Frequently Asked Questions

ShowCall is a professional desktop application for live event rundown management. Built by event producers, show callers, and production teams, it provides precise cue timing, local network sharing, and live tracking capabilities — all running right on your desktop with no internet required.

ShowCall is designed for:

• Show Callers: Who run individual events and need full rundown control, live tracking, and team coordination
• Crew Members: Who need to follow along with rundowns during productions

ShowCall is currently in beta and available for download. During the beta period, pricing and features may change based on user feedback from the live event community.

ShowCall is specifically designed for live event rundowns with:

• Desktop application that runs locally — no internet required
• Precise timing control with automatic calculations
• Real-time cue tracking during live events
• Local network sharing for crew on the same network
• Face sheets management with stage layout designer
• Role-based access for different production team members
• Professional PDF exports for talent and crew distribution

No! ShowCall runs entirely on your desktop and does not require an internet connection. Create shows, build rundowns, and manage cues completely offline. Your data stays on your machine.

During your event, click the track button next to any cue to start live tracking. Use the spacebar to advance to the next cue, and all team members with access will see the current cue highlighted in real-time.

Yes! Show Callers can export rundowns to professional PDFs. You can select which columns to include and customize the layout for distribution to talent, crew, and clients.

You can share rundowns over your local network:

• Local Network Sharing: Crew on the same network can view and follow along with live cue tracking
• Team Sharing: Add team members with specific roles (Show Caller, Crew Member)
• Share Links: Create time-limited share links with custom URLs and specific access levels

ShowCall supports multiple time input formats:

• HH:MM:SS (01:30:45)
• MM:SS (90:45)
• Natural language (1m30s)

Times are automatically calculated when you change start times or durations.

Yes! ShowCall offers multiple themes to suit your production environment:

• Light: Default bright theme
• Dark: Standard dark theme
• Deep Dark: For low-light environments
• Night Blue: Blue-based color scheme
• High Contrast: Enhanced accessibility

You can also customize tracking highlight colors and adjust column widths by clicking headers.

Yes! When you advance cues using the spacebar during live tracking, ShowCall automatically scrolls to keep the active cue visible on screen. This ensures you never lose track of your position in the rundown.

The Block Container System is a modern way to organize your rundown:

• Create individual container sections for different segments
• Collapsible/expandable blocks for better space management
• Customizable block headers with color picker
• Drag and drop cues between blocks
• Automatic cue number cascading when adding new cues

Yes! You can:

• Create custom columns beyond the default set
• Rename existing columns for each show
• Drag and drop columns to reorder them
• Set user and team default column names and layouts
• Create column templates that auto-apply to new rundowns
• Adjust column widths with S, M, L, XL sizes
• Delete columns (except protected core columns)

Version History automatically saves snapshots of your rundowns every 5 minutes while you're editing. You can:

• View all previous versions with timestamps
• Restore entire versions or selectively bring back specific items
• Create named versions for important milestones
• Compare changes between versions with color-coded diffs
• See who made each change
• Use comprehensive undo/redo (Cmd/Ctrl+Z) for up to 50 actions

It's completely automatic with no manual saving required. You can also manually save versions with Cmd/Ctrl+S.

Yes! While crew members have read-only access, they can now:

• Personal Cue Highlighting: Mark specific cues with yellow highlights
• Follow Live Tracking: See which cue is currently active
• Customize View: Adjust column widths and visibility
• Access Shared Links: View rundowns via time-limited share links

These features help crew members stay organized and focused on their specific responsibilities.

To add or change your profile picture:

1. Click your profile dropdown in the header
2. Select "Account Settings"
3. Go to the Profile tab
4. Click the profile image area to upload
5. Choose an image (JPG, PNG, or GIF up to 5MB)
6. Save your changes

Your profile picture will appear throughout ShowCall and be visible to team members.

Face Sheets are ShowCall's comprehensive speaker and stage layout management system:

• Visual Stage Designer: Drag-and-drop speaker positioning with reorder arrows
• Speaker Database: Centralized storage for speaker info, pronunciation, and headshots
• AI Headshot Processing: Face detection automatically centers and crops headshots for a clean, consistent look
• Backstage View: Flip the stage perspective for stage managers
• Bulk Import: Import sessions and speakers from CSV/Excel
• Professional PDFs: Generate face sheets with stage layouts
• Moderator Support: Designate panel moderators

Perfect for conferences, panels, and multi-speaker events.

ShowCall provides sharing and collaboration features over your local network:

• Live Indicators: See who's editing which cells in real-time
• Session Locking: Prevents conflicts when the same rundown is open in multiple places
• User Tagging: Type @@username to notify team members
• Speaker Mentions: Type @SpeakerName to reference speakers
• Notifications: In-app alerts for tags and mentions

ShowCall uses two different mention systems:

• @ (single at): For mentioning speakers from your database. Creates inline speaker cards with headshots.
• @@ (double at): For tagging team members. Sends notifications to get their attention.

