Collaborate in real time with board view

Board view has an all-new, modern look and feel and includes key new functionality to make working on a board faster, easier, and more collaborative than ever. Board view facilitates collaboration by displaying changes made by other users in real time. Currently, real-time changes include newly added or deleted cards and any updates to card titles or their fields.

Board view allows you to:

• See projects, tasks, or cards grouped into vertical lanes (such as by status, phase, assignee, or team).
• Drag and track cards as they move across lanes.
• Add cards, and view and update their details directly from board view.
• See real-time changes from collaborators on board view, such as newly added, updated, or deleted cards.

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Access board view

On a sheet, navigate to the top toolbar where you can switch views, and select Board. What you can do in board view depends on the sharing permission level you have in the sheet. For details about specific actions you can take in board view, review this table.

Configure your sheet for board view

Board view is available in any sheet that includes at least one:

• Dropdown list (single-select)
• Contact list (single-select)
• Symbol column 

Edit cards and lanes

View and edit card details

Board view displays data as cards in their corresponding lanes. Open a card to view or edit the details by double-clicking on the card or right-clicking and then selecting Edit. Your changes are saved automatically while you edit.

Edit fields visible on the card

Cards display data captured in fields. Each card always displays a title, which is the same as the value of the primary column.

By default, the first four fields will show up on the card. To change the fields that appear in board view, sheet admins can select the settings icon and toggle on the necessary fields. You can have up to 14 fields displayed. 

Cards can display a cover image if there is a cell image in the primary column. If there is no cell image in the primary column, then the cover image comes from the leftmost column containing a cell image.

Columns that are hidden in grid view do not show up in the details panel. 

Modify lanes

You can group cards into vertical lanes using the dropdown (single-select), contact (single-select), or symbol columns). You can only group cards by one level.

To add a new lane, select + Add lane to the right of the existing lanes. You can also hover over a lane and select the three dots to access the lane menu, then select Add lane. To rename a lane, select the lane title and edit it. To delete a lane, select the three dots to access the lane menu, then select Delete lane.

Edit card colors

Board view displays task bar colors from Gantt, card, or calendar view. To edit these task bar colors, switch to Gantt, card, or calendar view and either:

• Manually apply a task bar color by right-clicking the color bar
• Apply conditional formatting rules, specifically setting the task bar color

Edit card titles

Card titles are pulled from the sheet’s primary column by default.

Assign cards to contacts

You can use the details panel to assign contacts to cards. Or, if your board view is grouped by a single select contact column, you can drag cards across lanes to assign them to different people.

You can also return to grid view, select Edit Column Properties for the contact column, and add the contacts to the contact list. See Specify preferred contacts in a contact list column for more instructions.

Use board view

You can choose whether to display fields on your cards by selecting Comfortable or Compact in the toolbar.

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Move or add cards

To move a card, select and drag it either across lanes or within a lane. Or, in the card details, change the value of the column that determines the grouping.

To add a card:

• Select the plus symbol at the top or bottom of any lane.
• Click between two cards and select Add card above or Add card below in the card menu.
• Select + Add card in the lane menu.

When adding a card, use the ENTER keyboard shortcut to quickly add another card beneath it.

Group cards in lanes

Grouping organizes cards on the board into vertical lanes. You can group your board view by any dropdown list (single-select), contact list (single-select) column, or symbol column.

The lane order matches the order of the values in the column’s properties. Grouping is a user-specific, board-specific preference. Smartsheet remembers the applied grouping for each user for each board.

To change grouping:

1. On the toolbar, select Group by.
2. In the dropdown, select the column you want to group by.

Filters in board view

In the toolbar, you can select any existing filter, switch between filters, or turn filters off. Filters applied in grid, card, Gantt, or calendar view are automatically applied when you switch into board view, and vice versa. To edit or delete saved filters, you must switch to grid view.

In board view, you can further filter your data by applying additional filters on top of your saved filters. You can also create new filters and share them if necessary.

Hierarchy in board view

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In the nested child view, up to five levels of child cards are displayed beneath their parent card so you can easily visualize task relationships. You can add child cards directly in board view by selecting the card content menu.

In the separate child card view, cards are displayed in their own lanes.

Attach files

You can use the paperclip icon in the bottom right of the card to open or add attachments for that card. Or you can use the paperclip icon in the right toolbar to open or add attachments for the entire sheet.

Share your board

You can share your sheet with collaborators directly from board view or set board view as the default view with specific grouping applied.

1. In the sheet, select Share in the upper right.
2. Insert any people or groups as needed.
3. Select Edit next to Default view.
   1. In the Filter dropdown, add a filter if necessary.
   2. In the View dropdown, select Board view.
   3. In the Card View Lanes dropdown, set default grouping.
   4. Select Save. 
4. Select Share or Copy link

Collaborate with others

You can comment on cards or on the sheet as a whole. Use the comment icon on the bottom of a card to open the conversation panel for that particular card, or use the comment icon on the right menu to open the conversation panel for the sheet.

You can see changes made by other users – specifically newly created, updated, and deleted items – in board view as they happen in real-time. The other users viewing or editing the sheet are listed in the top right corner. Hover over their account photo to see their contact information.

Users viewing the sheet in board or timeline view can see all other users regardless of the view they are using. Users viewing the sheet in grid, card, calendar, or Gantt view are not able to see users viewing the sheet in board or timeline view. 

Board view limitations

Board view is not currently available in reports, dashboards, or WorkApps. However, it is under active development, and we will continue to introduce new functionality over time. Your feedback can help us shape the evolution of this product. Please share your feedback with us directly using the Product Feedback Form.