CuePulse Manual

1. Overview

CuePulse is a web-based live Q&A, audience polling, and word cloud tool. No software to install on any device — the host opens a browser, the audience joins from their own phones, and results appear live on a projector screen.

Three browser screens cover every role:

• Host Controls the session: manages the question queue, runs polls, and calls on speakers.
• Join Where attendees raise their hand, submit a question, vote on others, and answer polls.
• Spotlight Full-screen projector display: shows the current speaker, live poll results, and a QR code to join.

2. Getting Started

Subscription & Login

1. Purchase a CuePulse subscription from the Cue Congress website. You will receive a license key by email.
2. Open cuecongress.com/cuepulse/host.html in a desktop browser (Chrome or Firefox recommended).
3. Enter your license key when prompted and click Activate. The key is stored locally in your browser — you will only need to enter it once per device.
4. Enter a Room Name or accept the generated one. This creates your session room. Share the room code with attendees.

Typical Event Setup

3. Host Screen

The host screen is divided into three main areas:

• Header — room name, settings button, and CueCongress logo (about popup). Click the CuePulse logo in the top-left to show a large version of the logo. Click ⏏ to log out and deactivate the license on this device.
• Queue panel — lists all raised hands in order. If moderation is on, a Pending section appears above the main queue.
• Rundown / Poll panel — manage the session rundown and build polls.

Queue Controls (per entry)

• Call — moves the entry to On Air, shown on Spotlight and broadcast to the attendee's phone.
• Done — marks the entry as completed and removes it from the active view.
• Clear — silently removes the entry without marking it done.
• ↑ / ↓ — reorder entries manually.

4. Running a Q&A Session

1. Make sure attendees have joined the room (share the QR code or join link).
2. Ask attendees to press Raise Hand on their phone. They can optionally type a question.
3. The entry appears in the queue on your host screen. The queue is ordered by arrival time by default; switch to Sort by Votes to surface the most popular questions.
4. Press Call on any entry to bring that person On Air. The Spotlight screen shows their name and question. The attendee's phone also shows You're On Air.
5. After they speak, press Done. The next entry is ready to call.
6. Repeat until the Q&A block is finished.

5. Running a Poll

Creating a Poll

1. In the Rundown panel, click + Add Poll.
2. Type your question and up to 4 answer options.
3. Click Save. The poll is added to the rundown as a step.

Launching a Poll

1. In the rundown, click Launch next to the poll step.
2. The poll appears on attendees' phones and on the Spotlight screen simultaneously.
3. Results update in real time as votes come in. The Spotlight screen shows a live bar chart.
4. Click Close Poll to stop accepting votes and lock the final result.

6. Rundown Playlist

The rundown lets you pre-plan an event with Q&A breaks, polls, and word clouds, then step through them in order during the live session.

Adding Steps

• + Add Q&A — adds a Q&A break step. When reached, the host opens the queue and calls on attendees.
• + Add Poll — adds a poll step with a question and answer options.
• + Add Word Cloud — adds a word cloud step with a prompt. Attendees submit words; they grow in size by frequency on the Spotlight screen.
• Drag to reorder steps before or during the event.

Stepping Through

Use Next and Previous buttons in the host header to advance through the rundown. The Spotlight screen automatically reflects the current step.

7. Word Cloud

A Word Cloud step collects short word or phrase responses from the audience and displays them live on the Spotlight screen. The more people who submit the same word, the larger it appears.

Adding a Word Cloud Step

1. In the Rundown panel on the host screen, click + Add Word Cloud.
2. Type a prompt — for example, "One word that describes today's keynote" or "What does great leadership look like?"
3. Click Save. The step is added to the rundown.

Running a Word Cloud

1. In the rundown, click Launch next to the Word Cloud step.
2. Attendees see a text input on their phone. They can submit up to 3 words or phrases per cloud (max 50 characters each).
3. Words appear on the Spotlight screen immediately, growing in size as more people submit the same word.
4. To reset all submissions for the current step, click Clear Words on the host screen.