Example: @JohnSmith shows speaker info, while @@johnsmith notifies your team member John.

Yes! Face Sheets supports comprehensive import features:

• Import from CSV or Excel files
• Auto-detection of speaker and moderator columns
• Support for multiple date formats
• Intelligent name matching for existing speakers
• Bulk headshot upload with fuzzy name matching

Perfect for importing your entire conference schedule at once.

Yes! ShowCall offers comprehensive import/export functionality:

• Excel Export: Download rundowns as formatted spreadsheets with all data
• PDF Export: Generate professional print-ready documents
• Import Support: Upload Excel or JSON files to restore or share rundowns
• Preview Mode: See what will be imported before committing
• Data Integrity: Automatic ID handling to prevent conflicts

Perfect for sharing with others, creating templates, or backing up your work.

Shows are displayed in a compact list view with sortable columns:

• Column Sorting: Click any column header (name, client, venue, dates, status) to sort
• Status Organization: Shows are grouped by Pre-Show, In Show, Post-Show, and Archived
• Next Show Countdown: Your dashboard prominently shows your next upcoming event
• Inline Editing: Edit show details directly without leaving the page

Your sort preferences are saved automatically.

ShowCall features professional spreadsheet-style navigation for fast editing:

• Single Click: Select a cell (blue outline)
• Double Click: Enter edit mode (green outline)
• Arrow Keys: Navigate between cells
• Shift + Arrows: Navigate while editing (auto-saves)
• Enter: Start editing selected cell
• Escape: Exit edit mode
• Alt + Up/Down: Add cue above/below
• Delete: Remove selected cue

The interface uses optimized DOM manipulation for instant 60fps response even with hundreds of cues.

Block Templates let you save blocks as reusable templates:

• Save Templates: Click settings icon → "Save as Template"
• Preserve Everything: All cues, colors, and timing preserved
• Quick Insert: Click "Insert from Template" anywhere in rundown
• Manage Templates: Edit, rename, delete in Settings > Templates
• Spreadsheet Editor: Full editor for template cues

Perfect for opening sequences, commercial breaks, closing credits, or any repeated content.

Digital Signage displays previous, current, and next cues on external monitors:

• 3-Column Layout: Previous (blue), Current (green), Next (yellow)
• Live Countdown: Real-time timer for current cue
• Speaker Chips: Headshots and details for @mentioned speakers
• Customizable: Toggle visibility of different fields
• Auto-Sync: Updates instantly with tracking and rundown changes
• No Login Required: Perfect for talent monitors and crew displays

Open from Options menu → "Open Digital Signage". There's also a dedicated Public Cue Timer view for production monitors that shows countdown, cue name, and section title.

Find & Replace (Cmd/Ctrl + F) searches across all rundown columns:

• Real-Time Search: Results update as you type
• Case Sensitive: Optional exact case matching
• Whole Word: Match complete words only
• Results Counter: Shows "X of Y" matches
• Navigation: Next/Previous buttons or Enter/Shift+Enter
• Replace: Single replacement or Replace All
• Auto-Scroll: Jumps to and highlights matches

Searches Item Name, Speakers, Audio, Video, Lighting, Notes, and all custom columns.

To archive a completed show:

1. Go to Show Settings (gear icon)
2. Navigate to the Danger Zone tab
3. Click "Archive Show"
4. Confirm the action

Archived shows remain accessible but are read-only. You can restore them anytime from the same settings page.

ShowCall is a desktop application that runs on macOS and Windows. It's designed to be lightweight and performant, so it works well on most modern computers used in production environments.

Yes. ShowCall stores your data locally on your machine. When using local network sharing, data is transmitted securely over your network and only accessible to authorized team members.

ShowCall is a desktop application optimized for production use on computers. Shared rundown views and digital signage are designed to work well on tablets and external monitors for crew members to follow along during shows.

No. ShowCall runs entirely on your desktop and does not require an internet connection. All your data is stored locally, so you can create and run shows without any connectivity concerns. For local network sharing, you just need your crew connected to the same network.

Use the built-in bug reporting feature:

1. Click your profile dropdown in ShowCall
2. Select "Report a Bug"
3. Describe the issue with steps to reproduce
4. Submit — we'll receive it with system info automatically

You can also email us directly at support@showcall.io.

For additional help, email us at support@showcall.io. Include your account email and a detailed description of your issue. Screenshots help us understand problems faster.

Check out our comprehensive Help Documentation which covers all features, workflows, and keyboard shortcuts in detail.

Absolutely! Since ShowCall is in beta, we're actively collecting user feedback. Contact us at support@showcall.io with your feature requests and suggestions.