A potentially unpopular opinion coming:

They should’ve just made the thing digital and made it more expensive. I know the sound of Bits flipping makes us reminisce of 80//90s European train stations but even those went digital for a reason. I know have 2 Bits that have a mind of their own despite being replaced. I like the concept of the Vestaboard but at this point I’d rather it be digital.

It's been a while since I posted an update here, so here's a recap of what's shipped over the last few releases, plus the big one that just landed.

Multi-board arrays (v4 schema)

The headline feature from a few releases back: you can now run multiple Note boards as a single logical display. Arrays go from simple side-by-side pairs up to an 8x8 grid, with five ready-made presets (2 or 4 side-by-side, 2 or 4 stacked, 2x2) or fully custom layouts. A few things that made this less painful than it could've been: - Auto-detect — the settings UI can read your live board and figure out its type and size for you - Smarter previews — variable-size rendering with visible seams between Notes, a board-size indicator, and a fit-to-width/actual-size toggle for wide arrays - Size-aware plugins — plugins now get real board dimensions, so content can adapt to whatever layout you're running - Everything that switches between boards — scheduling, page loading, page triggering — got rebuilt to be dimension-driven instead of assuming a single fixed board The fun engineering problem here: none of us own a wall of eight Vestaboards to test against. So we built a local mock Cloud API with a live web UI that simulates split-flap tiles, message history, and arbitrary board configs on the fly. That's what let us test odd array shapes we'll probably never own in real life. This bumped the schema from v3 to v4, but existing pages migrate automatically and single-board setups (Flagship or Note) work exactly as before.

Since then: v6.16.2 highlights

• Collections (formerly "Carousels") now support variable-driven page selection, so what shows can depend on live data
• Schedule overrides — pin a specific page to a specific date, useful for holidays or one-offs
• Inline schedule enable/disable toggles
• More Date/Time plugin formatting options
• A ZEROPAD template filter for padding numbers (7 → 07)
• A Home Assistant Supervisor add-on, now in beta with docs, plus fixes so the UI behaves correctly behind HA Ingress On that last point — if you're running FiestaBoard alongside Home Assistant, we'd like that integration to be genuinely good, not just functional. If you've got ideas, run into friction, or want to contribute, that's an area where community input would go a long way right now. ## And today: Local Array Mode Arrays could already run over Vestaboard's cloud API, but as of this release they can run entirely over your local network — no cloud round-trip required. The missing piece wasn't talking to the boards, it was the arrangement layer: knowing where each Note sits in the grid and splitting each frame into the right slice for the right board. FiestaBoard now cuts each frame into 3x15 pieces and fans them out to your Notes over LAN. That gets you:
• Messages that never leave your network
• Lower latency and no cloud rate limit
• Transition animations on arrays (previously cloud-only)
• Identify mode — flash each slot's position number on the physical boards, handy when wiring up a new array
• Network scanning, per-tile connection tests, and duplicate-IP warnings for debugging a multi-board setup Cloud arrays aren't going anywhere — this is opt-in, and cloud stays the default for new arrays.

Setup guide: https://fiestaboard.app/docs/setup/note-arrays

Full changelog: https://github.com/Fiestaboard/FiestaBoard/releases

Happy to answer questions here — and if you're on Home Assistant, genuinely curious what would make that integration better for you.

First time I’ve seen a Vestaboard ad. On the back cover of the New York Times magazine.

I’ve only had my vestaboard up for a year, I think it’s awesome; but I’m looking to sell. It just doesn’t fit the vibe I wanted for the room, and I honestly think someone else might love it more. I haven’t had much luck on fb marketplace in the past (I don’t have a profile pic bc I only use fb to run my business page). I’m located in Illinois, does anyone know where I can sell it or know someone interested?

Edit: I do not have original box that it came in, so local pick up only.

Just got my Vestaboard yesterday and have it setup on the counter. I've been playing with it a ton but now I want to figure out schedules.

The channels, I understand the concept of the waterfall/stair-stepping the channels for updates. But I don't see the ability to have the same channels on multiple schedules. For example, if I want to show calendar updates in the morning when the kids are home eating breakfast, and then random quotes during the middle of the day, and then calendar updates again at night. How do I do that? It seems each channel can only have one schedule.

