Your guide to Yahoo! Live (text version)

This is a step by step tutorial designed to help introduce you to Yahoo! Live. Young & Free will be using the site to broadcast its Live shows, so it's best you familiarize yourself with it.

• To see the Yahoo! Live video tutorial I made, click here.

• To go directly to the Y&F Live Channel, click here.

What is Yahoo! Live?
Yahoo! Live is a site that allows anyone with a webcam to broadcast live over the internet. It also includes a chat component, so that viewers can interact with the broadcaster and with each other in real-time.

Why are you doing Y&F as a Live show?
Because it's so interactive! You (as a viewer) can directly influence the content of the show. Plus, it's a great way for Y&F enthusiasts everywhere to swap ideas and opinions online.

How do I get started?
Keep reading to find out...

Start by going to http://live.yahoo.com. This is what you will see on the homepage:

The Featured Channel. This is someone who is currently broadcasting (they might be talking and moving – don't get freaked out!). At a glance, you can see the Channel name and how many viewers are currently watching that Channel.

Popular Live Channels and Recently Live Channels. These columns show a random sampling of Channels that currently have the most viewers (Popular) and of Channels that have recently started a broadcast (Recently Live). Clicking on an image will take you to that Channel.

Click on "Get Started Now":

You will be brought to a Yahoo! Sign in page.

In order to use Yahoo! Live, you need a Yahoo! account. If you don't have one, click on Sign Up at the bottom of the screen and follow the prompts.

I know it sucks to sign up for another account, but trust me – it's a good idea to have a spare Yahoo! kicking around. Aside from Yahoo! Live, there are other cool sites on the internet (like Flickr and del.icio.us) that require a Yahoo! ID. I'm not trying to convert you, here – keep on using whatever e-mail account you already use, but you should have a Yahoo account if only to have access to Y&F Live – I mean... the many awesome sites that require a Yahoo! login.

Right. So you let's say you have a Yahoo! account: enter in your ID and password and hit Sign In.

This brings you back to the homepage. Click on "Go Live":

If it's your first time using Yahoo! Live, you will get a screen that looks like this:

Choose a name for your Channel (it's best not to reflect any personal info in your Channel name).
Click Check Availability to make sure no one else has chosen the same name.
When you're happy with your selection, click Create My Channel.

Take a look at your new Channel!

Pretty Pretty sweet, eh?

Now let's take a look at the My Control Panel in the bottom left corner:

My Control Panel is where you manage your own broadcast.
Mute Audio keeps others from hearing what you're broadcasting.
Edit Settings allows you to set up your video and sound:

Choose your webcam and microphone type, and you're ready to go (I use a Mac with a built in camera, so USB class video setting works for me!)

Let's pop in on a random Channel and familiarize ourselves with the layout!

The Main Screen shows you the broadcast. It also displays the Channel name, the number of current viewers, and the date and time. It also features these options:

You can adjust the volume of the incoming broadcast by using the slider.
Flag- click on this to let Yahoo! Live know a broadcaster isn't following the rules
Embed- click on this to embed the live video into your own website or blog.

Profile- click on this to find out more information about the broadcaster.
Beside the Main Screen is the Live Chat window. This is where all the dialogue takes place:

You can choose your own font style, size, and colour for the Live Chat:

To the right of the Live Chat is an area called Who's Chatting:

This lists all the people currently watching the same Channel as you are. "Guests" are viewers who have not logged in. Guests cannot participate in the Live Chat.

Below the Live Chat and Who's Chatting areas, you can see other viewers who currently have their webcams enabled:

Last but not least, My Control Panel (or should I say Your Control Panel?) is also accessible from any Channel.

By clicking on Go Live, the broadcaster and all the viewers will be able to see you.

And those are the basics!

To find the Y&F Channel, simply punch in http://live.yahoo.com/youngfreealberta

Hope this helped! 

Larissa

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