Kiosk Overview

The Kiosk is the public, shop-floor face of your Board. It is the touch-friendly screen running on a tablet next to each workstation, or on a TV mounted above the assembly line, or on a phone tucked in an apron pocket. The Kiosk is where workers — not managers — interact with the system: they see what is queued up, record progress, log time, flag blockers, and pick up the next job.

This page is a high-level tour of the Kiosk: what it is, how it is launched, how it differs from the Admin Panel, and the URL-parameter system that makes one Kiosk display look completely different from the next.

Kiosk vs Admin Panel. The Admin Panel is for managers and planners — log in, get the full picture, set everything up. The Kiosk is for workers — open a URL, see only what is relevant, tap to record. They share the same underlying data: every action on the Kiosk is visible in the Admin Panel within seconds.

What the Kiosk is for
Launching a Kiosk
The two view modes — Columns and Table
PIN-protected actions
Recording progress
Time tracking from the Kiosk
Blocking and unblocking a task
Supervisor login and drag-and-drop
Job details, drawings, and logs
Searching from the Kiosk
Hide-Completed and Show-Drafts toggles
Live updates / auto-refresh
URL parameters reference
How the Kiosk talks to the rest of the system
Security model
Setting up a new Kiosk display
Tips and best practices

What the Kiosk is for

The Kiosk gives the shop floor everything it needs and nothing it doesn’t. Use it for:

Daily worklist — every worker at a station can see at a glance what’s queued, what’s in progress, and what’s blocked.
Recording quantities — tap a card → enter PIN → enter how many pieces were completed.
Clocking in / out — start a timer when work begins, stop it when finished. Time entries appear in the Admin Panel’s Time Tracking page immediately.
Adding notes and photos — capture deviations, defects, or just an “FYI” attached to the work record.
Flagging blockers — mark a task as blocked when material is missing, a tool is down, or anything else stops progress.
Wall display — point a TV at it and the whole shop sees the same picture, refreshed automatically.

The Kiosk is deliberately read-mostly for managers and write-mostly for workers. There’s no settings menu, no edit dialogs full of dropdowns, no module switcher. Everything is one or two taps away.

Launching a Kiosk

Every Kiosk is tied to a custom Kanban view that you configured in App Settings → Kanban Views. That view defines:

Which workstations are shown as columns (and in what order).
Which department to filter to (or All Departments).
Which metafield columns to show in the table view.
The view’s URL key — a short, opaque slug that identifies it.

To open a Kiosk for a given view, the URL looks like:

https://board.apslo.com/kiosk?url_key=abc123xyz&allow_edit=1&theme=dark

The url_key is the only required parameter. Everything else is a feature flag.

The easiest place to generate a Kiosk URL is the Kiosk URL Configurator on the Dashboard. You pick a view, toggle the flags, and the page produces a copy-paste URL — no manual editing required.

No login required. A Kiosk URL is public. Anyone with the URL can open the Kiosk and see what’s on the board. Treat the URL like a password — see Security model.

The two view modes — Columns and Table

Inside a Kiosk, the user can switch between two layouts at any time. The choice is saved per-browser, per-kiosk.

Columns

The horizontal kanban layout — one column per workstation. Each column shows:

The workstation name and a per-column progress bar (planned vs manufactured).
A stack of cards, top-down by priority. Each card shows job ref, name, planned/manufactured qty, blocked status, and any active worker badges.

This view is best on wide screens — a wall TV or a landscape tablet — when the team wants to see the whole flow.

Table

A dense one-row-per-job-workstation listing with the columns you configured on the underlying Kanban view (plus any metafield columns). Each row has the same data as a card, just laid out horizontally.

This view is best on small screens — a 7-inch phone-mounted tablet next to a single workstation — when the team only cares about their own row.

A toggle in the Kiosk header (Columns icon / Table icon) flips between the two.

PIN-protected actions

The Kiosk is publicly accessible — anyone with the URL can view the board. But writing to it (recording quantities, starting timers, blocking tasks) requires a PIN.