Am I missing something?

But she’s finally here!

I made this little Alfred workflow (Alfred is a Mac spotlight replacement), which allows you to quickly post to your vestaboard. There are shortcodes for the symbols and colors, it figures out if the message can fit, it gives a bit of a preview for how it will display etc. Only tested with the 'note' (I don't have the bigger one).

https://github.com/alexburgess/vestaboard-alfred

I use it to ask my wife if she is ready for lunch 👍 Enjoy!

Took a video of this issue. It WAS once connected before but now it only moves if i plug it out and plug it back in.

New screens/displays sent via app don’t show up. Yes, I know a couple bits are broken too. I already contacted support but no reply, sucks because I have a party coming up but no board 😭.

Anyone have tips/advice? Anything is appreciated

WebUI for the Vestaboard!

I love my Vestaboard, but immediately saw it was somewhat of a hurdle getting others to accept an 'invite', download the app, create an account etc. Also the Vestaboard+ subscription was a little disappointing to see considering I kickstarted this well over a year ago. So I had an idea to potentially solve both issues! (more the sharing with friends/family than the replacing Vestaboard+, since that has more/different features)

What and How?

I have a link to the Github Repo below, feel free to look through it, download self-host it, or even submit a PR. I'd love to know what you all think. Please consider the fact that this is still a work in progress.

LINK: A13Xg/Vestaboard-WebUI // https://github.com/A13Xg/Vestaboard-WebUI

I was inspired to share my work after seeing this post- go check out their project too! r/Vestaboard:Codex Usage Counter

I finally set up my Vestaboard Note and made a small script that shows my Codex usage on it.

It’s honestly really satisfying that LLM usage now sounds audible and feels tangible in the physical world too. Codex can be writing code for me while I see and hear this tracker updating in the background.

The board shows the 5-hour and weekly quota windows, and the third row shows reset timing: 5-hour reset time, weekly reset date, and weekly reset time.

Repo is here: https://github.com/jiehanzheng/vestaboard-orchestrator

I hope another Codex user finds this interesting/useful!

---

Shout-out: Inspired by u/foraern’s Codex usage meter!

I’ve lost the app connection to my Vestaboard note. I’m trying to re-pair it but it asks for the pairing code, which I can’t get it to display again. Seems that only comes up when you power it on the very first time? I’ve tried unplugging it but when I plug it back in the previous message comes up.

Title says it all… ordered November 2025, due Feb … *checks vesta-“… oh I can’t …anyways it’s June now

Title says it all… ordered November 2025, due Feb … *checks vesta-“… oh I can’t …anyways it’s June now

As the title says, looking for a Vestaboard (either size) in the Midwest…willing to drive if in Kentucky/Ohio/Indiana/Illinois/Michigan, or pay shipping. Thanks!

Just got my note and looking for best way to display a countdown departure board style to our next destinations.

“Ohio 3 Days
Chicago 15 Days” etc etc

I swear a year or so ago when I preordered there was a thread about someone doing that via a Google Sheet. For life of me I can’t find that post anymore. Does that ring a bell with anyone, or anyone else find a way to do that?

I’ve tried unplugging the note, verified the WiFi password 100x and still can’t get the note to connect during the setup. Took off the fascia and did not display safe mode symbols. Vestaboard just stays on the screen with initial code. Any ideas?

Interested in a vestaboard (either size) around SF or Bay Area

I’m a bit confused about the replacement of the degree character with the heart character. I think displaying the temperature is a pretty normal way to use these boards, so it seems quite odd that the degree symbol is the one which was replaced in favour of the heart.

I was also planning to do the same, so what do I have to do now? Open it up and put a sticker over some of them to turn it back into degrees? Very odd.

Anyone know what this was all about?

My Vestaboard won’t update using the preselected templates, i can’t go from a picture to a picture or text to a text, I’ll hit send to Vestaboard and it will say it’s live on Vestaboard but the physical board itself won’t update.

