How To Set Up Secure Dashboards

Display dashboards safely without needing to store passwords on a screen

About Secure Dashboards:

Secure Dashboards is a NowSignage feature that allows the secure display of password-protected webpages. Users can input their login details, which are securely stored within NowSignage, enabling businesses to show private webpages without the need for credential input on the display. This enhances security as usernames and passwords are never stored on the device.

 

Continue to view dashboards offline. To ensure a hassle free experience with secure dashboards, this feature will also work when displays are in offline mode. This means that businesses can continue to view the last known data on their displays, even if they are offline.

Please note - If the Secure Dashboards feature is not available in your account, please raise a Support ticket request and the team will enable this.


Steps to set up Secure Dashboards:


Step 1 - Activate the app:

Once logged into your account, enter your project and navigate to the 'Apps' section on the left hand side panel.

 

  • Click on the secure dashboards app and install (activate) it.


 

Step 2 - Create a Secure Dashboard:

Now you need to create a secure dashboard. To do this begin by clicking on '+ Add Secure Dashboard':


  • Click on New (Blank) and you can then name your Secure dashboard and set it as active:

You can now add steps to setup an automated workflow when accessing the website. When you click on '+add step' you will be given the option of a drop down to select what the step you'd like to automate.


To begin select visit URL or Visit URL with delay (in some cases the webpage may need time to load before the next action takes place).


Then you will need to tell the app what to do next by adding further steps such as enter an email/username and a password.


Below is an example of a basic example to log into a webpage:



 

In the steps where data is required to be entered (such as Enter Password), there will be an additional 'Into Textbox' field. Within this field you are required to copy data directly from the webpage and paste it into this area, this is in order for the automated workflow to know exactly where the data needs to be entered when logging into the webpage.


To get this information for your text box/button please see the guide below or click on 'How do i choose the link/button/iframe?':

 

Once you are satisfied with the workflow, configure the final step to capture a screenshot. After completing this, click 'Save' to generate a preview of how the dashboard will be displayed on the screen.


in some cases the preview may show and error as the workflow may have failed at some point. If this is the case, simply edit your dashboard and you should see where it has gone wrong and make the appropriate amendments.



Step 3 - Adding the dashboard to your playlist:

Once the preview is ready and your are happy with it, you can add this to your playlist to display this on your screen/s.


To do this, simply create a new playlist or edit an existing playlist. Then within the 'Add to playlist' area select 'Secure Dashboards' from the dropdown list and you will see a list of dashboards which you have set up from within the Secure Dashboards App:



 

Now, select the dashboard which you want to display in your playlist, click 'Add', enter in a name for the dashboard, an appropriate duration for this to play for and click 'add to playlist' to save the changes. This will now be added to your playlist and will automatically update itself based on the 'refresh rate' you have set for the dashboard.

 

Important - The Secure Dashboards feature operates by launching an incognito browser that automates the login process and captures a screenshot of the webpage. Please note that the incognito browser defaults to UTC time, and currently, there is no option to change the timezone in which the data is rendered.