Features

Take advantage of Kanban Tool's great features. Find out how to send tasks to Archive, add information by external files, use email notifications, RSS feeds and how to filter your board and manage attachments. Together with tips on understanding the analytics.

How to archive tasks on a Kanban board?

To send a task to the archive, right-click it, and use the Archive option in the dropdown menu. How to archive tasks on a Kanban board

By default, the Archive option is only available in the last column of your board. Should you wish to enable the archive in any other column too, go to Settings - Board Editor and use the pencil icon under a chosen column’s name, then check the allow for tasks to be archived here option.

To file away all tasks in a given column, either right-click the column header, or click an empty space in that column, then select the Archive all option. Archive all tasks

Using the archive is easy. To enter, click the folder icon at the top of your last column: The task archive folder icon

A list of all archived tasks for this particular column will be presented.
However, once you’re in this view, you can search through tasks archived on any boards, swimlanes, or columns.
Also - you’re welcome to search the archive with the magnifier icon - it supports the same set of search queries, that a board’s global search does. Viewing and searching the task archive

Want your tasks to get archived automatically? Configure an auto-archive feature!

How can I put a task from the archive back on the board?

Archived tasks are accessible with the folder icon, shown at the top of all columns, that have an archive enabled. The task archive folder icon

Once in the Archive, right-click the card you want to un-archive, and an option to Put back on the board will be displayed.

To select multiple cards from the archive, click them with the CTRL key pressed: How can I put a task from the archive back on the board

When do I get email notifications about task or project status change?

There are three main events causing an email notification:

  • When someone assigns a person to a task
  • When someone assigns a person to a checklist item
  • When someone adds a comment to a task and selects a person who should be notified about it.

You can choose not to be notified about task assignments if you want to. To do this, please go to My Profile - Edit my details and uncheck next to the Notify me by email when tasks are assigned to me. The My profile section is available under your name in the Dashboard view.

Optional emails

  • Kanban Tool also offers a Work Summary email - sent to you at the end of each day. Learn how to set its arrival time or disable Work Summary emails here.
  • You may also benefit from getting our Due Date Reminder email - sent either in the morning of the due dates, or at the end of the day, giving you a glimpse of work due tomorrow. Feel free to read more about how to set due date reminders.
  • We also support custom, ahead of time, due date notifications, created with the Task Reminders power-up.
  • Finally, there is a possibility of setting fully custom email notifications - based on specified board or card events. Please see how to do this via process automation.

If you’d like to be informed about status changes of all tasks on a board, consider subscribing to RSS.

How to enable email notifications?

To enable email notifications of task assignments please go to My profile - Edit my details and tick Notify me by email when tasks are assigned to me.

What are the reporting capabilities of Kanban Tool?

Kanban Tool provides advanced Kanban analytics and metrics in the form of:

Cumulative Flow diagram

It illustrates the process on a whole - by showing the distribution of work items in all process phases
(to do - doing - done).

You get to see in an instant how the team is performing. If things run smoothly, the horizontal bands, each color representing a different stage of the process, are staying regular - there are no sudden jumps or falls - with only the Tasks Done stripe growing.

The moment you notice a rise in the height of the In Progress band - this alarms of an issue - there are too many tasks, they’re too difficult for particular team members, the team needs more time, more manpower, or more information.

It’s the most insightful metric of all - the situation is clear without you even entering the office. Read more about Cumulative Flow diagram.

Lead & Cycle Time diagram

This is the metric to go for seeing the average time it takes for a task to get from the point of being placed on the board to getting completed, with comparison to the time the task was actually being worked on - hence Lead vs Cycle time.

What you gain, as a result, is information about the actual process throughput. For most businesses it’s a matter of great importance to keep the Lead Time is as short as possible, as this means the speed of the response to a customer’s need is good.

Read more about Lead & Cycle Time diagram.

Breakdown Chart

These simple pie charts offer information on the shares different values - conditions take within the process at a given moment. You can breakdown your board by:

  • lane or card types
  • user assignments
  • priority
  • task difficulty
  • tags
  • your own custom field

This analysis can be done for a whole board or for specific lanes or columns separately.

