Whistlr Studio Layout: Tabs, Preview Rails, and Stream Subviews
Creator LIVE Studio is one three-column cockpit—not a separate encoder page, chat room, and earnings dashboard. Sign in, open Studio, and you get a locked viewport under a single header. The video preview is the hero. Rails and tab pages hang off that preview so you can go live, read chat, and watch Gems without leaving the session. This guide maps the full layout: header regions, left and right rails, center tabs, preview states, Stream subviews (Dashboard, Credentials, and Live Chat), and the Learn sheet—so you always know where to look while you produce.
Studio Layout: One Cockpit, Three Columns
Every signed-in creator lands in the same structural frame. The header never scrolls away. Below it, three columns fill the remaining viewport so preview, session activity, and chat stay in view at desktop width. The left rail holds Live Gem feed (Business+) or Viewers. The center column holds the 16:9 video hero, the StudioStreamMeta strip under it, and the active tab body. The right rail holds Live Chat. Both rails are collapsible. On WTC, Help, Earnings, and Analytics, the rails hide so those full-width pages own the canvas. Below desktop width, both rails start closed and open as overlays—tap the dimmed backdrop to dismiss them. Opening the left rail from a full-width tab jumps you back to Stream (or Viewers on a personal account). Opening Live Chat from a full-width tab jumps you back to Stream so the room has a column to sit in.
Treat the layout as a single production surface. You do not leave Studio to check chat, confirm ingest, or review a Gem. The preview stays the visual anchor while controls and data move around it. That design keeps your eyes on the picture and your hands on the same page for title, category, Go Live, End Stream, credentials, and session health.
- Header left: Sidebar toggle plus the Creator LIVE Studio wordmark (Creator with the red LIVE Studio badge)
- Header center (Business+ only): Stream, WTC, and Help, then a thin divider, then Earnings and Analytics
- Header right: LIVE pill (while live), Visit Stream (when live and surfaced), Learn, Live Chat toggle, and the account menu
- Left rail: Live Gem feed (Business+) or Viewers; collapsible; hidden on WTC, Help, Earnings, and Analytics
- Center: 16:9 video hero, StudioStreamMeta under it, then the active tab body
- Right rail: Live chat; collapsible; same hide rule as the left rail on full-width tabs
Personal vs Business+ Chrome
Every signed-in creator can stream. Monetization chrome is what changes. Personal accounts keep the wordmark, Learn, Live Chat, and the account menu, but they do not get the center tab strip. The left rail is Viewers only—no Gem feed. Under the preview you land on encoder credentials plus a Business+ upsell: “Start earning revenue while you stream.” Business+ unlocks the full tab strip, the Gems / Viewers toggle, Dashboard and Credentials chips, live earnings, and withdrawals. Apply once at partners.whistlr.business; streaming itself never waits on that application. You can go live, grow an audience, and be found across Whistlr without monetization enabled.
The account menu sits on the gear control at the far right of the header. Use Edit profile to change how you appear on Whistlr. The same menu links out to Whistlr, the iOS app, Px Campus, ETAPX, and Business+ (or Apply for Business+ on a personal account). Keep profile updates here so your avatar, handle, and public identity stay consistent with what viewers see under the preview.
The video preview is the hero. Rails and tab pages hang off that preview so you can go live, read chat, and watch Gems without leaving the session.
Studio Tabs: Broadcast Tools and Money Tools
Center tabs are a Business+ surface. Personal accounts skip this strip and stay on the stream cockpit. When you are verified Business+, the header splits broadcast tools from money tools: Stream, WTC, and Help left of a thin divider; Earnings and Analytics on the right. Stream is the default after sign-in, and the tab Studio forces if a personal account leaves it. Stay on Stream while you produce; use the full-width tabs for store setup and session review.
