# Nebula Help

User guide for getting oriented, setting up workspaces, building media plans, managing creative, and reporting in Nebula.

All guide screenshots and animations are served locally from https://planitnebula.io/assets/help/.

## Fastest path to a live plan

1. Set up the workspace: users, permissions, taxonomy, fees, workflows, and integrations.
2. Create the project that will contain related plans, creative context, reports, and insights.
3. Create the media plan with the correct project, date range, budget, and notes.
4. Add placements with channel, objective, format, vendor, timing, and budget.
5. Fill monthly allocations and let Nebula calculate net amounts from gross budget when fees apply.
6. Attach creative context and link platform campaigns where reporting needs platform data.
7. Review totals, plan history, versions, comments, and any outstanding internal discussion.
8. Submit for approval or share once the workflow stage is ready.

## Guide library

### Start here

Orientation, core language, quick answers, and account preferences for new users.

#### Navigating across Nebula

A tour of the dashboard, navigation menu, project pages, media-plan review tools, and approval flow.

- **Use this when:** You are new to Nebula or need to understand where work lives before creating anything.
- **Before you start:** Know which workspace you should be working in and whether you are reviewing or editing.
- **After you finish:** You can move from dashboard to project to media plan, find recent work, review plan details, and understand approval checkpoints.
- **Key points:** Dashboard themes and quick access; Project and media-plan navigation; Changes, versions, and approval states
- **Rendered guide:** https://planitnebula.io/help/navigating-nebula
- **Markdown alternate:** https://planitnebula.io/help/navigating-nebula.md

#### Core concepts

Learn the core Nebula terms that explain how work is organized, planned, reviewed, and reported.

- **Use this when:** You are new to Nebula or need the product vocabulary before you begin building plans.
- **Before you start:** Know which workspace your team uses and the kind of work you are trying to find or create.
- **After you finish:** You understand how workspace, project, media plan, placement, allocation, creative, workflow, and reporting terms fit together.
- **Key points:** Workspace, project, media plan, and placement hierarchy; Allocations, creative, workflow stages, reports, and insights; How the pieces fit together in a normal planning flow
- **Rendered guide:** https://planitnebula.io/help/core-concepts
- **Markdown alternate:** https://planitnebula.io/help/core-concepts.md

#### Nebula FAQs

Answers to common questions about setup, planning objects, budgets, workflows, reporting, and core terms.

- **Use this when:** You need quick answers or the mental model behind the product, not another click-by-click checklist.
- **Before you start:** Skim the questions that match the task you are trying to complete.
- **After you finish:** You understand how Nebula work is structured and where to go next.
- **Key points:** Getting started and hierarchy; Budgets, placements, allocations, and fees; Approvals, permissions, reporting, archive, and delete
- **Rendered guide:** https://planitnebula.io/help/nebula-faq
- **Markdown alternate:** https://planitnebula.io/help/nebula-faq.md

#### Profile and notifications

Update your profile photo, avatar color, time zone, Slack connection, and notification preferences.

- **Use this when:** Your account settings or notification delivery need to be adjusted.
- **Before you start:** Confirm whether Slack notifications are available for your workspace and decide how often you want Nebula to notify you.
- **After you finish:** Your profile is current and notifications are tuned to the way you work.
- **Key points:** Profile and avatar settings; Time-zone configuration; Slack and email notification preferences
- **Rendered guide:** https://planitnebula.io/help/profile-notifications
- **Markdown alternate:** https://planitnebula.io/help/profile-notifications.md

### Workspace setup

Set up the admin foundation for users, permissions, taxonomy, fees, integrations, and projects.

#### Managing workspace settings and integrations

Configure users, roles, reporting periods, tracking, taxonomy, fees, transactions, workflow stages, and integrations.

- **Use this when:** You are an admin setting up the workspace foundation teams will plan against.
- **Before you start:** Gather the team roles, reporting periods, channel taxonomy, fee rules, and integrations you need to support.
- **After you finish:** The workspace has the permissions, taxonomy, fees, workflows, and integrations needed for governed media planning.
- **Key points:** Users and role permissions; Channels, objectives, formats, and task categories; Fees, transaction types, workflows, and integrations
- **Rendered guide:** https://planitnebula.io/help/workspace-settings-integrations
- **Markdown alternate:** https://planitnebula.io/help/workspace-settings-integrations.md

#### Create a new project

Create the project container that media plans, reports, insights, and creative context will live under.

