Step-by-step instructions for setting up a dedicated PC to display your staff photo board in kiosk mode.
A kiosk display is a dedicated PC or device that shows your staff photo board full-screen, 24/7. Perfect for reception areas, lobbies, or meeting rooms where you want to display your team information continuously.
Your kiosk URL provides read-only access to display a specific board without requiring login.
Your kiosk URL will look like this:
https://yourdomain.com/kiosk/{boardId}/{kioskKey}
Important security notes:
Kiosk mode runs the browser full-screen without toolbars, menus, or other distractions. Choose the setup guide that matches your environment:
For Windows PCs, the easiest approach is to use Microsoft Edge in kiosk mode, which is built into Windows. This method uses Windows Settings and requires no command-line configuration.
Requirements:
Step-by-step setup via Windows Settings:
Open Settings → Accounts → Other users
Win + R and type ms-settings:otherusersStart kiosk setup - Under "Set up a kiosk", select Get started
Create a kiosk user account - Enter a name for the account (e.g., "PhotoBoard Kiosk") and select Next
Select Microsoft Edge as the kiosk app
Configure Edge kiosk options:
Select Close to complete setup
Sign out and sign in with the kiosk account to test
The kiosk will now automatically sign in and launch your photo board on startup.
Configure power settings (prevent display turning off):
Before deploying your kiosk, configure power settings to keep the display on:
External Guide:
For Linux-based kiosk displays (great for repurposing old PCs or using Raspberry Pi devices):
External Guide:
Ubuntu / Debian:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y chromium-browser
RHEL / Fedora:
sudo dnf install -y chromium
Raspberry Pi OS:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y chromium-browser
Launch Chromium in kiosk mode from a terminal:
chromium-browser --kiosk --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars --app=YOUR_KIOSK_URL_HERE
This approach works well with GNOME, XFCE, LXDE, and other desktop environments.
Create a kiosk user (optional but recommended):
sudo adduser kioskuser
Create the autostart directory:
mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart
Create the autostart desktop file at ~/.config/autostart/kiosk.desktop:
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=StaffPhotoBoard Kiosk
Exec=chromium-browser --kiosk --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars --app=YOUR_KIOSK_URL_HERE
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true
Disable screen blanking and screensaver:
# GNOME
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.session idle-delay 0
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver idle-activation-enabled false
# XFCE
xfconf-query -c xfce4-power-manager -p /xfce4-power-manager/dpms-enabled -s false
Configure auto-login for the kiosk user in your display manager settings (e.g., GDM, LightDM, or SDDM).
For LightDM (/etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf):
[Seat:*]
autologin-user=kioskuser
autologin-user-timeout=0
This approach is ideal for minimal installations without a full desktop environment, such as Raspberry Pi or server-style setups.
Install minimal X server:
sudo apt install -y xserver-xorg xinit chromium-browser
Create a systemd service at /etc/systemd/system/kiosk.service:
[Unit]
Description=StaffPhotoBoard Kiosk Display
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target
[Service]
User=kioskuser
Environment=DISPLAY=:0
ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/xinit -- :0 -nocursor &
ExecStart=/usr/bin/chromium-browser --kiosk --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars --app=YOUR_KIOSK_URL_HERE
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
[Install]
WantedBy=graphical.target
Enable and start the service:
sudo systemctl enable kiosk.service
sudo systemctl start kiosk.service
To prevent the display from sleeping or blanking:
# Disable DPMS (Display Power Management Signalling)
xset -dpms
xset s off
xset s noblank
# To make persistent, add to ~/.xinitrc or /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc
For systemd-based power management:
# Prevent suspend
sudo systemctl mask sleep.target suspend.target hibernate.target hybrid-sleep.target
For enterprise environments using Microsoft Intune to manage devices:
External Guides:
Sign in to Microsoft Intune admin centre at intune.microsoft.com
Create a configuration profile:
Configure kiosk settings:
Configure Edge browser policies (optional, for extra lockdown):
https://yourdomain.staffphotoboard.paneone.net/*)Configure power settings via a separate device configuration profile:
Assign the profiles to a device group containing your kiosk devices
Sync and verify — After the device syncs with Intune, it will restart into kiosk mode displaying your StaffPhotoBoard
If you suspect your kiosk URL has been compromised or shared inappropriately, you can rotate (regenerate) the kiosk key:
Important: The old URL will stop working immediately after rotation.
Symptom: Blank screen, "Page not found," or "Access denied"
Possible causes:
Solution: Log in to your dashboard and verify the kiosk URL is still valid. If needed, copy it again.
Symptom: Board shows old information even after you've made changes in the dashboard
Possible causes:
Solutions:
Symptom: Board appears zoomed in, blurry, or doesn't use the full screen resolution on a 4K monitor
Cause: Windows display scaling is set above 100% for the kiosk user account. At 150% scaling, a 3840×2160 monitor only provides 2560×1440 effective pixels to the browser.
Diagnosis: Open the diagnostics screen by appending /diag to your kiosk URL. Check the Device pixel ratio and OS zoom fields. If DPR is not 1.00, scaling is active.