Time Tracking

The Time Report gives insight into the time usage of each team member or of an entire team. It informs on how much time the team had spent on each task. This report can be generated for all of your Kanban boards together, and it offers a summary and a detailed view. Read more about Time Tracking. Note: the Time Report is only available on the Enterprise service plan.

Process Automation

Furthermore, you can generate custom email reports. For example - you may set notifications for:

  • when timers on tasks run for more than a set amount of time
  • when time estimates exceed a given value
  • when specific types of tasks are not updated for a few days
  • when there are due dates approaching for specific task types, and many more.

To learn more, please visit process automation page.

Do you offer RSS feeds?

Yes, you can easily generate a link to RSS.
While on a board, go to the Tools menu, then select subscribe to RSS. Do you offer RSS feeds?

The correct URL for RSS feeds is generated for each user individually for security reasons, to protect access to your cards, boards, and projects via RSS. Your URL should include surl= + a number.

When I duplicate a task or a board, my comments do not carry over. Why?

The comment section will not be carried over when you duplicate a board (with tasks) or even duplicate a single task. Comments are specific to the original task and will intentionally not be duplicated for practical reasons.
The feedback we get suggests this approach is preferred by most users.

I cannot find an option to filter tasks by user. Is it possible?

You can filter your tasks by user assignments. One way to do it is to click the funnel icon next to the filter text box, to choose a preset filter.

Click the Assigned to me option to see your assignments, or choose another user’s name from the Assigned to list. Filtering by assignment

A faster way to get the same results is to type user initials preceded with an @ directly into the filter box: @XY
Your board will highlight the tasks that are assigned to this person.

Aside from being able to show user assignments on one board with filtering, you can also find one’s assignments across all boards with the global search functionality. The difference between filtering and searching is just in their range:
filtering is limited to 1 board, and searching applies to all boards you have access to. Searching all boards by task assignment

You may also save an applied filter so that it activates the next time you log in.

How to evaluate the Lead & Cycle Time diagram?

The vertical axis shows the time spent working on tasks, so the cycle time of your process, while the horizontal axis indicates time passed regardless of any actions on tasks - it is the lead time.

To view the lead time for a particular task, click on a blue point on your diagram. The blue line shows the board’s average cycle time.

To learn more about lead and cycle time diagrams, turn to: Kanban - Definition of Lead & Cycle Time or Kanban Lead & Cycle Time - Why So Important?.

Is it possible to delete all tasks in a column?

By default, it’s not possible to delete all tasks from a column in one action. However, a Delete all function is available through the Developer Tools Power-Up.

To use it, go to Settings - Power-Ups, enable Developer Tools and add this link to the Developer Tools dialogue window:
/scripts/delete-all/delete-all.js
It will add a new context menu option, letting you Delete all tasks in any column: Is it possible to delete all tasks in a column?

We highly recommend that you archive tasks, rather than delete them, since archived tasks are still part of the process analysis, whereas deleted ones aren’t.

Is there a way to reset analytics tracking?

It’s not possible to reset analytics tracking.
You can, however, view only a particular segment of the graph, showing the period you are interested in.

If your heart is set on clearing all of the analytics data, you may want to consider cloning your board and moving on to using the clone instead of the original. When you clone a board, you have the possibility to copy all of its active (non-archived) tasks. However, the task history - including task comments, assignments and all of the analytics - will not be carried over to the duplicate.

Can I export all my attachements at once?

Attachments can only be downloaded individually.
To download a file, open the task and click on the download icon visible when hovering the mouse pointer over an attachment.

How can I create and access online Kanban Tool notes?

Creating notes and online documents feature is hidden at the moment. You can activate it by following these steps:

  • Go to your account dashboard and add /addons at the end of your account’s URL. For example:
    https://accountname.kanbantool.com/addons
  • Then, click on Notes and activate them by pressing the green Add to your account box.

You will now be able to use notes for collaborative writing.

Is there a calendar view in Kanban Tool?