- **Use this when:** You need a stable client, brand, campaign family, or initiative container before planning spend.
- **Before you start:** Confirm the project name, parent project if one applies, and whether the project should be transactionable.
- **After you finish:** A new project is ready for media plans and related work.
- **Key points:** Choose the Projects area; Name the project and optional parent; Set transactionable status when needed
- **Rendered guide:** https://planitnebula.io/help/create-new-project
- **Markdown alternate:** https://planitnebula.io/help/create-new-project.md

### Media planning

Create plans, duplicate proven structures, add placements, and connect platform campaigns.

#### Create a new media plan

Create a plan with the right project, date range, budget, and notes before placements are added.

- **Use this when:** You are starting a new budgeted planning period or campaign scope.
- **Before you start:** Create the project first and know the intended plan date range and total budget.
- **After you finish:** A new media plan exists with enough structure to accept placements, allocations, fees, and approvals.
- **Key points:** Select project and date range; Enter the plan budget; Capture planning notes before submission
- **Rendered guide:** https://planitnebula.io/help/create-media-plan
- **Markdown alternate:** https://planitnebula.io/help/create-media-plan.md

#### Duplicate a media plan

Copy a reusable plan structure, then adjust its project, budget, timing, creative, and platform-campaign choices.

- **Use this when:** Last month or last quarter is a strong starting point for the next plan.
- **Before you start:** Review whether creatives and platform campaigns should carry forward before duplicating.
- **After you finish:** A new plan is created from a prior structure without rebuilding every placement by hand.
- **Key points:** Change the name, budget, and date window; Decide whether creatives should carry forward; Decide whether platform campaigns should carry forward
- **Rendered guide:** https://planitnebula.io/help/duplicate-media-plan
- **Markdown alternate:** https://planitnebula.io/help/duplicate-media-plan.md

#### Create a new placement

Add a placement with channel, objective, format, vendor, flight dates, budget, notes, and monthly allocations.

- **Use this when:** A media plan needs a new planned media line item.
- **Before you start:** Make sure the media plan is in an editable workflow stage and the needed taxonomy exists.
- **After you finish:** The placement is created, budgeted, and allocated across the right months.
- **Key points:** Choose channel, objective, format, and vendor; Set dates and budget; Use gross allocation when fees should be calculated by Nebula
- **Rendered guide:** https://planitnebula.io/help/create-new-placement
- **Markdown alternate:** https://planitnebula.io/help/create-new-placement.md

#### Add platform campaigns to placements

Connect a Nebula placement to the matching campaign record in the advertising platform for reporting context.

- **Use this when:** Reporting needs to associate a placement with the platform campaign that actually ran.
- **Before you start:** Find the campaign name and direct campaign URL from the ad platform.
- **After you finish:** The placement can connect to platform campaign performance data for reporting purposes.
- **Key points:** Open Platform Campaigns from a placement; Add campaign name and direct URL; Repeat for every campaign tied to the placement
- **Rendered guide:** https://planitnebula.io/help/add-platform-campaigns
- **Markdown alternate:** https://planitnebula.io/help/add-platform-campaigns.md

### Creative and reporting

Organize creative work and understand reports at the right scope.

#### Creative Library overview

Understand creative search, folders, tags, creative types, record tabs, assets, placements, and preview shuffling.

- **Use this when:** You need to organize creative assets or understand how creative objects connect to placements.
- **Before you start:** Know the platforms and creative formats your team needs to manage.
- **After you finish:** You can find, organize, create, review, and connect creative records with the right context.
- **Key points:** Search syntax, filters, list/grid views, and archived toggle; Folders and tags for organization; Creative types, preview/edit/details/assets/placements tabs, and shuffle
- **Rendered guide:** https://planitnebula.io/help/creative-library
- **Markdown alternate:** https://planitnebula.io/help/creative-library.md

#### Overview of Nebula reports

Navigate workspace, project, and media-plan report scopes, then create insights in the right reporting context.

