This guide is for the people who set up and maintain Choir Mixer — not the singers who use it to practice, but the administrators who make it available to them.
There are two distinct administrator roles, and this guide has a section for each.
The WordPress site owner installs the plugin, adds Choir Mixer to a page, and keeps the software up to date. They need access to the WordPress dashboard and some familiarity with how WordPress pages work. They do not need to know anything about music.
The Choir Mixer editor adds songs, uploads audio files, and places phrase markers so that singers can navigate the music. They work entirely within Choir Mixer itself — no WordPress access is needed. They are typically the choir director, rehearsal pianist, or someone the director trusts with the repertoire. They do not need to know anything about web development.
These two roles can be the same person, or different people. The guide covers each in a separate section.
Choir Mixer is a WordPress plugin that embeds a multi-track audio learning tool in any page or post on your site. Singers visit the page, hear the tracks for their choir's repertoire, and use the controls to practice at their own pace.
The song library — which songs are available, where their audio files are, and where the phrase markers fall — is maintained by the Choir Mixer editor through a built-in admin interface. The editor enters admin mode by typing a private key sequence directly in the player, or by logging in with a username and password if your installation uses named admin accounts.
Audio files are uploaded directly from within Choir Mixer. There is no need to visit the WordPress Media Library or copy URLs by hand.
Choir Mixer is distributed as a zip file. To install it, you will need access to the WordPress dashboard with a user account that has permission to install plugins.
choirmixer.zip file.On activation, Choir Mixer automatically uploads the bundled audio files to your WordPress Media Library, and writes a default configuration file to wp-content/uploads/choirmixer/. You will see the files appear in your Media Library under the name "Keep On (Going)."
Choir Mixer is added to any page or post using a shortcode. Create or edit a page in WordPress, and place the following shortcode in the body:
[choirmixer]
Publish or update the page. Choir Mixer will appear at that position when visitors view the page.
By default, Choir Mixer is displayed at 720 pixels tall, which comfortably fits the player and its controls on a desktop screen. If you need more or less space — for example, if your page template has a narrow column, or if you expect many tracks — you can set the height explicitly:
[choirmixer height="900"]
On mobile devices, Choir Mixer expands to fill the full screen height automatically, regardless of the height setting.
Singers can click the small expand icon (⤢) in the upper right corner of the player to open Choir Mixer in a full browser tab. This is particularly useful on smaller screens or when working with loop markers that require precise placement. No configuration is needed — this works automatically.
When a new version of Choir Mixer is available, you upgrade it by uploading the new zip file — the same way you installed it.
choirmixer.zip file.Your song configuration, markers, and uploaded audio files are stored in wp-content/uploads/choirmixer/, not inside the plugin folder. They are not touched during an upgrade.
Understanding where Choir Mixer stores its data will help you if you ever need to troubleshoot, back up, or move the site.
Song configuration — all songs, track URLs, and markers are stored in a single file: wp-content/uploads/choirmixer/choirmixer-config.json. This file is plain text and can be opened in any text editor. It is the most important file to back up.
Audio and PDF files — files uploaded through the Choir Mixer editor are stored in wp-content/uploads/choirmixer/. They are not added to the WordPress Media Library.
Singers' personal settings — volume levels, loop positions, and playlists are stored in each singer's browser, on their own device. They do not touch your server. You cannot see or reset them.
Choir Mixer supports two approaches to editor access. You can use either, or both.
By default, with no named admin accounts configured, anyone who types the word ADMIN on the Choir Mixer page gains full editing access immediately, with no password required. The letters do not appear on screen; just type them in sequence and the admin interface appears.
This is appropriate when you have a small, trusted group of editors and do not need to track who made which changes.
If you add one or more named admin accounts through the Choir Mixer settings in the WordPress dashboard, the open key sequence is replaced by a login dialog. Editors still type ADMIN to open it, but must then enter their username and password before gaining access. Each account is independent — you can add or remove individual editors without affecting others.
Named accounts are useful when you want to limit access more carefully, or when multiple people share editing duties and you want to know who is logged in.
Open the Choir Mixer page in your browser. With the player visible, type the word ADMIN on your keyboard — just the five letters, one after another, within about two seconds. The letters do not appear on screen and nothing special needs to be focused.
What happens next depends on how your installation is configured:
If no named admin accounts have been set up, admin mode activates immediately. A purple banner appears reading ⬡ Admin Mode — click to exit.
If named admin accounts are configured, a login dialog appears instead. Enter your username and password and click Log In. Once authenticated, the purple banner appears and the editor interface becomes available. Your username is shown in the banner so you can confirm which account is active.
To exit admin mode, click the purple banner, or type ADMIN again. If you have unsaved changes, you will be asked whether to save or discard them before exiting.
Before adding a song to Choir Mixer, gather the audio files for each vocal part — one MP3 per part — and optionally a PDF of the score. You do not need to upload them to WordPress or copy any URLs in advance. Files are selected and uploaded directly within the song dialog.
In admin mode, click the song title at the top of the player to open the song list. At the bottom of the list, click + Add New Song… to open the Add Song dialog.
The name of the piece, as it will appear in the song list. Songs are displayed in alphabetical order.
