Content Deployment/ Access Options

📘 Background

This brief background is here to provide some grounding on what NimbleStory is for those arriving to this page to understand how NimbleStory content can be deployed for use into other sites/ apps and evaluating risks. If more information is required, just reach out and we can discuss options in more detail.

NimbleStory is a visual content platform that allows users to add/ edit/ curate content items and combine them into unique interactive solutions. NimbleStory is being used in different ways by different client groups but in general there are 3 main use-cases:

Collaborating - Users Login to NimbleStory to add/ edit/ curate content until it is ready for delivery/ use.
Retrieve - Users Login to NimbleStory to find/ discover/ download content that they have access to.
Interact - Users View NimbleStory content to learn or make progress with something (execute a strategy/ explain a complexity/ expand their understanding).

NimbleStory is a modern web application that is cloud based. It requires only a standard web browser for access and makes use of popular frameworks like NextJS/ React/ JavaScript and our own backend API for content and user management. Our servers are hosted in AWS US-EAST, region, (this is Northern Virginia outside of DC). We maintain backups of those servers/ data volumes both on AWS itself and at our main office in Washington, DC. Backups consists of all of both User and Content data. This data is collected nightly - kept for 21 days, weekly - kept for 9 weeks, and monthly - kept for 13 months. Our source code, live systems, and data are scanned regularly for vulnerabilities/ malware and all traffic is monitored for unusual and malicious activity.

📘 Content Access Sharing & Delivery Options Summary

Once the content has been properly created/ refined/ curated and is ready for users to interact with on a broader scale, there are several options for deploying that content to constituent audiences. This table summarizes and compares the available options for deploying NimbleStory content. Additional details are in the expanded sections below.

	NimbleStory Authentication UID/ PW	NimbleStory Authentication SSO/ SAML	Shared URL Revokable Token	Shared URL Revokable Token Locked to Allowed Domain List	Capabilities (how content and controls are displayed)	Content Updates (changes to your solution)	Platform Updates (system enhancements/ bug fixes/ browser compatibility/ security updates/ etc.)	Usage Metrics (understand how much your content is being used)
	Authenticated Users		Guest/ Anonymous Users		Feature and Usage Differences
NimbleStory Direct Access	Available in all use-cases	Available for enterprise licensees	Available in all use-cases	Not Applicable	Full Featured	Applied as published (immediate)	Applied at least Monthly	Available directly on the platform
NimbleStory Share Access	Available in all use-cases	Available for enterprise licensees	Available in all use-cases and **embeds	Available only when **embedded	Full Featured	Applied as published (immediate)	Applied at least Monthly	Available directly on the platform
	**Share Links are Live Embeddable into SharePoint/ WordPress/ Webflow and any other site that takes an iframe.
Exported to SharePoint Web Part Standard	This self hosted option involves installing a new Web Part into your SharePoint environment and loading the exported content from NimbleStory. Advanced use-cases can also include locally edited content (SharePoint Lists). Access limits would be controlled by SharePoint, not NimbleStory.				Limited content features currently.	Would require re-export for every update. Self-Service	N/A	Metrics would need to be measured in SharePoint, not NimbleStory.
NimbleStory Exported HTML 5 Zip/ Bundle	This self hosted option is flexible and usable in just about any web platform that can support a static folder of HTML/CSS/JavaScript/Images. Access limits would be controlled wherever it was imported to, not NimbleStory.				Full Features	Would require re-export for every update. Support Request	Would require re-export for every update.	Metrics would need to be measured in the self hosted website, not NimbleStory.

📘 Content Access Sharing & Delivery Options Details

Direct Access - NimbleStory Authenticated with UserID/ Password

Direct => The user sees .nimblestory.com in the location bar in their browser
Authenticated => The user authenticates with a NimbleStory account using a UserID and Password Login
- Users are known individually in this mode, by name.
- New users must be invited but we can bulk load an initial set if needed.
Content Updates would be applied immediately
Usage Metrics would be tracked to know which users viewed which content and when. Reporting on this information varies by contract.

