Storyboard was introduced with Version 14.5 as an additional tool to communicate and connect with intranet users on site Home Pages, with the power of visuals plus a link to content.
Possibilities for Storyboard use include:
- image linked to intranet content which is already advertised in the What's New feed but needs more promotion
- it's not possible to view/test storyboards unless the storyboard is showing on the site
- 'sticky' item you want front and center for an extended period of time, so more staff see it
- highlight a specific tweet with a link to it
- stories won't be included in the What's New feed and can only promoted via the Storyboard
- emphasize video content with play-in-place function
- link to a survey
Storyboard Appearance
All users - even Admins - experience Storyboard content the same when they land on a site home page which includes Storyboard.
Each story has NEW displayed (1, below) until the user has clicked on it. All Stories show a count of the number of users who have clicked to view the story or watch the video, as applicable (2) - this is the number of clicks, not the number of unique clicks, so multiple clicks by the same user are counted. If there are more than four stories, arrows appear (3) to help the user move through the Story carousel.
For example, in the Storyboard below, the left story has had 9 views but hasn't been read by the user. Additionally, you can see that there are more than four stories because arrows show.
Users can click the link to VIEW ALL STORIES (4, above) to see all site Stories at a glance - this can be helpful if there are lots of Stories. No action can be taken on the All Stories page, other than clicking through to view a Story, but it can show an endless page of Story cards. You might want to retain 'permanent' Stories (e.g. corporate video, company history) so they're included on this page.
Separate Storyboards can appear in numerous places on an organization's intranet, since each Site (e.g. Home site, HR site, team sites) can include a Storyboard on its Home Page. Learn more about Sites.
Things to keep in mind about Storyboards:
- each Site can have a Storyboard
- Storyboards can't be shared between different Sites
- a Storyboard will not appear for users unless there are Stories in it
- a maximum of four Stories can show at a glance on a Home Page, but many more can be added and accessed using left/right arrows on the screen
- a site's Storyboard must appear for all or no users - it can't be shared by individual or group (i.e. unless there is View security in place)
- videos play both inline and by clicking the title to link to the full screen view
Access Storyboard Edit Settings
Users who have Admin rights have a Storyboard link in their Toolbar, as outlined in the image below. These roles include Super Admin, Administrator, Site Owner, and Storyboard Editor. Learn more about User Rights in the Security Tab article.
Note: the toolbar shown below is the 14.5 version. If you are on 15 or higher, it will have a different look.
When an Admin clicks the Storyboard icon in the Toolbar, existing Stories will then have two additional icons as shown below - Edit (1) and Delete (2). Additional links to Add Story (3) and Edit All Stories (4) also appear. Learn more about editing and deleting Stories in the article 'Add and Edit Stories in the Storyboard'.
Edit Access Conflicts
If another Admin is already editing a Storyboard, when the icon is clicked in the Toolbar, the message below will display. At this point it's up to the user to either click CANCEL and let the other Admin continue their work, or proceed as editor by clicking CONFIRM.
Add & Edit Storyboard on a Site
There are two key steps to having Storyboard show on a site: adding Stories, and checking the box to Show Storyboard (available when in edit mode). Both actions are necessary, though you can prepare the Storyboard behind-the-scenes by creating and publishing Stories before checking the box to Show Storyboard.
We recommend including multiple Stories in a Storyboard for the best appearance.
Options on the Add Story screen:
- Add a Story Title - this displays under the image for your Story card
- Select the type of Feature (i.e. Image, Streamed video, Upload Video)
- Images width minimum must be 320 pixels and maximum of 378 and the height minimum of 180 with maximum of 210.
- Streamed Video must be from a video hosting platform like YouTube or Vimeo
- Upload Videos cannot exceed 100mb in size
- Link URL is required - this can point to a specific place on the intranet, the home page, or an external link as desired
- <- Stories returns you to the Edit view of Storyboard
- Save as draft saves a new story as a draft
- Status: Draft/Published indicates the current status of the story card - click Edit to switch between Draft or Published
- The dots (ellipsis) allow you to delete the current story card or create a new one
- Publishes story to the Storyboard
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