Set up the live wall

The 5 settings

The display style determines whether contributions display as a slideshow, a mosaic or polaroids. Then: whether the code lives in the corner, what caption rests under a photo, and how long each slide and each spotlight lasts.

The 2 to consider are the caption and the code, since both are decisions about what a room full of folks spots.

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 for signed guests their contribution. Otherwise it shows the time alone.

Leaving the code in the corner

A code in the corner makes the screen a second invitation: anybody who hasn't scanned yet can do it from where they're standing. That's why the default is to leave it there instead of to hide it once contributions start arriving.

Set it to show up only when idle if the screen serves as decoration and you would rather it stayed clean during a speech.

What the caption shows

Name and time shows the signature a guest entered, if they typed one, alongside when it landed. Time only slots the name; none slots both. Since the name question is off out of the box, name and time behaves like time only up until you turn it on.

On a screen in a public room, consider the name before the party instead of mid-party.

The wall and the review queue

With review-first on, nothing hits the wall before you approve it. That combination is why review exists — a projector is where an unwanted photo hurts the most, and it's the 1 screen you can't quietly close.

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

The device that runs it

The wall lives in a browser, so it needs something that never sleeps and a connection that holds up. A laptop kept awake is more dependable than a tablet, and a wired connection outperforms the location Wi-Fi everybody else is also using.

Nothing on the wall alters the album, so it's safe to leave unattended once it's running.

Where to put the screen

Where folks already linger: behind a bar, alongside the seating, near the entryway to the dance floor. A projector in an empty corner contributes nothing, and a screen no one faces is a screen no one scans from.

If you have just 1 spot, place it where the queue forms. Waiting time is when folks grab their phones.