Boards, columns and cards

Tasks and boards

Open Tasks. The app has personal to-do lists and shared Boards. Use the task list sidebar to switch between them, and New board to create one. Boards are where a team plans work together.

Create a board

1. Choose New board.
2. Under Start from, pick a template category. Basics gives a simple layout; the other categories offer ready-made boards for particular kinds of work.
3. Give the board a Name and say What this board is for.
4. Check the Columns. You can rename, reorder and add columns later. The board owner can set a Card limit for a column; it turns amber when it holds more cards than the limit. A limit only warns and never blocks.
5. Choose Create board.

Cards moved into the last column count as done. Cards in a column you remove move to the first column.

Views of the same work

Every board can be shown in several ways with the view switcher: List, Board, Table, Calendar, Timeline, Backlog, Epics and Reports. The last three (and Backlog) are for boards. Calendar and Timeline need start or due dates on cards.

Use Search cards and Filter cards to narrow by label, priority, due date, epic, sprint or assignee. Clear filters resets it.

Anatomy of a card

Select a card to open its details panel. You can set:

• Title and Description, which supports bold, italic, code, links and @mentions.
• Assigned to: pick people already on the board.
• Priority: None, Low, Medium or High.
• Starts and due dates.
• Labels, coloured tags added by the board owner in board settings.
• Story points, a relative measure of how big the card is compared with other cards.
• Epic (a larger piece of work the card belongs to) and Sprint.
• Checklists for steps you can tick off, and Subtasks or child cards for work that needs its own person and due date.
• Attachments, uploaded to the card or chosen with Attach from Drive.
• Comments, where @[email protected] mentions someone.

The card also records its own Board activity, so you can see who changed what.

Tip: Make a card straight from a chat message, an email or a document using the Make a card option. The card stays linked to where it came from.

Share a board

Choose Board settings, then the sharing options. You can invite people, share a public link, and set what each person may do. Someone can Leave a board that no longer concerns them.

Habits that keep a board healthy

• One owner per card, even if several people help.
• Write titles that say what done looks like.
• Keep the Done column honest: archive finished cards so you do not drown in them (find them again under Archived cards).
• Use priority sparingly. If everything is High, nothing is.

Practice

1. Create a board from the Basics template.
2. Add three cards, give one a due date and assign one to a colleague.
3. Switch to Calendar and Table to see the same cards.