The Sidebar in Your Event Room

The event room sidebar can be fully tailored to your specific event requirements. Below, we will guide you through your configuration options and break down the functionality of each tab.

Customize the Sidebar#

You have complete control over which tabs appear in your sidebar; simply activate the tools you need and turn off those you do not require.

From your Event Room settings, you can seamlessly:

• Toggle the Chat tab on or off.

• Toggle the Questions tab and select your preferred visibility structure:

  • Public questions (visible to everyone).

  • Private questions (accessible exclusively to team members and external speakers)

• Toggle the Polls tab on or off.

• Toggle the People tab view for your audience

• Manage the privacy of your attendees by showing or hiding their last names.

• Allow attendees to download shared PDF presentations (by default, they're not downloadable).

The Chat Tab#

If the Chat tab is enabled, it will be public. It means that everyone in the room will be able to see the messages.

There are 2 tabs in the Chat tab:

• Everyone: this chat is visible by everyone in the room

• Moderators: only team members & external speakers can access this chat

In the Chat tab, you can:

1Compose and send text messages.

2Include emojis in your posts.

3Share links directly from Dropbox and Google Drive.

4Remove a message by selecting the three-dot menu (••• ) beside it.

5Block a participant directly via the three-dot menu (••• ) options icon on their post.

6Invite a sender to speak on stage by clicking the three-dot menu (••• ) on their message.

7Direct an alert to a participant by typing @ followed by their name (e.g., @SarahMartin).

8Share GIFs using the dedicated GIF tool, provided the feature is enabled in your event room settings.

The Questions Tab#

The Questions tab centralises all inquiries to ensure no audience query is overlooked, offering features to answer them live, write an answer, or order the questions.

Submitted questions remain visible to the entire room when "Public questions" is enabled; otherwise, access is restricted exclusively to team members and external speakers.

Asking a question#

Within the Questions tab, all room members can submit queries by selecting Ask new question or Upvote existing entries

Answering a Question#

You can answer the questions in 2 ways:

1. Answer live while you're participating

2. Write your answer in the dedicated space

1. Answer live while you're participating#

1Click on Start live answer.

2A popup window will be displayed in the room showing the question being answered live. The popup window can be minimized.

3A message will be displayed under the questions in the Questions tab telling your attendees who "is answering live" and will switch to "has answered live" once you've clicked on I'm done answering.

2. Write your answer in the dedicated space#

1Click on the Type your answer field and start writing your answer.

2Once done, click on the Send button (or CTRL/ ⌘ + Enter).

3Your message will then be displayed to your attendees.

4You can edit it again if you need to by clicking on the ⋮ icon next to the answer.

Ordering the Questions#

For better question management purposes, you can order the questions by:

• Date

• Upvotes

• Not answered

Ordering the questions will help you manage them as you like, for example:

• if you want to answer chronologically (first arrived, first served): order them by "Date"

• if there are a lot of questions (you won't be able to answer them all): order them by "Upvotes"

• if you don't want to miss any (you want to please everyone): order them by "Not answered"

The Polls Tab#

During your event, you might need to ask a question through a poll to all your participants and gather all their answers. 

In this section, we're going to show you how to:

• Create a New Poll

• Publish a Saved Poll

• Answer a Poll

• Check Poll results

Create a New Poll#

1Click on Add a poll

2Create a New poll.

3Enter your question.

4Enter the options (click on Add option if you need more fields).

5Choose the settings of your poll.

6You can either Save as draft to publish it later or Send poll directly.

7You can then Publish (if you saved it as draft)/ Unpublish (if you've published it)/ Edit/ Delete poll by clicking on the ⋮ next to the question.

Publish a Saved Poll#

We save all your previously added polls so you can easily publish them in future sessions or events.

1Click on Add a poll

2Select your saved poll.

3If you have many saved polls, you can search for one or order them.

4Click on Add 1 draft poll.

5You can then Publish/ Edit/Delete poll by clicking on the ⋮ next to the question.

Answer a Poll#

Everyone in the room can answer a poll. To do so, they need to:

1Select their answer(s).

2Click on Submit vote.

Poll Results#

Team members and external speakers see detailed poll results—including total voter count and exact vote breakdowns per answer—whereas attendees only view percentages.

Team members and external speakers can select the eye icon to view live results without submitting a vote.

In this scenario below, 3 users participated, resulting in more than three total selections due to the multiple-choice format.

Team members & external speakers view:

Attendees view:

The People Tab Overview of the People Tab.#

The People tab lists all registrants, team members, and external speakers who have entered the event room.

You can hide/show this tab to your attendees but it will always be visible by team members.

From the People tab you can:

• Track which users are currently connected or have disconnected from the room.

• Check who is participating as people that are participating have a red circle around their avatar

• Monitor whether active participants have enabled their cameras or muted their microphones.

• Clear name labels help you separate team members from external speakers, while regular attendees display no tag.

• Block someone or Invite to participate by clicking on the ⋮ next to their name

Team members & external speakers' view:

Attendees' view:

Externalize the Sidebar#

To use the external sidebar feature, ensure you have enabled the External Sidebar app within your App Marketplace first.

• Enable the External Sidebar App in your Event Room

• Externalize Your Sidebar on Another Device or Window

Enable the External Sidebar App in your Event Room#

1Go to the App marketplace  via your dashboard or by selecting the Apps button in your event room.

Direct from your dashboard:

Via your event room:

2Choose the External Sidebar card you would like to turn on.

3Toggle the app to active.

4The External Sidebar app is now activated within your event room. 🎉

Externalize Your Sidebar on Another Device or Window#

1Click Apps and then select External Sidebar.

2Log in to Livestorm using your mobile device or tablet.

3Use your mobile or tablet to scan the QR code in the sidebar (or click Open the sidebar in a new window for a secondary window).

4The sidebar is fully accessible on mobile and tablet devices, offering the same functionality as the event room sidebar, with the sole exception of the Apps button.

Mute all Notification Sounds#

Mute all notification sounds by clicking the bell icon directly inside your sidebar.

Close the Sidebar#

Click the X in the top-right corner to close the sidebar.