Module: Background Slideshow

Show a slideshow of images in the background. Great for a photo frame from instead of a mirror.

The MMM-BackgroundSlideshow module is designed to display images fullscreen, one at a time on a fixed interval, from one or many directories. These images can be shown in order or at random, one directory at a time or all at time. The images can transition from one to the other and be shown with no edge (cover) or the enter image(contain).

Based on MMM-ImageSlideshow.

Dependencies / Requirements

This module requires no special dependencies. The only requirement is that the image directories you path to are fixed paths accessible to the Magic Mirror instance.

Operation

This module will take in a list of directory paths, one or more, containing image files. The module will display those images in either alphabetical or random order, across either each path one at time or across all the paths at once. Once all the images have been shown, it will loop back and start again.

Extra configurations include setting the amount of time an image is shown for, selecting which file extensions are valid, the transition speed from one image to another, the background sizing, whether or not to animate the transition from one to the other, the gradient used to make the text more readable, and the gradient opacity.

Using the module

Use Git to download. Make sure Git is installed on your system. In the command line/terminal, go to the modules directory of the your Magic Mirror install. run: git clone https://github.com/darickc/MMM-BackgroundSlideshow.git. The advantage of using Git is when there is an update, you can run git pull and it will pull down all the updates. Magic Mirror can even let you know when there are updates.

Or

Download the zip file https://github.com/darickc/MMM-BackgroundSlideshow/archive/master.zip. Unzip contents into the modules directory of your Magic Mirror install. Rename the 'MMM-BackgroundSlideshow-master' folder to 'MMM-BackgroundSlideshow'.

Once downloaded, install dependencies:

cd ~/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-BackgroundSlideshow

npm install

Add the module to the modules array in the config/config.js file:

modules: [
  {
    module: 'MMM-BackgroundSlideshow',
    position: 'fullscreen_below',
    config: {
      imagePaths: ['modules/MMM-BackgroundSlideshow/exampleImages/'],
      transitionImages: true,
      randomizeImageOrder: true,
    },
  },
];

I also recommend adding the following to the custom.css to make the text a little brighter:

.normal,
.dimmed,
header,
body {
    color: #fff;
}

Notification options

The following notifications can be used:

Notification	Description
BACKGROUNDSLIDESHOW_UPDATE_IMAGE_LIST	Reload images list and start slideshow from first image. Works best when sorted by modified date descending.
BACKGROUNDSLIDESHOW_NEXT	Change to the next image, restart the timer for image changes only if already running
BACKGROUNDSLIDESHOW_PREVIOUS	Change to the previous image, restart the timer for image changes only if already running
BACKGROUNDSLIDESHOW_PAUSE	Pause the timer for image changes
BACKGROUNDSLIDESHOW_PLAY	Change to the next image and start the timer for image changes
BACKGROUNDSLIDESHOW_URL	Show an image by passing an object with a URL. Include resume=true to continue slideshow after displaying image, otherwise the image will display until another notification such as BACKGROUNDSLIDESHOW_PLAY. Example payload: {url:'url_to_image', resume: true}
BACKGROUNDSLIDESHOW_URLS	Pass in a list of URLs to display in the background. To continue showing photos, pass in an empty array or no payload. Example payload: {urls:['url_to_image', 'url_to_image']}

Configuration options

The following properties can be configured:

