Introduction to CP Live

CP Live is a WordPress plugin that automatically detects and displays live video feeds from streaming providers on your church website. It uses schedule-based detection to check for live streams only when you expect them, minimizing API calls and keeping your site efficient.

What CP Live Does

CP Live monitors your streaming services and automatically switches your site to display the live feed when a broadcast begins. When no stream is active, it shows either the most recent video or a countdown to your next scheduled service.

Key capabilities include:

• Automatic Live Detection: Detects live streams from YouTube and Resi without manual intervention
• Schedule-Based Checking: Only checks for live streams during your configured service times, reducing API usage
• Countdown Timer: Displays a countdown to your next service when you are not live
• Most Recent Video: Shows the last detected video when no stream is active
• Force Live Mode: Automatically set your site to “live” at scheduled times, even without an active stream
• Multi-Location Support: Configure separate live streams for each location when used with CP Locations

Supported Streaming Services

CP Live supports the following streaming providers:

• YouTube: Connects to the YouTube Data API to detect live or upcoming broadcasts from your channel
• Resi: Checks your Resi stream URL to detect active broadcasts

Key Concepts

Understanding a few core concepts helps you get the most out of CP Live:

• Schedules: Define when your services happen (e.g., Sunday at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM). CP Live only checks for live streams during these windows, saving API quota.
• Buffers: Time padding around your schedule. The Buffer Before (default: 8 minutes) starts checking early so the stream is detected before your service begins. The Buffer After (default: 12 minutes) keeps checking in case the stream starts late.
• Live Video Duration: How long CP Live continues to show the stream as live after detection (default: 6 hours). This prevents the site from flipping back to “not live” mid-service.
• Force Live: A per-schedule option that sets your site to “live” at the scheduled time regardless of whether a stream is detected from your provider.
• Service Context: Each streaming service can operate globally (site-wide settings) or per-location (when used with CP Locations), allowing different locations to use different providers or credentials.

How It Works

CP Live uses WordPress cron to periodically check your streaming services for live broadcasts. The checking process follows this flow:

1. A cron job runs at a configurable interval (default: every 2 minutes)
2. CP Live checks if the current time falls within a scheduled service window (including configurable buffers)
3. If within a schedule window, it queries your enabled streaming services for active broadcasts
4. When a live stream is detected, your site automatically displays the live embed
5. After the configured live duration expires, the site returns to its not-live state

Next Steps

Continue to Installation to get CP Live set up on your site.