Overview
The Firstup app shows your organization's Firstup posts on your screens. Each post appears with its headline, text, author, topic, and picture. The slide also shows the like, comment, and share counts, as well as a QR code that opens the post on a phone.
Use it on lobby, break room, or office screens to keep everyone up to date, including the people who rarely open the Firstup app.
Available on the Premium & Enterprise plans.
This app runs on all player types. You might not see some of the menus below if your account is on a different plan.
The Firstup app in the App Gallery
What the Firstup App Shows
Every published post in the topic you select, one per slide, including posts limited to an audience in Firstup. Pick a topic that suits the people who see your screens.
Videos show as their preview picture. They don't play on screen.
Polls don't appear. The rest of the post does.
Before You Start
The app connects to Firstup with API credentials that Firstup issues to your organization. Have these ready:
A Firstup program for your organization, with published posts in the topics you plan to show.
A Client ID and a Client Secret. Firstup issues them on request: contact Firstup support or your Firstup representative and ask for API client credentials with the content.read scope.
The credentials only read published content.
Yodeck never posts, edits, or deletes anything in Firstup. Store the Client Secret somewhere safe all the same, because it gives read access to every published post in your program.
Creating a Firstup App
To display your Firstup posts on your screens, click on the Firstup app within your app gallery to set it up, and complete the app details as follows:
App Settings
Navigate to the left Main Menu and select the Apps tab.
Click the Create App button, then find and select the Firstup app. You can also find it under the Communication & Culture category.
Once the app pop-up window appears, click the Use App button.
Provide a Name for the app and, optionally, a Description.
Authentication: click Connect with Firstup. In the Connect to Firstup window, paste the Client ID and Client Secret exactly as Firstup sent them, then click Connect. The app removes spaces at the start or end for you. Yodeck finds the right Firstup region for your organization (US or EU) on its own, which takes a few seconds.
Once connected, the Authentication field shows the Firstup logo with a Disconnect option, and the Topic field appears. Topic: select the topic whose posts you want on screen, or All topics. You need a topic before you can preview or save the app, and the list has a search box.
Language: select the language of the app's own text, such as its labels and dates. See the F.A.Q. on which elements the Language drop-down translates.
Refresh Rate: set how often, in minutes, the app picks up new posts, from 15 to 180. The default is 30.
Post Settings
Post Types: choose which Firstup post formats to show: Articles, Links, Images, Videos, and Notes. The app selects all five by default, and you need at least one. Most posts made in Creator Studio count as Articles.
Number of Posts: set how many of the most recent posts the app rotates through, from 1 to 100. The default is 10.
Post Expiration: hide older posts by choosing Last 24 hours, Last 7 days, or Last 30 days, or keep None (the default) to show posts of any age. When no post falls inside the window, the app shows the latest post.
Post Duration: set how many seconds each post stays on screen, from 5 to 60. The default is 10.
Post Overflow Behaviour: choose what happens when a post's text is longer than the space available. Scroll (the default) moves the text so viewers can read all of it, and Truncate cuts it off.
Scrolling Speed: choose Slow (the default), Medium, or Fast. This field appears only with Scroll.
Style Settings
Layout: choose Visual (the default) to put the picture front and center with the text alongside it, or Editorial to give the text more room with a smaller picture. The Final Result section below shows both.
Theme: choose Light (the default), Dark, or Custom. With Custom, three more fields appear: Font Family, Text Color, and Background Color.
Orientation: keep Auto (the default) to follow the screen, or choose Landscape or Portrait.
Hide Header: turn this on to remove the header. The Title, Upload Logo, Date Format, and Time Format fields then disappear.
Title: enter a title for the header, for example the name of a location, or leave it blank to show none.
Upload Logo: add your logo to the header.
Date Format: choose how the date appears in the header, for example Wed, 01 Jan 2025 (the default) or 01 Jan 2025.
Time Format: choose 2:30 PM (12-hour) (the default), 14:30 (24-hour) or None to leave the time out.
Hide Footer: turn this on to remove the footer of the app.
Hide Post Media: turn this on to show the posts without their pictures. The Media Fit field then disappears.
