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Configure ports and labels
Docs for
Overview
Getting started
What is Bitfocus Buttons?
Install Buttons and get started
Manage your Buttons license
Activate Buttons offline
Find your way around Buttons
Create your first backup
Add an ATEM connection
Choose a control method
Choose an installation path
Install Buttons on Debian or Ubuntu
Understand HA clustering
Kubernetes HA
Update or remove Buttons
Positions
Understand positions
Create a position
Add controls and sections to a position
Create your first button
Use a connection's presets
Build more capable button actions
Add more feedback to a button
Organize controls in a section
Shift Section
Organize controls with a Folder Section
Add a Popover Section
Build and reuse a Shared Section
Build a Router Section
Understand Custom Routers
Custom Router panel
Surfaces
Surface compatibility
Add and attach a surface
Device orientation
Connections
Update a connection's module safely
Monitor and troubleshoot a connection
Router integrations
VideoHub and AJA KUMO
Utah Scientific BPS
Generic SW-P-08
Nevion VideoIPath
Arkona BLADE//runner
Routing
Physical routing
Configure ports and labels
Take a physical route
Understand route status
Topology graph
Routing Presets
Get started with virtual routing
Configure Nested Shapes
Reverse routing
Tielines
Routing Projects
Routing settings
Troubleshoot a route
Tally
Understand the Tally system
Send ATEM tally and labels to a UMD
Interpret Active Tally state
TSL/UMD connections
Diagnose tally problems
NMOS
Understand NMOS in Buttons
Connect Buttons to an NMOS Registry
Built-in Registry Server
Configure NMOS connections
Discover and adopt
Browse the NMOS inventory
Manage NMOS multicast addresses
Diagnose NMOS problems
Understand Cuelists
Build a Cuelist
Read and advance a running Cuelist
Control a Cuelist from a Position
Workflows
Understand workflows
Build your first workflow
Reuse a group of workflow nodes safely
Troubleshoot a workflow
Recipes
Sequence a timed automation
Call an HTTP endpoint from a workflow
REST endpoint
Use variables
Understand variable scope
Understand nested variables
Update expressions for v1.8
Plan and use Tags
Access
Create and manage users
Create roles and assign permissions
Grant access to specific resources
Show different controls by role
Sessions
Set up PIN and NFC sign-in
SSO
Get started with SSO
Connect a generic OIDC provider
Connect LDAP or Active Directory
Map identity claims to roles
Secure a Buttons deployment
Integrations
External control
Connect to Bitfocus Listener
USB Relay
Install USB Relay on Windows
Install USB Relay on macOS
Install USB Relay on Linux
Install USB Relay on a Raspberry Pi
Get started with the Control API
Secure and monitor the Control API
Control API reference
API reference
Administration
Enable and manage installable features
Services and health
Configure and monitor scheduled backups
Restore a backup and verify it
Export or import Buttons configuration
Store and rotate connection secrets
Replace the HTTPS certificate
HA backup and recovery
Settings
Collect support information
Reference
Glossary
Button Inspector reference
Network ports reference
Expressions
Internal actions reference
Routing Presets panel reference
Startup configuration reference
Workflow nodes
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Position workflow nodes
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Utility workflow nodes

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You are viewing documentation for Buttons 1.8.See the docs for Buttons 1.6
Buttons/Routing/Configure ports and labels

Configure ports and labels

Buttons lets you rename what you see, not what the connection sends: give every port a clear label for the people who'll actually use it, without touching the underlying source. This page covers reading the Ports Config table, applying labels, and understanding why a port might not be usable yet.

Before you begin#

  • At least one connection that exposes routing ports, such as an ATEM connection. See Add an ATEM connection if you don't have one yet.
  • Access to Routing → Ports or Routing → Labels.

How the page works#

Ports and Labels in the left navigation open the same Ports Config table in two different views: Ports shows type, direction, tags, and warnings; Labels shows the label columns instead. Switch between them from the nav; nothing about the underlying data changes.
Rows are grouped by connection. Each group (for example, an ATEM's Input 1) can expand to show its individual ports underneath. Tags apply to a whole group, not to the individual ports inside it.

Example: label a port for the people using it#

An ATEM's native input names ("Input 1", "Input 2"...) don't mean anything to the people building positions or routing panels.
  1. Open Routing → Labels.
  2. Select the row (or rows) you want to relabel. Selecting several rows at once lets you label them together in the next step.
  3. Right-click the selection, then choose Labels → Edit User Label....
  4. Enter a name in Label. If you selected multiple rows, use % in the text to auto-number them: for example, Camera % becomes Camera 1, Camera 2, and so on across the selected rows. Optionally set an Icon and Color.
  5. Select Apply.
Buttons has three separate label types, each shown in its own column in the Labels view:
  • User: the name people see day to day when building positions and routing panels.
  • Setup: a name meaningful during installation or configuration, kept separate so it doesn't clutter the operator-facing User label.
  • Installation: a site-specific name, useful when the same connection type is deployed identically across multiple venues.
A port or group can have one label of each type at once. None of them change the connection's own name for that port: only what Buttons displays.

Understand a port's status#

The Ports view's columns tell you what a port is and whether it's ready to use:
  • Direction: Source or Destination. This is fixed by the connection; it isn't something you configure.
  • Type: whether the port comes from a Connection, NMOS, or is Custom.
  • The pill next to the port count shows its signal type (video, audio, data, or a mux of more than one) as reported by the connection module: also read-only.
  • Warnings: a warning badge appears when a port can't currently be used, such as when its connection isn't in an OK state or an expected SDP couldn't be fetched.
  • A Wired badge means the port is already used by a wire and might not be directly routable as a result.
  • A Disabled badge means the owning connection itself is disabled.

Hide ports you don't need#

Large connections can expose far more ports than you'll ever route. Select the rows you don't need, right-click, and choose Visibility → Hide. Hidden ports stay hidden until you select them again (via search or a filter) and choose Unhide: hiding doesn't delete anything.

If you get stuck#

What you see
What to try
A port has no label yet.
It falls back to its connection's native name until you set one: that's expected, not an error.
A port shows a Warnings badge and won't route.
Check the owning connection's status first: most port warnings trace back to the connection, not the port itself.
A port shows a Wired badge.
It's already claimed by a wire. See what that wire connects before trying to route it elsewhere.
You can't find a port you know exists.
Check whether it's hidden: search or filter for it, then Visibility → Unhide.

Where to go next#

  • Take a physical route, once your ports are labeled the way you want.

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