How are Items/Folders/Boards/Workspaces linked?

#1

Can you search items between Folders? Between Boards? Between Workspaces?

Example: We create multiple projects on several different boards and assign tasks to team members. Can the user create a “My Tasks” list that compiles all the items assigned to that user from ALL boards and workspaces? Or can they only search within a single Board?

#2

Currently Board is the main separator, which means nothing can be linked in the Board -> Board level. Also you can’t have Overview of the multiple Boards/Workspaces.

Folders are linked and you can:

  • Get an Overview of the all Items in a Board. ( by clicking on Board Overview above the Folders )
  • Re-use Custom Fields from other Folders in the same Board. ( in Sidebar under ‘Existing custom fields’ )

This is the logic:

Overview has to stop somewhere :slight_smile: That’s what boards are for. You shouldn’t mix type of data that is not relevant into the same Board. For example you shouldn’t have: Tasks and Gallery in the same board, because you will not be able to get good Overview. You should have one board for Tasks and one board for Gallery.

To be honest, we’re still thinking about this a lot. We want to learn a little bit about different use cases and understand if we should change something in the future ( like making Workspace Overview or make another level of hierarchy in the Board like ‘Super Folders’ that will have their own Overviews and not share attributes with other ‘Super Folders’ ), or educate members to use it this way and learn until we understand it well.

There will be however the option in the close future to Link a Reference like Item from one Board into another Board with a new ‘Reference’ custom field.

Let us know what you think about this, and maybe include some use cases to brainstorm how they can be structured?

Thanks

#3

At this point, the most useful linking would be for the purpose of seeing ALL the tasks that are assigned to you, on a single big list.

I think many users will want to live in a big to-do list for much of their day, checking off items as they work. This means they’ll want to see ALL the items that have been assigned to them from ALL boards and projects, so they can decide what to do next.

I realize that’s tricky, because there might be items from different boards with very different structures and variables. But perhaps there’s a way to see “All My Tasks By Board”? This could be a special view that spans multiple boards and displays them in a big scrollable list. The format of the items might vary from board to board, but at least there’d be a single consolidated checkable list.

Does this help? I can sketch what I’m thinking of, if that’s helpful…

#4

Thanks for the really good brief, no need to sketch it, it’s completely clear :slight_smile:

I have tasks in Development, Marketing and Business Boards, and keep 3 browser tabs open :slight_smile:

I understand that in some cases you’ll have for example 10 Boards for 10 Clients and you want to see all tasks for today.

This will require a little more time to think it trough and see what is the best logical solution for all use cases.

#5

I’m not sure if this is the feature I’'m looking for (read: I don’t want to unnecessarly jump in to a topic) but with Reference field, would it be possible for an item/folder to referenced in another item?

For example:

  • I have board 1 called OKR with company goals visible only for me
  • I have board 2 with Project A visible for everuone
  • I have board 3 with Project B visible for a team of 3 people
  • I have board 4 with Project C visible only fo one other person (besides me)

Will I be able to link from items in Board 1 to different folders/tabs in Boards 2, 3, and 4 to see the progress during weekly review?

#6

That’s a great example, too. I’ve been trying to think how to create an “All Projects Overview” board.

First you’d need the ability to link between boards.

But second, and perhaps trickier, you’d need the regular “project” boards to generate some kind of special “project report” they can send to the “All Projects Overview” board. The trick is, a typical project board consists of a bunch of individual tasks, and the team gets a visual overview of those tasks in order to evaluate their progress. But there’s no “report” function that summarizes the whole board. That would be awesome, but I’m not even sure what kind of report would be helpful. Maybe a summary of the percentage of items completed? Or maybe there’s a special “report” item where the project manager can write a little text update that gets forwarded to the company-wide summary board? But such a special item wouldn’t fit the other items in the database.

Not quite sure how to do it, but a “report to the boss” function would be brilliant…