# What a playlist is


> An ordered list that loops, mixing any content types, carrying its own schedule and its own set of screens.
A playlist is what you already think it is: an ordered list of items that plays through and loops back to the start.

What makes it the centre of Screenly is everything attached to it. A playlist carries its own [schedule](/docs/scheduling/) and its own set of [screens](/docs/playlists/where-it-plays/assign-to-screens/), so it is not just a list of content but a complete instruction: this content, in this order, for this long, on these screens, at these times.

## What can go in one

Any content type, mixed freely: images, video, audio, PDF pages, web pages, live streams, local capture, and apps.

A live KPI dashboard, a safety notice, a company announcement, and a camera feed can sit in the same playlist and rotate one after another. There is no reason to separate content by type, and grouping by purpose is almost always more useful.

## The five tabs

Open a playlist and it has five tabs.

| Tab | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Content | What is in the playlist, in what order, and for how long |
| Schedule | When it is allowed to play, and whether it is a priority playlist |
| Screens | Which screens play it, directly or by label |
| Settings | The title, and the transition between items |
| Actions | Enable and disable, share, and delete |

## What a playlist is not

It is not where content is stored. Items in a playlist are references to things in your [content library](/docs/content/library/), so the same image can be in ten playlists, and deleting a playlist leaves the content untouched.

It is not owned by a screen either. A playlist reaches many screens, and a screen plays many playlists.