8. Question Moderation

When moderation is enabled, every raise-hand entry enters a Pending state before the room can see it. This lets you review questions before they appear in the public queue.

Enabling Moderation

1. Click the Settings (gear) icon in the host header.
2. Under the Questions category, toggle on Question Moderation.
3. Click Save. The setting takes effect immediately for all new entries.

Approving & Rejecting

• New entries land in the Pending section at the top of the queue. You will hear a beep alert.
• Click Approve to move the entry into the main waiting queue. It becomes visible to the room.
• Click Reject to silently discard the entry. The attendee's phone shows a polite declined message.

9. Spotlight Display

Spotlight is a projector-optimised full-screen display. Open it on the PC connected to the projector and press F11 for fullscreen.

What Spotlight Shows

• Idle — room name and a live QR code that attendees can scan to join.
• On Air — the name (and question, if provided) of the attendee who was called. A pulsing "Live" badge is shown.
• Poll active — the poll question and a live bar chart that updates as votes come in.
• Poll closed — the final poll results remain visible until the next rundown step begins.
• Word Cloud active — the prompt and a growing word cloud. Words scale in size by frequency and animate in as new submissions arrive.

10. Attendee Join Page

Attendees open the join link (or scan the QR code) and type their name to enter the room. No account or app download is required.

Attendee Actions

• Raise Hand — submits a raise-hand entry. An optional text field lets them type a question (up to 200 characters).
• Lower Hand — withdraws their entry from the queue at any time before being called.
• Vote — upvote any question visible in the shared queue (requires Upvoting to be enabled in settings).
• Answer Poll — when a poll is active, choose one option and submit. Each attendee can vote once per poll.
• Submit Word — when a Word Cloud is active, type a word or short phrase and tap Submit. Up to 3 submissions per cloud per attendee.

Status Messages on the Attendee's Phone

• You're #N in line — their current position in the waiting queue.
• ⏳ Awaiting approval — entry is pending moderation review.
• You're On Air — they have been called and should speak.
• Done — thank you! — their session is complete.

11. Settings

Click the gear icon in the host header to open the settings panel. Settings are organised into four categories:

Questions

• Allow Questions — when off, attendees can still raise their hand but the question text field is hidden.
• Question Moderation — enable a pending review queue before entries reach the main queue.
• Max Question Length — character limit for question text (default 200).

Voting

• Upvoting — allow attendees to upvote each other's questions. When on, a vote count appears next to each entry in the queue.
• Show Vote Count — whether the vote count is visible to attendees on the join page.

Display

• Colour Theme — choose from 8 built-in themes. Changes apply live to all screens immediately.
• Show Queue on Join Page — whether attendees can see the full question queue or only their own entry.

Host

• Alert Sound — play an alert beep when a new entry arrives in the queue (or pending queue).
• Auto-clear Done Entries — automatically remove completed entries from view after a set delay.

12. Troubleshooting

Attendees Can't Join

• Make sure you have started a room on the host screen — the room code must be visible.
• Check the join URL is correct — it should end with /cuepulse/join.html?room=XXXX.
• Try sharing the QR code from the Spotlight screen directly instead of a typed URL.

License Key Not Accepted

• Copy-paste the key from your email to avoid typos.
• Check that your subscription is active at cuecongress.com.
• If activating on a new device, check whether your device limit has been reached. Contact support to reset.

Logged Out Unexpectedly

CuePulse stores its activation in your browser's localStorage. Clearing browser data or using Private/Incognito mode will remove the stored key. Re-enter your license key to reactivate.

Poll Results Not Updating

• Make sure the poll is in Open state — closed polls are locked and show final results only.
• Refresh the Spotlight screen if it appears frozen. The host screen continues to receive updates independently.

Support

Email info@cuecongress.com with your license key and a brief description of the issue.