Rooms

A room is a named place a service runs in, such as Sanctuary, Youth room or Overflow, that your church sets up once and keeps. Rooms let more than one computer work the same service: the first window to open a room hosts it and runs its screens, and anyone who opens it after that joins it, so what they take goes to the host's screens. Rooms belong to the whole church; everyone signed in sees them.

A window that is not in a room is simply Present on its own computer. You only need a room when two or more computers share a service.

Where to find it

• The small triangle beside the Present button, at the top left of Present, opens the room list.
• When this window is in a room, the room's name and the faces of the people in it sit at the right end of the top bar. Click the name for the same list.
• Present > Settings > Rooms shows each room in detail and has every room action. Room settings… at the bottom of the list opens it.

Rooms work in the web app and in Tech Manager.

Add a room

1. In Present, click the triangle beside Present, then New room… (or Add room… in Settings > Rooms).
2. Type a Room name, such as "Youth room".
3. Under How should this room start?, choose:
   • Like the church's usual setup (Recommended): it uses the church's screens, Looks, stage layout, transitions and audio until you change something in this room.
   • Copy another room: pick the Room to copy and tick what to bring over: Screens, Looks, Stage layout, Transitions, Audio output, and Themes, overlays and stage layouts kept to that room. Looks are built on screens, so ticking Looks keeps Screens ticked.
   • Blank: one main screen, no Looks and no stage layout.
4. Click Add room.

Open or join a room

1. In Present, click the triangle beside Present.
2. Under Rooms, each room says Live or Idle, who is hosting it, and how many people are connected. Click the room.

If nobody is hosting it, this window opens it and runs its screens. If someone is, this window joins: your own screens stay off and every slide you take goes to the host's screens. The room this window is in has a check; "Last time" marks the room this computer used before (Present never joins it by itself). In Settings > Rooms, the same choice is Open or Join on the room.

Leave a room

Click the triangle beside Present, then Leave room (or Leave in Settings > Rooms). The room's screens keep running on the window hosting it.

Watch without changing the screens

When you are in a room, a Control / Observe switch sits beside the faces at the right end of the top bar.

• Control: this window can take slides, fire cues and change what is on the screens. Any number of windows can control at once.
• Observe: this window follows the room live but cannot change the screens. Editing presentations still works.

Take a room over

Use this when another computer is running a room and you need to run it from here, for example when the booth computer was left on.

1. In Present, click the triangle beside Present.
2. Next to the room, click Take over (or Take over… in Settings > Rooms).
3. Read who is running it and since when, then click Take over.

Their window stops driving the room's screens and this one starts, so the screens go black for a moment. They stay in the room and can still send to it.

Start a room over or end it

• To start over, click the triangle beside Present, then Start this room over… (or Reset room… in Settings > Rooms), and confirm Reset room. The screens restart on a fresh record: what is on them, the timers and the room's history begin again. The same screens stay on.
• To end it, go to Present > Settings > Rooms, click End room… and confirm End room. Every screen it drives stops and its record closes; the room stays in the list, ready for its next service.

Only the window running a room can reset or end it. If the computer running it has stopped answering, anyone can end it, so it never gets stuck.

Rename, reorder, copy or delete a room

In Present > Settings > Rooms: click a room's name to rename it, use the up and down arrows to reorder the list, click Duplicate… to add a copy, or click Delete and confirm Delete room. Deleting removes the room and its record for good; nothing on the screens changes.

Keep settings to one room, or go back to the church's

While you are in a room, what you change on Outputs, Looks and Audio (screens, Looks, stage layout, transitions and audio output) stays in that room. A note at the top of those tabs says whether the room uses the church's settings or its own, with a button to use the church's again. Use the church's settings… on a room in Settings > Rooms does the same. In Manage themes and the stage layout and overlay editors, Every room or "Only" this room decides which rooms see a theme group, stage layout or overlay.

Troubleshooting

There is a dot on the triangle beside Present

Something about this window's room needs your attention. Open the list; the line at the top says what, such as "Could not open the room:" followed by the reason.

"Your screens stay off: … runs …'s screens. A take here goes to them."

This window joined a room another window hosts. That is normal for a second operator. To run the screens from this computer instead, use Take over.

"No rooms yet. Add them in Settings, under Rooms."

Your church has no named rooms. Add one with New room….

"Could not reach WorshipMetrics, so the rooms cannot be listed."

This computer is offline or cannot reach WorshipMetrics. Check the internet connection; the list refreshes every few seconds.

"… is running. End it first, then delete it."

A running room cannot be deleted. End it, then delete it.

Everything is greyed out with "This window is observing"

Switch this window to Control at the right end of the top bar.

A private room on another computer cannot be clicked

Another computer runs that room by itself, so it is presented from there. To share screens between computers, add a named room.

Good to know

• Songs and media are shared by every room.
• Private rooms in Settings > Rooms lists rooms a computer runs by itself and rooms that have ended.
• On the web app, a web link output only works while the window is in a named room.