What is discourse-livestream used for?

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AI-generated summary

The discussion revolves around the purpose and usage of the discourse-livestream plugin, which enables embedding live streams from various sources into a Discourse community. While the plugin’s name suggests live streaming functionality, users like oga and HAWK express confusion over its lack of documentation and configuration options. thoka references the plugin’s spec for insights, noting that topics with the livestream tag can create connected chat channels. isaac clarifies that the plugin is experimental, open-source, and currently lacks public documentation, though it is intended for broader accessibility in the future. David_Ghost sees potential for gaming communities, while Jagster notes layout issues, questioning its production readiness. Falco counters that the plugin is already used in production by enterprise customers, emphasizing that its open-source nature doesn’t guarantee a beginner-friendly experience. Jagster acknowledges the plugin’s limitations despite its readiness.

1

Ok, the name is intuitive enough, but, there are settings no details on how to use it.
I mean this plugin
https://github.com/discourse/discourse-livestream.git

So, is it used for Live Streaming as in Showing something live?

2

From the ReadMe

Plugin Summary

This plugin allows you to embed a live stream from a variety of sources inside a Discourse community.

3

Yes, but how? Say I am streaming from xyz. Do I just simply copy xyz url and paste?
Sorry, I am used to complexity, LOL, and I noticed it has no configurable properties.

4

I agree, this plugin could really use some better documentation.

5

There is a spec for this plugin, from where you can deduce its working:

I’ve tried to use ChatGPT for a how-to, but most of it seems to be hallucinations.

I would have expected:

Add the tag livestream to a topic to create a connected chat channel.
The topics author will be subscribed to this channel automatically.

6

Edit - View the documentation here.

Hey there @oga :slight_smile:

As you can see, the plugin is currently open sourced meaning anyone can use it. That being said, it is very much an experimental plugin for the time being. Hence the lack of public documentation.

We (Discourse) have the intention of making it more accessible in the future, but we don’t have a concrete roadmap for the plugin at the moment.

7

What a good news for gaming communities. I’ll test this as soon as possible in my gaming forum

8

Well, looks like its (one) purpose has been connecting a chat to an event. But it works with other topics too.

But layout is somewhat broken (Buzz announcement) so this isn’t suitable for production, though.

9

This was made for our Enterprise customers, and has seen live streams with thousands of participants, very much in production :smile:

The plugin is ready, and open source, but that doesn’t mean it also contains a newbie friendly out of the box experience. When we work on those plugins that are designed for a specific need of our customers, we open source most but that doesn’t mean it will always include batteries.

10

I know that. But good to know they aren’t using default theme and iPads :wink:

My very weak point was it isn’t for everybody even it is open source.