Yes! To use it, please make sure, that your board has the Calendar Widget enabled - you can do that from Settings - Power-Ups. The widget shows a small calendar in the board’s side panel, with highlights of days on which tasks are due to be completed.

The Kanban Tool Calendar widget

For a larger view, click the magnifying glass icon on the calendar: Access the large calendar view

A calendar-based view of tasks will open up: Is there a calendar view in Kanban Tool?

In the large calendar view, you’ll see all of the month’s due tasks. You can open and edit them directly from here, and drag and dropping cards across different days will update their due dates.

Please use this view for easier workflow planning and to get a clearer overview of your week and month.

If you’re still worried about missing your deadlines, please consider using Task Reminders.

How to find the most recently updated cards?

To see the recently updated cards on a given board, use the built-in filters. How to find the most recently updated cards: filtering

You can also run an all-boards search. The search opens with the magnifying glass icon: How to find the most recently updated cards: searching

You may also want to use the Card Aging power-up. It will fade out the least active cards, making it easy to tell what has and hasn’t been worked on recently.

Why can't I add files to my cards?

File attachments are only supported in Team and Enterprise plans, not in the Free plan.

You can change your account plan in Account Administration - Plan & Billing details. Read more about the differences between Team and Enterprise plans.

Free plan users can still use the attachments field of their Kanban cards to attach files from: Google Drive, Box, Dropbox or OneDrive. Simply activate your file hosting service integration in your Kanban board Settings - Power-Ups and connect your files to Kanban cards.

How to quickly change location of a Kanban card?

When working on a large Kanban board, there may be times when you’d like to move a task between non adjacent columns (i.e. from backlog straight to done). There are 2 great scripts in Developer Tools, that can be activated to make this easier:

  • Move to done - it will create an additional open card menu option for sending the task straight to the done column
  • Change column - this one adds a Change column option to the closed card context (right-click) menu.

Try these out and save yourself some time.

I want to change how my board looks

Not a fan of white backgrounds? Feel free to customize your board style!

You can make significant changes to the way your Kanban Tool board looks with the Board Background option available in the Settings menu. It opens a search of the entire Unsplash image library and supports uploading your own images. You can also choose a color theme to match your image: Default, Dark, or the minimalist Lite.

I want to change how my board looks

While you’re making changes to how the board looks, you can also scale the board to better suit your available screen size, using the magnifying glass icons.

Upscaled board example I want to change how my board looks - 2

Board Settings are only available to board owners and account admins/owners. If you don’t see the “Settings” link, you are not authorized to change the board layout nor any other board options.

How to search through my boards? Using global search

You are welcome to search through all of the boards and tasks that you have been given access to, by clicking the magnifying glass icon:

Board search location

The search box can also be opened with the standard keyboard short-cut: /

Tasks can be searched for by their name or External ID#.
Important:: searching requires you to use a minimum of 3 characters.

Getting the search results is quick and along with the tasks you were looking for, you will be given a hint of the values you searched by, for instance: when looking for tasks with .png files attached - names of the files will be listed below the found tasks:

Searching for files Please note, that a single search result is limited to 500 tasks.

How to search if I only recall a task name?

When looking for a specific task, i.e. recalling its name but unsure of what board or column it’s in - just enter the task name right into the search box. No quotation marks are needed, regardless of how many words the name consists of: Searching for text

How to search if I only recall some task details?

It’s more likely that you will be looking for a comprehensive view of tasks meeting a specific set of criteria. For that purpose, a significant number of additional queries can be applied to customize the search to specific factors.

The way this works is: you need to give the criteria you want to search by - in other words name the condition, such as assigned to or created by and then the value: assigned to whom, created by whom.

For instance - created_by:@SD - this finds all tasks created by SD, and attachment:? - this finds all tasks with any attachments.

How to search for anything that was assigned to me: tasks & checklist items?

To get this information, just enter your initials with an @, like this: @XY or @xy.
You will see, that an entire task assignment is hinted with initials in a little square, while the checklist item assignment is listed as checklist tick. Searching for assignments

The Search Criteria & the Search Value

To make it easy to understand, we’ll refer to these two as Criteria (LVAL) and Value (RVAL). Between the criteria and value, you need to use an operator - and most of the time, it will simply be “:”.
Note, the search will work both when you separate the LVAL and RVAL with the operator alone, and when you follow the operator with a space.

