Applies to: EverWebinar

You can upload a CSV file to quickly add multiple chat messages to an EverWebinar event. Preloaded chat messages appear during the automated webinar and help simulate live audience interaction.

You can also add chat messages manually, but importing a CSV file is the fastest way to upload large numbers of messages.

Upload a CSV chat file

  1. Edit the webinar. 
  2. Go to the Live step.
  3. Open the Live chat box module and choose the Enable live chat option.
    Enable live chat under Live tab
  4. Click Import from CSV and upload your chat file.

You can upload multiple CSV files if needed.

Pro tip: You can download the chat file from a WebinarJam live event and upload it to EverWebinar. The WebinarJam CSV file is already formatted correctly for EverWebinar.

CSV formatting requirements

Resource: Download a CSV Chat Template

Each row in the CSV file represents a single chat message.

The file must contain exactly seven columns in the following order:

ColumnDescriptionValue
HourHour when the message appears00-7
MinuteMinute when the message appears00-59
SecondSecond when the message appears00-59
NameName displayed for the. messageText
RoleRole of the senderAdmin or Attendee
MessageChat message textText
ModeMessage typeFor attendee: Chat, Question, Answer
For admin: Chat, Question, Answer, Highlighted, 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 it to EverWebinar.

File upload limits

Each uploaded chat file must meet these limits:

  • Maximum 5,000 chat lines per file
  • Maximum 1 MB file size

These limits help maintain good performance during the webinar.

If your file exceeds these limits:

  1. Split the file into multiple files with 5,000 lines or fewer.
  2. Ensure each file is under 1 MB.
  3. Upload the files individually using the Import from CSV option. 
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 after you approve them under Log > Pending Chat section. There is no limit to the number of real comment lines captured.

File upload errors

If a CSV file fails to upload, EverWebinar will display an error message indicating the row that needs correction.

EverWebinar chat upload errors

Common errors include:

Error messageCause
Row column count is not 7The row has more or fewer than seven columns
Role is invalidRole must be Admin or Attendee
Type is invalidRow must have the type as text, question, answer, tip, or highlighted
Hour is invalidHour must be between 0 and 7
Minute is invalidMinute must be between 0 and 59
Second is invalidSecond must be between 0 and 59
UTF issueRow must contain a message with valid UTF-8 encoding
Name issueRow must contain a name that does not exceed 100 characters

If an error appears

  1. Open your CSV file.
  2. Locate the row referenced in the error message.
  3. Correct the formatting issue.
  4. Save the file again with UTF-8 encoding.
  5. Upload the file again.

Upload a TXT file instead of CSV

If your CSV file cannot be uploaded, you can upload a TXT file using the same structure.

Convert a CSV file to TXT

  1. Open the CSV file in a text editor such as Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac).
  2. Save the file with the .TXT extension.

The TXT file must follow the same structure as the CSV file.

Requirements:

  • The file must contain seven columnsin this order:
    •  Hour, Minute, Second, Name, Role, Message, Mode
  • Each column must be separated by a comma (,)
  • Do not add spaces before or after commas
  • If a message contains commas or special characters, wrap the message in double quotes.
  • You do not need quotes if the message contains only letters, numbers, and spaces.

Example of correct TXT formatting

Make sure your file looks similar to the one below before uploading:

TXT formatting for a chat file

This format helps the system read your file correctly.