README

Contributors: automattic, garyj, nbachiyski, batmoo, johnjamesjacoby, philipjohn
Tags: liveblog, live blog, real-time, news, sports
Requires at least: 6.4
Requires PHP: 7.4
Tested up to: 6.9
Stable tag: 1.12.0
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Empowers website owners to provide rich and engaging live event coverage to a large, distributed audience.

Description

Your readers want your updates as quickly as possible, and we think we provide the easiest and most flexible publishing environment to make that happen. Sometimes though, that's just not enough.

When you're covering a fast-paced event — the latest Apple unveiling, an F1 Grand Prix or the Super Bowl — a full blog post for each individual update is a poor experience for your authors and your audience.

The WordPress.com VIP Liveblog Add-On was purpose-built to address these issues.

Here's what makes it special:

• Post updates right from the front end of your site (no need to use the /wp-admin dashboard).
• Viewers of your liveblog get new entries served to them instantly and automatically, without needing to refresh.
• Authors can drag and drop photos straight into the liveblog area, without separate browser tabs or windows.
• No need for a separate site dedicated to liveblogging — every post can be a liveblog, even existing ones.

If you'd like to check out the code and contribute, join us on GitHub — pull requests are more than welcome.

Installation

1. Upload the liveblog folder to your plugins directory (e.g. /wp-content/plugins/).
2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress.
3. Enable the liveblog on any post's edit page.

Screenshots

1. The entry form is the simplest possible.
2. Writers can preview before posting.
3. New posts are highlighted.
4. Adding images is a matter of just drag and drop.
5. Dragged photos are automatically inserted.
6. Typical liveblog view.

Documentation

Developer and end-user documentation lives in the docs/ directory:

• End user guide — for editors and site administrators.
• Customization — entry features, key events, hashtags, commands, emoji, shortcodes, template overrides.
• Extending the admin meta box
• Hooking into entries
• Auto-archiving
• WebSocket support

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for how to set up the development environment and submit changes.

Changelog

See the full changelog on GitHub.