# Live streams, stages & events

> Go live to your community from a webcam or OBS, run an interactive stage with members, schedule events, and manage recordings and replays.

Source: https://support.estage.com/community-live-events
Part of the ESTAGE Support help center (https://support.estage.com). Full knowledge base: https://support.estage.com/llms-full.txt

---

Going live is the quickest way to get your members together in real time — a class, a Q&A, a
launch. Your community has two live formats:

| | **Spotlight** | **Stage** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | One presenter, unlimited viewers | An interactive session with up to 50 participants on camera |
| Source | Webcam or RTMP (OBS and similar) | Webcam or WHIP (OBS) |
| Interaction | Live chat, call-to-action, polls | Participants on stage, join requests, invites |
| Recording | Automatic; the replay appears in **Events → Replays** | On demand, saved privately to your video library |

Both are started from the **Start a Live Event** page — click **Go Live** in the post composer to
open it — and can be scheduled as **events** members see in advance.

## Before you start

- **Have the right access.** **Go Live** shows for admins who have an active paid ESTAGE
  subscription of their own, and for anyone whose [role](https://support.estage.com/community-roles) includes **Create & run
  streams and events**.
- **To use your webcam**, allow your browser to use the camera and microphone when it asks.

## Going live now

1. On **Start a Live Event**, click **New Event → Go Live Now**.
2. Pick **Spotlight** or **Stage** and click **Start Event**. The Spotlight studio or the stage
   opens in a new tab.

When a Spotlight stream starts, members get a push notification ("… is now LIVE! Click To Join
Now").

### In the Spotlight studio

The **Studio View** panel (**Live Streaming**) holds the stream's settings:

| Field | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Title** | The name of the stream, saved when you leave the field |
| **Channel** | Where the live post appears — **Main Feed** or one of your [channels](https://support.estage.com/community-channels) |
| **Access Rule** | **No Rule**, or a custom rule members must meet to watch — see [Badges, rules & paid access](https://support.estage.com/community-access-rules) |
| **Select Video Source** | **Webcam** or **RTMP** |

1. Choose the source:
   - **Webcam** — click **Go Live**.
   - **RTMP**, to stream from OBS or other software — copy the **Server** and **Stream Key** into
     it. The stream goes live when your software connects; until then the studio shows *"Waiting
     for your stream…"*.
2. **Stop Live** (or **End Live** on the webcam controls) finishes the stream.
3. Use the **Actions** tab while live:
   - a call-to-action — text, a URL or a global variable — with **Show CTA** / **Hide CTA**;
   - a poll — **Question**, **Options**, **Add Poll**, **Hide Poll**.

With **RTMP** you also get a **Live Chat Embed URL**. Add it to OBS as a browser source to show the
stream's live chat on top of your video — the page has a transparent background, so only the
messages show.

On a webcam stream, **Background effects** (the sparkle button on the camera controls) changes what
is behind you, on your preview and on the broadcast:

| Group | Choices |
| --- | --- |
| **Original** | No effect |
| **Blur** | **Light blur**, **Blur**, **Strong blur**, **Blur mono**, **Blur warm** |
| **Background filters** | Your real background, recolored: **B&W back**, **Sepia back**, **Cool back**, **Warm back**, **Dimmed** |
| **Backdrops** | A plain or gradient background: **Studio dark**, **Studio light**, **Aurora**, **Sunset**, **Graphite** |
| **Looks** | A color grade over the whole picture: **Vivid**, **Mono**, **Cinematic** |

**Reset** goes back to **Original**. Effects switch off while you share your screen. If your
browser can't run them, the panel says so.

The **Scheduled Events** tab in the studio sets a date and time and a **Channel** for this stream
(**Schedule Event**), or changes or cancels a schedule you've set (**Update**, **Cancel**).

> **Note**
>
> Only the person who started a Spotlight can run its studio. Other admins, including the owner, are
> taken to the live post instead.

