Tech Forum

Hi,

If a location is not listed when creating an event, can the site still receive the broadcast? I ask because in all my testing, if I do not add the location and mark it as a receiving site, I cannot view the webcast from the site. Frustrated by this, I called the Global Service Center, and they assured me that anyone can view the broadcast if given the event ID and is able to sign into portal.ldswebcast.org to get the URL. They mentioned that adding the location allows statistic tracking, and that is it.

It is possible that when I conducted my tests, maybe the server farm was accepting my stream, but not making it available for anyone, thus trying to view a broadcast from any site resulted in a connection error.

^This is my main concern, but I'll mention a few other things that have been bothering me lately. If anyone knows why they occur, or has also experienced them, I'd appreciate a good word about it.

The web app behaves differently in different browsers (Chrome vs IE). For example, in Chrome when I create an event, and save it, when editing, I am unable to add new locations because the search result when searching for other locations puts the selection drop-down out of focus. On IE, the drop-down stays in focus, and allows me to select the unit, but when I'm done adding the locations, I notice that all the fields previously committed when creating the ticket initially (pre-edit) are blanked out. If I fill them out exactly how they were before editing, I get an error when trying to save the updated event. The Global Service Center response was that it is impossible to add a location after creating a new event, by using the edit function. All locations must be added when the initial ticket is created. To go further, when using the same version of Chrome and IE on Win7 vs Win8, the behavior is even more strange. Some search results (stake A) have radio buttons so I can select the unit, and other (stake B) don't display any radio buttons! Regardless, they all result in an error when saving. I'll mention others if the thread get's traction.

Thanks in advance!

LeroyLehanoJr wrote:If a location is not listed when creating an event, can the site still receive the broadcast?

From the write-up in the Help Center, it's clear that it's intended to be open to non-church locations (such as shut-ins), given the proper permission by the presiding authority. But it's new enough that I wouldn't guarantee there isn't any bugs with that.

It's possible that tests behave differently from a live event.

I am her in Colorado but apart of the Garden City Stake in Kansas. We just had a Stake Confrance about 3 weeks ago. I help set up the equitment in one of the outling wards. We were able to log in and get the feed well. We were also able to giver the URL to a member that was not able to make it to the church building and they did not have any problems watching the brodcast using the URl. It was very nice to beable to watch at our building and not have to travel to the stake Center. We never had any problems with not verfing the location or any thing. Hope this helps. Andrew Allen

Thank you both for your replies. You were right.

Here's what I learned from our webcast last night.

• Locations defined were able to receive the webcast
• -- Stats and contact information available
• Locations not defined were able to view the webcast
• -- Stats available once site makes connection. Site ID is the LDS SSO user who logged into the portal and initiated viewing the stream

I was able to view the webcast with my laptop and network provided by my cellular ISP (not a church recognized IP range). But I'm positive that this was allowed only because I obtained the URL by logging into portal.ldswebcast.org with an authenticated SSO ID. I have a feeling that if I had sent the URL to another private party, they may not have been able to view it. This is something I will need to test next time.

I just saw that the portal will be receiving an update on Apr 2, 2015, and hope that some of the front-end usability issues are resolved for my configuration of browser and OS.

Otherwise, the infrastructure provided by the webcast service and infrastructure was very stable. As much as it sounded like I was complaining in my original post, I did not mention how great I think the tool and its features are. It's well thought out, and offers more than general features to accomplish the task. I hope to see future improvements as we are blessed to have this technology to strengthen those around us.

Church units that were not added as a location were able to receive it. And I was able to receive the broadcast via my cellular provider's Internet service.

If you add the location, during the event you will be able to click on it and get general building and contact information [which can be helpful]. Statistics are available.