Every employee has a personal PIN (4–8 digits) set up in App Settings → Employees. When a worker taps a card and tries to do something, the Kiosk shows a PIN modal. Enter the PIN, and the action proceeds in the context of that employee — meaning the time entry, log note, or block reason is recorded with their name on it.

The PIN modal stays open only as long as needed for one action. There’s no concept of a Kiosk “session” — every action is independently authenticated. This is intentional: it means the next worker can walk up to the same Kiosk and use it without worrying about logging out.

Only employees whose workstations include the relevant one can act on a card. Each employee record has a list of workstations they’re authorized for. The Kiosk filters what they see and can act on accordingly.

Recording progress

The most common Kiosk action. Flow:

Tap a card.
Enter PIN.
The Workstation Editor opens. It shows: job name, current planned/manufactured, and a row of controls for each workstation on the job that you (the verified employee) are authorized for.
For each workstation, enter:
- Manufactured Qty — how many pieces were finished this round.
- Note (if allowed on the workstation) — a free-text comment.
- Images (if allowed on the workstation) — attach photos (drag-drop, paste, or browse).
Tap Submit.

A new job log entry is created (visible in the Admin Panel on the job’s Logs tab), the manufactured qty is incremented, the kanban version stamp is bumped (so everyone else’s Kiosk auto-refreshes), and any qty_changed webhooks fire.

If the qty hits the planned qty, the workstation is automatically marked completed (a one-shot event that fires the task_completed webhook).

Per-workstation toggles on the Job’s Workstations tab control what’s available here: Allow Qty, Allow Notes, Allow Images. If Qty is disabled, the editor just records that you worked on it — the planned qty is logged as the qty automatically when needed.

Time tracking from the Kiosk

The Kiosk is the most common place time entries are created. Flow:

Tap a card → enter PIN.
In the Workstation Editor, tap Start Work (for the workstation row you want to time).
The timer begins. A live elapsed clock appears in the editor.
Walk away — the timer keeps running.
Come back later. Tap Stop Work.
A confirmation appears with the duration, optionally let you enter qty + note in one go.

The stopped entry appears immediately on the Time Tracking page in the Admin Panel, on the job’s Time Tracking tab, and in the worker’s avatar badge in the Production page header.

A worker can have only one active timer at a time — starting a new one on a different workstation will automatically close the previous one. This prevents accidental double-counting.

If a worker forgets to stop a timer, two safety nets kick in:

A manager can stop it from the Admin Panel (Job Edit Panel → Time Tracking tab).
A configured Cron Job will auto-close it at end of shift.

Blocking and unblocking a task

Workers can flag a task as blocked when something prevents them from continuing — missing material, broken tool, design clarification needed, etc.

Tap a card → enter PIN.
In the Workstation Editor, tap Block.
Enter a note explaining why (required).
Tap Confirm Block.

The card is now marked Blocked in red. It still occupies its column, but the visual flag tells supervisors something needs attention. A job_blocked webhook fires so notifications can be pushed to Slack or anywhere else.

Unblocking follows the same flow with an optional note. The card returns to its normal state.

Regular workers can only record progress on cards they’re authorized for. Supervisors can do more — specifically, they can drag cards between columns to move work forward when the workflow needs nudging.

To enable supervisor drag on a Kiosk:

Add &show_login=1 to the Kiosk URL.
A Log In button appears in the Kiosk header.
Tap it → enter the supervisor’s PIN → the session is now elevated for that browser tab.
The supervisor can now drag cards between columns. Drops are persisted server-side and the move is visible to everyone within seconds.

Supervisor status is a per-employee flag set in App Settings → Employees. A regular employee’s PIN won’t elevate the session even if they tap the Login button.

The login persists for the browser tab. Closing the tab logs the supervisor out automatically.

Job details, drawings, and logs

Tapping a card with allow_edit=0 (or any card when not in edit mode) opens a job detail view with several tabs:

Workstations — every workstation on this job and their progress (read-only).
Details — the job’s description, image, custom (metafield) values that are flagged as “Show on Label”, and Order info.
Drawings — every uploaded image, PDF, or external link the planner attached in the Admin Panel.
Logs — chronological history of qty, time, note, and attachment entries on this job.
Time Tracking — every closed time entry for this job, plus any active timers.

