Suggestion Watch Party Enhancements

[club-home]

Hi! Thanks for latest Watch Party update! Looks amazing! However, in order to make it real cool )), please consider some features.

I’m exploring whether Watch Party could also work well for public webinars and conferences. Could you let me know which of the following are already supported and whether you’d consider adding anything that’s missing?

Spoiler: some..

1. Live HLS broadcasts​

I’d like to use direct (Boomstream.com or similar) .m3u8 streams for broadcasts lasting two hours or longer. It would be helpful to check how playback behaves when someone joins halfway through, refreshes the page or reconnects.

Ideally, a temporary stream interruption would show a connection status and trigger another playback attempt without clearing the media source. It would also be useful to keep the broadcast running when the host leaves, and to run two independent rooms at the same time.

2. XenCustomize Events Manager integration​

Could a room be linked to an existing event, with a “Watch live” button on the event page and a link back from the room?

Automatic opening and closing around the event schedule would be handy, along with updating the room’s schedule if the event time changes. I’d prefer to keep participant registration in XenCustomize' Events Manager.

3. External recordings and replay chat​

After a broadcast, I’d like to add an external recording URL while keeping the original chat, description and event link. A “Recording is being prepared” message could cover the period before the video is available.

It would be good to distinguish the original chat from new comments added afterwards. If replay chat follows video timestamps, could there be an adjustable time offset and support for seeking through the recording? Messages removed by moderators would ideally stay removed in the replay.

There’s no need for automatic recording—the organiser or video provider would supply the video.

4. Roles and moderation​

I’d like organisers, co-hosts/moderators and viewers to have separate permissions. Moderators could manage the chat without full access to room settings.

Pinned messages, message deletion, participant restrictions and a log of important actions would be useful. Public room creation could be limited to selected groups or go through approval.

Next steps​

The idea would be to test the full workflow on a staging site, on desktop and mobile:

Event → live HLS broadcast → external recording → replay with chat

Could you share what already works, what would need development, any additional dependencies, and a rough cost and timeline? There’s no need to include migration from [MC] Watch Parties in this first phase.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Gwendal]

Thanks for writing this up so clearly. Here is where each point stands, checked against the code rather than from memory, and with part of point 1 already shipped today in 2.0.2 (details in your support thread).

1. Live HLS broadcasts

• Works now: direct .m3u8 live streams, through the bundled hls.js. Joining halfway, refreshing or reconnecting lands on the live edge. Several rooms can run at the same time, each with its own stream.
• New in 2.0.2: a temporary interruption shows The stream dropped. Reconnecting over the video and retries by itself with growing delays, without clearing the media source. The notice also appears if a live stream stays stuck for a few seconds.
• Not yet: keeping a room open when the host leaves. Today a room stays open while its host or one of its co-hosts is in it; once none of them is left, it closes after the idle delay set in the options (15 minutes by default, 120 at most). For a long broadcast, the simplest setup right now is a co-host who stays in the room. A per room setting to keep it open until it is ended by hand is on my list.

2. XenCustomize Events Manager
Not supported today, and it is the only point that depends on another add-on. Linking a room to an event, a Watch live button on the event page with a link back, opening and closing around the event schedule and following a time change are all doable, with registration staying in Events Manager. I need to see how Events Manager exposes its events before I can give you an honest price and delay, so I will come back to you with a quote for this part separately.

3. External recordings and replay chat

• Works now: replays keep the original chat at the right second, comments added afterwards are labelled as replay comments, viewers can seek, and messages removed by moderators stay removed in the replay.
• Not yet: a live broadcast has no recording of its own, so it is not replayable today. Attaching an external recording URL afterwards (keeping the chat, the description and the event link), a Recording is being prepared state and an adjustable time offset are the missing pieces. The chat already keeps the time each message was sent, which is what lining it up with a recording needs.

4. Roles and moderation

• Works now: host, co-host and moderator are separate roles. A moderator manages the chat without any access to the room settings, which stay with the host and co-hosts. You have pinned messages, deletion, mutes, kicks and bans with a duration and a reason, and room creation limited to the user groups you choose (public and private parties are separate permissions). The Admin CP lists active sanctions and deleted messages with who did what.
• Not yet: a full log of the other important actions (settings, roles) and an approval step before a new room goes public.

What comes next
The missing parts of points 1, 3 and 4 are useful to every Watch Party customer, so they go into the next feature release, free for licence holders, not into a paid project. Point 2 is the custom part, and you will get a quote for it.

Your staging test can start now: event, live HLS through Boomstream, then the replay with chat as soon as recordings land. Staging and local domains do not count against your licence. Thanks again for pushing Watch Party toward webinars and broadcasts, it is a good direction for it.