# Break Actions page

The Actions page of the Break page in the Preferences window is where you can specify things to do before, during or after a break to notify you that it is going to start, pause music for the duration of the break, play a sound during the break, and more.

Start by clicking the Add (+) button in the upper-right corner of the window. This shows a menu of available break actions.

When you first display this menu, the last item is More.... Choose this to authorize adding default scripts to your Application Scripts folder. These scripts then appear in the menu as additional actions you can add, and the end of the menu has a Reveal Scripts item to display this folder in the Finder, and Get More to open the Time Out Extras page in your web browser, so you can download additional scripts.

Once you add an action, next to its name you'll see a time interval picker and pop-up menu. These can be used to control when the action occurs, as follows. The interval picker is an offset from these times, for example you can set an action to be used 5 minutes before the break is due, or 30 seconds after it finishes fading out.

- Before Due: This will use the action the interval before the break is due to start.
- After Start: This is when the break starts to fade in.
- After Fade In: This is once it has fully faded in.
- Before Fade Out: This is when the break starts to fade out on completion.
- Before Finish: This is once it has fully faded out.
- After Finish: This is the same as Before Finish, but can be offset after completion.
- After Postpone/Skip: This occurs if the break is postponed or skipped instead of completed.
- After Any End: This is a combination of After Finish and After Postpone/Skip, i.e. whether completed or deferred.

If you have multiple actions, which is a supporter reward, they can be reordered by dragging them around. The order doesn't matter, but you might like to arrange them in an order that makes sense to you.

The available actions include:

Display Notification

This action displays a Notification Center notification, with a title and message of your choosing. You an optionally play a sound too: either the default chime, or one of the system sounds.

Fadeout Sound

If a long sound is played, it can be gently faded out over a number of seconds. This is a useful action to put at the end of a break, with a Play Sound action at the start, so you can have a pleasant sound (perhaps like wind, waves, a bell or a chant) for the duration of the break then make it fade out at the end.

Flash Screen

This action blinks the whole screen a specified color, taking a specified interval. It's useful as a silent warning of an impending break.

Play Sound

Use this action to play a sound or music before, during or after a break. You can choose a simple beep, a built-in sound, a system sound, or any sound or music file on your computer. The volume can be adjusted, and the sound can be played repeatedly; useful for short sounds during the break, in conjunction with the Fadeout Sound action.

Speak Text

This action uses speech synthesis to say whatever you want. You can choose from amongst your preferred voices (as specified in your System Preferences) or choose the Show More option in the voice menu to see all available voices. Click the Attributes button to show a popover with voice Rate, Pitch, Inflection (pitch modulation) and Volume.

## Related Topics

- Preferences window
- Break page
- Name page
- Schedule page
- Appearance page