Skip to main content

Boards

A board is columns of cards: the jobs left on a book, the threads to follow up, anything you want to keep moving. A card can carry a due date, a priority, a checklist and links to your documents. A checklist item in a note can live on a board too, and ticking it in one place moves it in the other.

A tasks board for The Salt Road, with To do, Drafting and Revising columns of cards showing due dates, priorities and linked chapters A tasks board for The Salt Road, with To do, Drafting and Revising columns of cards showing due dates, priorities and linked chapters

Make a board​

  1. Open Boards under Places in the sidebar. In Write, open the project the board is for first.
  2. Press New tasks board or New custom board.
  3. Name the board.
  4. Press Add card at the foot of a column, and type what needs doing.
KindColumnsUse it for
Tasks boardTo do, Doing, DoneThings to finish. The first column means to do, the last means done, and anything between is in progress. Only a tasks board can track checklist items.
Custom boardColumn 1, Column 2, Column 3Anything else. The columns mean whatever you name them.

+ at the top of the Boards list makes a tasks board too, and the list's ⋮ has New custom board.

Which boards you see​

Each mode keeps its own boards:

  • Write shows the boards that belong to a project.
  • Notes shows the boards that belong to none.

With no board open, the page shows each board as a tile: its columns and how many cards are open. Click one to open it.

Work with cards​

Drag cards between columns, and up and down. Click a card to open it:

FieldWhat it holds
Title and NotesWhat needs doing, and a description.
ChecklistSteps: type one and press Return.
Linked toDocuments, characters and projects. Click a link to open it.
ColumnWhere the card sits.
DueA date. The card shows on the calendar that day, and under Due this week on Write's Home.
RemindA date and time.
PriorityLow, Normal, High or Urgent.
LabelA colour, or No label.

Archive card puts it away without deleting it. Delete card moves it to the trash; Restore there puts it back in its column.

Arrange the columns​

  • Rename: click a column's name and type.
  • Colour: click the dot beside the name, or No color.
  • Move: drag a column by its handle. On a tasks board the order is the meaning, first to do and last done.
  • Add: Add column, at the end of the columns or in the board's ⋮.
  • Remove: the × on an empty column. Move its cards first. A tasks board keeps at least two columns.

Keep a board tidy​

The board's header shows how many cards are open, a Match a word… field, and Show archived. Its ⋮ has:

  • Hide what is done: keeps the last column's cards out of view.
  • Archive what is done: puts every card in the last column away at once. Archived cards stop showing and counting, but stay in the board's file. Show archived brings them back struck through, and a card's Put back on the board returns it.
  • Add column.
  • Board settings: the board's Name; its Project, or Standalone to show it in Notes; its columns; and Delete board, which moves it to the trash.

Track a checklist item on a board​

  1. In a note, write a checklist item: type [] or use /checklist.
  2. Open the Info panel (⇧⌘I) and choose Tasks. Every checklist item in the note is listed.
  3. Press Track beside one, and choose a tasks board, or make one.

The card links back to the note, and the two stay in step: tick the item and the card moves to the last column; move the card and the item follows. An item with a nested list takes it along, as the card's checklist.

Notes' Home lists the Open action items from your Notes boards, with a link to All boards.

note

New checklists can be started in notes and research pages. To start them in Write or Journal as well, open Settings → Setup, find the mode under Modes, and turn on Checklists. A document that already has a checklist always keeps it.

Put a whole document on a board​

Open the document's ⋮ → Add to board… (also at the foot of the Info panel's Outline tab). Give the card a title and pick a tasks board. The card links to the document, and the document's Details… lists the card.

A project's chapter board​

Every project has a board you never have to keep. Open the project and choose Board under it in the sidebar, or Open project board from its ⋮. It shows the chapters as cards in status columns, Todo, Draft, Revised and Final. Drag a card and the chapter's status changes. The project's tasks boards are listed below it, with New tasks board for this project. See Projects.

See also​