### On a Stage

- **Invite Members** — a link for community members (sign-in required) and a public link for
  everyone else (no account needed).
- **Join Requests** — approve or reject people asking to come on.
- **Mute All** / **Unmute All**, and mute, unmute or remove a single participant.
- **Go live** broadcasts the stage to the community; **Broadcast Settings** adjusts it.
- **Record this call** starts a recording (a **REC** badge shows); **Stop recording** ends it.
- Layouts: **Gallery**, **Speaker**, **Multi-Speaker**; **Pin to focus** on one person.
- **Background effects**, on your own camera preview, changes the background behind you — the
  same choices as in the [Spotlight studio](#in-the-spotlight-studio).
- To present from OBS, choose **WHIP (OBS)** as the host connection and copy the **WHIP Endpoint**
  and **Stream Key**. **Regenerate credentials** issues new ones.
- **End For All** closes the stage for everyone.

## Scheduling an event

There are two ways to put an event on the calendar.

**From Start a Live Event** — **New Event → Schedule an Event For Later**:

1. Pick **Spotlight** or **Stage**.
2. Enter the **Title**, the **Channel**, an optional **Access Rule** and the **Date & Time**.
3. Click **Schedule Event**.

**From Events** — **Create Event** (on desktop) opens **Add New Event**, with more options:

| Field | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Event Type** | **Spotlight** or **Stage** |
| **Event Name**, **Description**, image | What members see |
| **Schedule Live Video** | The date and time (in the future) |
| **Access Rule** | A custom rule from **Rules**, or none — see [Badges, rules & paid access](https://support.estage.com/community-access-rules) |
| **Allow Participants to Join and Chat** | When the room opens: at the start, or from 1 minute to 1 hour before |
| **Channel** | Where it belongs |
| Destination | **Events Widget Only**, or **Events Widget + Feed** |

When you schedule, members of that channel get a push notification ("… plans to go live").

Scheduled events show in **Scheduled Events** on **Start a Live Event**, as a list or a calendar, with
**Enter Studio** / **Enter the Stage**, edit and delete. Members see them on the **Events** page and
in the **Upcoming Events** sidebar widget.

## What members see on Events

The **Events** page has two tabs, **Upcoming** and **Replays**. It shows the events of the channel
the member is in — the main feed's, or a channel's own.

- **Upcoming** lists scheduled events with their date and time in the member's time zone, and a
  **Live** badge on one that is streaming now. The calendar button switches between the list and a
  month **calendar view**.
- **Replays** shows the recordings of past streams. Open one to watch it.

Selecting an event, or its **Event Details** button, opens it:

- **Before the room opens**, a details window shows the title, a countdown, the date and time and
  the description. **Add to calendar** downloads the event as an `.ics` file for any calendar app —
  a one-hour entry with a reminder 10 minutes before. When the countdown ends, the window switches
  to the live event.
- **Once the room is open** (see **Allow Participants to Join and Chat**) or the stream is live,
  the live event opens straight away.
- **An event with an access rule** asks the member to [sign in](https://support.estage.com/community-joining#signing-in), and shows what it takes to get in if
  they don't meet the rule yet — see [Badges, rules & paid access](https://support.estage.com/community-access-rules).

People who can run streams see **Go To Live Studio** or **Enter the Stage** on each event instead of
**Event Details**, with the edit menu next to it.

## Replays

When a Spotlight stream ends, its recording appears under **Events → Replays**. Open a replay and
use **Update Replay** to change its **Event Name**, **Description**, **Time**, the **Replay Video
Link** and a **CTA Button Text**.

> **Note**
>
> Looking for a Stage recording? Stage recordings go into the recording person's own video library and
> aren't posted to the community, so **Replays** doesn't show them. Share one by adding it to
> [Videos](https://support.estage.com/community-library#videos).

## Things worth knowing

- **Removing a participant** from a stage takes them off the call; they see that the host removed
  them. The community owner can't be muted or removed.
- **Moderating any stage** — not only your own — is the **Mute & remove participants** permission.
  Running streams and events is **Create & run streams and events**. Both can be given to a host
  through [roles](https://support.estage.com/community-roles).
- **Live chat** is the comment thread of the live post: delete messages there as you would comments.
- **Deleting a scheduled event** can't be undone.