Using the Board

The boards web part displays information from a single list selected in the current site in a Kanban type display.

• To move a card from one column to another, select the card and drag it to the next column.
• To edit a card's item, double-click on the card and the item will open in edit mode.
• To collapse a column, and see the number of cards in the column, click on the column heading's chevron icon.

The Report Information Icon

When you click the report information icon in the title, a popup shows the details of the current board. It also expands the Ribbon, opening the tab associated with the web part.

Details include: the report title, the type of report, the list used, the view selected, and the list column used to represent the board columns.

Configure the board

All web parts share basic modification functionality - click here to learn about this. Modification options specific to the Board web part are addressed below.

Click here to learn how to add a web part to a BrightWork web part page.

To configure the Board web part:

1. Click in the title of the Board web part (or the report information icon ) to expose the ribbon.
2. Click the Board tab and then click Configure List Board Settings.

Web Part Settings

Title

Enter a title for the report.

Chrome

Select a chrome type for the report:

• Default
• Title and Border
• Title Only

Select Source List

Select List

Select the list or library you want to use.
Only lists or libraries with 'Choice' columns will be available to select.

Filter

There are three options:

• All items in this list
  This includes all items from the selected list or library.

• All items in this view
  This uses the filtering from the selected view in the selected list or library. If there is no filtering specified in the selected view all items are included.

• Specify filter (CAML)
  This allows you to write your own CAML filter and insert the code.

Sorting

The ordering of cards in a column depends on the Filter selected.

• If 'All items in this list' is selected, then sorting is based on 'Title'.
• If 'All items in this view' is selected, then sorting is determined by the view selected. If the view selected is not sorted, then 'Title' is used.
• If 'Specify filter (CAML)' is selected, then sorting is based on 'Title'.

Column Settings

Column Settings

Select a list Choice column. Only single-value Choice columns are supported currently.

If you are using a choice column that allows 'Fill-in' choices, then only values in the default list will be available to the board.

Show Card Count

Select the checkbox to show the number of cards in each column/group of columns

Board Column Settings

You can specify the default behaviour of each column on the board as follows:

• Hide column checkbox
  Select the checkbox beside the column name to hide the column on the Board. This will also hide the options for the column within the Board Settings page. For example, in the screenshot above the 'Waiting on someone else' column is hidden.
• Caption
  Modify the column's display heading by editing the Caption text. Captions should be unique (as should the column values).
• Collapsed
  Select Collaped so the column is collapsed by default when the Board is opened. This is useful for maximizing the space available on the Board.
• Insert Group
  Columns can be Grouped together under a higher level column. Select Insert Group and all Board Columns below the Group will be included within that Group. When inserting Groups:
  • Inserting the first Group into the middle of the list of Columns will automatically add a Group before the first Column value.
  • Deleting the first Group will remove ALL Groups.
  • Groups can show Card counts and can have WIP Limits set. Counts and WIP Limits on Groups total the cards in all Columns within the Group.
  • WIP Limits for Groups are set independantly of the Columns. Therefore, they may not be equal to the sum of the WIP Limits of its Columns.
• WIP Limit
  WIP (Work In Progress) Limits have the following considerations:
  • WIP Limit is only avilable when the Show Card Count is selected.
  • WIP Limit allows you to warn when the number of cards in a Column or a Group exceeds a limit set in the Board Settings.
  • Once you set a WIP Limit for a Column or Group, the Column will be highlighted when the number of Cards exceeds this WIP Limit.
    For example, a Column with a WIP Limit of 3 will change colour if it contains 4 or more Cards. A warning icon also appears in the Column's heading.
  • A WIP Limit of 0 or blank means that no WIP Limit is set.
  • WIP Limits are warnings, they are not enforced limits on the number of Cards in a Column.

Swimlane Settings

Swimlanes are used to categorize cards horizontally using either a User or a Choice column.

The options available when configuring swimlanes in a board are:

Prevent Drag and Drop

In some circumstances you may not want cards to be dragged between swimlanes. For example, you might want to have swimlanes for team members showing their tasks, but prevent the reassignment of tasks between team members.

Show Card Count

Select the checkbox to show the number of cards in each swimlane.

In this example there are 3 cards in this swimlane.

