Help

Short answers for show day. Works without an internet connection.

Getting started

Each room is one timer, usually one per stage or breakout. Every room has two secret links:

Control link: for the operator. Starts, pauses and sets the timer, and sends messages.
Display link: for the screen the speaker sees. It only shows the timer and can't change anything.

On the dashboard, press Share links & QR on a room to copy the links or show QR codes to scan. Treat the control link like a password: anyone who has it can run that room.

Two versions of the same timer exist:

Online Foxy Timer Online (foxytimer.com): runs on the internet; every device needs an internet connection.
Windows Foxy Timer for Windows: runs on your show laptop; devices only need to be on the same network as the laptop, with no internet needed.

They're separate: a room made on one doesn't exist on the other. Throughout this page, help that only applies to one version is marked in its colour: blue for Online, purple for Windows.

Connecting phones & screens

Foxy Timer Online

Any device with internet can open the links, and Companion connects over the internet too, wherever it is. On the dashboard, press Share links & QR to copy a link or scan its QR code.

Foxy Timer for Windows

The laptop is the server. Phones, screens and Companion connect to the laptop across the venue network:

Put every device on the same network as the laptop: same Wi-Fi, or the same switch.
On the dashboard, press Share links & QR, then QR, and scan with the phone's camera.
Open the Display link on the screen's computer, full screen.

The links look like http://192.168.1.13:3000/control?token=…. 192.168.1.13 is the laptop's address on that network; 3000 is the door Foxy Timer listens on. The This laptop panel on the dashboard shows the current address.

"localhost" only works on the laptop itself. It means "this computer", so a phone can't use it. The dashboard always gives links with the network address instead.

Paired screens

A paired screen always opens the same address and shows whichever room you choose for it on the dashboard. It suits a TV, a spare laptop or a Raspberry Pi that stays in place: you never have to send it a new link.

On the screen, open your Foxy Timer address followed by /screen: https://foxytimer.com/screen Online, or the laptop's address shown on the dashboard Windows.
It shows a 6-character code and a QR code. On the dashboard, under Paired screens, press Add a screen, type the code, give the screen a name and choose its room. Or scan the QR code with a phone that's logged in to the dashboard.
Change its room any time from the dashboard: the screen switches straight away. It also follows New links by itself.

The dashboard shows which screens are online. Remove one and it goes back to showing a code. A code that isn't used within an hour is replaced with a new one.

Foxy Timer for Windows: a screen stays paired to the laptop's address. If that address changes (a different venue or network), open the new address on the screen and pair it again.

A phone or screen won't connect Windows

These checks are for Foxy Timer for Windows. With Foxy Timer Online, just check the device has a working internet connection.

The page usually just keeps loading and then gives up.

Quick test first: the dashboard's This laptop panel shows a QR code until another device has reached the laptop. Scan it with a phone on the same Wi-Fi. A green tick on the phone means the network is fine. If the page won't open, start with point 3 below if you're on venue or guest Wi-Fi, otherwise point 1.

Work through these in order:

1. Windows Firewall is blocking it (the most common cause)

Windows blocks other devices from reaching the laptop unless Foxy Timer is allowed through its firewall. It's especially likely when Windows has marked the Wi-Fi as a Public network, which is common at venues and even at home.

The dashboard's This laptop panel checks this and shows a warning. Press Allow through firewall and answer Yes to the Windows prompt.
The Foxy Timer installer sets this up for you. It's only needed with a hand-copied or older version.

2. A VPN is switched on

VPN apps (NordVPN, company VPNs) often cut the laptop off from other devices on the same Wi-Fi. Disconnect the VPN, or turn on its "allow local network" / "Invisibility on LAN" option.

3. The Wi-Fi keeps devices apart

Guest and venue Wi-Fi often uses client isolation: devices can reach the internet but not each other. No software can get round that. Use your own router or switch for the show network, or ask the venue for a network without isolation.

4. They're not really on the same network

Check the phone isn't on mobile data or a different Wi-Fi (e.g. a 2.4 GHz and a 5 GHz network with different names can be separate). If the laptop has several connections (Wi-Fi and cable), the This laptop panel lists every address; try the one on the same network as the phone.

5. The laptop's address changed

The router hands out addresses and can change them, e.g. after a restart. The old links then stop working. Open Share links & QR again for the new ones. On your own rig, giving the show laptop a fixed address avoids this.

Companion

Foxy Timer works with Bitfocus Companion, so buttons on any Companion control surface can start, pause, nudge and step through the running order, and show live time and colour. It works with both Foxy Timer Online and Foxy Timer for Windows.

1. Install the module Both

Download the Foxy Timer Companion module (a small .tgz file; works with Companion 4). Then, on the PC running Companion:

Open the Companion web page and go to Modules.
Press Import module package and choose the downloaded .tgz file. Don't unzip it.
Go to Connections, add a connection and search for Foxy Presentation Timer.

Updating? Download and import the new file the same way. If the connection still shows the old version, choose the new one in the connection's settings.

2. Fill in the connection settings Both, with differences below

Companion asks for a Server URL, a Client API key and Room IDs to monitor. Foxy Timer has them ready to copy:

Open your Foxy Timer dashboard, the page that lists your rooms.
Press the Companion button at the top of it. A window opens showing the settings, each with a Copy button.
Copy each one into the box with the same name in Companion's connection settings.
Leave Poll interval at 1000 ms (once a second).

