Buttons ships with several optional building blocks (NMOS support, virtual routing, tielines, tally, routing Projects, and third-party surface support) that aren't part of every installation. Settings → Features lets you turn each one on or off for this installation, independently of the pages and workflows you use every day. Turning a feature off hides it and blocks access to it without deleting any configuration data you already have for it, so you can disable something temporarily and pick up where you left off later.
Before you begin#
- Full system administrator access. Viewing and changing Settings → Features requires it; the built-in System Administrator account has it by default.
- If you're enabling a routing feature (Tielines, Virtuals, Tally, or Projects), know which license tier this installation has: several of them also require Pro or Enterprise. See Manage your Buttons license.
How it works#
A feature here is a per-installation switch, stored on this Buttons instance, that controls whether a page, navigation item, or connection endpoint is reachable at all. That's different from your license, which controls whether you're entitled to use it. Some features need both: the switch turned on and a qualifying license.
Features are grouped by category: Routing (NMOS, Tielines, Virtuals, Tally, Projects) and Surfaces (Third-party surfaces and its mDNS advertisement), and only the features meant to be turned on or off by an installer appear here. Other Buttons capabilities are tied directly to your license or enabled by Bitfocus outside this page, so you won't find a switch for every capability the product has.
Turning a feature off or on takes effect immediately for everyone signed in: there's no restart or reload needed for Buttons itself or for already-open browser tabs, which pick up the change within moments.
What disabling a feature does to navigation depends on where the page lives:
- Under Route, a page such as Virtual, Relations/Rules/Requests (Tielines), Tally / UMD, Projects, or Graph only appears when its feature is on and, if it needs one, the required license is active. If either is missing, the item simply isn't in the list.
- Under Settings, a page such as NMOS only needs its feature on to appear. Multicast needs the NMOS feature on and a Pro or Enterprise license, if the feature is on but the license is short, Multicast still appears in the Settings list, shown disabled, with a tooltip stating the license it needs.
A feature can also depend on another feature. Advertise third-party surfaces endpoint (mDNS) requires Third-party surfaces to be on first; if you try to enable it before that, the switch tells you so.
Note
Turning a routing feature on when the installation doesn't yet have the required license is allowed: the switch can be left on, but the feature stays inactive everywhere else in Buttons until a qualifying license is active. You don't need to come back and re-enable it once the license is in place.
Features you can enable here#
Feature | What it changes | Depends on | License required | New installs start with |
|---|
NMOS | Shows the NMOS pages and controls: Connect → NMOS, Settings → NMOS, and (with a qualifying license) Settings → Multicast. | : | None | On |
Tielines | Shows the tieline routing controls: Routing → Relations, Rules, Requests, and the tieline parts of Routing → Graph. | : | Pro or Enterprise | Off |
Virtuals | Shows the virtual routing controls: Routing → Virtual and the virtual parts of Routing → Graph. | : | Pro or Enterprise | On |
Tally | Shows Routing → Tally / UMD. | : | Pro or Enterprise | On |
Projects | Shows Routing → Projects. | : | Pro or Enterprise | On |
Third-party surfaces | Opens the third-party surface connection endpoint, so supported third-party panels and software surfaces can announce themselves and be adopted like any other surface. | : | Any active Buttons license (Individual tier or above) | Off |
Advertise third-party surfaces endpoint (mDNS) | Publishes a network (mDNS) record so third-party surface devices on the same network can find this installation automatically, instead of needing to be configured with its address. | Third-party surfaces | Any active Buttons license (Individual tier or above) | Off |
"On" above describes what a new installation starts with. If you're upgrading an existing installation, a newly introduced feature starts at this same default; features you've already set stay as you left them.
Turn a feature on or off#
- Open Settings → Features.
- Find the feature. Features are grouped by category; use the search box above the list if you're looking for a specific one.
- Use the switch to turn the feature on or off.
- If the switch shows Requires Pro or Enterprise license (or a similar license line) beneath it, you can usually still turn it on, but it won't take effect anywhere else until that license is active on this installation.
- If the switch shows Requires another feature's name, turn that feature on first: for example, turn on Third-party surfaces before Advertise third-party surfaces endpoint (mDNS).
- Select Save.
Buttons applies your changes immediately once saved. If you navigate away with unsaved toggles, it asks you to confirm first.
Import a feature unlock file#
Bitfocus can prepare a .buttons-features file that enables one or more specific features at once, instead of asking you to turn on each switch yourself.
- On Settings → Features, drag the
.buttons-features file onto the page, or select Browse and choose it. - Review the list of features the file will enable. If it includes any flags this Buttons version doesn't recognize, they're listed separately and skipped.
- Select Enable features to apply them, or close the dialog to cancel.
This only enables features: it never turns one off.
What happens next#
Once a feature is on (and licensed, where that applies), its pages and navigation items appear. Turning a feature back off removes access to its pages without touching any configuration you created while it was on; turn it on again later to see that configuration exactly as you left it.
If you get stuck#
What you see | What to try |
|---|
A switch is on, but the feature it controls still isn't reachable. | Check for a license line under the switch (for example, Requires Pro or Enterprise license) and confirm this installation's active license on Manage your Buttons license. |
A switch you previously turned on now shows off and greyed out. | This is expected once the license it needs is no longer active (for example, after a downgrade to a free tier): the switch reflects that the feature isn't currently usable, not that your setting was lost. It shows on again on its own as soon as a qualifying license is active; you don't need to re-toggle it. |
A switch won't turn on and shows Requires another feature. | Turn on the named dependency first, then return to this switch. |
A page you expect under Route or Settings isn't in the list. | Confirm the matching feature is enabled here, and (for Route pages, or for Settings → Multicast) that the license requirement is also met. |
Where to go next#