Option	Description
imagePaths	Array value containing strings. Each string should be a path to a directory where image files can be found. Example: ['modules/MMM-BackgroundSlideshow/exampleImages/'] This value is REQUIRED
excludePaths	Array value containing strings. When scanning subdirectories for images, directories with these names will be ignored. Example: ['@eaDir'] Default value: ['@eaDir'] This value is OPTIONAL
slideshowSpeed	Integer value, the length of time to show one image before switching to the next, in milliseconds. Example: 6000 for 6 seconds Default value: 10000 or 10 seconds This value is OPTIONAL
randomizeImageOrder	Boolean value, if true will randomize the order of the images, otherwise use sortImagesBy and sortImagesDescending sorting by filename. Example: true Default value: false This value is OPTIONAL
sortImagesBy	String value, determines how images are sorted. Possible values are: name (by file name), created (by file created date), modified (by file modified date). Only used if randomizeImageOrder is set to false. Example: created Default value: name This value is OPTIONAL
sortImagesDescending	Boolean value, if true will sort images in descending order, otherwise in ascending order. Only used if randomizeImageOrder is set to false. Example: true Default value: false This value is OPTIONAL
recursiveSubDirectories	Boolean value, if true it will scan all sub-directories in the imagePaths. Example: true Default value: false This value is OPTIONAL
validImageFileExtensions	String value, a list of image file extensions, separated by commas, that should be included. Files found without one of the extensions will be ignored. Example: 'png,jpg' Default value: 'bmp,jpg,jpeg,gif,png' This value is OPTIONAL
showImageInfo	Boolean value, if true a div containing the currently displayed image information will be shown. Example: true Default value: false This value is OPTIONAL
imageInfoLocation	String value, determines which corner of the screen the image info div should be displayed in. Possible values are: bottomRight, bottomLeft, topLeft, topRight Example: topLeft Default value: bottomRight This value is OPTIONAL
imageInfo	String value, a list of image properties to display in the image info div, separated by commas. Possible values are : date (EXIF date from image), name (image name). For the iamge name, the relative path from that defined in imagePaths is displayed if the recursiveSubDirectories option is set to true. Example: date,name Default value: name This value is OPTIONAL
transitionSpeed	Transition speed from one image to the other, transitionImages must be true. Must be a valid css transition duration. Example: '2s' Default value: '1s' This value is OPTIONAL
showProgressBar	Boolean value, if true a progress bar indicating how long till the next image is displayed is shown. Example: true Default value: false This value is OPTIONAL
backgroundSize	The sizing of the background image. Values can be: cover: Resize the background image to cover the entire container, even if it has to stretch the image or cut a little bit off one of the edges. contain: Resize the background image to make sure the image is fully visible Example: 'contain' Default value: 'cover' This value is OPTIONAL
backgroundPosition	Determines where the background image is placed if it doesn't fill the whole screen (i.e. backgroundSize is 'contain'). Module already defaults to 'center', so the most useful options would be: 'top' 'bottom' 'left' or 'right'. However, any valid value for CSS background-position could be used. Example: 'top' Default value: 'center' This value is OPTIONAL
transitionImages	Transition from one image to the other (may be a bit choppy on slower devices, or if the images are too big). Example: true Default value: false This value is OPTIONAL
gradient	The vertical gradient to make the text more visible. Enter gradient stops as an array. Example: [ "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 0%", "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 40%" ] Default value: [ "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 0%", "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 40%", "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 80%", "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 100%" ] This value is OPTIONAL
horizontalGradient	The horizontal gradient to make the text more visible. Enter gradient stops as an array. Example: [ "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 0%", "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 40%" ] Default value: [ "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 0%", "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 40%", "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 80%", "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75) 100%" ] This value is OPTIONAL
gradientDirection	The direction of the gradient Example: 'horizontal' Default value: 'vertical' Possible values: 'vertical', 'horizontal', 'both' This value is OPTIONAL
backgroundAnimationEnabled	Boolean value, if set to true the background will scroll if the picture is larger than the screen size (e.g. for panaramic pictures). The picture will either scroll vertically or horizontally depending on which dimension extends beyond the screen size. Note: For this to work, backgroundSize must be set to cover. Example: true Default value: false This value is OPTIONAL
transitions	Array value containing strings defining what transitions to perform. Note: transitionImages must be set to true. Example: ['opacity', 'slideFromLeft'] Default value: ['opacity', 'slideFromRight', 'slideFromLeft', 'slideFromTop', 'slideFromBottom', 'slideFromTopLeft', 'slideFromTopRight', 'slideFromBottomLeft', 'slideFromBottomRight', 'flipX', 'flipY'] Possible values: 'opacity', 'slideFromRight', 'slideFromLeft', 'slideFromTop', 'slideFromBottom', 'slideFromTopLeft', 'slideFromTopRight', 'slideFromBottomLeft', 'slideFromBottomRight', 'flipX', 'flipY' This value is OPTIONAL
transitionTimingFunction	CSS timing function used with transitions. Note: transitionImages must be set to true. Example: 'ease-in Default value: 'cubic-bezier(.17,.67,.35,.96)' Possible values: 'ease', 'linear', 'ease-in', 'ease-out', 'ease-in-out', 'cubic-bezier(n,n,n,n)' This value is OPTIONAL
animations	Array value containing strings defining what animations to perform. Note: backgroundAnimationEnabled must be set to true. Example: 'ease-in Default value: ['slide', 'zoomOut', 'zoomIn'] Possible values: 'slide', 'zoomOut', 'zoomIn' This value is OPTIONAL
changeImageOnResume	Should the image be changed in the moment the module resumes after it got hidden? Example: true Default value: false This value is OPTIONAL