This article is for EverWebinar.

Upload a CSV file to quickly add many lines of chat messages to an EverWebinar event.

In the webinar configuration wizard:

  1. Go to the Live step
  2. Open the Live chat box module and click Enable live chat
  3. Configure the chat options to create the ideal attendee experience
  4. At the bottom of the module, click Import from CSV to upload a file with multiple chat lines
    • Alternatively, enter chat lines one at a time using the fields in the setup wizard.
    • Note: You can upload more than one CSV file if needed.
Pro tip: Download the chat file from a WebinarJam live event and upload it. The WebinarJam CSV is correctly formatted for import into EverWebinar.

CSV Formatting

Resource: Download a CSV Chat Template

CSV file must contain only 7 columns containing chat message values. Each row in the CSV file represents a new chat message.

  • Hour: Number between 00 and 07
  • Minute: Number between 00 and 59
  • Second: Number between 00 and 59
  • Name: Name of the person
  • Role: Admin or Attendee
  • Message: The actual chat comment
  • Mode:
    • If role is Attendee: Chat, Question, or Answer
    • If role is Admin: Chat, Question, Answer, Highlighted, or Tip

Example of the correct format:

Correct CSV formatting

When the spreadsheet is complete, export or save it as a CSV file with UTF-8 encoding before uploading to EverWebinar.

File upload limits

The maximum number of pre-loaded chat lines per file is 5,000, or 1 MB for a CSV file upload. This limit ensures a good experience for attendees by preventing high demands on the webinar room to load the chat.
If you file exceeds the limits, you can split it into multiple files:

  • Split the CSV file into one or more additional files with 5,000 lines or less. Save the files and confirm the final size for each is under 1 MB (create more files if needed).
  • Go back to EverWebinar and the Live step of the wizard. Upload all of the new CSV files as described in this article.
Pro tip: If you activate the "Save real comments" option, real chat lines will be added to the EverWebinar session in addition to your pre-loaded chat. There is no limit to the number of real comment lines captured.

File upload errors

EverWebinar chat upload errors

If your CSV file cannot be uploaded, one or more error messages appears indicating which row requires an update:

  • Row column count is not 7: Row has more or less than 7 columns.
  • Role is invalid: Row must have the role as admin or attendee.
  • Type is invalid: Row must have the type as text, question, answer, tip, highlighted. 
  • Hour is invalid: Row must have the hours value between 0 and 7.
  • Minute is invalid: Row must have the minutes value between 0 and 59.
  • Second is invalid: Row must have the seconds value between 0 and 59.
  • UTF issue: Row must contain a message with valid UTF-8 encoding.
  • Name issue: Row must contain a name that does not exceed 100 characters.

If an error appears

  1. Review your CSV file and check the row(s) referenced in the error message.
  2. Make corrections as necessary.
  3. Resave or export the CSV file with UTF-8 encoding and upload the file again.