Work with your data in board view

How to 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.

You've now added a new field 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.

How to edit card fields

Open the card Details panel to view all fields on the sheet. You can scroll vertically through the panel to see and edit every field. Any changes you make to card values are automatically saved and updated in real time for other collaborators while you edit. To open the Details panel:

• Double-click on the card

OR

• Open the card options menu  , then select Edit.

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You can also edit certain fields directly on the card or child card without opening the Details panel. 

Without opening the Details panel, you can edit the following fields:

• Checkbox
• Dropdown List
• Text/Number
• Contact
• Symbol
• Date

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Edit card colors

Each card has a left border with a color. To change that color:

1. Select the color lane of the card, or right-click the card and select Set item color.
2. Select the desired color.

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If there is a formatting rule defining the color,  it is respected, and the message This item’s color is defined by a formatting rule is displayed.

Dropdown colored values

If you assign colors to dropdown values in table view, they also appear in board view when the values are displayed on cards. To edit the colors or configure additional colored drop-down values, switch to table view and then open the column options menu  . Then select Edit column properties to edit the colors. 

Assign cards to contacts

Open the Details panel, then use the appropriate field to assign contacts to cards. If your board view is grouped by a single-select contact column, you can drag cards across lanes to assign them to different people.

If you need to add more contacts to your contact column, switch to table view, open the column options menu  , and select Edit column properties. You can specify preferred contacts in a contact list column.Hierarchy in board view

Nested child cards

To display hierarchy in board view, you must select Nested cards from the toolbar. In the nested child view, up to five levels of child cards are displayed beneath their parent card. To add child cards directly in board view:

1. Open the card options menu 
2. Select Add child card.

You can also choose which fields to display in both parent and child cards by going to Fields in the toolbar. In the Fields tab, go to the Parent cards or Child cards tabs to toggle on or off the different fields. 

You can display any of your checkbox fields by selecting the Checklist icon. This also initiates a checklist count on parent cards.

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You can move child cards by dragging and dropping them to different parent cards or remove them from a parent card to use them as standalone cards.

Separate cards

In the separate child card view, all cards, parent and child tasks, are displayed individually in their own lanes.

You can identify a parent card by its labeled hyperlink, which, when clicked, takes you to the parent item. While child cards can be identified as they display their parents’ card names.

Filter your data

Use filters to show or hide information in your sheet as needed. In board view, you create new filters, edit existing filters, apply saved filters, and add multiple temporary additional filters. Learn more about working with filters in board view. 

Search for data

Quickly find what you need on the sheet by using the search feature.

1. On the toolbar, select the Search icon  .
2. Type or enter the term you want to search.
3. Select Enter on your keyboard.
4. Choose Show only matching rows to hide all rows without a search result.
5. Use the arrows to scroll through the highlighted search results.

Search only pulls results from the primary column. 

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Attach files

Attach files to a card

To attach files to a specific card, 

1. Double-click on the card to open the Attachments panel.
2. Select + Add in the Attachments panel.
3. Upload a file or attach a URL as needed.

In the Attachments panel, you can also view or edit other attachments to the card.

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View all attachments on the sheet

To view all attachments on the sheet,

1. Select the paperclip icon in the toolbar.
2. Use the dropdown menu to select All cards. 

Edit attachments

You can make various edits to attachments on a specific card or in the list of all sheet attachments.

1. Select the attachments option menu  .
2. Edit the attachment as needed.

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View activity log

Select the Activity Log icon   on the toolbar to open the activity log. 

Use comments to collaborate

To view or add attachments within comments, switch to grid view.

View and reply to comments for a specific card

Users with Owner, Admin, Editor, or Commenter permissions can comment and reply to comments.

The Conversations icon turns blue when you have unread comments.

To open the conversations panel for a card:

1. Double-click on the card.
2. Type your comment. You can @mention other users to notify them.
3. Select   to send your comment.

You can reply to comments for the card, or you can reply to a specific comment thread by selecting Reply under an existing comment.

View to comments for the entire sheet

To view all comments on the sheet:

1. Select the Comments icon   from the toolbar.
2. From the dropdown menu, select All cards.

Edit comments

Open the comments options menu   . Here you can edit a comment, delete a comment, or set up notifications for the thread.

Collaborate with others

Changes made by other collaborators update in real-time.

In the top right corner, avatars of other collaborators who are viewing or editing the sheet are displayed. Hover over their account photo to see their contact information.

Collaborators viewing the sheet in table, board, or timeline view can see everyone else, regardless of the view they're using. Collaborators viewing the sheet in grid, card, calendar, or Gantt view can't see others viewing the sheet in table, board, or timeline view.

Share your board

You can share your sheet with collaborators directly from board view. You can set board view as a default view with a specific filter and 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.

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Use board view with Smartsheet Control Center

You can create a template for your projects in Control Center and set board view as your default view.

To do so:

1. Select Share.
2. At the bottom of the modal, select Edit next to Default view and set it to Board view.
3. Save your template and add it to your blueprint.

You can now provision projects and use the board view as the default setup. Learn more about provisioning Smartsheet Control Center templates and creating blueprints.