Configure category appearance with row-level customization on ZenVideo OTT

Category rows make up the main browsing experience for your viewers. Categories are composed of Collections, Videos, and/or Products. Thumbnails for the chosen content are placed within a row, and your viewers will scroll through category rows when choosing what to watch.

ZenVideo OTT supports a number of different thumbnail aspect ratios that can be configured per category to bring visual interest to the browsing experience. 

For instance, if you had a category for New Movie Releases, you may want to leverage the Vertical option for the category because customers may associate vertical posters with movies. In another scenario, you may be offering a Learning Series and want to leverage the Square thumbnails to let customers know that the content within is different from your other videos.

In this article:

• How do I change the aspect ratio for a category?
• How to customize thumbnail appearance on the category row level
• Countdown rows 

How do I change the aspect ratio for a category?

Follow these steps to configure your category:

1. Navigate to the Content tab and click on Categories.
2. Select the category you wish to edit, then select Discovery.
3. Scroll down to Category content appearance.
4. From here, you will see the options for configuring the image type that your category will use. You may select between the Primary Thumbnail (Default), Vertical, or Square image types.
   
5. Once this is selected, your category will use this image type when displaying the category contents to your customers. 

Here’s an example of how each aspect ratio appears to viewers:

Default:

Vertical:

Square:

⚠️Note: If you have not provided custom images for the specified type, we will use the automatically created image that is based on your Primary Thumbnail. 

How to customize thumbnail appearance on the category row level

You can choose from the Standard or Small thumbnail size for your category. You can also choose to show or hide text below the thumbnail. Both options are available for web, mobile, and TV apps.

Follow these steps to learn how:

1. Navigate to the Content tab and click on Categories.
2. Select the category you wish to edit, then select Discovery.
3. Scroll down to Category content appearance.
4. Under Thumbnail size, choose Standard or Small.
5. Under Item title display, choose to Show or Hide the videos’ titles below the thumbnail on mobile and TV apps.

Countdown rows 

To set up a ranked category row, see 'About countdown categories on ZenVideo OTT'.