Add widgets: clock, weather, countdown, QR code, Google files, YouTube and web pages

Widgets are live pieces of content you put on a slide: a clock, the weather, a countdown, a QR code, a published Google Sheet, Slides deck or Doc, or a YouTube video. Web pages work the same way. All of them are included in the $5 per screen plan.

Steps: add a widget slide

1. Open a playlist and click Add slide.
2. Choose Widget on the left.
3. Pick the Widget type, for example Clock.
4. If the widget needs settings, edit the Config (JSON) box. It starts with an example you can change. Keep the quotes and curly brackets exactly as they are and only change the values. The examples below show what to type.
5. Click Add. The widget fills the slide.

To place a widget on part of a slide, next to an image for example, select the slide, click Edit slide, then Add object and Widget. Drag and resize it, and click Save.

Clock

Shows hours and minutes, updated every second. No settings needed. It uses the player device's time zone and its 12- or 24-hour format, so set the right time zone on the device. The time itself is corrected against CastWize's server, so every screen agrees.

Weather

Shows the current temperature in °C for a city, with a label under it. Data comes from open-meteo.com.

{ "city": "Chicago", "label": "Chicago" }

If the wrong city with the same name comes up, use coordinates instead: { "latitude": 41.88, "longitude": -87.63, "label": "Chicago" }.

Countdown

Counts down in days, hours, minutes and seconds, then stays at zero.

{ "targetDate": "2026-12-31T00:00:00", "label": "New Year" }

Without anything after the time, the countdown uses the player device's local time. Adding a Z at the end (2026-12-31T00:00:00Z) means UTC instead.

QR code

Choose Qrcode. Put the link people should open in data, and an optional line of text under the code in label.

{ "data": "https://example.com/menu", "label": "Scan for the full menu" }

Google Sheets, Slides and Docs

1. In Google, open the file and choose File → Share → Publish to web, then publish it. The widget can only show published files; CastWize does not sign in to your Google account for these widgets.
2. Copy the file's ID from its normal address: the long part between /d/ and /edit.
3. Choose GoogleSheets, GoogleSlides or GoogleDocs and paste the ID:

{ "sheetId": "1AbC...xyz" }
{ "slideId": "1AbC...xyz" }
{ "docId": "1AbC...xyz" }

Or paste the full link from the Publish to web window as embedUrl, for example { "embedUrl": "https://docs.google.com/..." }. A Slides deck advances every 5 seconds and loops; to choose a different speed, pick the delay in Publish to web, then use that embed link. Anyone with the published link can see the file, so don't publish private data.

When you edit the file in Google, the screen shows the new version the next time the slide comes round (once Google has republished it, which it does automatically unless you turned that off).

YouTube

Choose Youtube and paste the video link in YouTube video link. Any youtube.com or youtu.be link works, including a Share link from the YouTube app. The video plays muted and loops. Set the slide's duration to the length you want it on screen.

Web pages

1. Click Add slide and choose Webpage.
2. Type the full address under URL, starting with https://.
3. Click Add.

The page must be public. Pages that need a login won't show, and a few sites block being shown inside another page. Check the slide preview before you publish.

Do widgets work without internet?

The clock and countdown keep running. Weather, Google files, YouTube and web pages load from the internet, so they need a working connection on the player.

What if a widget shows nothing?

First check the Config (JSON) box: a missing quote or bracket means your change wasn't saved. Then check the preview in Studio. For Google files, make sure the file is published to the web. See Troubleshooting.