Themes and Theme Instances work together in LIGR Live to control how your broadcast graphics look and behave across different competitions, matches, and output streams.

​

If you are new to LIGR Live, the difference between a Theme and a Theme Instance can be confusing at first. This article explains what each one is, how they relate to each other, and when you would use them.

​

A Theme is a platform-level visual template that defines the overall look and feel of broadcast graphics. Themes are built and maintained by the LIGR team, then assigned to your organisation. Customers do not edit Themes or the graphics within them directly.

​

A Theme contains the master design: the graphic layouts, fonts, colour rules, and styling that your broadcasts will use. Think of a Theme as the blueprint. It defines things like:

​

• Graphic layouts and designs

​

• Default fonts, colours, and styling rules

​

• The set of graphics available for use in game plans

​

A single Theme can be reused across many competitions and organisations. Themes come in two main types: inbuilt themes and Rive themes. Which type of Theme you have affects how some related features behave (such as advertising), but both are fully supported.

​

[ Image placeholder: The Themes section showing a list of available themes assigned to an organisation with preview thumbnails ]

​

A Theme Instance is a customer-level configuration of a Theme. It is where you, as a customer, tailor a Theme for use on a specific Competition overlay.

​

Where a Theme is the blueprint built by the LIGR team, a Theme Instance is your working configuration of that Theme, connected to an actual Competition and its matches.

​

Theme Instances are created and assigned at the Competition overlay level, under Competition, then Settings, then Streams and Overlays, then Overlay Settings. From there you choose the Theme you want to use and configure the Instance.

​

Theme Instances let you:

​

• Apply a Theme to a specific Competition overlay

​

• Configure the default appearance and behaviour of graphics for that overlay

​

• Pair the Instance with an Automated Game Plan for that overlay

​

• Adjust configuration without changing the underlying Theme

​

[ Image placeholder: Theme Instance configuration page showing a Theme assigned to a Competition overlay with configuration options ]

​

Here is the relationship in simple terms:

​

1. A Theme is built by the LIGR team and assigned to your organisation.

​

2. You create a Theme Instance to configure that Theme for a specific Competition overlay.

​

3. A Competition can have multiple overlays, and each overlay has its own Theme Instance and Automated Game Plan.

​

4. Matches within that Competition inherit the Theme Instance settings from the overlay they are broadcast through.

​

Imagine you run a football league. Your organisation has been assigned one Theme designed around your league branding. Within a single Competition, you set up two overlays, each with its own Theme Instance:

​

• Overlay 1: full graphics package for your main YouTube Live stream

​

• Overlay 2: a reduced graphics output for a secondary distribution feed

​

Both Instances are configurations of the same Theme, but each overlay has its own Theme Instance and Game Plan tuned for that output.

​

You will want more than one overlay (and therefore more than one Theme Instance) on a Competition when:

​

• You need different graphic configurations for different destinations

​

• You are running a dual-stream broadcast, for example a full graphics feed plus a reduced feed

​

• Different outputs require different default graphics or Game Plan setups

​

• You need a simplified graphics set for one stream and a richer set for another

​

• Confirm your organisation has the Theme you need assigned before creating a Theme Instance. Themes are provisioned by the LIGR team.

​

• Name your overlays and Theme Instances clearly (for example, "Main Broadcast" or "Secondary Feed") so your team knows which overlay drives which output.

​

• Review your Theme Instance configuration before a match to confirm the correct defaults are in place.

​

• Each overlay on a Competition has its own Theme Instance, so changes on one overlay do not affect another.

​

Graphics do not match across matches in the same Competition Confirm each match is being broadcast through the overlay whose Theme Instance has the intended configuration.

​

Expected graphics are not appearing Check that the overlay's Theme Instance is configured as intended and that the correct Automated Game Plan is assigned to the overlay.

​

Wrong graphics appearing on an output stream If you are running multiple overlays, make sure each output is pointing at the overlay with the correct Theme Instance.

​

Cannot find where to configure a Theme Instance Theme Instances are configured at the Competition overlay level. Open the Competition, go to Settings, then Streams and Overlays, then Overlay Settings.