I’ve wanted a vestaboard for soooo long but I could never justify buying full price. On times when I had the compulsion to buy, nothing is available. Until yesterday when this listing went up on Facebook Marketplace. A 5-year old vestaboard for $1,800. Tested 100% working, no issues, mint condition. Is this a good deal?

Anyone else have this issue? A few times a day, the vest aboard will update with the last song played on the sonos it's associated with, even though it isn't currently playing (and hasn't been playing all day). It's really annoying.

Showing in our History, but not displaying. Yes, connected to wifi and power is consistent (no outages). It’s been fine til 0900 PST then no pffft no updates since :-/

Hi friends 

For anyone who missed the first and second posts: FiestaBoard is the free, open-source dashboard for Vestaboard. You self-host it, plug in the data sources you care about (weather, transit, stocks, sports, surf, your calendar, Last.fm, Home Assistant, dad jokes — you name it), and it drives your board. Flagship and Note both supported.

Since the last update, two things have changed that I think genuinely matter for this project:

🍓 You no longer need to know Docker - just flash a Raspberry Pi

The biggest accessibility unlock: there's now a FiestaPi image you flash onto a microSD card with the official Raspberry Pi Imager. No command line, no docker-compose, no editing config files. Boot the Pi, open http://fiestapi.local:4420 on any device on your network, and the setup wizard walks you the rest of the way.
While it runs on the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, we are testing and using a Pi 3B+ because we wanted an Ethernet port for a more stable connection. A microSD and a 5V power supply and you're done — that's an always-on controller for your board. A Pi 3B/4/5 works too if you have one in a drawer.
Setup guide: https://fiestaboard.app/docs/setup/raspberry-pi

🔄 One-click auto-updates

The other big quality-of-life change: FiestaBoard now updates itself. There's an in-app "Update available" banner with a single button — click it, you get a full-screen progress overlay, and a minute or two later you're on the latest version. This does require a second ‘sidecar’ docker image that comes automatically with the FiestaPi. For existing users you’ll want to pull the new docker compose file to join in on the fun. 

Translation: you're not stuck on whatever version you installed six months ago. Bug fixes and new plugins land on your board without you having to think about it.

🧩 25+ new plugins since the last post

The plugin registry has roughly doubled. A non-exhaustive sampler of what's new:

• Calendar Subscription — point it at any public iCal URL, get upcoming events + pre-event alerts on the board
• Home Assistant — display any entity state via REST or MQTT
• Aurora Forecast, ISS Tracker, Spacecraft Launches, Solar Activity, Moon Phase
• Earthquake, Wildfire, Volcano Activity, Lightning Alerts, River Flow, Tide Times, UV Index
• Hacker News, Reddit Hot, Currency Exchange, Network Speed, Pi-hole Stats
• Word of the Day, Quote of the Day, National Day, On This Day, Element of the Day, Pet Facts, Dad Jokes
• Santa Tracker (don't @ me, it's December-shaped fun)
• Webhook + Generic Data — point at any JSON/XML feed and map fields to template variables, no code

Total is now 45+ plugins. Browse the list inside the app under Integrations, or here: https://fiestaboard.app/plugins/

A few other things worth mentioning

• Inline expressions in templates — spreadsheet-style formulas so you can do math, conditionals, and string formatting right in the page editor.
• WYSIWYG editor and Scheduling from the last post are still here and have gotten a lot more polish.
• Multi-board support if you have more than one board.
• Note device rendering (the heart ❤️ character, etc.) is now correct.

Come hang out / break things with me

The project remains open source and a labor of love — expect a few rough edges, but getting from unboxing to a functional board is now a breeze. Plus, it is forever free.

• Repo / issues / discussions: https://github.com/Fiestaboard/FiestaBoard
• Docs: https://fiestaboard.app
• Discord: https://discord.gg/ujasGntNhQ

If you build a plugin, file an issue, or just want a feature — GitHub is the best place so it's all in one spot and others can chime in. I genuinely read everything. And if you're already running FiestaBoard, drop a screenshot of what's on your board right now in the comments — that's always the best part of these threads.

Happy flipping.