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All About Unlock, Watch, and Availability Windows
All About Unlock, Watch, and Availability Windows

Use availability, unlock, and watch windows to manage how long your audience has to start and finish watching their virtual content.

Erne M avatar
Written by Erne M
Updated over a week ago

We refer to your audience's access to watch virtual screenings in terms of the Availability, Unlock, and Watch windows.

For those seeking a video walk-through and explanation of unlock and watch windows, click here -- and watch our Creating Virtual Screenings video!

What's the difference between Availability, Unlock, and Watch windows?

Availability window is the length of time during which a virtual screening is live and available to the audience to be unlocked. Organizers may choose to limit a screening’s availability window by specifying start and end dates and times, though a virtual screening is not required to have a specific availability window.

After the availability window ends, all virtual tickets that were never used expire and the screening is no longer accessible.

The availability window is set for each individual virtual screening.

Unlock window is the length of time during which a ticket holder must start watching a virtual screening before their ticket expires. It starts from the time they unlock (order) a ticket. If they pre-ordered a ticket, the unlock window starts at the time the screening becomes available (the availability window start date/time).

The unlock window is important for screenings with unlimited availability windows or when the availability window is longer than the unlock window, since the unlock window limits the time during which a ticket holder can start watching a virtual screening.

If the availability window is shorter than the unlock window, the availability window will override the unlock window. The unlock window or the time remaining to unlock a ticket is displayed on each virtual screening page beneath the media player.

Watch window is the length of time the ticket holder has to watch the screening once they've clicked Play. The watch window overrides the availability window.

For example, if a screening's availability window ends at 11pm, an audience member can click Play at 10:55pm, and they will have the duration of the watch window (ie. 24 hours) to watch the screening. The film will not suddenly stop playing at 11pm. Also, a film can be watched multiple times within the screening's watch window.
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How to set the Availability window:

  1. Open a virtual screening's edit page, then select "Restrict availability by date"

  2. Enter the screening's availability start and end dates/times

  3. Select "Allow customers to pre-order this screening" to allow your audience to purchase tickets before the availability window opens

  4. Click Save Changes
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How to set Unlock and Watch windows:

Unlock and Watch window settings apply to ALL screenings in your event bucket. By default, the Unlock window is 7 days and the Watch window is 1 day.

To change the default Unlock and Watch windows:

  1. Click "Open Eventive Virtual Settings" on your event bucket settings page

  2. Change one or both windows under "Viewing Duration Restrictions"

  3. Click Save Changes

The settings you establish here will apply to ALL virtual screenings in your event bucket.

To change the Unlock and/or Watch windows for a specific screening:

  1. Open the virtual screening's edit page

  2. Find the checkbox labeled "Unlock/watch interval"

3. Uncheck this box and update the Unlock and/or Watch windows for this screening

4. Click Save Changes

This will override your default unlock/watch window settings and create custom unlock and/or watch windows for this specific screening.

Changing the unlock and/or watch windows after tickets have been ordered: We don't recommend doing this. Doing so will only change the unlock/watch window settings for NEW ticket orders. Any tickets ordered before the unlock/watch windows were changed will NOT reflect the new unlock/watch window settings.

Enable Ticket Expiration Reminder Emails

You can enable a reminder email to be sent 24 hours before an unwatched virtual ticket expires on a per-event bucket basis. The email includes the expiration date and time, as well as the length of the watch window.

To enable reminder emails, go to your Event Bucket Settings page, click Eventive Virtual Settings, and select "Send warning email 24 hours before any still-unwatched ticket is going to expire."


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