- Stream (everyone): Preview, title, category, Go Live / End Stream, Dashboard / Credentials, and the gem or viewer rail. Personal accounts live here with no tab chrome
- WTC (Business+): Whistlr Traffic Coins—rename Gem templates, price from $0.50 to $500, and publish to your store. Unpublished templates stay drafts
- Help (Business+): In-studio walkthrough covering ingest, encoder setup, quick start, Gems, earnings, and the live dashboard
- Earnings (Business+): Stream earnings ledger—WTC revenue, supporters, gem performance, and payouts
- Analytics (Business+): Session and historical charts so you can see how the room is converting
WTC, Help, Earnings, and Analytics are full-width pages. The gem rail and live-chat rail collapse so the tab owns the canvas. On Help and Analytics while you are live, the preview shrinks to a floating mini player in the top-right with a LIVE chip and viewer count. On WTC and Earnings the preview hides completely—those pages are store and ledger, not encoder. Come back to Stream (or use the sidebar / Live Chat toggles) when you need the cockpit again. Earnings and Analytics read the same live ledger; gems received this session update both views as they land.
Stay on Stream to Produce
If you are mid-broadcast, stay on Stream. The full-width tabs are for store setup and review. Opening them hides chat and Gems; the LIVE pill in the header is how you confirm you are still on air. When you need the room again, return to Stream or open Live Chat from the header—Studio will route you back to a layout that has a column for the rail.
Preview States: From Idle to Live
The center video is the hero. Offline, you see a dark gradient overlay, a status line, and a white Go Live button. Typical idle copy is “Ready when you are”—start your encoder and Studio picks the feed up. When the encoder is publishing, the overlay drops and the preview shows the live picture. If the encoder stops, the preview says the stream ended and will reconnect when you start again. Preview state is your first signal that ingest is healthy before you talk to the room.
- Setting up: Loading copy while Studio prepares your server URL and stream key
- Offline / idle: Gradient overlay plus Go Live; title click also opens Stream Information
- Encoder found: “Almost there…” while the preview attaches to the incoming feed
- Live: The encoder picture with no overlay; header shows a red LIVE pill
- Help / Analytics (live): The same feed, shrunk to a floating mini player with a LIVE and viewer count chip
- WTC / Earnings: Preview hidden so the tab can go full width
Go Live and End Stream
Go Live does not start the encoder. Your streaming app (OBS, Streamlabs, XSplit, Wirecast, vMix, or any custom RTMP encoder) publishes first. Then you open Stream Information—title (required, up to 100 characters) and category—and confirm Go Live. That is the moment the broadcast is surfaced across Whistlr. End Stream sits on the meta bar while you are live; confirming it takes you offline immediately. Escape or Cancel backs out of the confirm sheet. Visit Stream appears in the header only after you are live and surfaced—it opens the public watch page so you can see what viewers see. Title is required before surface; category frames discovery so the room lands in the right context.
A clean go-live order is: paste Credentials into the encoder, start streaming in the encoder, watch the preview attach, set title and category in Stream Information, then confirm Go Live. After you are live, keep Stream open with chat visible. Use Visit Stream once if you want a viewer-side sanity check, then return to the cockpit. End Stream only when you are done; there is no soft offline—confirm means offline immediately.
Left Rail: Gems and Viewers
The left rail is session activity. Business+ accounts get a Gems / Viewers segmented control. Gems is a live feed of support: sender, amount, optional message, time, and a quick reaction (thumbs up, heart, fire). Empty state is “Waiting for Gems.” Viewers lists people who have chatted this session, with a watching count and “N in chat.” Personal accounts only see Viewers. Collapse the rail from the header sidebar toggle or the mobile close control. It hides automatically on WTC, Help, Earnings, and Analytics. When you reopen the left rail from a full-width tab, Studio returns you to Stream so the rail has a place to dock.
Use the Gem feed to thank supporters in real time without hunting chat history. Reactions are a fast acknowledgment when you cannot type a full reply mid-bit. Switch to Viewers when you want to know who has spoken and how active the room is. Watching count and chat count together tell you whether people are passive viewers or participants.
Right Rail: Live Chat
The right rail is the room. Messages, gem notices, and emoji land here in real time. Reply from the composer while you are live. Toggle it from the header Live Chat control (the right-pane icon). Same hide rule as the left rail on full-width tabs. On smaller screens it overlays the preview; close it from the rail or the header toggle. Opening Live Chat from Help, Earnings, or Analytics brings you back to Stream so the rail has a column to occupy.
Produce from the Three Columns
A typical live layout is Gems on the left, preview plus Dashboard in the center, and chat on the right. Collapse a rail when you need the picture larger; the header toggles bring it back when you return to Stream. On mobile-width viewports, open one rail at a time as an overlay, then dismiss the backdrop to reclaim the preview. Do not treat full-width tabs as production mode—they intentionally hide the room so you can edit the store or review numbers without distraction.
