Scheduling a session
A scheduled session is a game with a time attached: “I’m playing this game on Friday at 7pm — who’s in?” You pick the time, taybl gives the session its own page, and other people sign up on that page. When the time comes, the host starts the session and everyone who signed up gets a Join now button that takes them to the table.
A scheduled session is a sign-up sheet, not a table. Nobody sits down until the host starts it.
Scheduling one
- Open the game’s page — the page you reach from Browse games.
- In the Upcoming sessions card, below the Play buttons, press Schedule a session.
- Pick a date and time. The time you pick is in your own time zone, and the form names that zone underneath the field.
- Optionally write a note for the people signing up, up to 500 characters. The session page shows it as plain text.
- Choose Public or Link only (see below), then press Schedule session.
You land on the new session’s page. Copy its link from Share this session and send it wherever your group talks.
Scheduling needs a taybl account. A session must be at least 5 minutes and at most 90 days away. One account can host up to 10 upcoming sessions at a time and can schedule at most 20 sessions in a day, cancelled ones included. Only games listed in the catalogue can have scheduled sessions — a private playtest link cannot.
The time of a session cannot be changed after it is scheduled. To move a session, cancel it and schedule a new one.
Public or link only
| Choice | Who can find the session |
|---|---|
| Public | Listed in the Upcoming sessions card on the game’s page, so anyone looking at the game can open it and sign up |
| Link only | Never listed anywhere. Only people you send the link to can open the page |
Choose Link only when the session is for your own group. Anyone who has the link can open the page and sign up, so treat the link like an invite.
When the host starts a scheduled session — Public or Link only — its table is never listed in the Open lobby tab, so the seats stay with the people who signed up.
Signing up
Anyone can open a session page, but signing up needs a taybl account. A visitor who is not signed in sees how many seats are taken and a Sign in to sign up button, which returns them to the session page after they sign in. Only signed-in visitors see the names of the people who signed up.
Press Sign up to take a seat and Withdraw to give it back. A session has as many seats as the game’s maximum player count, and the host always fills one of them. When every seat is taken, the Sign up button is switched off. Sign-ups close at the scheduled start time.
Every session you host or have signed up for is listed under Scheduled sessions on your Account page.
The reminder email
About an hour before the scheduled time, taybl emails a reminder with a link to the session page to everyone who signed up. The reminder is sent only to accounts with a verified email address; an account that has not verified its email gets no reminder. Signing up during the final hour before the start sends no reminder either.
Every email about a session writes the time in the host’s time zone and labels it as the host’s time.
Starting the session
The host’s Start session button switches on one hour before the scheduled time — the host can start up to an hour early, but not earlier. Starting creates a real table for the game, with the same waiting room as Play online, and takes the host straight into it.
Once the host starts, everyone who signed up sees Join now on the session page and is emailed that the game has started (verified email addresses only). The page checks for this every 30 seconds around the start time, so nobody needs to reload it. Join now takes them to the table’s waiting room.
Only the host and the people who signed up see Join now. Anyone else needs the host to send them the table’s invite link from the waiting room.
If the table closes before everyone arrives — the host left it, or it sat idle too long — the host sees Reopen the table on the session page. That opens a fresh table and does not email everyone again.
A session can be started, or its table reopened, until two hours after its scheduled time. After that the session counts as past and cannot be started.
Cancelling
The host can cancel a session at any time before starting it: press Cancel session, then confirm. Everyone who signed up is emailed that the session is cancelled (verified email addresses only). The page stays up with a cancelled banner, so a link someone already has still explains what happened. A session that has been started cannot be cancelled.
Times and time zones
The session page shows the time in your time zone. When the host is in a different time zone, the host’s own time is shown underneath, so both of you can check you mean the same moment.
Adding it to your calendar
The session page has two Add to calendar buttons:
- Google Calendar opens a new Google Calendar event with the game, the time and a link back to the session filled in.
- Download .ics saves a calendar file that Apple Calendar, Outlook and most other calendar apps can import.
Both add a two-hour event, because a session has no end time. Neither one updates itself afterwards: if the session is cancelled, delete the event from your calendar yourself.
Related
- Playing a game — the other ways to get to a table
- Playing without an account — what a guest can and cannot do
- Voice chat — talking to the table once the game starts