Set up the live wall

The 5 settings

The display style decides whether contributions run as a slideshow, a mosaic or a polaroid arrangement. Then: whether the code stays in the corner, what caption sits under a picture, and how long each slide and each spotlight lasts.

The 2 worth a thought are the caption and the code, because both are decisions about what a room full of people sees.

1. Switch it on for the event. Off by default, even on a plan that includes it.
2. Open it on the screen. The Live tab opens the wall in any browser.
3. Test it in the room. At the brightness the room will actually have, before guests arrive.

Name and time only shows a name when the guest signed their contribution. Otherwise it shows the time alone.

Leaving the code in the corner

A code in the corner turns the screen into a second invitation: anybody who has not scanned yet can do it from where they are standing. That is the reason the default is to leave it there rather than to hide it once contributions start arriving.

Set it to appear only when idle if the screen doubles as decoration and you would rather it were clean during a speech.

What the caption shows

Name and time shows the signature a guest typed, if they typed one, alongside when it arrived. Time only drops the name; none drops both. Since the name question is off by default, name and time behaves like time only until you switch it on.

On a screen in a public room, think about the name before the party rather than during it.

The wall and the review queue

With review-first on, nothing reaches the wall before you approve it. That pairing is the reason review exists — a projector is where an unwanted picture costs the most, and it is the 1 screen you cannot quietly close.

Without review, a contribution reaches the wall seconds after the guest taps send.

The device that runs it

The wall runs in a browser, so it needs something that stays awake and a connection that stays up. A laptop with sleep disabled is more reliable than a tablet, and a wired connection beats the venue Wi-Fi everyone else is also using.

Nothing on the wall changes the album, so it is safe to leave unattended once it is running.

Where to put the screen

Where people already stand still: behind a bar, beside the seating, near the entrance to the dance floor. A projector in an empty corner adds nothing, and a screen nobody faces is a screen nobody scans from.

If you have only 1 spot, put it where the queue forms. Waiting time is when people reach for their phones.