A typical live layout is Gems on the left, preview and Dashboard in the center, chat on the right. Collapse a rail when you need the picture larger; the header toggles bring it back when you return to Stream.
Stream Subviews: StudioStreamMeta
Directly under the preview sits StudioStreamMeta—the identity and control strip for the current broadcast. It is the caption bar for the hero: who you are, what this stream is called, whether you are live, and which Stream subview is open. Business+ accounts on Stream also get Dashboard and Credentials chips that swap the body below. Personal accounts skip the chips and stay on Credentials plus the Business+ upsell so they can still paste an encoder and go live.
- Title: Your stream title, or “Add a title” offline / “Untitled stream” live. Click it (offline) to open Stream Information
- Avatar + @username: Your Whistlr identity, with verification badge when you have one
- Friends / Friend Of: Follower and following counts; click either to open the list
- Status line: Live shows “N watching · watch time · category”; offline shows “Offline · category”
- End Stream: Visible only while live; opens the confirm sheet
- Go Live: On the preview overlay and in Stream Information—not a second header button
Dashboard Subview
Dashboard is the live session readout. It opens as Analytics with revenue this stream (USD), how many Gems landed, and three health blocks: Broadcast (Creator Studio plus your handle and category), Ingest (whether the encoder is publishing), and Preview (Receiving vs Waiting). Use it to confirm the picture is reaching Whistlr before you talk to the room. If chat is closed, Dashboard can offer an Open chat action that reveals the right rail. Check Dashboard right after Go Live so you catch ingest or preview issues before the first thank-you.
Chat is a first-class Stream surface, but it lives in the right rail rather than replacing the Dashboard body. Keep it open while you produce. Gift and emoji events sit next to regular messages so you can thank a sender without hunting the left rail. The Viewers list is built from the same room—people who have spoken appear there with a chat count. Treat chat and Viewers as two views of one room: conversation in the rail, roster on the left.
Credentials Subview
Credentials is how the encoder talks to Studio. Copy the Server URL and Stream Key into a custom RTMP service, start streaming in your app, then come back here to Go Live. Reveal or hide the key, copy either value, or reset the key if it has leaked—after a reset you must paste the new key into the encoder. Quick setup is the four-step paste-in: open the encoder, choose Custom RTMP, paste URL and key, start streaming, then Go Live in Studio. Treat the stream key like a password. Anyone with the current key can publish to your Studio ingest. Reset it from Credentials if you shared a screenshot or rotated machines, then update the encoder before the next session.
First Broadcast Path from Credentials
Open Credentials (Business+ chip, or the default body on a personal account). Copy Server URL and Stream Key into your encoder as a custom service. Hit Start Streaming in the encoder and watch the preview attach. Set title and category in Stream Information, then Go Live. Switch to Dashboard to confirm ingest and preview, and keep Live Chat open. That sequence is the same whether you stream free on a personal account or with full monetization on Business+.
- 1. Open Credentials: Business+ chip under the preview, or the default Stream body on a personal account
- 2. Paste into encoder: Server URL and Stream Key as a custom RTMP service
- 3. Start Streaming: In the encoder app; wait for the Studio preview to attach
- 4. Stream Information: Required title (up to 100 characters) and category, then confirm Go Live
- 5. Confirm health: Dashboard for ingest and preview; Live Chat open for the room
On a personal account the Stream body is Credentials plus “Start earning revenue while you stream.” Hide/Show collapses that upsell. See how it works opens the Business+ earning sheet (Gems, instant payouts, withdraw in 1–2 days). Gems, live earnings, and withdrawals stay locked until you are verified—the encoder path does not. You can stream 24/7, build audience, and be discovered without waiting on an application.
Learn in Studio
Learn is the purple header button on the right, next to Live Chat. It opens a how-it-works sheet—“One stream. Every Whistlr screen.”—without leaving the cockpit. Close it with the X, Got it, or by applying for Business+. Learn is on every account; it is the distribution story. You do not need Business+ to be found on Flow, Highlights, Following, Discover, your profile, whistlr.network, or iOS. You do need it to get paid—viewers cannot send Gems, and you cannot open WTC, Earnings, or Analytics, until the application is approved.
