About
This article explains how moderators manage participants in a live Kaltura Room using the Participants list. Moderators can control who’s on stage, manage roles and permissions, and take quick actions to keep the session running smoothly.
The Participants sub-tab shows all users in the room and lets moderators manage participant roles and actions.
Access the participants list
In your room, open the Chat & Collaboration widget by clicking the arrow in the top right corner of your room.
The engagement panel opens with the Live stage tab displayed by default.
Click the Participants sub-tab.
If you don't see the 'Participants' tab, you may need to click the arrow next to the sub tabs to scroll it into view.
Understand participant groups
Participants are automatically grouped to help moderators quickly see who’s doing what in the room:
- Raised hands – Participants who requested to join the stage
- On stage – Participants currently sharing audio/video
- Viewers – Participants watching the session
Each group shows:
- number of participants
- participant names
- role labels (moderator, speaker, or custom permissions)
Icons for raised hand and microphone are displayed when relevant, to the right of each name.
You can click the arrow next to each group name to collapse or expand it. If a group is large, use See more or See less to control how many names are shown.
Search for participants
Use the search bar at the top of the list to quickly find someone in the room.
As you type, results show:
- Matching participant names
- Which group they belong to (raised hands, on stage, or viewers)
This is helpful when managing large sessions or checking who’s already on stage.
Manage all participants at once
At the top of the Participants list, click the three dots next to All participants to take bulk actions:
- Stage access - Controls how participants can join the stage. You have the following options:
- Everyone on stage – Participants join the stage with their camera and microphone enabled.
- Join by request – Participants must request permission from a moderator to join the stage.
- Invite only – Only moderators can invite participants to join the stage.
- Streams access - Blocks or restores a participant’s ability to turn on their camera and / or microphone (when device access is restricted, the participant sees a message explaining that the host temporarily disabled access)
- Mute all microphones (except yours)
- Turn off all cameras (except yours)
- Clear raised hands
Manage individual participants
Click the three dots next to a participant’s name to see additional actions. Available options depend on your role and permissions.
- Invite on stage / Remove from stage - 'Invite on stage' sends the user a 'Set devices' popup window where they can Decline invitation or Join stage. Until the participant responds to an invitation, you'll have the option to Revoke invite on stage (even if another moderator initiated the invitation).
- Streams access – Blocks or restores the participant’s ability to turn on their camera and/or microphone. When access is restricted, the participant sees a message explaining that the host temporarily disabled access.
- Set as moderator - Sets that participant as a moderator.
- Set as speaker - Sets that participant as a speaker.
- Edit permissions - Edits the participant's user permission. See User permissions for more information.
- Remove from meeting - Removes the user from the meeting.
- click the raised hand icon to lower it.
- click the microphone icon to mute/unmute (available when the participant is on stage)
- Only users with the right permissions can control other people's webcams or change their roles.
- In some organizations, promotion to higher roles (such as moderator) is limited by email domain. When this restriction is enabled, only participants whose email address matches an approved domain can be promoted. This is configured by an admin in the Newrow module.
Manage your own stage status
- Click the three dots next to your own name to join or leave the stage, and turn off your camera (when on stage).
- Click the microphone icon to mute yourself.
FAQs
How many people can be on stage at one time?
Interactive sessions support up to 100 participants in total. Up to 30 participants can be on stage, while the remaining participants join as viewers.
The number of people on the stage is monitored automatically, and the moderator can see this number in the participants list.
If you need to accommodate more participants, you can contact your Customer Success Manager for assistance.
What happens when the stage is full?
If the stage reaches maximum capacity, the least recently active speaker is automatically removed from the stage to make room for the new participant. The removed speaker can rejoin the stage at any time by clicking Join stage.
What's the default mode?
It depends on your Kaltura product. In Kaltura Events, the default setting will be Open Stage. In Webinars, the default will be Ask to join stage. You can preset your preferred default mode for both Open Stage and Ask to join stage. Decide in advance which mode you want to use as the default for your session.
Can the moderator change modes in the middle of a session?
Yes. If the moderator switches modes during a session, participants will be notified, and those on stage will remain on stage.