EXAMPLE   assigned_to:@AB as well as assigned_to: @AB
searches for all tasks assigned to AB
EXAMPLE   attachment:.doc and attachment: .doc
searches for all tasks with “.doc” attachments.

Explaining LVAL & RVAL

A query such as Description:’this is a task in which’ searches for all tasks that have the phrase “this is a task in which” in their description. In this example, description is the criteria (LVAL), ‘this is a task which’ is the value (RVAL), and the : is the operator (relates the criteria to the value).

Criteria you can search by (LVAL):

  • Criteria 1: User initials (LVAL)

    The accepted formatting is: @XY or @xy - "@" is always necessary.
  • Criteria 2: Special Criteria (LVAL):

    • assigned_to - finds task assignments - checklist assignment is not included
      EXAMPLE   assigned_to:@am
    • created_by - finds tasks created by particular user
      EXAMPLE   created_by:@zp
    • type - finds tasks of a specific card type, using card type names as you've named them yourself
      EXAMPLE   type:invoices
    • board - searches for tasks from a specific board
      EXAMPLE   board:"Project X" - this will list all tasks from board named Project X (first 500 of them).
      Note: this query is much more useful when used as 1st criteria of many:
      EXAMPLE   board:"Project X" attachment:x1.png

      Please note, how for any criteria or value that uses more than 1 word, quotation marks or apostrophes are being used.
    • swimlane - searches for tasks in a named swimlane
      EXAMPLE   swimlane:"Project 209"
    • stage - searches by column name - as you have named them
      EXAMPLE   stage:done Invoices
      EXAMPLE   stage:'to do' Task 1
      To call out a sub-column "to do", nested under "backlog" parent column, please use:
      EXAMPLE   stage:'backlog / to do'
    • checklist - searches through checklist items only
      EXAMPLE   checklist:deploy
    • attachment - searches by attachment name
      EXAMPLE   attachment:invoice
    • checklist_for - searches for tasks with checklist items assigned to specifically the person you give as value
      EXAMPLE   checklist_for:@AM
      You can also check if there are any tasks with checklist assignments, by typing:
      EXAMPLE   checklist_for:? Searching for checklist assignments
  • Criteria 3: Task Attributes (LVAL):