- 01 — Where your stream goes: One Go Live hits Flow, Highlights, Following, Discover, your profile, whistlr.network, and the iOS app. You do not configure each surface
- 02 — How a business account works: Apply once at partners.whistlr.business. After verification, Gems, live earnings, and withdrawals unlock in Studio. Until then, monetization stays locked—streaming does not
- 03 — Stream free. Earn when you are ready: You can stream 24/7 and grow an audience at no cost. Earning while you stream starts with a Business+ application
The same three ideas sit as a short feature list at the top of the Learn sheet. Apply for Business+ opens partners.whistlr.business in a new tab and closes the sheet. Got it just dismisses it so you can return to the preview. The Stream-tab upsell’s “See how it works” is a separate earning sheet focused on Gems, payouts, and withdrawals—not the same as Learn’s distribution story. Use Learn when you need the “one stream, every screen” map; use the upsell sheet when you are deciding whether to monetize.
First-Session Order
Open Learn once so you understand distribution. Paste Credentials into the encoder. Go Live with a real title and category. Then apply for Business+ if you want the Gem rail to start filling this stream instead of the next one. Stay on Stream with chat open for the rest of the session. Visit WTC only when you are ready to publish Gem templates; visit Earnings and Analytics after you have live data worth reviewing—or between segments when you can afford a full-width page without the room beside you.
Responsive Behavior and Full-Width Tabs
Below desktop width, both rails start closed and open as overlays. Tap the dimmed backdrop to dismiss them. Opening the left rail from a full-width tab jumps you back to Stream (or Viewers on a personal account). Opening Live Chat from a full-width tab jumps you back to Stream so the room has a column to sit in. On Help and Analytics while live, keep an eye on the mini player for LIVE status and viewer count. On WTC and Earnings, rely on the header LIVE pill—the preview is intentionally hidden.
Header center tabs only appear for Business+. Personal accounts never see WTC, Help, Earnings, or Analytics chrome; they remain on the stream cockpit with Credentials and the upsell. That keeps the personal path simple: encode, title, Go Live, chat. Business+ adds store, ledger, charts, and the Gem rail without changing the core three-column production model when you are on Stream.
One Go Live hits Flow, Highlights, Following, Discover, your profile, whistlr.network, and the iOS app. You do not configure each surface. Stream free; earn when you are ready.
Layout Checklist Before You Open the Room
Confirm you are on Stream with the preview visible. Open Credentials and verify Server URL and Stream Key match your encoder. Start the encoder and wait for the preview to leave idle. Set title and category, then Go Live. Open Live Chat. On Business+, open the left rail to Gems (or Viewers if you prefer roster first) and glance at Dashboard for Broadcast, Ingest, and Preview health. If anything looks wrong, fix it before you address the audience. If you need store or ledger work mid-session, finish a segment, note that chat and Gems will hide on full-width tabs, and return to Stream before the next bit.
Studio layout is designed so production never depends on a second window for chat, gems, credentials, or go-live. The header is always present. The preview is always the hero on Stream. Rails collapse when you need canvas; full-width tabs hide rails when you need ledger or store focus. Personal and Business+ share the same cockpit frame—Business+ simply unlocks the monetization strip, Gem feed, Dashboard chip, and money tabs. Learn that frame once, and every session starts from the same map: header, rails, preview, meta, Stream body.
Related Studio Topics
This guide covers cockpit layout only: tabs, preview rails, and Stream subviews. Pair it with encoder setup and Credentials paste-in when you are wiring OBS or another RTMP app; with Whistlr Traffic Coins and Gem store configuration when you publish templates on WTC; and with earnings, analytics, and payouts when you review revenue after Business+ verification. Distribution after Go Live is covered in Learn and in broader Whistlr discovery help—you do not reconfigure Flow, Highlights, Following, Discover, profile, whistlr.network, or iOS from inside Studio.
When something feels missing from the chrome, check account type first. No center tabs and no Gem feed means personal account—streaming still works. No LIVE pill means you have not confirmed Go Live after the encoder attached. No Visit Stream means you are not yet live and surfaced. Empty Gems feed means no support yet this session, not a broken rail. Rails missing entirely means you are on WTC, Help, Earnings, or Analytics—or you collapsed them and can restore them from the header toggles on Stream. Use those checks before you assume a product failure; most layout questions resolve to tab, account, or live state.
