Blog Post

A Summer Test Drive

July 31, 2020

This is just a test....

The GSJ online worship committee is hard at work, trying to make things as seamless as possible for the fall. Call this post our "sandbox", if you will - a place to try out a couple of options to see what works best.

Facebook Option 1:

This is what it looks like if I embed the video *after* the live event has ended. Notes to future self: this is the IFrame rather than the JavaScript version.

Advantages: easy user experience, particularly if user is NOT a Facebook member. Clean aesthetic (though will have to double check that it rotates well on a phone screen - on the preview the edges are cut off).

Disadvantages: will require posting multiple times per service if we want to also have the "live" live-stream available. Slightly risky, as it relies on a unique URL, so would need to redo on the fly for any blips where live-streaming had to be restarted (the restart generates a different URL). No access to the comments on Facebook to "join the conversation".

Facebook Option 2:

embedded Facebook widget pointing direct to our live stream page

Advantages: Links to the generic livestream, so will point to whatever is the most recent video. This link could be used time and again, regardless of week. Likewise, could pick-up if there was ever a broadcasting blip that had us restart with a new streaming session.

Disadvantages: ....aesthetics are weak. This is as streamlined (and as large!) as it can be made inside our website editor. Users could be told in text to click on the blue facebook F to get to a larger window, but it's not necessarily intuitive to do so. The widget is also a bit slow to load.

Facebook Option 3:

Button or link pointing to facebook stream - scroll below to see screenshots of what a facebook user vs non-user would see for both during and after live-streaming

Disadvantages: user has to exit our page - the experience is possible for both FB members and non-FB members, but the user experience is a bit harder to predict. There will be a slightly different experience for each browser type.

GSJ Livestream

Live - what a FB member would see:

Live - what a non FB member would see: (sorry for the content! It's just what happened to be a random live video that was playing!)

After live has ended: what a non-FB member would see. Note the problematic "Login" or "Create New Account" buttons at the bottom; though neither is necessary to click on and play the video, that is not necessarily transparent.