    • id - task ID, can be read from an open task URL
      EXAMPLE   id:11877513
      EXAMPLE   id=11877513
    • board_id - board ID, can be read from an open board URL
      EXAMPLE   board_id=150238)
    • recurring_schedule - searches through tasks that are due to recur in a specified time-frame
      EXAMPLE   recurring_schedule:2017-03
      EXAMPLE   recurring_schedule:2017-03-20 type:invoices
    • description - searches through task descriptions
      EXAMPLE   description:XYZ
      EXAMPLE   @AM description:xyz
      Note, how when wanting to search through tasks assigned to specific user, their initials need to go before any other criteria and value.
    • name - looks through task names (titles) only
      EXAMPLE   name:XYZ
    • priority - defines what task priority to look for. Note, that Kanban Tool sees priorities as:
      0 [normal], 1 [high] and -1 [low]
      EXAMPLE   priority:-1 xyz
      EXAMPLE   @am priority:1 description:"do it urgently"
    • tags - searches by tags found in tasks
      EXAMPLE   tags:urgent
      EXAMPLE   @XY tags:urgent tags:"external work"
      Note, how when looking for multiple values of the same criteria found in one task, the criteria name needs to be re-entered.
    • external_id - searches by tasks's external id
      EXAMPLE   external_id:673409
      Searching for the id# alone (e.g., 673409) will find a task using the value for external id too, but the query will not be limited to external id values only. Using external_id:673409 is more specific.
    • created_at, updated_at, due_date - these all refer to the time-frame in which a task was either created, updated or for when its due date was set
      EXAMPLE   created_at:2017-02-27
      EXAMPLE   @AM created_at:2016-05 tags:urgent priority:1
      EXAMPLE   due_date:<2017-03-17 (lists tasks with due dates up until 17th of March)
      EXAMPLE   due_date:2017-02-18 (lists tasks with due date exactly on Feb 18th)
      EXAMPLE   due_date:>2017-03-01 (lists tasks with due dates further than or on March 1st)
      EXAMPLE   due_date:>2017-03 (lists tasks with due dates further than or in March)
    • comments_count - searches by the number of comments posted for a task
      EXAMPLE   comments_count>10 tags:urgent (all tasks with more than 10 comments and with the "urgent" tag) EXAMPLE   @AM comments_count<3
      EXAMPLE   comments_count=0 (searches for tasks that have no comments made on them)
      EXAMPLE   comments_count:? priority:1 (looks at how many comments are in each card with high priority)
    • size_estimate - refers to and searches by the Task Difficulty field
      EXAMPLE   size_estimate>=2 board:'Jake LK Board'
    • subtasks_count - checks for the number of checklist items
      EXAMPLE   subtasks_count>3 board:"KBL project" priority:1
    • subtasks_completed_count - this query only looks at the checklist items that have been completed
      EXAMPLE   subtasks_completed_count=1 board:"Jameson Bard And Co."
    • attachments_count - searches by the number of files attached to the found cards
      EXAMPLE   attachments_count>=8 board:"Purchasing Department"
      EXAMPLE   attachments_count<20 attachments_count>15 (this will find cards with attached between 15 and 20 files)
    • custom_field_1 - (and "custom_field_2" down to "custom_field_15")
      - this search looks for cards with specified values in custom fields.
      EXAMPLE   custom_field_1:XYZ
      EXAMPLE   custom_field_1=30
      Note, that for as long as you know the name that was given to a specific custom field, you can use that name instead of "custom_field_1". For instance: If a "custom_field_1" was called Number of People Invited, you could ask for -
      EXAMPLE   "Number of People Invited">=30
    • external_link - a text-based search through the links added to cards
      EXAMPLE   external_link:docs.google (will search for all cards that have an external link to Google Drive)
    • block_reason - searching through the reasons why tasks are blocked, so refers to blocked tasks only. Of course, what you'd be looking for here are the blocking reasons accepted and most used by your team.
      EXAMPLE   block_reason:"Needs more information"
      EXAMPLE   block_reason:2
      EXAMPLE   block_reason:? - this will list all of the blocked tasks
    • time_estimate - searches by the amount of time that was set as in the Estimated Time field.
      EXAMPLE   time_estimate>10:12 (searches for tasks with time estimate over 10 hrs. 12 minutes)
      EXAMPLE   time_estimate=02:00
      Please note, that this time format is required: HH:MM and using other values may result in finding incorrect information.
    • timers_total - will list tasks for time worked via Time Tracking for an amount specified by value
      EXAMPLE   board:Orders timers_total>02:30
      EXAMPLE   timers_total>06:00 timers_total<08:30
      Please note, "timers_total" value will be 100% accurate only for tasks that are not timed at the time of making the query.
    • timers_active_count - searches by how many team members are currently running Time Tracking timers for each task
      EXAMPLE   board:"Project GHY" timers_active_count>=1 (will find all tasks on which more than 1 person is currently running a timer)
      EXAMPLE   timers_active_count>=3 (will show all tasks on your account, on which there are 3 or more people working at the time of querying)
  • Criteria 4: Field Name (LVAL)

    You are welcome to make queries by the field names that you find in a translated version of Kanban Tool:
    EXAMPLE  Beschreibung:'Das is'
    EXAMPLE  Prioridad:1

As you can see - the global search does have some serious superpowers.
It’s been shown by what criteria you can search boards - let’s sum up the values and operators (what relates criteria to values) that are supported.