Solution: Set the kiosk user's display scaling to 100%. See Windows Display Scaling above for step-by-step instructions.
Symptom: Screen turns off or shows screensaver after a period of inactivity
This is not a StaffPhotoBoard issue - it's an operating system configuration problem.
Solutions:
Windows sets a default display scaling percentage for each user account. On 4K monitors, Windows typically defaults to 150%, which reduces the effective resolution the browser can use. For example, a 3840×2160 monitor at 150% scaling gives the browser only 2560×1440 effective pixels.
For the best kiosk display quality, set the kiosk user's display scaling to 100% so the browser gets the full native resolution.
Why per-user? Display scaling is stored per Windows user account. Your admin account may already be at 100%, but the kiosk user account created by Assigned Access will have its own (often defaulted to 150%) scaling setting.
Option 1: Change via Windows Settings (if you can log in as the kiosk user)
Temporarily disable Assigned Access, log in as the kiosk user, then:
Option 2: Edit the kiosk user's registry (recommended)
Run this from an Administrator PowerShell while the kiosk user is logged off:
# 1. Find the kiosk user's profile path
$kioskUser = "PhotoBoard Kiosk" # Change to match your kiosk account name
$profile = Get-WmiObject Win32_UserProfile |
Where-Object { $_.LocalPath -like "*$kioskUser*" }
if (-not $profile) { Write-Error "Profile not found"; exit 1 }
# 2. Load the user's registry hive
reg load "HKU\KioskUser" "$($profile.LocalPath)\NTUSER.DAT"
# 3. Set 100% scaling (96 DPI)
reg add "HKU\KioskUser\Control Panel\Desktop" /v LogPixels /t REG_DWORD /d 96 /f
reg add "HKU\KioskUser\Control Panel\Desktop" /v Win8DpiScaling /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
# 4. Set per-monitor scaling (100% = two steps below the 150% recommendation)
# Find monitor IDs from the admin user's registry, then apply to kiosk user
$monitors = Get-ChildItem "HKCU:\Control Panel\Desktop\PerMonitorSettings" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
foreach ($mon in $monitors) {
$monId = Split-Path $mon.PSPath -Leaf
Write-Host "Setting 100% scaling for monitor: $monId"
reg add "HKU\KioskUser\Control Panel\Desktop\PerMonitorSettings\$monId" /v DpiValue /t REG_DWORD /d 4294967294 /f
}
# 5. Unload the hive
[GC]::Collect(); Start-Sleep -Seconds 1
reg unload "HKU\KioskUser"
Write-Host "Done. Reboot for changes to take effect."
The DpiValue of 4294967294 (hex 0xFFFFFFFE, i.e. -2) means "two steps below the Windows recommendation." On a 4K monitor where Windows recommends 150%, this yields 100%.
Note: This must be re-applied if the monitor is swapped (the setting is per-monitor hardware ID) or if the kiosk user profile is recreated.
Option 3: Set the default for all new user accounts
To ensure any new user account created on the machine starts at 100% scaling:
reg load "HKU\DefaultProfile" "C:\Users\Default\NTUSER.DAT"
reg add "HKU\DefaultProfile\Control Panel\Desktop" /v LogPixels /t REG_DWORD /d 96 /f
reg add "HKU\DefaultProfile\Control Panel\Desktop" /v Win8DpiScaling /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
[GC]::Collect(); Start-Sleep -Seconds 1
reg unload "HKU\DefaultProfile"
This sets the legacy DPI default to 100%. Note that per-monitor scaling may still override this for specific monitors — you may still need to set the PerMonitorSettings after the user profile is first created.
StaffPhotoBoard includes a built-in diagnostics screen to help troubleshoot display issues on kiosk machines. It shows the browser viewport size, screen resolution, device pixel ratio, OS zoom level, and board configuration.
Access methods:
Full diagnostics page — append /diag to your kiosk URL:
https://yourdomain.com/kiosk/{boardId}/{kioskKey}/diag
Overlay on the live board — add ?diag=1 to your kiosk URL:
https://yourdomain.com/kiosk/{boardId}/{kioskKey}?diag=1
What to look for:
| Field | Expected Value | Problem Indicator |
|---|---|---|
| Device pixel ratio | 1.00 |
Any other value means OS-level scaling is active |
| OS zoom | 100% |
Values like 150% reduce the effective resolution |
| Screen resolution | Matches your monitor's native resolution | Lower values mean Windows scaling is shrinking the reported resolution |
| Effective resolution | Same as screen resolution | If different, the browser isn't getting the full native resolution |
The diagnostics screen requires no login — it uses the same kiosk key authentication as the board itself.
Kiosk displays have minimal hardware requirements, making them ideal for repurposing old equipment:
For common questions about kiosk displays, see our FAQ page.
For technical support, visit our Support page or contact us at [email protected]
Setting up a kiosk display is straightforward:
Your kiosk will run reliably 24/7, automatically showing the latest version of your staff photo board.