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Sharing a chatbox

When you've made a chat overlay you're proud of, you can share it. Other streamers install it with one click, and they get your updates as you publish them.

Open your chatbox in the Chat Overlay page and click Share in the toolbar. Next to it, a small label shows where you are: Not shared, Published or Unpublished changes.

Only the channel owner can share a chatbox. If you're an editor on someone else's channel, Share is greyed out and says so.

Publish​

The Publish tab is where you release your chatbox.

  1. Check the Works with list and the setup report (below).
  2. Click Publish.

After that, the button reads Publish update whenever you've changed something.

  • Installers only get what you publish. When you click Publish update, everyone who installed your chatbox gets the new version. You'll see how many installers there are.
  • Your own stream updates as you edit. The chatbox on your own stream is your working copy, so you never need to publish to see your own changes in OBS.

Works with​

Community works out which kinds of messages your chatbox shows. You don't fill anything in. It checks your layouts and your flow, and lists chat messages, subs, resubs, gift subs, raids, follows, redeems, power-ups, shoutouts given, shoutouts received and GIFs. They're grouped as Shows, After you set up the flow and Won't show.

Each one is one of three things:

  • Works. It shows, for example "Shows subs".
  • After setup. It only shows once the installer takes over the flow and sets their own channel details.
  • Won't show. For example, "Raids won't show".

If a kind says "won't show", add a layout for it and make your flow route to it. This list is information only. It never stops you from publishing. Installers see the same list in the Chatbox Workshop.

Setup report​

Some flow rules are tied to your channel: your team, your channel point reward, or a specific user. When you publish, those details are removed, because they mean nothing on someone else's stream. Those rules are off for installers until they take over the flow.

To route redeems in a chatbox you plan to share, use the Redeem Checks (cost, typed input, title text). They don't depend on your channel, so they work for everyone.

The report lists these rules and the variables your flow uses. Give your rules clear names in the flow editor, so installers can tell what each one is.

Your bot list isn't shared either. Installers set their own.

Listing​

The Listing tab is how your chatbox looks in the Workshop:

  • Description
  • Category
  • Icon
  • Banner

The listing goes live as soon as you save. You don't need to publish again.

Access​

The Access tab decides who can find and use your chatbox. These switches save on their own.

  • Visibility. Public chatboxes are listed in the Workshop. Private ones aren't.
  • Licence. What others may do with your design.
  • Allow remixing. Lets others make their own editable copy. Share codes follow this setting.
Public is permanent

Once a chatbox is public you can't make it private again. People may already have installed it. Be sure you're ready.

What "Private" and "Locked" really mean​

Anyone who can see your chatbox can see how it's built. That includes anyone with the link to a private page. The code controls who can install it. Your licence says what others may do with it. Neither one hides the design itself.

Private code​

Codes are for private chatboxes. A private chatbox can be shared with a code that starts with CC-. The Private code tab shows your code and lets you copy it. Public chatboxes don't need a code, so the tab is greyed out.

There's no separate code setting. A code lets people install your chatbox. If Allow remixing is on, it lets them remix it too. Remixes made with this code are for the remixer's own use (see below).

You have to publish once before you get a code.

Anyone you give the code to can pass it on. Make a new code to cut them all off. The old code stops working for installing and for remixing. People who already installed keep their chatbox.

Private remixes can't be passed on​

If someone shares a chatbox with you privately and you remix it, your copy is for your own stream only. You can't publish it, list it, or share it with a code.

Think of it as "I give you permission, but not permission to give others permission." This applies even when the licence says "Remix freely". If you made the design yourself, the rule doesn't apply to you. On a private remix, Share is greyed out and tells you why.

Remixes of public chatboxes follow the original's licence as usual.

See also​