Opening a G.I.S.S. channel

G.I.S.S. is an open media infrastructure that can be used for free media experiments.

31/08/2008

Use it! | Tips and Help

• Use it!!

  Click on the "GISS.tv" icon on the desktop :

  you can also open a browser and enter the direction : http://giss.tv.

  If you are connected to the network, you should access to G.I.S.S. main page :
  
  
  
  

  This page will lead you to different sections :

  The link to get on-line help on the IRC channel : server : irc.goto10.org, channel : #giss.
  

  The links to get real-time status of the network : through the map or the list of active channels ( channels with listeners ).
  

  The links to create your channel and setting up your interface.
  

  A reminder of the Terms Of Use that you must approve to start a channel.
  

  
  

  1. the first step is to open your channel : click on the "Create your channel" link
  
  You will get to the following page :
  
  
  

  The fields in red are mandatory, the other ones are optional.
  
  
  You should fill the following fields :

  • code: just type the code you see on the image above the form field, this is to prevent automatic registering of mountpoints.
  • mountpoint: this will be the name of your channel. You have to choose a name like my_channel.ogg, or my_channel.mp3. The address to access to your stream will be: http://giss.tv:8000/my_channel.ogg
  • email: this email should be an active email. You will need it to get the password that will allow you to stream through GISS platform.
  • Channel description: a description about the channel and the group/community/project behind the initiative.
  • keywords: some words defining channel interests, e.g. music news politics. Should be space separated.
  • Is Public?: If yes, that means your stream will appear listed in the yellow pages of Icecast, a central service for all streams using Iceast on the internet.
  • Kind of contents: indicates if the channel is doing Live contents, playlists or archives or both?
  • Channel web site: Url (with "http://") of the channel, if it exists
  • Channel image url: Url (with "http://") of the channel logo or image.

  You'll need also to accept the Terms Of Use. Here, the G.I.S.S. team reserves the right to close your channel at any time if the terms Of Use are not respected, you'll be warned by e-mail in that case. This particularly applies to propaganda ( political, reliigious, ... ) and commercial channels. So, don't open a channel if you don't agree with the Terms Of Use.
  

  Here is an example of a registering page filled :
  
  
  

  Now, you can click on "add mountpoint", you should be directed to the following page :
  
  
  

  At this stage, some errors might occur, like if the channel is already registered, or if the code is badly entered, you can get some help for this connecting to the IRC channel, where there will always be a G.I.S.S. admin to help you.
  If everything went well you should receive an email with the title "Giss network" containing your password in the next minutes :
  
  
  
  

  As in many web services, you should click on the confirmation link to ativate your channel. Please take note of the password ( which is masked here ), you will need it later to stream. The password is composed of 5 letters or digits, like for example : 67rt4.

  2. the next (optional) step is to activate your interface : click on the "Edit your channel" link
  
  You will get to the following page :
  
  
  

  Once you entered your mountpoint and password, you should get to a page that has two options : one for editing your mountpoint and one for activating/editing your interface :
  
  
  

  In this first page, you can modify any information about your channel. In the "Interface Setup" page, you can configurate a web page where people could see/hear your stream with additional informations and comments about your channels and that will be available at : http://giss.tv/interface/?mp=my_channel.ogg, in this case : http://giss.tv/interface/?mp=myradio.ogg. First thing is to activate the interface :
  
  
  
  
  

  Once it is activated, you should go back to the "Interface Setup" page and will be able to edit your interface :
  
  
  
  

  In this page you can configure the different components of your interface :
  
  

  • Next stream date: the date of your next scheduled program, it can be any form like "tomorrow afternoon".
  • stream description: this is an html description of your channel that will appear on the web interface, it is different from the first general description which is used in servers listings, here you can enter rich html text.
  • keywords: a list of space separated keywords describing the contents of your channel.
  • Fall back url: an alternate stream that will be played in your interface when you are not emitting.
  • Chat: If yes, will insert a chat window in your interface so that the public can interact with the program ( see interface image below ).
  • Show ekiga call me button?: If yes, will show an ekiga icon, configured with the user you enter, so you can call him during the program. In general, it can be used to receive calls from the listeners ( see interface image below ).
  • Show skype call me button?: The same as ekiga but using skype ( see interface image below ).

  3. the last step: Listen to the stream using the web interface : point your browser to http://giss.tv/interface/?mp=my_channel.mp3 or http://giss.tv/interface/?mp=my_channel.ogg.
  
  
  

  
  
  Of course, your stream can also be heard or watched with a multimedia client like VLC http://www.videolan.org entering the following URL in the network opener : http://giss.tv:8000/your_mountpoint.mp3 or http://giss.tv:8000/your_mountpoint.ogg.
  
  
  

• Tips and Help
  
  

  • The creation of an interface is an optional feature, registering a channel is enough to start an audio or video stream.
    
  • The channel you create can be used to transmit audio or video when it's in .ogg, .mp3 channels are only used for audio.
    
  • Once you created a channel, you should choose a streaming tool, see next section ( help on streaming tools ).
    
  • You can get help at anytime on-line joining the IRC channel, G.I.S.S. has more than one admin and there always be one connected to help you.
    
  • IRC : server : irc.goto10.org, channel : #giss.
    

  Please send bugs and comments to gissnetwork at gmail dot com , thanks.
  
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