Go live

Live streaming gives your account a channel with its own watch page, live chat and automatic recordings. You set it up once in the Streaming studio, connect streaming software such as OBS, and then go live whenever you are ready.

Who can do this: every plan, including Worker Bee. The owner, admins and moderators of an account can set up and run its stream. A community streams as itself, so open the community's dashboard first.

#Create your stream

Select the Streaming card on your dashboard. The page is titled Account streaming. If you have no stream yet, it shows Set up your stream.

1. Name your channel

   Enter a Channel title, up to 120 characters. It starts as "Live stream". It is the headline of your watch page, and you can change it later.

2. Create the stream

   Select Create stream. Hive3 confirms with Stream created and opens the Stream studio.

3. Copy your stream key straight away

   A yellow box says Copy your stream key now. Select Copy stream key, then Done. The key is shown once and cannot be shown again.

#Set up OBS

The Go live with OBS card holds the two values your software needs: the RTMP server and your Stream key. Select the copy button next to the server address to copy it.

1. Open the stream settings in OBS

   In OBS Studio, open Settings and then Stream.

2. Choose a custom service

   Set Service to Custom....

3. Paste the server and key

   Paste the RTMP server into Server and your stream key into Stream Key, then select OK.

4. Start streaming

   Select Start Streaming in OBS. Back in the studio, the status pill changes from Offline to Ready or Live, depending on the mode you chose below.

Any other streaming software that can send RTMP uses the same two values.

#Choose how you go live

In the Broadcast card, under When your streaming software connects, pick one of two modes.

Wait for me is a private rehearsal. Open the watch page, check your picture and sound, and go live when you are ready. Select End stream when you finish.

The card tells you where things stand:

Go live is unavailable until your software is connected and the stream has a title.

#Share your watch page

Select Open watch page to see your channel as viewers do, or Copy URL to copy its link. While you are live, a banner at the top of Hive3 also tells people that an account is live, with a link to watch.

On the watch page, viewers can:

• Watch the stream. Live streams are open to everyone, whether or not they are signed in.
• Chat, if they are signed in. Messages can be up to 500 characters, with emoji and replies.
• Select Join account to join the account, like the stream, share it, or report it.

When the stream ends, the page says Thanks for watching and shows the recording once it has finished processing. Past broadcasts appear under Recent broadcasts. Recordings are for signed-in members: someone who is signed out sees Sign in to watch the replay.

#Moderate the chat

Owners, admins and moderators can look after the chat from the watch page. On a message, open Message actions and choose:

• Remove message
• Remove all messages from this person
• Ban from chat

Select Banned with the count to open Banned from this chat, where Unban lets someone post again.

#Design your stream page

The Stream page card opens the page builder, where you set up how your watch page looks.

1. Edit the title, description and badges on the page

   These are edited directly on the page, not in the side panel. The title takes up to 120 characters, the description up to 2,000, and you can add up to 4 badges.

2. Style the background

   Select Creative background to add background layers: Solid, Gradient, Pattern or Image. Select Chat appearance to style the chat panel.

3. Add layers

   Select Add and choose Text, Blank card, Image, Hive item, Rectangle, Circle or Line. A Hive item opens Add a Hive item, where you pick one of your events, courses, quests or content to feature. A page can have up to 30 layers.

4. Arrange them

   Drag layers on the page. Use the pencil icon on a layer's row to rename it, and the trash icon to remove it.

5. Save and exit

   Changes save as you go: the panel shows Saving…, then Saved. Select Save and exit when you are done. On a phone, Visualize stream takes you back to the page.

#Manage your recordings

Every broadcast is recorded. Open the Broadcasts tab on your dashboard to see Past broadcasts, each with its date and length. Select a recording to watch it, or Delete to remove it. Deleting asks Delete broadcast? and removes the recording permanently.

#Reset or delete your stream

• Regenerate key issues a new stream key and cancels the old one.
• Delete stream removes your stream settings, chat and OBS key. Your recordings are kept. You can create a new stream afterwards.

#Tips

• Run a rehearsal in Wait for me mode before your first public stream.
• Give your stream a clear title before you go live. Hive3 will not let you go live without one.
• Link to an upcoming event or course with a Hive item layer so viewers can sign up while they watch.
• Keep your stream key out of screenshots and recordings of your screen.

#Related guides

• Watch live streams
• Create an event
• Your dashboard