DCAST Live plugin for WordPress

DCAST Live connects a WordPress site to your DCAST account. You pick a stream or a video from a list inside WordPress and the DCAST player appears on the page, with the live chat if you want it. You can also create a stream from the WordPress admin and get the settings for OBS right there. The player comes from your DCAST account, so it is the same player with the same access rules as on DCAST.

What you need

• A DCAST account: sign up at dcast.pro. Every plan works, including the free one; what the player can do follows your plan.
• WordPress 6.3 or newer with PHP 8.1 or newer. The plugin is tested on WordPress 7.1.
• A WordPress account that may install plugins (an administrator).

Download

The plugin is not in the WordPress.org directory yet: download it here and install it from the file. Version 0.2.0: download dcast-live-0.2.0.zip. SHA-256: c4fe4e78bc61ec1a6bba811338345331c98f3cf2ac9c4a301391033234cdb2c3 (also listed in SHA256SUMS).

Install

1. In WordPress open Plugins → Add Plugin and choose Upload Plugin at the top of the page.
2. Choose the downloaded zip file as it is, without unpacking it, and press Install Now.
3. Press Activate Plugin. A DCAST item appears in the admin menu.

Connect your DCAST account

1. In your DCAST account open Settings → API & keys and create a key (it starts with pk_). To create streams from WordPress the key needs STANDARD or FULL_ACCESS access; to show players only, READ_ONLY is enough.
2. In WordPress open DCAST → Settings, paste the key into API key and save.
3. The Connection section names the DCAST account and the plan the key belongs to. Once saved, the key is never shown again.

If your DCAST account limits which websites may show your player and this site is not on the list, the settings screen says so and offers an Allow button that adds the site in one click. Otherwise visitors would see an empty frame.

Put a player on a page

The DCAST player block

In the block editor add the DCAST player block and pick a live stream or a video from your account. For a stream you can turn on the live chat next to the player.

Shortcodes

In the classic editor, or anywhere shortcodes work, use a shortcode with the id of the stream or the video. The Streams and videos screen shows the ready shortcode for each one.

From the list of streams and videos

DCAST → Streams and videos lists the streams and videos of your account. One click puts one into a new draft post (New post) or at the end of an existing post or page (Add to the end).

Upload a video from WordPress

You need permission to add media in WordPress and a DCAST API key with STANDARD or FULL_ACCESS access.

1. Open DCAST → Upload video. Choose a video file, optionally enter a title and choose who can watch: everyone, or only where the video is embedded or linked.
2. Click Upload to DCAST. Your browser sends the file directly to DCAST in chunks using a signed upload address; the file does not pass through your WordPress server. Keep the tab open during the upload and follow the progress on screen.
3. After the upload, the screen shows progress while DCAST prepares the video. When it is ready, it appears in the video list and the DCAST player block. If you can edit posts, click New post with this video to create a draft post with the player.

While the file is still being sent, Cancel upload stops the transfer and requests deletion of the unfinished video card from your DCAST account. If deletion fails, the screen shows an error.

Create a stream from WordPress

1. Open DCAST → Streams and videos and find Create a stream.
2. Enter a title and choose who can watch: everyone (the stream is also listed on your DCAST channel) or only where it is embedded or linked. Leave Also create a draft post with this stream on to get a post with the player in the same step.
3. Press Create stream. The screen shows the server and the stream key for OBS or another encoder. Administrators find the same settings later under Encoder settings (OBS) next to the stream in the list.

The stream key lets anyone broadcast to your stream: show it to the author only and never put it on a page.

Paid and closed access

The plugin shows the DCAST player of your account, so the access rules you set on a stream or a video in DCAST hold on your WordPress site too. A paid video or broadcast does not play for a visitor who has not bought it: the player offers to buy it right inside. Prices and access are set in DCAST (see Monetization); the plugin has no paid features of its own.

Where the key goes

The API key is stored in your WordPress database and is sent only from your server to the DCAST API; it never reaches visitors' browsers or the block editor. Pages with a DCAST block or shortcode load the player from DCAST, as described in the privacy policy.

Support

Write to [email protected]. When DCAST refuses something (a plan limit, a wrong key), the plugin says what to do next. Plan limits and error codes are the same as in the API and in the dashboard (see Errors and limits).