Media Fit: choose Crop (the default) to fill the picture area and trim the edges, or Fit to show the whole picture, which can leave space around it.
Advanced Settings
Tags: add tags to organize the app or to use it in a Tag-Based Playlist. Click Manage Tags to edit your account's tags.
Default Duration: set how long, in seconds, the app plays when you add it to a playlist or a Tag-Based Playlist. The default is 20.
Availability: turn this on to schedule when the app is active, then set a From and To date and time. Click Add Scheduled Availability for more periods or tick Non-expiring. See Media Availability for the details.
Click Preview to see the real posts of your topic. Then click Save, and your app is ready to use. If you work in All workspaces, the Portal asks which workspace to save the app in.
Creating a Firstup app (new with empty fields)
Connecting the Firstup app with your Client ID and Client Secret
Finishing the Firstup app configuration
Firstup App Final Result
The examples below showcase how Yodeck displays the Firstup app in its preview and on screens.
Visual layout: an article post
Visual layout: a video post shows its preview picture
Editorial layout: a link post
Editorial layout: an image post
The App Details panel shows sample posts.
The small preview in the App Details panel, and in the Layout Editor, shows sample posts even after you connect. Click Preview in the app to see the real posts of your topic.
How the Posts Refresh
Yodeck checks Firstup for new posts every few minutes and shares the result with all your screens. A new post reaches your screens within about 5 to 10 minutes, plus the app's Refresh Rate.
The Topic list refreshes about once an hour, so a new topic in Firstup can take up to an hour to appear in the app.
You never need to refresh anything by hand.
Security and Privacy
Yodeck stores your Firstup credentials on its servers and never sends them to your screens.
Your screens receive only the post content they display.
Yodeck uses read-only access and can't change anything in Firstup.
Troubleshooting
Check the Client ID and Client Secret for typos, and make sure you copied the whole secret. If both are right, ask Firstup whether the credentials are still active.
The credentials work but lack read permission. Ask Firstup to add the content.read scope to them, then connect again.
Check that the selected topic has recent published posts and that Post Types includes their type. Most Creator Studio posts are Articles. Try a longer Post Expiration or All topics. Then check that you assigned the app to the screen and pushed your changes.
Wait about 10 minutes plus the app's Refresh Rate. Then check in Firstup that the post is published, in the selected topic and of a selected post type.
The list refreshes about once an hour. Open the app again later and check the list.
That small preview always shows sample posts. Click Preview in the app to see the real posts of your topic.
Your Firstup credentials may have changed. Open the app, click Disconnect, then Connect with Firstup, enter the new Client ID and Client Secret and select the topic again.
Set Post Overflow Behaviour to Scroll and raise Post Duration so the text has time to scroll.
Usually within 5 to 10 minutes of publishing, plus the app's Refresh Rate. Lower the Refresh Rate if your announcements are time-sensitive.
Yes, if they are in the selected topic. The app shows a topic's published posts the same way, whoever they are meant for in Firstup, so pick a topic that suits the people who see your screens.
Your screens stop receiving new posts. Open the app, connect again with the new Client ID and Client Secret and select the topic again.
Firstup issues API credentials to each organization on request. Ask your Firstup contact for API client credentials with the content.read scope.
Yes. Create a separate Firstup app for each set of credentials.
The formats Firstup uses: Articles, Links, Images, Videos and Notes. Most posts made in Creator Studio count as Articles, including image and blank layouts. Images and Notes come from the classic publisher.
No. A video post shows its preview picture.
The topic you selected in the app. With All topics, the post's first topic.
No. A post that includes a poll shows its other content.
Yodeck keeps posts in a short-lived cache for a few minutes so screens load fast, and stores nothing permanently.
Yes. Select Arabic in the Language field. The layout mirrors right to left, and each post keeps the direction it was written in.
Only Yodeck's built-in text is translated. This includes labels, headings and any text generated directly by the Yodeck app.
Content coming from external platforms or APIs is not translated by Yodeck. This includes data retrieved from external services, posts or media from the connected platform, text or metadata supplied by the API source and system messages generated by external platforms.
Need Help?
The Yodeck Support Team can help you out! Log in to your Yodeck account and send us a message from the bottom right corner!