Note:
- Stage channels are only available within Community servers. For more details on enabling community, please check this article here!
What does this FAQ cover?
- Introducing Stage Channels
- For Community Server Owners and Administrators
- For Stage Moderators
- For Audience Members
- FAQs
What are Stage channels?
Stage channels are a special type of voice channel you can create in your Community server. They are for audio-only conversations where some people can talk and others can listen as the audience.
If you’re running an audio event where you want only a select number of participants to be speaking at one time with a majority of the audience in passive, listening mode - then Stage channels offer a great way to support and run that event!
In testing, we’ve seen people use Stage channels to run AMAs, Fireside Chats, Townhalls, Reading Groups, and more!
How do they work?
Within each Stage channel, a member can be a Stage moderator, a Speaker, or listen from the audience.
Speakers are displayed at the top and the audience members are listed below so it’s easy to see who is able to talk.
Stage channels are a great way to broadcast to the whole server, because they can be pinned to the top of the channel list when they are “opened.” All you need to do to open a Stage is write a topic, and it will show up at the top below your server title or banner.
Lastly, there are no enter or leave sounds in Stage channels. We want to make it super seamless and easy to hop in and out of Stage channels and not feel like you’re bothering people.
So, you’re encouraged to sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversation. Leave whenever you feel like it!
Who can speak in a Stage channel?
Let's talk a bit more about how Speakers, Stage moderators, and audience members can interact and speak within the Stage channel!:
- Speakers are people who can talk in the channel. Speakers can easily move themselves back to the audience by clicking on the “Move to Audience” button.
- Stage moderators are special Speakers who can set a topic on the Stage channel and open it.
- They also have the power to add, mute, and remove other Speakers. In short, they’re in charge of keeping the conversation flowing.
- You can add entire roles or individual members to have Stage Moderator permissions.
- All server members (with permission to view the channel) will join Stage channels as the audience and will be muted.
Stage Moderators can become speakers on their own, but non-moderators and all other audience members must be invited up to speak or if they choose to, they can raise their hand and request to speak, which has to be approved by a Stage Moderator.
For Community Server Owners
If you're ready to start running your event in your community server, follow these steps below on how to create a Stage channel and set up Stage moderators to get your Stage up and running!
How do I create a Stage channel?
Note: Stage channels are only available in Community servers. To learn how to convert your server to a Community, check out our article on Enabling Your Community Server.
In order to create a Stage Channel, you will need to have the “Manage Channels” and “Manage Roles” enabled for you in the server.
If your server is already a Community server and you have the needed permissions, follow these steps below:
- Start by creating a new channel.
- You can do this by pressing the “+” button in the sidebar channel list or by heading into the Server Settings menu and selecting "Create Channel".
- Select the “Stage Channel” option as the Channel Type
- Note that currently only users with Manage Channels and Manage Roles can create new Stage channels!
- Once you hit "Next", you will be prompted to add roles or members who you want to grant Stage moderator permission to.
How do I add/remove Stage moderators?
Note: In order to modify the Stage moderators, you will need to have the “Manage Channels” and “Manage Roles” enabled in the server.
We’ve built a special UI to make it easy for you to add/remove Stage moderators, but the underlying permissions are built on top of the permission system. This is why you might already see roles selected in the UI since those roles already have the set of permissions at the server-level.
Stage moderators must have these permissions on the Stage channel itself:
- Manage Channels
- Mute Members
- Move Members
You can also add or remove additional Stage moderators after you’ve created the Stage channel by going into your Channel settings!
On the desktop app, once you press the "Edit Channel" button, you can then select "Channel Permissions" in the left side bar, and you'll then be able to add and remove your current Stage moderators.
How do I modify the “topic”?
When the time comes, simply open the Stage channel and click “Open the Stage” at the bottom of the screen!
From there you will be able to set your topic and open the Stage!
The topic will be displayed at the top of the Stage channel while active, and it will also be displayed at the top of your channel list while the event is active.
For Stage moderators
Now that your Stage channel is created, we'll walk through all of the abilities of a Stage moderator and how to use these moderation tools!