Values you can search by (RVAL):

As shown in the examples above, values can take form of:

  • A number
  • Number of minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or years, as in: 20.minutes, 3.hours, 7.days, 3.weeks, 2.months, 2.years.
    For singular numbers, you can also use minute, hour etc.
    • EXAMPLE   time_estimate:>15.minutes
    • EXAMPLE   created_at:>2.hours
    • EXAMPLE   due_date:=3.days
    • Note, that for some queries, you may want to use an additional indicator to specify whether to look in the future or past time, as in:
      EXAMPLE   due_date:>2.days.from_now
      vs.
      EXAMPLE   due_date:>2.days.ago
  • A date - this is the supported format: 2015-01-02
  • Time - this is the supported format: HH:MM
  • User initials - @XY or @xy
      Please note: user initials as RVAL (value for your chosen criteria) are supported for queries such as:
    • assigned_to
      EXAMPLE   assigned_to:@DC
      EXAMPLE   checklist_for example: checklist_for:@DC
    • created_by
      EXAMPLE   created_by:@DC
    • In any other case, you're welcome to add user initials to the beginning of a query, to limit the search results to tasks assigned to this person only
      EXAMPLE   @DC description:"XYZ" due_date:2017-03-04 priority:1

Complete list of search operators - what to use between LVAL & RVAL:

  • matching value
    EXAMPLE   description:"Do you know"
  • :=  an exactly equal value
    EXAMPLE   custom_field_1:=3453
  • :?  shows all tasks that have any value in the given criteria
    EXAMPLE   checklist_for:? (will list all tasks that have checklist items assigned to anyone)
  • :!  does not include
    EXAMPLE   priority:!1 (will show all tasks that have a priority other than high)
  • :!?  is an empty field
    EXAMPLE   checklist:!? (finds tasks that have no checklist items added)
    EXAMPLE   due_date:!? (finds tasks with no due date set)
    EXAMPLE   assigned_to:!? (finds unassigned tasks)
  • :<  date-related only earlier than (a date)
    EXAMPLE   due_date:<2017-03-17 (will list tasks with due dates before 17 March 2017)
  • :>  date-related only later than (a date)
    EXAMPLE   due_date:>2017-02-18 (will list tasks with dates past 18 Feb 2017)
  • for numerical values only equal to
    EXAMPLE   size_estimate=6 (lists tasks with Difficulty set to 6)
  • for numerical values only larger than
    EXAMPLE   time_estimate>10:00
  • for numerical values only less than
    EXAMPLE   time_estimate<02:00
  • <=  for numerical values only less than or equal to
    EXAMPLE   subtasks_count<=4
  • >=  for numerical values only larger than or equal to
    EXAMPLE   subtasks_count>=4

Navigating the search results

After clicking a task from the search results, you can view and edit it on the screen without loading the original board that the card is on.

The narrow bar just below the card title displays the board and column in which the open task is.

When you’ve opened a task from the search results, using the arrows on both sides of the card lets you navigate through the results list, as opposed to navigating through the neighboring tasks on the board - which is how these arrows work when you click a card from the board view and not from search results.

Opening a task from search results and navigating through other results with the side arrows

Final Notes

Please note, there should be no spaces used between the criteria, operator and value, like so: LVAL:RVAL

Also, for searches that use multiple queries, simply list one query after another, separating by space, like so:
LVAL:RVAL LVAL>RVAL LVAL=RVAL
EXAMPLE   @DV board:”Project D” description:”Casey Toners” due_date>2017-03-20 priority:1
EXAMPLE   checklist_for:@hg priority:1 due_date<=2017-03-01

As demonstrated in the above examples, any value that you are searching by (RVAL) that is made of more than 1 word, needs to be placed in quotation marks or apostrophes.

Search in comments and lists

The global search can also be used to reference a specific task inside a comment message window or within an individual checklists item. Just type # to open the search window.

Accessing the search window from a Kanban Tool comment message or a task checklist item

In case you have any problems with using the global search functionality, feel free to for help.

Can I save a filtered view of my board?

Yes - for keeping a set of filters always active on your board, just use the Remember this filter option, listed in the filter menu: Saving a board filter

It will remain applied for as long as you want, regardless of reloading the board view or closing the browser. In the latter event, when you re-open the board in a new window, you will be reminded that the filter is active with this little notice: Active filtering notification

To remove the filter, use the Click here to clear filter option, shown on the filtering notice, or the Clear filter setting in the filters menu, or the x mark in the filters box.

