New feature: self-serve, consolidated logins in Stages

Fluxiom has been designed to help large teams share large files with large groups of people, and our secure Stages are central to this mission. Many of you have created dozens of Stages, and handed out hundreds of accounts to trusted clients and partners.

Today, we are delighted to introduce three key upgrades to the Stages login system. They have been designed with scaling in mind, and will greatly facilitate account management, for both administrators and end-users.

1. Logged-in users can now switch from one Stage to the next

Each Stage previously came with its own login page, and set of credentials. This means users could be required to authenticate multiple times on multiple pages, to view all the files they had been granted access to, across all their Stages. They will now be able to log in from a central location, and access all the Stages you have shared with them, through an in-app drop-down menu.

2. Stage logins are now assigned per user

Users were previously handed one password per Stage, even if the Stages they had been granted access to were published by the same Fluxiom account, and were shared with the same email address. From now on, they will be given an opportunity to set up one single password of their own, which will work on all the Stages they have been invited to join. Once logged in, they will be able to switch between Stages, without needing to re-authenticate.

3. Stage users can now reset and change their password

Stage passwords, known in Fluxiom parlance as Magic Phrases, were previously fixed, and randomly generated by the application. Resetting them required that the administrator took manual action. Stage users will now be able to follow the standard Fluxiom password reset process, should they ever forget theirs. They will also be able to change their automatically generated password to the string of their choice.

The transition

We know such transitions can cause confusion, and become a burden for account administrators. But they needn’t be a problem! In fact, this one will be nearly transparent, as Fluxiom will walk your users through the process of upgrading their account, all by themselves. Here is what to expect…

Users who have only been invited to a single Stage will be transparently redirected to the new unified login page, where their existing credentials will continue to work. They will be able to update these credentials, but will not be required to do so. If they do not want anything to change, then nothing will, at least on the surface.

Users who have been invited to multiple Stages will also be transparently redirected to the new unified login page. Upon entering their email, and any one of their existing passwords, they will be sent an email containing a link to create a new password of their own. From then on, this new password will unlock all the Stages they have access to. This will happen the next time they log into Fluxiom, and no unexpected emails will be sent until then. The entire upgrade process will be as easy and painless as resetting a password on a regular web application.

Together with the recent addition of a Tag Bar in Stages, these dramatic improvements to the authentication system will greatly streamline the workflow of teams who rely on Stages to communicate with external partners. In addition to the convenience and security boost it provides, this user management overhaul paves the way for an even simpler, smoother Fluxiom — but that is a story for another day.