Now that you have a playlist with plenty of unique material and good metadata, it's time to schedule an event for the playlist to be streamed out.
Click on the Events tab in the Station Menu.
To create an event, click on the Create Event button in the bottom right corner of the Events pane.
Next, fill in the details in the Event window:
Description of each of the event editor options and fields:
Title - Give your Event a title. Currently, your Event titles are not visible to your listeners. This will help you navigate your Schedule.
Start (Date and Time) - Select the event start date and time using the interface.
Note: The system needs about 30 minutes to get tracks queued up for the event. You should schedule events at least 30 minutes from the current time if you are programming for the same day as the Event.
Duration - Select a duration for your Event. Make sure the Event is long enough to fit the desired Playlist. If the Event duration is longer than the Playlist, the Playlist will loop to fill the Event slot as long as it satisfies the DMCA. You can edit duration directly by keyboard input or by using your mouse to select it from the interface.
Source - Select whether you will be populating the Event with a Playlist, MultiTrack or by using the ClockWheels feature (Read more about the ClockWheels feature here.). Then choose a Playlist, MultiTrack or Clockwheel with which you’d like to populate the Event.
Scheduling - Select Strict or Flexible Event type. Strict Event types will start at the exact specified Event start time. They might cut off the previous track in the middle if the Event start time has been reached. Flexible Event types will delay their starts until the previous track has finished. (You can read more about strict versus flexible Events here.)
Crossfade - Check this option if you would like for the scheduled tracks to crossfade, based on the Duration, Type, and Fade in/out parameters that you set in Streaming → AutoDJ → Crossfade.
Recurring - You can select the days that you would like to have the scheduled event play. Click the check box next to "Recurring" to open the options pane. You will see a checkmark next to the day you originally selected. If applicable, check each day that you would like the "Source" (Playlist or Clockwheel) to run. You can read more about Recurring Events here.
Until - When you click to start a recurring event, you will be prompted for a " Repeat Until" date for your scheduled event. Click in the box to open the calendar, where you will be able to select the time and date the event will end.
If for any reason your Event does not pass the DMCA check, you will see an error at the top right of the Event window. If your Event passes the DMCA check, your schedule will show the Event you have just created.
Note: We recommend against having too many back-to-back Events in your schedule, especially if they have flexible starts. It can cause problems for troubleshooting and ad insertion. We recommend having at least 1 hour of gap in your schedule per 24 hours of programming. You can do this during an off-peak time.
Clicking on an Event in the Schedule pane will open a window from which you can view the Event details and the Tracks scheduled for the Event.
Options for editing an event
In the event window, you also have the option to Cancel Event or Cancel Series.
Updates and notes
2022 updates to scheduling events:
The scheduler grid is being displayed in the station's time zone instead of the time zone set on the computer you are accessing Live365 from. The station time zone is set automatically when a new station is created based on the owners' current location. The current time zone is displayed in the top left corner of the Scheduler interface.
2021 updates to scheduling events:
There are no other options for editing with this current version of the scheduler. Our developers are looking into bringing more event editor options to the interface in the future. We have intentionally restricted editing at this time because it was causing major issues with stations' programming and playback. There are several technical limitations as to why we locked down making changes that would affect existing scheduled events.
Here are the scenarios that we aim to avoid with these software restrictions:
- Scheduled events overlapping each other.
- Multiple instances of an event running at the same time.
- Recurring events which are disappearing when editing an existing series of events.
- Silence due to database conflicts resulting from editing events.
The intentions behind these current restrictions are all in the name of a more resilient platform. Editing the events or files that comprise existing events brought havoc to the database systems behind the scenes of our community stations.
Track history for events is kept for the past 90 days, after which each new day of track history will replace the oldest.
Proceed to the next New User Guide article: Live365 New User Guide - Share your Station
This article is part of the new user series. Here are the standard articles about this topic:
- Scheduling Events
- Strict versus Flexible Event types
- What happens if I don't schedule an Event?