Is there a due date reminder functionality?

Automatic, on the day due date reminders

Kanban Tool’s due date reminder email is a great way of staying on top of all your due tasks across multiple boards. At a time chosen by yourself, you’ll get an email notification of all your tasks due today (if an AM hour is chosen) or due on the next day (if a PM hour is selected). The email will name due dates for tasks that were assigned to you or created by you and kept unassigned, so - by assumption - meant for you.

To manage your reminder email preferences, please go to My Profile and access the Edit my details page, choose the time of the email arrival and save changes. Automatic due date reminders Note: If you don’t want to receive these emails, simply select “Never” from the hour selection dropdown.

Individual, ahead of time due date reminders

If you’re interested in being reminded of a particular task, as opposed to all due tasks, and you’d like to get the reminder days or weeks ahead of the due date, please use the Task Reminders power-up. Not only does it allow for custom email date and time choice, but it also lets you choose whom to send the email to - several people can be notified at once.

Furthermore, you can give the reminder a form other than an email - for example, on a given date and time - set a task to move to the top of a column, have its color, assignment, or priority changed. Sometimes this will be of more use than an email.

Task Reminders - Timeframe selection

If you’re not sure how to use due dates functionality with Kanban Tool, please visit this page.

Is it possible to mass update tasks?

Yes, you can perform updates on several tasks at once. Simply highlight a few tasks by clicking them with the CTRL key pressed, then right-click any of them to use Edit # tasks: Editing several tasks at once

To make mass edits, please use the import functionality. For as long as you provide IDs of tasks already present on the board, the imported information will overwrite current data placed in them. It’s a very good way to manage changes across a large number of tasks in one go.

Process automation

Process automation is a clever way for you to determine action on the board to be causing a reaction. For example, you can make tasks of a certain type (color) get assigned to a relevant team member, you can change card priority basing on a set due date, have tasks move to the next stage upon a chosen custom field being filled-in, or set a custom email notification for when a card meets a set of your requirements: task values, position in a given column or swimlane, and many more.

To add an automation rule to a Kanban board, please go to board Settings - Process Automation and use the widget provided. There are a few examples predefined for your convenience, but you are most welcome to create any rules possible on your own. It’s easier than it may seem!

Please note, all automation rules and trigger buttons are only available to users with project manager, account administrator or owner privileges.

Below are a few examples of great automation use cases (Click on the images to see full sizes):

  • When a task is created in swimlane Project DYN, assign it to Francois: Automation Rules
  • When a task is moved to the Today column, change assignment to Rick, add a due date for right now and give it a high priority: Automation Rules
  • When a task receives a time estimate exceeding 20 hrs, send a notification to Aksel, the team supervisor: Automation Rules
  • When a task is moved to Monitoring, change the card type to financial analysis.
    This is fantastic help especially, for when you have set up different card templates for different card colors: Automation Rules
  • When any task on the board is updated in any way, send a notification to Jónsi.
    Note, that leaving a field blank is also recognized as a selection criteria, just like in this example: Automation Rules
  • When a task is moved to Done, clear its due date field: Automation Rules

You may also create rules, which will run at regular time intervals, instead of executing on basis of a specified event only, for example:

  • Archive red tasks in the Done column, that have not been updated for 7 days. Automation Rules
  • Notify me of high priority tasks becoming due in 2 days. Automation Rules
  • Notify Daria when there are tasks that have been worked on (timed) for more than 8 hours. Automation Rules

Also, it is possible to create automation rule trigger buttons, on clicking which, a specified set of changes will be applied, either to one task (when using task buttons or menu options) or to all tasks (when using board buttons).

