Etherpad collaborative notes

eventyay can attach an Etherpad pad to each session, so speakers, attendees, and organisers can take collaborative notes for talks, workshops, BoF sessions, and meetings.

The pad content is always stored on the configured Etherpad instance, never inside eventyay. eventyay only stores and displays the pad link.

Overview

The integration has three levels:

  • Platform – the administrator configures the Etherpad instance and decides whether the integration is available at all.

  • Event – organisers enable Etherpad for their event and choose whether pad links are shown publicly.

  • Session – each session has its own Etherpad URL, entered manually or generated automatically.

Platform configuration (administrators)

In the global settings (control panel → Global settings → Etherpad), an administrator can configure:

  • Enable Etherpad integration – master switch for the whole platform.

  • Default Etherpad instance URL – e.g. https://pad.example.org.

  • Etherpad API key – the contents of the instance’s APIKEY.txt. This is only required for automatic pad creation and is never exposed to the browser.

  • Pad name pattern – the template used to generate pad names. Available placeholders are {event}, {submission} and {token}. The default is {event}-{submission}-{token}.

If no API key is configured, eventyay still generates pad links (“link-only” mode): Etherpad creates the pad automatically the first time someone opens the link.

Event configuration (organisers)

Once the platform integration is enabled with an instance URL, an Etherpad section appears in your event settings, where you can:

  • Enable Etherpad for sessions – turn the feature on for this event.

  • Auto-generate Etherpad links – show a one-click button on session pages to create a pad.

  • Show Etherpad links publicly – when enabled, the pad link is shown on the public session page. When disabled, the link stays visible only to organisers.

Session configuration

On the session edit page you can:

  • Enter or edit the Etherpad URL manually. You can link to any Etherpad instance, not only the platform default — useful if different sessions use different instances.

  • Click Auto-generate Etherpad link to create a pad automatically (if your event allows it). If the session already has a pad, you will be asked to confirm before it is replaced, so existing notes are never lost accidentally. Generating the same session’s pad twice (with confirmation) produces a new pad name each time; the old pad and its content remain on the Etherpad server but are no longer linked from the session.

Public session pages

When the event and session settings allow it, public session pages show an Open collaborative notes button. The link opens the pad on the configured Etherpad instance in a new browser tab. If public display is disabled, the link is not shown to public visitors.

Security notes

  • Etherpad API keys are stored server-side only and are never sent to the browser or exposed through the API.

  • Generated pad names use a stable, URL-safe pattern (event, session code, and a random token) rather than the public session title.

  • Pad links are only exposed publicly when the organiser has explicitly enabled public display for the event.