Direct Access - NimbleStory Authenticated with Single-Sign-On

Direct => The user sees .nimblestory.com in the location bar in their browser
Authenticated => The user authenticates with a NimbleStory account using a Corporately provisioned Single-Sign-On ID. SSO Configurations vary by contract.
- Users are known individually in this mode, by name.
- New users can either be invited (in bulk or individually) or we can establish SSO auto provisioning by contract.
Content Updates would be applied immediately
Usage Metrics would be tracked to know which users viewed which content and when. Reporting on this information varies by contract.

Direct Access - NimbleStory Shared URL with Revokable Token

Direct => The user sees .nimblestory.com in the location bar in their browser
Shared URL with Revokable Token => A URL will be generated with a token that is independent of the content so it could be made inactive/ replaced/ auto-expire if the URL got into “the wild”.
Anyone with access to the URL and active Token would be able to access the content.
Users are not known by NimbleStory in this mode, they appear as guests, not logged in users.
Content Updates would be applied immediately
Usage Metrics would be tracked to know which users viewed which content and when. In this mode, anyone accessing this way would be seen as a guest user. Reporting on this information varies by contract.

Embedded Access - NimbleStory Authenticated with UserID/ Password

Embedded => The user sees this interactive content in a frame of another website, like a corporate intranet. (similar to how a video from youtube can be embedded in another site)
Authenticated => The user authenticates with a NimbleStory account using a UserID and Password Login
- Users are known individually in this mode, by name.
- New users must be invited but we can bulk load an initial set if needed.
Content Updates would be applied immediately
Usage Metrics would be tracked to know which users viewed which content and when. Reporting on this information varies by contract.
Embed Hosts
- Microsoft SharePoint (OnPrem or OnLine): TESTED SUCCESSFULLY, requires the Page Editor to add an Embed WebPart and the Site Admin to allow embeds from “nimblestory.com”.
- Microsoft Teams Channel Tab: TESTED SUCCESSFULLY, requires adding the url into the Channel Web Tab Settings.
- WordPress: TESTED SUCCESSFULLY, requires a simple embed page widget
- Other Destinations: We have tested a few others, as long as your site allows iframe tags and content from other domains to be embedded, NimbleStory should work just fine.

Embedded Access - NimbleStory Authenticated with Single-Sign-On

Embedded => The user sees this interactive content in a frame of another website, like a corporate intranet. (similar to how a video from youtube can be embedded in another site)
Authenticated => The user authenticates with a NimbleStory account using a Corporately provisioned Single-Sign-On ID. SSO Configurations vary by contract.
- Users are known individually in this mode, by name.
- New users can either be invited (in bulk or individually) or we can establish SSO auto provisioning by contract.
Content Updates would be applied immediately
Usage Metrics would be tracked to know which users viewed which content and when. Reporting on this information varies by contract.
Embed Hosts
- Microsoft SharePoint (OnPrem or OnLine): TESTED SUCCESSFULLY, requires the Page Editor to add an Embed WebPart and the Site Admin to allow embeds from “nimblestory.com”.
- Microsoft Teams Channel Tab: TESTED SUCCESSFULLY, requires adding the url into the Channel Web Tab Settings.
- WordPress: TESTED SUCCESSFULLY, requires a simple embed page widget
- Other Destinations: We have tested a few others, as long as your site allows iframe tags and content from other domains to be embedded, NimbleStory should work just fine.