  • Create a button on the board, clicking which will check for overdue tasks in Production column, and send a notification about them to set users. Automation Rules Buttons like this are added to a board's side panel, under Process Automation. Automation Rules - Button
  • Create an in-task button, clicking which will send the task to Production column, and change multiple details of the task for you - assignment, due date, type, custom field selection, in this example. Automation Rules Automation Rules - Button
  • Add an extra task menu option, letting you move the task straight to Completed. Automation Rules Automation Rules - Menu Option

For detailed information on the syntax needed for own automation rules creation, be sure to view this page. Should you get stuck or come across any issues, feel free to for help.

Process automation rules limitations

Kanban Tool Enterprise subscribers can use process automation with the following limitations:

  • 10 rules per board, for accounts with up to 5 members
  • twice as many rules, as the number of users, for accounts with more than 5 members
    (for example 20 rules per board for a 10-user account, 100 rules per board for a 50-user account)

During the free trial period you can define up to five automations on each board.

Please note, process automation is only available to the Enterprise plan subscribers.
You can change your service plan any time from Account Administration - Plan & Billing details
.

Can I use file attachments?

Kanban Tool Team and Enterprise plan subscribers can add file attachments to their task cards. The size limit for each file is 20 MB. You can add as many files to a card as you need.

Attachments are not supported in the Free service plan, but free users are welcome to attach files from a file hosting service of their choice - Google Drive, Box, Dropbox or OneDrive.

Can I move tasks from one board to another?

Yes! You can move tasks across all boards within your account. To do so, right-click a task and choose “Move to”. This option gives you a choice of moving this task to another board, or of moving over its copy. Can I move tasks from one board to another?

You can also transfer tasks between boards through an open card’s location menu. Task location menu

My board looks very small. Can I scale its size?

We believe that the compact size of Kanban Tool default boards and cards is one of its strengths, allowing you to get an at a glance view of a complex workflow and easily spot its bottlenecks.

Still, if your board is not too big, and you’re left with lots of space on your Kanban Tool page, then we welcome you to use the board zoom. It’s available under Settings - Board Background:

Zooming in on the board view

Of course, you can also decrease the scale - zoom out, and take further advantage of following a large workflow as a whole, e.g. on a widescreen.

Board Settings are only available to board owners and account admins/owners.

What keyboard shortcuts does Kanban Tool support?

If you're looking to speed up your navigation on the board and tasks, there's a bunch of keyboard shortcuts to take advantage of:

In the board view:

  • Ctrl++ zoom in
  • Ctrl+- zoom out
  • Space start or pause your last active task timer (for the Enterprise plan subscribers)
  • / search for tasks across all boards
  • Shift+/ apply a filter to the board
  • X disable any applied board filters

On a selection of tasks, or when pointing at a task:

  • E archive selected tasks Press the 'e' key to archive
  • Del delete selected tasks
  • M assign selected tasks to yourself Hovering over tasks and using shortcuts
  • , move the selected tasks to the previous stage (to the left)
  • . move the selected tasks to the next stage (to the right) Use 'comma' and 'period' keys to move left and right
  • Enter open the selected task
  • Ctrl+C copy selected tasks
  • Ctrl+V paste copied tasks, or turn text from your clipboard into the board as tasks Use 'ctrl c' and 'ctrl v' to duplicate tasks
  • Ctrl+X cut selected tasks
  • Menu / Apps open the context menu Open context menu with the apps key

In the open task view:

  • Esc to close the task, or exit the fullscreen view
  • Tab to navigate between all of the task's inner fields
  • There is also a number of shortcuts for use in the Description field text formatting

When adding a new task:

  • Ctrl+Enter create and close the new task
  • Ctrl+Shift+Enter create, close and add another task

When deleting or archiving tasks:

  • Ctrl+Z undo action
  • Ctrl+Y redo action

How do I visualize my project timeline?

The nature of the Kanban method is visualizing the project by tasks’ completion stages, which usually become the board’s columns. This is how we recommended using Kanban Tool.

Kanban Tool board with columns representing stages of work completion

To visually track the project timeline, you can use task due dates and start dates. A combination of the two will allow you to preview the tasks’ timeline in the interactive calendar.

Timeline view between a task start and due date

A setup like this gives you the best of both worlds: a Kanban view with task positions determined by completion stages, and a calendar view displaying each item’s timeline.