What are Switchboard Templates?
Templates act as the metadata for your multistream. They are designed to pre-set and change/update the metadata (title & stream description) when you go live to your destinations. With the template feature, you no longer need to copy and paste the same metadata for each destination. You can save time by creating one template containing the Title, Description, and metadata for your upcoming live broadcast and then applying it to a destination group. We've added a date feature to templates for our daily live streamers. When the date feature is active, the current date will automatically add to the end of the stream title.
There are two methods to create a new template in the Switchboard account.
Method 1. Directly at the top of any destination group.
When you create a template using this method, the newly created template will automatically apply to the group.
This method is excellent for cases when you want to quickly create and apply a template to a specific group.
Method 2. Templates page
This method is excellent if you want to spend time creating all of your templates and stream titles ahead of time.
After creating templates on this page, you will need to return to the specific destination group and apply the desired template to the group.
Let's get started!
Method 1 - Destination Group Header
Click the pencil icon at the top of any destination group.
Select Create New Template from the menu.
The Templates page will open.
Templates Page
The template page is broken down into sections.
Internal Information is at the top, and Stream Information is at the bottom of the Template page. The Template List is located on the righthanded side.
Internal Information
The Internal Information is private and is only visible to you.
Template Label: The name of your template is entered here so that you can quickly identify them when you add them to a destination group.
Description: In this section, you can provide a note with instructions so you'll know how the template should be used. Great if you're sharing the Switchboard Cloud with other team members.
Streaming Information
The information in this section is public and will be published to the group's destinations. Your viewers will be able to see the Information that you provide in this section.
Stream Title Fields
Main Title Field - use this field to apply the stream title to all the group destinations.
While this option is excellent, we highly recommend using the designated stream title fields for their social channels.
The specific stream title fields will allow you to create clear messages tailored to the audience and the unique character limits for that destination type. Stream titles provided in their designated title field will override the stream title supplied in the main title.
Destination-Specific Stream Title Fields
The stream title character limit is 254 for Facebook.
The stream description will display in the Facebook Feed.
While viewing the video, the Facebook stream title and description will display when the video is clicked open and viewed as a user.
YouTube
Note: YouTube's stream title character limit is 100. If you provide a stream title that exceeds 100 characters in the first field, the stream title will publish the first 100 characters to the YouTube destination.
Choose a category from the drop-down menu to classify the content.
Twitch
Use the top main title field for Twitch stream titles.
If you are a gamer, type the name of the game that you are playing, and it will post with your live stream, saving you an extra step on the Twitch platform.
Use the top main title field for LinkedIn stream titles.
The description will also be published along with the stream title you've provided for LinkedIn.
RTMP
The stream title and description will not publish to Custom RTMP destinations.
Description
Use this field to provide additional Information about the live broadcast, including emojis, hashtags, links, etc.
When you go live, the content you've provided in the description will be as follows.
YouTube:
Description section, the box directly below the stream title. Take advantage of this space because you can add any desired links, hashtags, tags, and any other type of Information.
Facebook:
Facebook interprets the description differently and will use the description as part of the Facebook post.
LinkedIn:
The description will be appended after the stream title.
Method 2
Creating a New Template from Templates Page
Select the Main menu Top Left.
Choose Templates.
On the top right of the template page, press the "Plus Icon" to create a new template.
Fill out the Information, such as the stream title, description, and tags.
Next, you'll need to apply the template to a destination group so that all the information you've created gets published during the live video broadcast.
Click here to learn How to Apply a Template to a Destination Group.
Templates List
Managing Templates in the Switchboard Account
Copy Template
Creating a copy of the template is a great way to keep a basic template in your Switchboard Account as a reference for future live streams.
Click on any one of the templates in the list.
Click the "Copy the Current Template" button on the top right of the Templates page.
Deleting Templates
Every so often, it is a good idea to delete the templates that you are no longer using.
On the right side of the Template Page, hover over the template you want to delete and click the Trash Can. Select Yes, to confirm the deletion.
Date Feature
The date feature has been added to the templates. With this feature enabled, the current date of the live stream will be appended to the tail end of the stream title. This feature is tied to the template.
Follow the steps below to learn how to enable the date format
1. At the top of the destination group, click the pencil icon to open the edit group menu.
2. Scroll down to the date format.
Click the caret to open the drop-down menu and select the desired date format.
3. A confirmation will display next to the title field type to indicate that a date format has been selected.
Confirm the update by scrolling down and clicking SAVE.
Check out the resources below:
Add destinations to your Switchboard Account.
Enable the Switchboard GO Live Autostart feature.