Embedded Access - NimbleStory Shared URL with Revokable Token

Embedded => The user sees this interactive content in a frame of another website, like a corporate intranet. (similar to how a video from youtube can be embedded in another site)
Shared URL with Revokable Token => A URL will be generated with a token that is independent of the content so it could be made inactive/ replaced/ auto-expire if the URL got into “the wild”.
Anyone with access to the URL and active Token would be able to access the content.
Users are not known by NimbleStory in this mode, they appear as guests, not logged in users.
Content Updates would be applied immediately
Usage Metrics would be tracked to know which users viewed which content and when. In this mode, anyone accessing this way would be seen as a guest user. Reporting on this information varies by contract.
Embed Hosts
- Microsoft SharePoint (OnPrem or OnLine): TESTED SUCCESSFULLY, requires the Page Editor to add an Embed WebPart and the Site Admin to allow embeds from “nimblestory.com”.
- Microsoft Teams Channel Tab: TESTED SUCCESSFULLY, requires adding the url into the Channel Web Tab Settings.
- WordPress: TESTED SUCCESSFULLY, requires a simple embed page widget
- Other Destinations: We have tested a few others, as long as your site allows iframe tags and content from other domains to be embedded, NimbleStory should work just fine.

Embedded Access - NimbleStory Shared URL with Revokable Token and Domain Lock

In Development - Scheduled for release late by March 2023
Would add a list of approved Embed Hosts to the NimbleStory solution so the URL+Token could not be used outside of its intended host site.

Self Hosting - Exported NimbleStory Content

Self Hosted => Content is exported from NimbleStory for hosting on other Corporate resources
Exported content would be HTML v5 (HTML, JavaScript, CSS, Images/Media) and provided as a .zip archive. It would contain no server-side code/ runtimes/ databases/ external calls.
Exported content would cease to be managed/ editable once exported and any manual changes to the underlying files would not be importable back to NimbleStory later.
Exports can take time as this is currently an off-line process, expect 1-2 days minimum turnaround unless other arrangements are made by contract.
Content Updates would require re-export for every update.
Usage Metrics would need to be provided entirely by the host.

📘 Content Sharing Availability

	Authenticated Users		Guest/ Anonymous Users
Content Types	NS Auth UID/ PW	NS Auth SSO	Shared URL Revokable Token	Shared URL Revokable Token and Domain Lock
_{Entire Projects}	_{Sharing is reliant on assigned project permissions only, there is not yet any other ability to share content that users don’t have access to in NimbleStory project permissions except to generate shared URLs (where we will see them as Guests instead of named users)}		_{Not Yet Available}
_{Entire Content Folders}			_{Not Yet Available}
_{Entire Asset Folders}			_{Not Yet Available}
_{Basic Content Items}			_Available	_{Not Yet Available}
_{Digital Workspaces}			_Available	_{Not Yet Available}
_{Concept Explorer Solutions}			_Available	_{Available (new)}
_{Geographic Explorer Solutions}			_Available	_{Not Yet Available}
_{Core Visuals}			_{Not Yet Available}
_Perspectives			_{Not Yet Available}
_Articles			_{Not Yet Available}

📘 Optional URL Parameters

	Optional URL Parameters (Should work in both Direct and Embed modes, parameters are added after a “?” in a url, multiple parameters should be separated by “&”)
Parameters	_contentfocus	_contentonly	_debug	_{journey= {name}}
_{Entire Projects}	_{Removes the left side menu from the current view.}	_{Same impact as content focus.}	_{No impact.}	_{No impact.}
_{Entire Content Folders}
_{Entire Asset Folders}
_{Basic Content Items}		_{Removes the top info area from the current view.}
_{Digital Workspaces}
_{Concept Explorer Solutions}			_{Opens a debug display to aid in refining the solution.}	_{Changes the context of the solution to the named journey if it exists, throws error if it does not exist.}
_{Geographic Explorer Solutions}			_{No impact.}	_{No impact.}
_{Core Visuals}
_Perspectives
_Articles

📘 NimbleStory Embed Examples

Direct Access / Authentication Required: https://throughline.nimblestory.com/appdemo/project/project-for-shared-demos/ce/ns-demo-explainer?journey=Overview%20-%20Use%20Cases

Direct Access / Shared URL: https://throughline.nimblestory.com/appdemo/project/project-for-shared-demos/ce/embed/ns-demo-explainer?journey=Overview - Use Cases&token=TCSgMiTLT9dh9pPhG1Eet4

Embedded Access / Shared URL:

Embedding here in Confluence (our documentation site)

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