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A live stream is a live broadcast that appears on your cause’s public page. Anyone who drops in can watch it without installing anything and without an account. It is good for what a text can’t achieve: showing the place, introducing the people behind it, answering live the question everyone is asking.

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Scheduling one

Every live stream is scheduled: no announcement, no audience. In your cause’s header, press Go live.
The Go live button only appears when the cause is approved. While it is under review, paused or closed, you cannot broadcast.
Go live window with no live stream scheduled, with the Schedule a live stream button and the Close button

Go live, when no live stream has been scheduled yet.

1

Press Schedule a live stream

The picker opens with the text Pick the date and time of the live stream. It starts empty on purpose: nothing is scheduled until you choose.
2

Choose the day and time

At least 20 minutes ahead and up to 30 days. You type the time on your own clock: anyone watching from another country will see it in theirs.
3

Confirm

Press Confirm the date and time. If you make a mistake, Back takes you to the previous step without scheduling anything.
Pick the date and time of the live stream picker, with the help text about the 20 minutes' notice, the 30-day maximum and the start button that unlocks 5 minutes before, and the Confirm the date and time and Back buttons

You choose the day and time, and confirm. The help text reminds you of the margins: 20 minutes, 30 days, and 5 minutes before to start.

From that moment the public page announces the live stream with a countdown. Also post an update so the people who already back you know about it. With the live stream scheduled you can Change date or Cancel schedule whenever you want.

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Make sure the audience doesn’t miss it

On the public page, next to the announcement, there is a button to add the cause’s live streams to the calendar (Google Calendar, Apple, Outlook or any other that supports subscriptions). It is not a one-off event: it is a subscription, so that person’s calendar also picks up the live streams you schedule later, and any time changes. We don’t ask anyone for an email or any data for this.

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Entering the room

With the live stream scheduled, the Go live window offers you two ways in:

Open the broadcast room

Opens the room in a new tab on this computer.

Open on your phone

Shows a QR code. Scan it with your phone’s camera and the room opens there.
You can go in whenever you like, days ahead if needed, to test the camera, the microphone and the settings. Nobody sees you while you are in the preview.
Each time you press one of the two buttons a new access is prepared, valid for a single device for one hour. You don’t have to save or copy any links: if the access expires, go back to the cause and press again.

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Starting the broadcast

The Start broadcasting button unlocks 5 minutes before the announced time. Until then the room tells you when you will be able to start, with the day and time. When you press it you will see Preparing your broadcast… for a few minutes (up to three): we are setting up the broadcast just for you. Don’t close the page; you go on air as soon as it is ready. To finish, press End live stream, which only appears while you are broadcasting. It asks End the live stream? and, once you confirm with Yes, end it, the audience stops seeing you and the room closes.
Go into the room a while before the time, check your camera, microphone and connection, and prepare the Settings, the pinned message and the goal. When the time comes, all you’ll have to do is press a button.

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The broadcast room

You turn the camera and microphone on and off from the bar at the bottom. On a phone, Switch camera toggles between the front and the rear one.With Share screen the audience sees your screen large and your camera in a small window in the corner, so they don’t lose sight of your face while you explain.
You can pin a message that shows over the broadcast and set yourself two goals for this live stream: one for signatures and one for boosts. They count from the moment you set them and the whole audience watches the bars fill up.A boost is a paid promotion that someone makes of your cause so it gets seen more on the portal. You see how many boosts the cause receives, not how much was paid for them.
The Settings button (at the top, in the room) gathers:
  • Save recording: when it ends, the live stream is published as an update on the cause, for those who couldn’t watch it live.
  • Slow mode: the seconds the same person has to wait between one message and the next.
  • Only signers can write: anyone can watch; only those who already signed can write.
  • Guest can moderate: your guest will be able to remove, mute and highlight messages, like you.
  • Blocked words: comma-separated. A message with any of them doesn’t enter the chat.
Viewers can write and react with emojis. Each participant appears in a different color so you can follow the conversation at a glance.On each message you can put the question up on screen, mute that person for five minutes or remove them from the chat.
Press Invite and then Create guest link. Send it to whoever you want to bring on the live stream: they join with camera and microphone. It works once and expires in 60 minutes.In the same window you see each link with its status (unused, in use or revoked). If you change your mind or sent it to the wrong person, press Revoke and it stops working straight away.While you and your guest are both on camera, the audience sees you both: you in the large view and your guest in a small window. Your guest cannot end the live stream: when they want to leave, they press Leave the live stream, which only disconnects them. The live stream carries on with you and the audience goes back to seeing only you.
When someone signs or boosts the cause during the broadcast, an alert appears on screen for you and for the audience. It is the best moment to say thank you out loud.
The sign button stays visible to the audience while you broadcast.

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If nobody is watching

A live stream with no audience does not stay open indefinitely. If you have been broadcasting for a while with nobody watching, the room warns you: Nobody is watching. If nobody joins, the live stream will end at… with the time, about five minutes later. If someone joins before then, you keep broadcasting; if not, the live stream ends by itself at that time.
Share the cause’s link on your social networks right as you start. That way the live stream starts with people and doesn’t close for lack of an audience.

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When it ends

You see a summary of what the live stream achieved: duration, peak viewers, signatures and boosts during the broadcast, messages and reactions. If you turned on Save recording, the video is published as an update on the cause. If a prepared live stream never gets broadcast, it closes by itself after a day.

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What you need

A phone or computer with a camera and microphone, and a stable connection. If you can choose, cable or wifi rather than mobile data.