The Drawings tab is particularly important on the shop floor — workers can zoom into a CAD drawing or PDF spec without leaving the Kiosk.

When allow_edit=1, tapping a card goes straight to the Workstation Editor (where the worker can record progress). Tabs are still reachable from the editor’s overflow menu.

Searching from the Kiosk

If the Kiosk URL contains &allow_search=1, a search bar appears in the header. Typing in it filters the cards across all columns by:

Job name
Job ref no
Order number / project
Client name

Search is case-insensitive and uses contains matching. When the search field has any text, the Hide Completed / Hide Draft toggles are temporarily ignored — so even a finished job can be found by ref no. Clearing the search box brings the toggles back into effect.

Search is local to the current browser — it filters what’s already loaded plus a backend query that ignores the hide-filters.

Hide-Completed and Show-Drafts toggles

Two toggles in the Kiosk header control which cards are visible:

Show Completed — by default, cards whose manufactured qty has met (or exceeded) planned qty are hidden so the board stays focused on actionable work. Flip the toggle on to see them.
Show Drafts — by default, draft workstations (those marked draft in the Admin Panel) are hidden too. Flip the toggle on to see them as well.

Both toggles persist per browser, per Kiosk URL key. So a tablet at the assembly line can be set to “Hide Completed = on” without affecting the tablet at the paint shop.

The URL flags show_completed=1, show_archived=1, show_draft=1, and allow_draft_progress=1 only seed the initial state on the very first load. After that, the in-Kiosk toggle is the source of truth — even if the URL forced something on, the worker can turn it off. This keeps the Kiosk usable when the team’s preferences differ from how the URL was generated.

Live updates / auto-refresh

The Kiosk does two things to stay current:

Quiet polling — a tiny request periodically checks a server-side version stamp. If something has changed (new qty logged, card moved, timer started/stopped) the Kiosk refetches the board. If nothing has changed, the request is a no-op.
Periodic full refresh — the refresh URL parameter controls how often a full refetch happens (default: every 5 minutes). Set &refresh=2 to refresh every 2 minutes, etc. Minimum is 1 minute.

This combination means a wall-mounted Kiosk is always current without anyone having to interact with it, and a worker’s tablet picks up changes from a colleague within seconds.

URL parameters reference

A Kiosk URL has one required parameter (url_key) and a handful of optional feature flags. The Dashboard’s Kiosk URL Configurator builds these automatically; you can also edit by hand.

Parameter	Type	Default	Meaning
`url_key`	string	required	The Kanban View’s URL key. Identifies which view to render.
`allow_edit`	`0` / `1`	`0`	Show the Workstation Editor when a card is tapped (after PIN). Off = the Kiosk is read-only.
`allow_draft_progress`	`0` / `1`	`0`	Let workers also record progress on Draft tasks. Implies showing drafts on first load.
`allow_search`	`0` / `1`	`0`	Show a search box in the header.
`show_login`	`0` / `1`	`0`	Show a Log In button for supervisors (enables drag-and-drop).
`show_completed`	`0` / `1`	`0`	Seed the in-Kiosk “Show Completed” toggle.
`show_archived`	`0` / `1`	`0`	Include cards from archived jobs.
`show_draft`	`0` / `1`	`0`	Seed the in-Kiosk “Show Drafts” toggle.
`refresh`	integer (minutes)	`5`	Auto-refresh interval. Minimum 1.
`theme`	`light` / `dark`	`light`	Visual theme.
`lang`	locale code (e.g. `en`, `pl`, `de`)	account default	Force the Kiosk to render in a specific language.

