Start a Live Chat Now or Schedule It for Later

When a Category permits Live Chat creation, QCLF can expose Start Now, Schedule, or only the one mode the member is actually allowed to use.

Start Now creates the session directly in Live. Schedule stores a future UTC start and opens the same durable Topic as a pre-live lobby until the session starts.

Choose the Available Start Mode

QCLF checks Start Now Live Chat and Schedule Live Chat as separate Category actions. If both are allowed, the composer displays both choices; if only one is allowed, QCLF fixes the form to that permitted mode.

Start Now

  1. Choose Live Chat and Start Now.
  2. Choose a duration.
  3. Submit the Topic.
  4. QCLF sets scheduled start and actual start to now, calculates the planned/effective end, and creates the session in Live state.

Schedule for Later

  1. Choose Schedule.
  2. Enter a future local date/time and duration.
  3. Submit the Topic.
  4. QCLF converts the entered time to UTC, stores the scheduled/effective end, and creates the session as Scheduled.

Duration Rules

The frontend offers common duration choices of 30, 60, 90, 120, and 180 minutes, with 60 minutes as the normal default. The server validates live duration in the broader range of 5 through 720 minutes.

The initial effective end equals the scheduled end. Authorized live-session extensions can change the effective end later without changing the original Topic identity.

Scheduled Does Not Mean the Host Must Wait

A scheduled session automatically transitions toward Live once its canonical scheduled start is due. The exact Topic Host can also use the lobby’s Start Live Chat control before the scheduled time; QCLF allows that Host start while the session is still Scheduled/Lobby.

That early Host start is an explicit action. Ordinary participants cannot force a scheduled session live.

Community Discussion

Want to compare forum workflows, share practical QCLF tips, or discuss how other Joomla site owners use this feature? Visit the QC Live Forum Community. For private support, bug reports, account-specific entitlement problems, or feature requests, use the QuantaCade support system.