TuneTracker™ QuickTip

Setting Up an Index Card Stack

Radio stations have traditionally had a stack of typewritten index cards in front of the announcer, which they require the announcer to read and rotate-through during live shows. The little write-ups on the cards are about contests and programs that need promoting, or they're public service announcements about upcoming events. It's a way to assure things get mentioned with predictable frequency. But the cards can be a little cumbersome, especially if there are more than a few, and juggling a stack of cards while trying to run a live show is less than ideal. AutoCast 4.0 has a great solution, with its new "Index Card Button" feature. You assign any number of text files to the button, and each time it's clicked, AutoCast rotates through the scripts, displaying them in the scrolling text box. Here's how to set it up.

1. Open a text editor; Pe or StyledEdit. Type a brief promo and save it, ideally into the Scripts folder inside your Station folder. Make as many text files as you need, saving them with file names that suggest what they're about.
2. Open the folder containing the files, and click on the Attributes pulldown menu. Find and put a checkmark next to the ScriptType attribute. Note that you will only see the attribute as available if you already have AutoCast 4.0 or higher and there are text files in the folder.
3. Edit the attribute for each text file. If they are all promos, you can use the label, Promo.
4. In AutoCast, right-click on any configurable button and enter the editor. Select the button you wish to edit, and choose the button type, "Index Card." Name the button with a label that makes sense, such as "Promo Cards." And in the data text box, type the word, Promo. Click Apply and you're done.

You can add more index cards to your "stack" at any time by just saving them into your Scripts folder and giving them the same attribute label. You can easily make more than one stack too. If you like, you can create a stack of promos for one button and a stack of public service announcements for another button. Maintenance is simple as well. To remove cards, just delete their text files. To "rest" cards, taking them out of the rotation for awhile, change their attribute to something unused, such as the word, "Rest."

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