What can I do as a Stage moderator?
As a Stage Moderator, you will have the ability to:
- Move yourself from Speaker to audience and vice versa.
- Disconnect members (from Stage Channel)
- Move members from Speakers to audience
- Move members from audience to Speakers.
- View audience members who have requested to speak.
- Enable or disable requests to speak.
How do I remove members from the channel?
For Desktop/Browser:
As a Stage moderator, you can right-click a specific audience member and then a menu will appear where you can press the “Disconnect from Stage” button to remove (kick) that member from the Stage channel.
For Mobile:
You can tap on a user’s profile to bring up their profile card to view this same menu and press the “Disconnect from Stage” button.
How do I move a Speaker to the audience?
For Desktop/Browser:
You can right-click directly on the speaker, and a menu will pop up where you can select the “Move to Audience” button to move that speaker to a listener role in the audience.
Once you do this the member will not have the ability to speak unless you grant them Speaker privileges again.
For Mobile:
You can tap on a user’s profile to bring up their profile card to view this same menu and press the “Move to Audience” button.
How do I move an audience member to Speaker?
For Desktop/Browser:
As the Stage Moderator, you can right-click directly on an audience member, and a menu will pop up where you can select the “Invite to Speak” button to invite them to become a Speaker.
Once they accept the invite, they will be automatically become a Speaker.
For Mobile:
You can tap on an audience member's profile and bring up their card! From there, you can click on the “Become a Speaker” button to invite them to speak.
How can I see who has raised their hands?
As a Stage moderator, you can click on the "Show Requests" button in the action bar on your screen.
After you click that button, you'll see the Request to Speak menu! In this menu, you can:
- Accept or Dismiss Requests to Speak
- Grant access to speak by clicking the Invite to Speak button or remove users from the queue by selecting the Dismiss or “X” button.
- Allow Requests to Speak from @everyone
- You can also turn off the ability for audience members to raise their hands by turning off the toggle next to “Allow requests to speak”
How do I end the event in a Stage channel?
The live event will end whenever the last moderator leaves the channel.
The Stage channel itself will remain as a permanent channel (unless deleted) and a new topic can be set if you want to run another event later.
For audience members
For those of you who are just tuning in for the show, these guides below will help you learn how to join, interact with, and exit the Stage channel!
How do I join a Stage channel in a server?
Stage channels behave just like normal channels. So just tap or click it and you’re in.
The great thing here is that by default, you will join as an audience member with your mic muted. You can request to speak if you want, but otherwise, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversation.
If you're a Stage moderator, you'll have the option to join as a speaker or as an audience member!
We’ve also made it silent to join and exit Stage channels, so you’ll never have to feel like you’re bothering others. Come and go without interrupting anyone!
How do I request to speak as an audience member?
You can click the raised hand button in the bottom left of your action bar to request to speak.
If a Stage moderator grants you access to speak you will see an invite bar at the top of your screen where you can accept or decline the invitation to speak.
A Stage moderator can also invite you to speak without you raising your hand—however, you will always have to accept the invite before you can become a Speaker.
How do I leave the Stage channel?
If you want to exit the Stage channel simply press the “Exit Quietly” button in the bottom right of the action bar.
This will allow you to exit the event, but will not make any disconnect noise for the rest of the audience or Speakers.
FAQs
Q: What version of the app will this feature be available on?
A: All versions - desktop, browser, iOS and Android!
Q: Can I do video or screenshare in a Stage channel?
A: No, at this time Stage channels are for audio only
Q: How many people can be in a Stage channel at once?
A: Currently there is a hard cap of 1000 users participating in a Stage channel, but we are working quickly to expand that soon!
Q: Is there any limit to the amount of moderators I can have?
A: No, but remember that the Stage moderators of the Stage channel have the ability to mute or remove any member from it.
Q: Is there any limit to the amount of speakers I can have at once?
A: No limit on the number of Speakers!
Q: Can I run multiple stage channels at a time?
A: Yes, you can have multiple different active events within a server!
Q: Are there limits to the amount of Stage channels I can have?
A: There is no special limit for the amount of Stage channels you can have in one server!