What is the Periscope On Air button?

Twitter’s live-streaming app, Periscope, has got a great new feature – you can add a button to your website that links to your Periscope profile and automatically shows whether you’re live on air or not.  I’ve been testing it out on my new website (which is going to go live later this week).  Here’s what it looks like when I’m not on air and when I am:

Periscope On Air button - live and non-live versions

If anyone clicks on the button, it will take them to your Periscope.tv page.  And if you’re broadcasting at the time, it will automatically start playing your current broadcast.  So it’s another way to publicise your scopes.

I haven’t done any testing on how it affects website performance, but I’ll be doing that in the next few weeks so I’ll let you know.

How to add the Periscope On Air button to your WordPress site or blog

You’ll need to be happy adding plugins or code to your site.  And do make sure you’ve got a valid backup before you start messing around with them.  If that’s all double dutch to you or you’re not feeling confident, have a word with your web developer instead.

There are two methods, depending on what Wordpress theme you’re using and whether you want to add it to all your posts/pages or just one page.

If your theme allows you to add HTML code

  • Go to this page on the official Periscope website:

https://www.periscope.tv/embed

  • Type your Periscope username into the “Who is the broadcaster?” box and choose whether you want the large or small button.
  • Click the “Create Button” and a new screen will pop up with the code selected.
  • Click the “Copy” button to copy the code to your clipboard.
  • Edit the WordPress page where you want to add your new button (I’m going to add it to the social media section on my “About” page)
  • Add a code section wherever you want it to appear on the page, and copy the contents of your clipboard into the new section.  (The theme I’m using is Divi from Elegant Themes – your theme may not have this option.)

If you prefer using a widget

I’ve also added it to the sidebar on my blog post pages so rather than add it to each blog post, I’m adding it to my sidebar using a WordPress widget.

  • If you aren’t already using the official Twitter plugin:
    • In WordPress, go to the “Plugins” section and choose to “Add new” plugin.
    • Search for “Twitter”. You should see the official Twitter plugin. Install and activate the plugin.

Twitter plugin for WordPress

  • Go to Appearance, Widgets and drag the “Periscope On Air” widget into the section of your website where you want the button to appear.  (I’ve added mine to the “Sidebar” on my blog post pages)
  • Type in your username and choose whether you want the small or large version.

Periscope on Air widget for WordPress

  • Save your settings and you should now see the button wherever you put the widget.

 

 

 

 

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