Set up your sheet in board view

Board view allows users to track projects, manage tasks, and prioritize work on a visual board. 

Who can use this?

Plans:

  • Smartsheet

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

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

Access board view

In any sheet, navigate to the view switcher in the top toolbar and select Board.

view picker board view

Group cards in lanes

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

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

In the toolbar, open the Group by dropdown menu and choose the column you want to group the lanes by.

group lanes by in board view

Add a new card lane

  1. Select + Add lane to the right of the existing lanes.
  2. Open the lane options menu  More kebab menu. .
  3. Select Add lane. 

You can also hover your mouse between lanes and select  Add row or add column plus sign  to quickly add a new lane.

add lane

Rename a card lane

To rename a lane, select the lane title and edit it.

rename a card lane in board view

Move a card lane

Open the lane options menu  More kebab menu. , and select the appropriate option: Move lane left, Move lane right, Move lane to left edge, or Move lane to right edge.

move lane in board view

Delete a card lane

Open the lane options menu  More kebab menu. , and select Delete lane.

If you delete a lane, all cards are moved to the uncategorized lane. 

Edit the card lane color

You can select the color option box near the lane title to change the lane and drop-down option colors when the lanes are grouped by a drop-down column and no task bar conditional formatting rules are applied. 

Choose the color value for the lane.

If you have conditional formatting rules on task bars, you must switch to grid view to adjust the conditional formatting rules.

Add new cards

There are multiple ways to add a new card. You can:

  • Select  Add row or add column plus sign  at the top or bottom of any lane.
  • Hover your mouse between two existing cards, then select  Add row or add column plus sign .
  • Open the lane options menu  More kebab menu. , then select + Add card.

If you need to add multiple cards, use the SHIFT+ENTER keyboard shortcut to quickly add another card beneath it.

Move cards

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

The placement of cards within a lane persists across sessions and is the same for all users of the sheet.

Move cards in board view

Duplicate cards

You can duplicate a card by opening the card's options menu 

and selecting Duplicate. 

You can duplicate individual or nested cards. Duplicating an individual card creates only that card, whereas duplicating a nested card copies all its child cards.

Add and manage fields displayed on cards

Cards display data captured in fields. You can add fields (columns) directly from board view.

Add card fields

To add fields to your sheet from board view,

  1. Select Fields > Add field.
  2. Select the column type you want to add.
  3. Name your column and select any necessary settings.
  4. Select Apply.

Your new field has now been added to the sheet. Toggle the field on to display it on the card. You can display up to 14 fields on your cards. Use the pencil icon to edit the field, or the trash can icon to delete it. 

If you switch to table view, you can find the new column at the end of the sheet.

Add a field in board view directly in the fields menu

Edit card fields displayed

Each card always displays a title identical to the value of the primary column. By default, the first four fields show up on the card. To edit:  

Sheet admins can change the fields that appear on the cards.

  1. In the toolbar, select Fields.
  2. The show fields panel opens. Toggle on any fields you want displayed on each card.

You cannot add fields to cards that correspond with hidden columns.

Card density settings

You can choose how to display fields on your cards by selecting Condensed, Comfortable, or Wide from the density selection dropdown. 

display cards as comfortable or compact in board view

Cover images on cards

Cards can display a cover image when your sheet has cell images.If there is an image in the primary column, it’s used as the cover image. If there isn’t an image in the primary column, then the cover image comes from the leftmost column containing a cell image.

Edit card titles

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

Edit card border color

The card border color comes from the task bar colors assigned in Gantt, card, or calendar view. To edit these task bar colors, switch to Gantt, card, or calendar view and either:

Sheet settings

Select the sheet settings icon  Adjust settings. . Use the Sheet tab to set up or edit:

  • Start and end date columns.
  • Dependencies (duration and predecessor).
  • Month that the fiscal year starts.
  • Day the week starts.
  • Working hours in a day.
  • Working days and non-working days (including company holidays).
  • % Complete.

Learn more about each tab in sheet settings.

Switch to grid or Gantt view to adjust Resource Management settings. 

sheet settings

File operations

Select the three-dot menu  More kebab menu.  next to the sheet name to open the File menu. Here, you can duplicate your sheet, open the activity log, or export the sheet to Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, or a PDF file.