Optional. The Resources section holds one or more PDF documents that singers can open — a full score, a part-specific booklet, a pronunciation guide, or any other file you want to make available. Each resource appears as a named link at the bottom of the player.
Click the ▶ Resources disclosure triangle to expand the section (it opens by default). A count badge beside the heading shows how many resources are currently listed. To add a resource, click + Add Resource. A new row appears with a Choose… button and a name field. Click Choose… to select a PDF from your computer — it uploads immediately, and the name field is automatically filled from the filename. Edit the name to something descriptive if you like (for example, changing KeepOnGoing_SATB_v3.pdf to Full Score). To remove a resource, click the × button at the right of that row.
Leave the Resources section empty if you have no documents to share.
Each track row has two fields: the name of the vocal part (for example, Soprano or Lead), and an audio file picker. Click Choose… in a row to select the MP3 for that part — it uploads immediately and a checkmark appears when done.
The song starts with one track row. Click + Add Track to add more rows, one per vocal part. To remove a row you no longer need, click the × button at the right of that row. At least one track row must remain.
Track names appear on the track cards in the player. Choose names that singers will recognise from their sheet music.
When all fields are filled, click Create Song. The song appears in the list immediately and the configuration is saved automatically.
In admin mode, open the song list and click Edit next to any song. The Edit Song dialog is scrollable and works the same as the Add Song dialog. You can change the title, add or remove Resources (PDFs), rename tracks, replace audio files, add new tracks, or remove tracks. Click Save Changes when done.
In admin mode, a compact resource editor appears at the bottom of the player, below the singer-visible links. It shows the same rows as the Resources section of the Edit Song dialog — each row has a Choose… button, a name field, and a × remove button — plus a + Add Resource button at the bottom.
Use this when you need to quickly swap in a revised PDF or add a new document without opening the full Edit Song dialog. Changes save automatically when you upload a file or remove a row.
In admin mode, open the song list and click Delete next to the song you want to remove. A confirmation dialog will ask you to confirm before the song is deleted. The audio files themselves are not deleted — only the song's entry in the Choir Mixer configuration is removed.
Phrase markers are labelled positions on the timeline that help singers navigate a song. A singer can press Tab to jump to the next marker, or double-click a marker to instantly loop that phrase. Well-placed markers turn a long recording into something a singer can move through efficiently.
Markers are per-song. You set them while that song is loaded in the player. Each marker has a time position and a label.
In admin mode, play or navigate to the point in the song where you want to place a marker. Then do one of the following:
The dialog has two fields:
Time — shown in minutes, seconds, and tenths of a second (for example, 1:24.3). You can edit this field directly if you want a precise position.
Label — the name of the section, such as Verse 1, Chorus, Bridge A, or whatever naming your choir uses. This label appears on the marker triangle and in the score if singers are following along.
Press Enter or click Create to place the marker. It appears immediately on the timeline and the configuration is saved.
In admin mode, drag any marker triangle left or right along the timeline. When you release it, the marker snaps to its new position and the configuration is saved automatically. Markers always stay sorted in time order regardless of where you drag them.
In admin mode, double-click any marker triangle to open the edit dialog. Change the label or time as needed and click Save.
In admin mode, click the small ✕ that appears on a marker when you hover over it.
The most useful markers are at the start of each major section — verse, chorus, bridge, coda — and at any phrase that singers commonly need to repeat. A song with four or five well-named markers is easier to navigate than one with twenty tightly spaced ones.
Listen to the song while placing markers. The most precise approach is to play the song, pause at the exact start of a section, and then click the marker row. The time field will be pre-filled to within a tenth of a second of where you paused.
Click the purple ⬡ Admin Mode — click to exit banner at the top of the player, or type ADMIN again. If all changes have been saved, the player returns to normal immediately. If there are unsaved changes — which should be rare, since most actions save automatically — you will be asked to save or discard them.
The audio URL for one or more tracks is incorrect or the file is not publicly accessible. In admin mode, open the song and try replacing the affected track's audio file. If the problem persists, check that the wp-content/uploads/choirmixer/ folder is writable by WordPress.
Confirm that the file is an MP3, OGG, WAV, or M4A. If the upload stalls or returns an error, check that the wp-content/uploads/choirmixer/ folder on your server is writable by WordPress. There is no file size limit enforced by Choir Mixer itself.
Try reloading the Choir Mixer page. If the configuration was saved successfully, the updated songs and markers will appear after a reload. If problems persist, check whether the wp-content/uploads/choirmixer/ folder on your server is writable by WordPress.
This means Choir Mixer could not write the configuration to your server. The most common causes are a file permissions problem on the uploads folder, or a session that has been open long enough for the security token to expire. Try reloading the page and entering admin mode again. If the problem persists, contact your site host to confirm that WordPress can write to wp-content/uploads/choirmixer/.
Resource links are only shown when at least one PDF has been added to the current song. In admin mode, open the Edit Song dialog and check the Resources section — if it is collapsed, click the ▶ Resources triangle to expand it and confirm that at least one row is present with a file uploaded. You can also check the compact resource editor at the bottom of the player in admin mode. Links appear only after a file has been successfully uploaded (a checkmark appears in the row when the upload completes).
Check that you are using the username and password exactly as they were set up — both are case-sensitive. If you have forgotten your password, ask the WordPress site owner to remove your account and add it again with a new password.