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Storefront

mw.portal.storefront

What has to be configured

The storefront shows nothing on its own: it shows what the operator has entered in the console. The chain is required in full, every link of it:

  1. A stream that is actually running (Create and manage).
  2. A channel pointing at that stream, with a number (Channels).
  3. A package that contains the channel (Packages).
  4. A subscriber with cabinet credentials and a subscription to that package (Subscribers).

The next two are optional, but they are what makes a storefront more than a list of links:

  • Archive (DVR) on the stream — without it the viewer only gets live, and no past programme opens (Archive (DVR)).
  • Programme guide — without it the guide is empty and only the current broadcast can be watched (Programme guide).

A channel with no stream is visible in the storefront but does not play: the player answers This channel has no broadcast configured.

How the viewer signs in

There are two ways in, and both end the same way — the device gets a token of its own. Revoking one device leaves the others alone.

With a login and password. The operator issues them on the subscriber's card, block Cabinet account. The subscriber types them on the sign-in screen. On a computer or a phone this is the main path.

With a code from the screen. The TV shows a six-digit code and the line Enter this code in your account on a phone or a computer. The subscriber opens the storefront on a phone or a computer, signs in there with the password — that is their account page — and types the code into the Sign in a TV block. The TV signs itself in within seconds, and nobody has to type a password with a remote control.

The switch under the form (Sign in with a code instead and Sign in with a login and password) moves the screen between the two. A TV opens on the code, a browser on the password form.

A code lives for 10 minutes and is gone after first use. Five failed sign-in attempts in a row lock the login for a minute — the counter expires by itself, and nothing has to be unlocked by hand.

If the subscriber cannot manage on their own, the operator confirms the code for them: subscriber card, block Device pairing. That is the support path — the normal sign-in closes on the subscriber alone.

Screens and the remote

The storefront starts straight in the player: the channel fills the screen, and a hint with the number, the title and the current programme appears briefly over it.

The controls are the same on a remote and on a keyboard:

  • Up and down — previous and next channel.
  • Left and right — previous and next programme of the current channel: this is how catch-up from the archive is opened.
  • OK or space — apply the choice standing in the hint.
  • Back — cancel a channel change that has not been applied, and close the guide when it is open.
  • The yellow button — open and close the programme guide. On a keyboard it is F7 or ~.

Channel switching leaves room to think: the arrows walk the list, the hint shows where the viewer will land, and the channel changes on OK or by itself after a couple of seconds. Ten channels can be walked through without making the player open every one of them.