users of a specific website, such as pages you visit, custom colors you set, any information you enter (e.g., name and address), any purchases you make, any payment information (e.g., credit card number) you enter, and even your geographic location.  Cookies are created by web servers.  When you visit a web site, the web server for that site sends a cookie to your computer.  Since web servers cannot “remember” information about users, they rely on both cookies to store that information and users' web browsers to send the cookies to them.  Then, the next time you visit that same website, a cookie tells the web server to do things such as showing your custom page layouts, showing items you previously placed in a shopping cart, etc.  If you prefer that cookies do not send information on you to web servers, use the “Cookies Only” or “All User Data, including Cache and Cookies” option in the “When the session ends, clear” dropdown to tell KioWare to delete all cookies from your kiosk after each user session ends.
Are cookies harmful to my kiosk and can I delete them?	Generally, most are not harmful.  They are text files, not computer programs, and so they do not complete any actions.  Most cookies have a unique ID number that lets them only store or track information relating to a specific website, and does not let any other website/web server read them.  However, some cookies may stay on a computer for years and track a user's web usage and preferences over a long period of time, and spyware cookies are sometimes sent to a computer to secretly “spy” on that computer while it is being used, which makes some users question if their privacy is being invaded.  If you have any concerns about privacy while running KioWare, you can set the “When the session ends, clear” dropdown to “Cookies Only” or “All User Data, including Cache and Cookies”, to tell KioWare to delete all cookies from your kiosk after each user session ends.
What is a spooler print queue?	SPOOL (Simultaneous Peripheral Operations Online) is an area of physical memory storage that temporarily holds data while it is being sent from one place to another.  With print spooling, an application sends data (in this case, whatever you print) to a print queue (a running list of all print jobs sent to the printer), where it is held until the printer is available to print it.  This frees up the application so it can be used for something else until the printer is ready to complete the print job.  In KioWare, if the “Clear Spooler Print Queue” checkbox is checked, anything that is still in the print queue when a user session ends will be automatically deleted and not printed.  Note: This checkbox will clear the print queue, but anything already in the printer's memory will not be cleared when the user session ends.