How the chat works
Viewers write in the chat on the event page during the show. The chat is free on every plan. A message can be up to 500 characters.
Viewers can write only inside the show window, from 24 hours before the event date to 48 hours after it, and only on a published page. After the window the history stays visible, and nobody can add to it.
The chat has a “Message intake” state: open or closed. When intake is closed, the panel and the history stay on the page, but viewers cannot write. You and your moderators can still write.
Every new event starts with intake closed. In Setup you choose “Starts closed” or “Starts open”. You can also switch on “Open when the session starts” and “Close when the session ends”, so the chat follows your analytics session.
In Analytics, “Open intake” and “Close intake” change the state at any moment. If you use the session switches, the next start or end of a session sets the state again.
OKO keeps chat messages for 90 days. If you hide the chat panel in Setup, the messages are not erased, and they come back when you switch the chat on again.
Automatic moderation
Automod is on by default. It hides messages that contain profanity, disguised profanity or links. Your own messages and your moderators' messages are never hidden by automod.
A viewer whose messages are hidden by automod four times within 24 hours is muted for 30 minutes.
Viewers cannot post links unless you switch on “Viewer links”. You and your moderators can always post links.
You can switch “Automod” off in Analytics. Analytics then warns you that profanity is not filtered.
Manual moderation
In the chat feed in Analytics, every viewer message has buttons to delete the message, to mute the viewer for five minutes (“Mute 5 min”) and to ban the viewer (“Ban”). A deleted message disappears for everyone on the event page. You see in Analytics whether automod or a person removed it.
The “Slow” switch makes each viewer wait 7 seconds between messages.
A ban stops the viewer from writing in that event and hides every message the viewer sent. If the chat is very long, Analytics tells you that some of the oldest messages may still be visible, and you can ban again to retry.
A ban applies to one event, and it is tied to the account the viewer used in the chat, not to an IP address.
The cabinet has no button to lift a ban or a mute. OKO MCP can do it: it has tools to unban and unmute a viewer, and it can mute for 1 to 1,440 minutes.
Who can moderate
The event owner can always moderate. A teammate needs the “Moderate chat” permission, which the “Moderator” and “Admin” invite roles include.
To write or moderate from the event page itself, a moderator signs in to the cabinet first. A moderator who is not signed in is an ordinary viewer, and automod and the limits apply to that person.
The owner and the moderators are exempt from bans, mutes, slow mode and automod.
Frequently asked questions
How do I stop a chat that has got out of hand?
Press “Close intake” in Analytics. The history stays on the page and nobody can add to it. For a gentler step, switch on “Slow”, or mute or ban the viewers who cause the trouble.
Can viewers post links in the chat?
Not by default. Automod hides messages with links. Switch on “Viewer links” in Analytics to allow them. The owner and the moderators can always post links.
Does the chat cost lumens?
No. The chat is free on every plan, and so are the chat controls in Analytics.
Does hiding the chat delete the messages?
No. Hiding the chat panel in Setup only removes the panel from the page. OKO keeps the messages for 90 days, and they return when you switch the chat on again.