Museums, libraries and communities · For museum directors, exhibit managers and the staff who look after kiosks
Museum kiosk software your own staff can keep current
The kiosk is the easy part. The software decides who can change it, what happens when the network drops, and whether the screen still works after the person who set it up moves on.
No account needed to start. Free to use. No payment details required.
What is museum kiosk software?
Museum kiosk software is the program that runs on a gallery or lobby kiosk: what visitors tap, how staff update it and what happens offline. HistoryShowcase runs in a web browser, full screen or as an installed app, saves the live site for offline use, and lets colleagues added by email edit the stories, with changes that save as they type.
Updated
- Made for
- Museum directors, exhibit managers and the staff who look after kiosks
- Where it goes
- Lobby or admissions desk, End of a gallery, Education room
- Layouts
- Portrait gallery, Photo gallery, Timeline, Honors ledger
- Visitors can filter by
- Topic, Year
- Cost
- Free to use. No payment details required.
A kiosk is only as current as the last person who could edit it
Museum kiosks tend to go one of two ways. A slideshow on a small computer is simple, but visitors can only watch it, and changing a slide means finding the file. A custom app from an exhibit design firm can be beautiful and made for one gallery, but updating it may mean another contract, and it can outlast the people who knew how it worked.
Browser-based kiosk software sits between them. HistoryShowcase runs from a web address on your own kiosk, full screen or as an installed app, and saves the live site so it keeps working offline. Curators, educators and volunteers sign in from their own computers, edit the stories, and keep a new story Private until it’s ready.
How does museum kiosk software compare with a slideshow or a custom-built app?
| What matters | Looping slideshow or custom-built app | HistoryShowcase |
|---|---|---|
| What visitors do | Slideshow: watch it loop. Custom app: whatever it was designed for | Tap, search by name or word, filter by year |
| Design freedom | A custom app can look and behave exactly as the exhibit designer intends | Your logo, colors, fonts and motion, with six layouts to choose from |
| Who updates it | Slideshow: whoever has the file. Custom app: may need the firm that built it | Colleagues added by email as editors |
| When the network drops | A local slideshow keeps running; an app depends on how it was built | Keeps showing the saved live site |
| Getting started | Slideshow: an afternoon. Custom app: a design project | Open a web address on your own kiosk |
| Seeing it at home | Usually not possible | The live site has its own web address |
What to look for in museum kiosk software
Runs in a web browser
No special player. Open the site’s web address on the kiosk full screen or as an installed app.
Offline saving
Running full screen or as an installed app, the kiosk saves the live site. If an update fails partway, it keeps the last complete version.
Pairing from the editor
Pair a kiosk with a one-time code of two words and four digits, or use a reusable display code.
Team roles
Add colleagues by email as owners, publishers, editors or viewers. Changes save automatically as you type.
Private until it’s ready
Mark a new story Private while you work on it, and use Preview to see the screen exactly as visitors will.
Undo and change history
Undo a mistake or look back at what changed, so a volunteer’s edit is easy to check.
A kiosk structure visitors can use standing up
Visitors at a kiosk stand and tap, so keep the home screen to four or five collections and let each open into sub-collections.
Your siteTouch to Explore
- Settlers and foundersPortrait gallery
Portraits of early families, each opening a profile with letters and photos.
- Main StreetPhoto gallery
Storefronts and street scenes, with a sub-collection for each block.
- The railroadTimeline
The depot’s story in date order, from the first train to the last.
- Station crewsHonors ledger
Agents, telegraphers and crews listed by name and years of service.
Visitors can narrow it by
- Topic
- Year
How do you set up museum kiosk software?
Build it at your desk first
Start at /start with no account, try the layouts with a few stories, and create an account when you’re ready to save and share.
Pair the kiosk
Pair it from the editor with a one-time code or a reusable display code, and save the start address in the kiosk browser’s start-page setting so it reopens after a restart.
Hand out the editing
Add a curator, an educator and a volunteer as editors, and keep new stories Private until someone has checked them.
Where do museums put kiosks?
- Lobby or admissions deskVisitors waiting for a tour can get their bearings before they go in.
- End of a galleryA place to look up a name or object visitors just saw.
- Education roomGroups can explore a topic together before or after a tour.
Museum kiosk software questions
Do we need a design firm to set it up?
No. Logo, colors, fonts, layouts and motion are set in the built-in editor, without code. If you want a one-of-a-kind interactive built around a single exhibit, a design firm is still the right call.
What happens after a power cut or restart?
Save the site’s start address in the kiosk browser’s start-page setting so it opens the site again after a restart. Running full screen or as an installed app, it keeps a saved copy of the live site for offline use.
How do we stop half-finished work from showing?
Edits save automatically and appear on the live site, so build new stories as Private and switch them off Private once someone has checked them. Give people who only need to look the viewer role, and use change history to see what was edited.
We’re not a school. Is that a problem?
No. HistoryShowcase started with schools, which is why setup asks for a school name and colors. Type in your museum’s name and colors and carry on with the same editor and layouts.
Does it work on the kiosk we already have?
If the kiosk can open a website in a full-screen browser, it can run the site. HistoryShowcase doesn’t sell screens or kiosks.
Related ideas
Run your museum kiosk from a web browser
Free to use. No payment details required.