- **Use this when:** You are reviewing performance or deciding where a report or insight belongs.
- **Before you start:** Decide whether you need workspace-wide, project-only, or media-plan-specific reporting.
- **After you finish:** Reports and insights are scoped correctly instead of being attached to the wrong level.
- **Key points:** Workspace, project, and media-plan report scopes; Report cards and drill-in behavior; Insights tied to specific reports and levels
- **Rendered guide:** https://planitnebula.io/help/reports-overview
- **Markdown alternate:** https://planitnebula.io/help/reports-overview.md

## Core concepts

- **Workspace:** The top-level environment for a company, client, or team. It holds users, taxonomy, workflows, brand assets, projects, and media planning data.
- **Project:** The stable container for related media plans, reports, insights, and creative context — usually a client, brand, initiative, or campaign family.
- **Media plan:** The budgeted plan for a defined scope and date range. It organizes placements, allocations, fees, vendors, approvals, and supporting context.
- **Placement:** A planned media line item: channel, objective, format, vendor, date range, budget, and notes.
- **Allocation:** The time-based budget breakdown for a placement, usually by month or reporting period.
- **Creative:** The ad concept, message, asset set, or creative unit that supports placements and can be organized in the Creative Library.
- **Insight:** A structured performance takeaway tied to a project, report, and time period — the “so what?” of reporting.
- **Workflow stage:** The current review or approval state. Editable vs. locked stages decide who can change what and when.

## Workflow and approvals

- Use workflow stages as governance, not decoration. They decide when plans and placements should be editable or locked.
- Use versions, changes, compare/revert, approvals, and internal discussion instead of silently overwriting planning history.
- Customize workflow stages across Creative, Media Plans, and Placements in workspace settings so Nebula matches the way your team approves work.

## Troubleshooting

### Why is my plan or placement locked?

It is usually in a non-editable workflow stage. Check the current stage and your role permissions before assuming the field is broken.

### Why is an insight not showing where I expected?

Insights are scoped. Workspace, project, and media-plan reports do not all show the same insight by default; create or move the insight at the report level where it belongs.

### Why is platform campaign data not appearing?

Confirm the placement has a platform campaign with the correct campaign name and direct URL. Platform campaigns can be added or removed even when the media plan itself is not editable.

### Why do my budget totals feel off?

Placement budget, monthly allocations, gross/net amounts, and fees all interact. When fees apply, enter gross budget and let Nebula calculate net to reduce manual math errors.

### Should I archive or delete?

Archive removes old work from active views while keeping history. Delete is permanent and should be used carefully for plans, placements, insights, and reporting history.

## Rendered guide pages and Markdown alternates

- **Navigating across Nebula:** https://planitnebula.io/help/navigating-nebula — Markdown: https://planitnebula.io/help/navigating-nebula.md
- **Core concepts:** https://planitnebula.io/help/core-concepts — Markdown: https://planitnebula.io/help/core-concepts.md
- **Nebula FAQs:** https://planitnebula.io/help/nebula-faq — Markdown: https://planitnebula.io/help/nebula-faq.md
- **Profile and notifications:** https://planitnebula.io/help/profile-notifications — Markdown: https://planitnebula.io/help/profile-notifications.md
- **Managing workspace settings and integrations:** https://planitnebula.io/help/workspace-settings-integrations — Markdown: https://planitnebula.io/help/workspace-settings-integrations.md
- **Create a new project:** https://planitnebula.io/help/create-new-project — Markdown: https://planitnebula.io/help/create-new-project.md
- **Create a new media plan:** https://planitnebula.io/help/create-media-plan — Markdown: https://planitnebula.io/help/create-media-plan.md
- **Duplicate a media plan:** https://planitnebula.io/help/duplicate-media-plan — Markdown: https://planitnebula.io/help/duplicate-media-plan.md
- **Create a new placement:** https://planitnebula.io/help/create-new-placement — Markdown: https://planitnebula.io/help/create-new-placement.md
- **Add platform campaigns to placements:** https://planitnebula.io/help/add-platform-campaigns — Markdown: https://planitnebula.io/help/add-platform-campaigns.md
- **Creative Library overview:** https://planitnebula.io/help/creative-library — Markdown: https://planitnebula.io/help/creative-library.md
- **Overview of Nebula reports:** https://planitnebula.io/help/reports-overview — Markdown: https://planitnebula.io/help/reports-overview.md