What you'll see in that window depends on which version you use:

Foxy Timer for Windows

Server URL: The laptop's network address, e.g. http://192.168.1.13:3000. Copy it from the window; don't type localhost.
Client API key: Always shown in the window. Just copy it.
Room IDs to monitor: Listed in the window, ready to copy.
Where Companion can be: On the same network as the laptop.

Foxy Timer Online

Server URL: https://foxytimer.com
Client API key: For security, a key is shown only once, when it's made. The first time (or if you've lost it), press Make a new key at the bottom of the window and copy it straight into Companion.
Room IDs to monitor: Listed in the window, ready to copy.
Where Companion can be: Anywhere with an internet connection.

Room IDs are your room names, exactly as on the dashboard, separated by commas, e.g. Main stage,Breakout 1. The connection turns green in Companion when it can reach Foxy Timer.

3. Build buttons Both

The ready-made presets come in five groups. Set the text size for them in the connection's settings (14 by default) before dragging them in.

Group	Buttons
Show	Time + speaker (in the timer colour), Up next, Item 3/8, Ends at, In control (flashes amber when a device asks to take over; press to Refuse) and Allow handover
Run	Start / Pause / Resume, Reset, ±30 s, ±1 min, ±5 min, Slower, Speed (shows it; press for normal), Faster
Running order	Prev, Next and the slots select an item (blue); nothing changes on the display. TAKE loads it (and starts it when Auto-start is on: the same switch as the control page's "Auto-start when taking"), then selects the next one, so TAKE, TAKE, TAKE walks through the show. A quick second press is ignored. The live slot is red, the selected one blue.
Display	Timer, Clock, Wrap up (edit the message), Clear message
Setup	Durations 5–45 min (like the control page's presets: they set the next Start or Reset and never change a running timer), Count down / Down then up / Count up, Back to timer on Start

Key changed? Pressing Make a new key stops the old key working at once, in either version. Paste the new key into every Companion connection that uses it.

Foxy Timer for Windows Windows

Share over the internet

Phones don't have to join the show network. On the dashboard, under This laptop, turn on Over the internet. Each room then also gets a foxytimer.com link and QR code (press Share on a room, or Share links & QR on its control page) that work on any phone, even on mobile data.

It uses the laptop's own internet connection, for example the venue Wi-Fi, alongside the show network. Nothing on either network needs opening up.
The laptop stays in charge. If its internet drops, screens and phones on the show network carry on; phones using foxytimer.com links show "The show laptop is offline" and carry on when it's back.
Anyone with a control link can run that room, so share it like a password. Turn Over the internet off and the internet links stop working straight away.
A room's internet links stay the same each time you turn it on, so a printed QR code keeps working.

Start and stop

Start: the Foxy Timer icon on the desktop or Start menu. It opens its own window with the dashboard.
Stop or restart: the This laptop panel on the dashboard. Closing the window asks whether to stop the timer or keep it running, so a show can't stop by accident.
Opening the icon again while it's running just brings the window back.

Showing the timer on other screens

Use the Output menu at the top of the Foxy Timer window. Each screen can show a room, or nothing, so two extra monitors can show two different rooms. Identify screens puts a big number on each monitor so you can tell which is which. Your choices are remembered.

On the dashboard, each room also shows which screen it's on, for example Screen 2. Click it and tick or untick screens.

To take the timer off a screen, untick it on the dashboard, or use the Output menu.

If you put the timer on the laptop's own screen, it covers the dashboard. Press Esc to take it off and get the dashboard back; a reminder appears when it opens and when you move the mouse. Esc does nothing on other screens, so a stray key press can't blank what the audience sees.

Text looks fuzzy after moving a window between screens

This happens on laptops with two graphics chips (for example Intel and NVIDIA) when the screens use different scaling, such as a 100% laptop screen and a 300% portable monitor. Windows copies each picture from one chip to the other and stretches it on the way.

The fix: in the Foxy Timer window, open View and tick Sharper text on mixed screens, then let it reopen its windows. The timer keeps running while it does. This makes Foxy Timer use the laptop's built-in graphics. It's the same as choosing Power saving for Foxy Timer in Windows' Settings > System > Display > Graphics. The option only appears on laptops with two graphics chips.

On the laptop, no login

The dashboard opens without a login on the laptop itself. Other devices can only use the links you give them.

Where your rooms are kept

In your Windows user folder (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Foxy Timer\data). Updating or reinstalling Foxy Timer keeps them. A running timer carries on at the right time after a restart.

No internet needed

Nothing Foxy Timer for Windows does goes over the internet: the pages, the timer, the QR codes and Companion all work on the show network alone.

Control page tips Both

Duration or End at: count down a length of time, or to a clock time. Type a value and press Apply; nothing changes on screen until you do.
How it counts (next to Timer / Clock): Count down; Down, then up (carries on counting the overrun); or Count up (a stopwatch from 0:00).
Display Settings (bottom of the page): warning thresholds, colours (type a hex code or pick), background and chromakey, size, and what the screen shows, including time of day and finish time.
Several control panels: one is in control and the others watch (orange frame). Tap Take over to take control. A panel that drops out keeps its place for 30 minutes.
Ask before handing over: under Taking control, tick it and Take over asks whoever is in control to Allow or Refuse. No answer within 15 seconds hands control over anyway, so a phone left in a pocket never blocks the show.
View link for a client: Share links & QR has a View link. It opens this page with everything visible (preview, running order, messages) but nothing can be changed, and it can never take control.
Keyboard: Space start/pause · R reset · + / - ±1 min (hold Shift for ±5).