Swimlane Settings

Configure the swimlane values using one of these options:

• None
  Select to show no swimlanes. This is the default.
• Select User

  Select a Person or Group type of column, for example 'Assigned To', as the swimlanes.

  • Only single-value columns are available for selection.
    For example, if a task can be assigned to multiple people then the 'Assigned To' column will not be an option when configuring the swimlane.
  • Only those names found in the cards displayed are used in the swimlanes.
    If you want to assign a card to someone not included in the swimlanes then you need to double click the card to edit it and enter the name. Saving the item will refresh the board and the newly assigned person's name will be a swimlane.
  • Names will be sorted in alphabetical order.
  • If a card does not have a user assigned, then it will appear in an "Unassigned" swimlane at the bottom of the board.

  

• Select Choice

  Select a Choice type of column, for example 'Priority', as the swimlanes.

  • Values will be sorted in alphabetical order.
  • Only single-value columns are available for selection.
    For example, if a task can be assigned to multiple categories then the Category column will not be an option when configuring the swimlane.
  • If a card does not have a value from the Choice column selected, then it will appear in an "Unassigned" swimlane at the bottom of the board.

Card Settings

Configure the card's content by selecting one, some, or all of the following on the card:

Required

• Title
  You must select a card title. This is typically the item's title but can be any 'Single line of text' item.

Optional

• User

  Select any 'People or Group' column to display, or leave this option blank.

• % Complete

  Select to show the percent complete value and a progress bar.

• Date

  Select any 'Date or Time' column to display, or leave this option blank.

  Highlight late dates will display the date in red when:

  1. Tasks: the task is not 'Completed' and the date value shown is less than today. The specific tasks list in this case is of type 107.
  2. BrightWork Lists: for BrightWork specific lists like; Project Issues, Project Change Requests, Projects Risks, Projects Tracker, etc. if the Completed Flag is 'No' and the date value shown is less than today.
  3. Other list types: the date value shown is less than today.
• Priority

  Highly priority items display in red if the Priority value contains a '1'.

• Reference

  Select a Reference or Id column to display, or leave this option blank.

If you select any of; Date, Priority, or Reference then the bottom row of the card will appear. If options are not selected, then the space on the card will be allocated but the space will be empty.

The 'Refresh Board' option refreshes the board every time a card is moved to a new column. This may be useful if data displayed on the card changes as the result of the move. For example, a task's % Complete changes if moved from 'Not Started' to 'In Progress' and refreshing the board will show the change.

General Settings

Select a theme

Boards come with a number of different themes that allow you to change the look of your board. To preview themes, select a theme from the Theme drop-down menu and a preview image will be displayed.

Search

Search allows you to search all cards within the board using a text string. This is optional and by ticking the box, a search bar will appear above the board.

Refresh Board

The 'Refresh Board' option refreshes the board every time a card is moved to a new column. This may be useful if data displayed on the card changes as the result of the move. For example, a task's % Complete changes if moved from 'Not Started' to 'In Progress' and refreshing the board will show the change.

Deeper Dive into Boards

Board Web Part Settings

Board web parts support three types of Chrome Type. As a result, changes made using the SharePoint Edit Web Part tool pane to the Chrome Type may not act as expected.

Chrome Type:

• Chrome Type should only be set to one of the following; Default, Title and Border, or Title Only. (See Web Part Settings above).
• Selecting either 'None' or 'Border Only' will cause the web part to display using the 'Default' setting.
• It is worth noting that 'Title Only' still appears with a border, albeit a thinner one. This is because the board itself shows a border, as distinct from the web part that displays it.

Height:

• Height values set in the web part's tool pane, in the Appearance section, are not saved. The board will automatically adjust the height based on the data it contains.

Security Consideration

• SharePoint Permissions are supported; no access means no cards are displayed.
• Moving a card updates the card's data, so edit access is required to drag and drop cards.
• Double clicking a card to open it will open it in edit mode if you have the permissions to edit the item.
• Double clicking a card to open it will open it in read mode if you only have the permissions to read the item.

Missing Values

• Collapsed columns do not show their name if no data exists in the board.
• In the unlikely event of there being no 'Title' column in the list selected, then the first 'Single line of text' column is used instead.
• Only lists with a choice column are available to select in a board. However some lists are always excluded namely: Scheduled Report Emails a well as all the BrightWork caches.