Trello is an organizational tool that you can use in any number of areas in your life. Whether you need it for home organization, business systems, or any other set of tasks you have to keep on top of, there are so many ways to set up and use Trello boards to fit your needs. Trello is based on the Kanban system of organization, using moveable cards for each task that you need to complete. Each card can house a great deal of information about that particular task.
Trello adds new features often to make using the system more time-efficient. Here are some things you can do with Trello cards after you’ve already learned the basics.
1. Insert New Cards Anywhere
Usually, when you want to add a new card to a list, you click on the “Add Another Card” button at the bottom of the list. If you then want to move it to a different spot, you need to drag and drop the card where you want it. There’s a faster way, though. If you double-click in a spot between two cards where you want the new card to show up, the “Add Card” dialog box appears right where you want it.
2. Reposition Cards While Creating Them
If you start making a card at the bottom of the list but then realize you want it up in the second spot, you don’t need to start over or drag and drop the finished card. Simply finish typing the name of the card and then add a caret “^” and the number of the slot you want to use. For example “^2” will go to the second slot. You can also type “^top” or “^bottom” to move the finished card to that space in the list.
3. Search for Cards by Label
If you use the color labels to organize your boards visually, you can search for particular labels just by typing the color of the label after the word label. For example, you can type “label:green” to see all the cards with green labels on your board. You can also use it for named labels like “label:clients” to locate those cards with that label.
4. Filter Cards by Label
You can also use the filter function to find cards with specific labels. Click on the “Show Menu” button, and then select “Filter Cards” from the list. Click on the color of the label you want to see. It will also let you look for more than one color at the same time. If it is filtering for a color, you will see a checkmark next to it.
5. Get Card Updates
If you are using Trello as a team, you may want to watch the card and get an update whenever someone else changes something on that card. To do this, click on the card you want updates for, and click on the “Watch” button near the bottom of the expanded card.
6. Drag and Drop onto Cards
Trello works by dragging and dropping items around on the boards, but you can also drag website URLs and documents directly onto a card. To move a website address, highlight it in the address bar of your browser, drag it onto the tab where Trello is open, then move it down on top of the card where you want the link. For documents, all you need to do is drag it from your documents folder onto the card.
7. Connect Cards
To avoid the hassle of switching back and forth between cards, you can connect the two. Open the card you want to link to another and click on “Attachment” on the right side. Click on the Trello option, and search for the card you want to connect. To make a connection that will allow you to switch back and forth between the two, open the card you just linked and add the original card as an attachment. One click will now send you back and forth.
8. Create Individual Cards from a List
If you want to make cards based on a list of items, first create a new card and paste the list into the title. Trello will ask if you really want all the items on one card, or if you want a new card for each one. When you choose a new card for each item, it will create new cards in the list for each of those items.
If you’re using Trello, give some of these tips a try and see if they save you time when you are working with the cards.
Tracey Rosenberger spent 26 years teaching elementary students, using technology to enhance learning. Now she’s excited to share helpful technology with teachers and everyone else who sees tech as intimidating.
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