Combine flags as needed. For instance:

Wall display (read-only, dark, fast refresh): ?url_key=...&theme=dark&refresh=2
Worker tablet (edit + search + supervisor login): ?url_key=...&allow_edit=1&allow_search=1&show_login=1
Workshop including drafts: ?url_key=...&allow_edit=1&allow_draft_progress=1

How the Kiosk talks to the rest of the system

Every action on the Kiosk has the same effect as the equivalent Admin Panel action:

Kiosk action	What happens elsewhere
Record qty	Job’s `manufactured_qty` updated, job log entry added, `qty_changed` webhook fires. If qty meets planned, `task_completed` webhook fires (first-time only).
Start work	Active timer record created. The employee’s avatar appears on the Production page header and on the relevant card.
Stop work	Time entry closed and visible on the Time Tracking page, the job’s Time Tracking tab, and the job’s Logs tab. `time_log_saved` webhook fires with `mode: work_stopped`.
Block task	Card flagged as blocked; `job_blocked` webhook fires.
Supervisor drag	Card moves to the new workstation. Same as drag-and-drop on the Production kanban.

The Kiosk is fully tenant-scoped — the url_key identifies the tenant (your account), and all queries are restricted to that tenant’s data. There is no cross-tenant leakage.

Security model

A few things to keep in mind:

The url_key is the credential. Anyone with the URL can view the board. Treat the URL like a wifi password — fine to give to your team, not fine to post publicly.
Writing requires a PIN. Even with the URL, no one can record progress without a valid employee PIN. PINs are 4–8 digits and set per employee in the Admin Panel.
A worker can only act on their authorized workstations. Each Employee record carries a list of workstation IDs they’re allowed to work on. The Kiosk filters accordingly.
Supervisors are explicitly elevated. Only employees flagged as supervisors can drag cards between columns, and only when show_login=1 is set on the URL and they’ve tapped Log In with their PIN.
If a URL leaks, regenerate the Kanban View’s url_key from App Settings → Kanban Views — the old URL stops working immediately. (Or delete the view entirely.)

Setting up a new Kiosk display

A practical walkthrough for getting a new tablet, phone, or TV showing a Kiosk:

Create the Kanban View — go to App Settings → Kanban Views → Add New View. Pick the department, hide irrelevant workstation columns, set the order, and save. The view appears with an auto-generated url_key.
Generate the URL — open the Dashboard → in the Kiosk URL Configurator card, pick the view from the dropdown. Toggle the flags you want (allow edit, allow search, theme, language, …). Copy the URL.
Open it on the device — paste the URL into the device’s browser. Bookmark it / pin it to home screen.
(Optional) Lock the device — on Android tablets use “Screen Pinning” or a kiosk-mode launcher; on iPad use “Guided Access”; on Windows kiosks use “Assigned Access” — these prevent users from accidentally leaving the Kiosk page.
Hand it to the team — they can record progress straight away. No login, no training, no manual.

Tips and best practices

One Kanban View per physical Kiosk location. Don’t try to make one view fit every screen — create separate views for the paint shop, the assembly bay, and the packing area. Each gets its own URL.
Keep tablets close to workstations. The fewer steps a worker takes to record progress, the more reliable the data.
Use show_login=1 only where you have an actual supervisor. Otherwise the Login button is just visual noise.
For wall displays, leave allow_edit=0. A read-only display is more reliable (nobody accidentally moves something) and uses less power because of fewer interactions.
Default refresh=5 is fine. Drop to refresh=2 if you want very-near-real-time wall display updates. Don’t go below 1 — it just burns bandwidth.
Set per-workstation toggles thoughtfully. Allow Notes and Allow Images are great for QC-heavy steps but unnecessary for simple cuts. Toggle them off in the Job Workstations tab to keep the Kiosk simpler.
Combine with Cron Jobs to auto-close forgotten timers at end of shift. Workers will sometimes forget — the cron is your safety net.
Combine with Webhooks to push real-time shop-floor events (qty changed, task blocked) into Slack, Teams, or any other channel your supervisors live in.
For multi-language shops, use lang= on each Kiosk URL so it loads in the right language regardless of the account default.
Periodically rotate url_keys if you’re worried about leaked URLs — generating a new view replaces the URL but takes only a minute.