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Live Streaming

The Live Stream Times page lets you configure your church's streaming schedule, manage service times, and customize the viewer experience. Set up recurring weekly services or one-time events, configure chat and video settings, and control when your stream goes live.

Training Video​

Setting Up Live Streaming in B1 · Watch on YouTubeNext video: Customizing Your Church's Member App in B1

Before You Begin

  • You need the Edit Services permission in the Content section of your role. See Roles & Permissions if you do not have access.
  • Have your YouTube Channel ID ready if you plan to use automated live streaming
  • Add at least one sermon or permanent live URL to use as your stream source

Live streaming is managed from two pages in the Sermons section of the Jump menu: Live Stream Times for managing your live stream schedule and Settings for configuring the tabs on your streaming page.

Managing Services​

Adding a Service​

  1. In B1 Admin, open the Jump menu (the search bar at the top-left), expand Sermons, and click Live Stream Times.
  2. Click the Add Service button at the top of the page to create a new scheduled service. Existing services are listed in a table showing each service's name (with a Weekly badge for recurring services), time, provider, and duration; hover over a row and click the edit icon to change it.
  3. Enter a Service Name (for example, "Sunday Morning"). New services start as "Sunday Morning".
  4. Set the Service Time -- choose the date and time your service begins. New services start at 9:00 AM next Sunday.
  5. Set Recurs Weekly to Yes (Weekly) for regular weekly services, or No (One-time) for a one-time event.

Configuring Chat and Video Settings​

  1. Under Chat Settings, set Enable Chat - Minutes Before and Enable Chat - Minutes After -- how many minutes before and after the service the chat should be enabled (10 each for a new service). This lets visitors start chatting before service begins and continue afterward. The time next to each box shows when chat opens and closes.
  2. Under Video Settings, set Start Video Early -- how many minutes early to start the video stream for countdown or pre-service content. Chat opens that many minutes before the early video starts, so the time shown next to the chat's minutes-before setting counts both numbers. For example, a 10:00 service with 15 minutes of chat before and a 5-minute early start opens chat at 9:40.
  3. Select what to play from the Sermon dropdown:
    • Latest Sermon (Auto) -- Automatically plays your most recently added video.
    • Your permanent live URLs, listed next -- each plays your channel's current live stream from YouTube using your Channel ID. A new one is named Current Live Service unless you rename it.
    • Below them, any specific sermon you have already saved.
  4. Click Save to schedule your service, or Cancel to close the form.

To remove a service, edit it, click Delete, and confirm.

info

Your service will automatically update each week if set to recurring. It stays at the same local time when daylight saving time starts or ends. You can add as many services as you need. Visitors will see the next scheduled service time when they visit your streaming page.

Streaming Page Settings​

To customize the tabs and links that appear alongside your live stream, open the Jump menu, expand Sermons, and click Settings. The Stream Settings page shows your Content Tabs list, in the order viewers see them. External link tabs open their link in a new browser tab when you click them.

Adding Tabs​

  1. Click the Add button to add a new tab to your live stream page. The Create New Tab dialog opens.
  2. Enter the tab's name in the Tab Text box, and choose an Icon by clicking the icon button.
  3. Choose a Link Type: External URL for a custom link (the default), or one of the built-in Chat or Prayer tabs.
  4. For an External URL tab, enter the address in the External URL box. Chat and Prayer tabs need nothing more.
  5. Click Save Tab. New tabs are added at the end of the list.

Your configured tabs will appear on the live streaming page for viewers to access additional resources and interactive features.

Editing, Reordering, and Deleting Tabs​

Hover over a tab and use its buttons:

  • Move up and Move down arrows -- Change the order of the tabs.
  • Edit (pencil) -- Change the tab's text, icon, type, or URL, then click Save Tab. To remove the tab, click Delete and confirm in the Delete Tab dialog.

Previewing Your Stream​

On the Live Stream Times page, click View Your Stream at the top of the page to see exactly how your live streaming page will look to visitors, including your logo, service times, and configured tabs.

Setting Up Your YouTube Live Stream​

To connect your YouTube channel for automatic live streaming:

  1. Go to Sermons and click Add Sermon, then select Add Permanent Live URL. The Edit Permanent Live Url form opens.
  2. The Video Provider defaults to Current YouTube Live Stream. Enter your YouTube Channel ID (not your channel's URL; click Get Your Channel Id for help).
  3. The title starts as Current Live Service. Change it if you like, add a description, then click Save. Permanent live URLs don't have a playlist or publish date.
  4. In Live Stream Times, create a service and select your permanent live URL from the Sermon dropdown.
tip

To find your YouTube Channel ID, go to your YouTube channel's advanced settings and copy the Channel ID value.

Your live stream page uses your website's Appearance settings:

  • The light accent color with dark text is used for the header.
  • The dark accent color with light text is used for the sidebar.
  • Your Light Background Logo appears on the streaming page. Use an image with a transparent background and a 4:1 aspect ratio.

To change these, go to Website then Appearance and update your Color Palette and Logo settings.

Adding Streaming Hosts​

To give team members access to the host-only chat alongside the public chat:

  1. In the Jump menu, choose Settings > Roles.
  2. Click Add role and select Add Custom Role.
  3. Name the role "Streaming Host" and click Save.
  4. Click the new role, then search for people in its member list and add them (see Adding Users to a Role).
  5. Scroll down to Edit Permissions, expand the Content section, and check Host Chat.

When hosts log into the live stream page, a private Host Chat tab appears alongside the public chat for staff-only conversation during the broadcast.

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For more details on creating roles and managing permissions, see Roles & Permissions.

Troubleshooting​

If your automated YouTube live stream is not displaying correctly when using the "Current YouTube Live Stream" option with your Channel ID, try the following:

Symptoms:

  • The live stream embed shows "Video unavailable"
  • The page loads but no video appears
  • Direct YouTube embeds work, but the automated channel live stream does not

Solution: Check your YouTube channel for old or upcoming scheduled live streams and delete them:

  1. Go to your YouTube Studio.
  2. Navigate to Content then Live.
  3. Look for any old scheduled lives or upcoming scheduled streams.
  4. Delete these old or scheduled live stream entries.
  5. Test your live stream page again.
warning

YouTube's automated channel live stream embed can be blocked when there are multiple scheduled or past live stream entries in your channel. Removing these allows YouTube to properly identify and serve your current live stream.

Additional requirements:

  • Your live stream must be set to Public (not Unlisted or Private).
  • Embedding must be allowed in your YouTube stream settings.
  • Make sure you are using the Current YouTube Live Stream provider (with Channel ID), not the YouTube provider (with Video ID).

Next Steps​