Application Interface
There are a couple of major interfaces that a necessary to operate Kanboard.
Dashboard
This is your "homepage". It can be configured differently, but by default, it has the list of your projects, and the tasks that are assigned to you in those projects.
Tasks
The tasks that are listed are configured based on the board that they are on. These are usually the tasks that are In Progress or otherwise waiting on you to do something with.
These tasks should be ones that you can jump in and work on anytime; they should not be waiting on anything.
The tasks have details that are roughly equivalent to what is displayed on the Task Card Detail on the board itself.
Main Board View
Columns
Columns are the vertical representation of the state of the task.
Collapsed Columns
Columns can be collapsed by clicking on the drop down arrow by their names.
Swimlanes
Swimlanes are the horizontal representation of the priority and/or logical grouping of the task.
Collapsed Swimlanes
Click on the "Up" arrow by the name of the swimlane to collapse it.
Tasks
Each task is represented by a task card on the board. There are a lot of things represented on a single task card:
- Number
- Title
- Assignee
- Category
- Due Date
- Complexity
- Comments
- Subtasks
- Reoccurrance
- Duration since created/Duration in column
- Priority
Note that most of these are clickable, and will bring up their respective information without having to go into the task detail to manipulate it.
New Task Prompt
This view will pop up every time you go to create a task. Everything can be changed after the task is created, so don't worry! Nothing is permanent. Also, the only thing that is REQUIRED is the title of the task. The rest of it can be filled in later if necessary.
You will also see this screen every time you to to edit a task, so if it looks familiar, that's because it is!
Setting Expectations
The description should answer three questions. And it's OK to steal this template and format the descriptions of your task exactly like this!!!
- WHY:
- The initial rationale or reason for a task to be done
- DONE:
- This should describe the desired outcome.
- HOW:
- A high-level outline of what it might take to get there.
Task Detail Page
This is the page that I have up whenever I'm working on the task itself. This will give me access to all of my notes, links, and any other details about the task that I have collected so far.
There are a couple of features on the left-hand side column that I use often:
Edit the task
This allows you to edit any of the details like:
- Description
- Due Date
- Complexity
- Assignee
Add a sub-task
This allows me to create one or more sub-tasks all at once.
Add external link
This allows me to add links to pages on the internet on other websites much like a bookmark just for this specific task.
Add a comment
This is how I start off creating my first comment. However, after there is already one comment on the task, you can just scroll to the bottom to add another comment underneath the last one.
Move position
This allows me to change the swimlane or the column of the task without having to go all the way back to the main board page.
Mobile
I want to make a point about mobile:
Only use mobile to work on a specific task; do not use it as your resource to organize your board. It is unfit to do so.
This isn't just a rip on the software, any type of board system is meant to be managed with a significant amount of space to work with, and requires enough viewing area to make out the details that are crammed into each task card, and the flexibility that a point-click-drag system can afford. You can use the interface to navigate around a project board, but I would not recommend using it as your primary means to curating the overall board.
When using mobile, you are best served by keeping to your dashboard and specific task cards themselves.