Discourse Livestream

Plugin
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:information_source: Summary Discourse Livestream allows you to create Livestream topics that allow your users to join and participate in chat
:hammer_and_wrench: Repository Link https://github.com/discourse/discourse-livestream
:open_book: Install Guide How to install plugins in Discourse

Features

A screenshot of a Discourse forum with a YouTube video titled "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up" in the center. (Captioned by AI)
A screenshot of a Discourse forum with a YouTube video titled "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up" in the center. (Captioned by AI)1583×1321 109 KB

Open any topic to start a livestream event.

A livestream event includes

  • a video stream (using Youtube, for example)
  • a calendar event using Discourse Calendar (and Event)
  • and also an accompanying chat channel automatically created for the event

Configuration

There are some pre-requisite plugins and settings

  1. The chat plugin and calendar plugin need to be installed.
    • Chat comes pre-installed in Discourse, and Calendar is included in business tier and above, or for self-hosters, you can install it separately.
  2. These site settings need to be enabled
    • chat enabled
    • discourse post event enabled
    • calendar enabled
  3. Ensure embeddable chat allowed paths includes the default value of “/t”. You should not need to modify this value.

Creating a livestream topic

A text editor with a message about creating a new topic with a YouTube video link, a livestream event start date, and a public status. (Captioned by AI)
A text editor with a message about creating a new topic with a YouTube video link, a livestream event start date, and a public status. (Captioned by AI)724×308 12.2 KB

To create a livestream topic, you’d want to fill in something like the following – adding the link to the livestream and event details.

Use the create event option in the composer

The image shows a text editor with a URL and some options for creating an event or toggling the unlisted status. (Captioned by AI)
The image shows a text editor with a URL and some options for creating an event or toggling the unlisted status. (Captioned by AI)550×253 16.6 KB

Here is an excerpt you can use 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ&ab_channel=RickAstley

[event start="2024-10-23 22:00" status="public" timezone="Asia/Singapore" allowedGroups="trust_level_0"]
[/event]

Before you hit Create Topic, adding the livestream tag is crucial.

You will then see that the event and livestream has been created, along with an accompanying chat channel on the right side.

Screenshot of new livestream event

livestream event before you hit going
livestream event before you hit going1315×1005 160 KB

Once any user hits Going on the event, they will automatically join the chat channel, allowing them to participate in the conversation!

Troubleshooting

Chat does not show up on my livestream topic

Do make sure the following is set:

20 Likes
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This looks like a very useful plugin! I just have a few questions:

  1. When the user presses on ‘Going’, will the chat open on the screen automatically?
  2. Is it compulsory to make a tag ‘livestream’ and use it on livestream topics?
  3. Is the channel closed or deleted automatically after the livestream is finished?
5 Likes
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Thanks @NateDhaliwal!

The chat screen (on the right hand side of the screen) will be present on topic load. Meaning it will be there whether a user is “going” or not. The user is granted access to the chat channel once they select “going”, which also updates the chat channel by removing a CTA blocking the input to message (for non “going” users).

Currently, yes.

Currently, the channel is neither deleted nor closed after the livestream has ended or the livestream topic was closed.

8 Likes
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This plugin would also be useful for appointments, such as meetings. During meeting preparation, topics often include discussions about better time slots or announcements of delays, etc. This clutters the thread with short-lived information.

Offering a linked chat for these kinds of topics could allow for easier housekeeping (chatter would be automatically removed after some time).

For this kind of functionality, it would suffice to add a setting for a list of tags where an accompanying chat should be enabled.
In addition, the button captions for different tags could be made customizable.

3 Likes
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It seems this plugin support Youtube live and running OK in our forum. But we need some other livestream source like bilibili, does the plugin support those livestream source?

1 Like
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How well does this work on mobile?

@xish have you tried on mobile? I am guessing if bilibili has a player that works on discourse it will likely work. Easy test is to create a private category with a test group and test function