In this article:
1. The Definition of a Kanban Card
2. Overview of the Kanban Card Properties
2.1. Card Properties in the Header
2.2. Card Properties Inside the Card
2.3. The Position Control View
2.4. The Closed Card View
3. How to Configure Your Card View?
4. Description of the Kanban Card Tabs
The Kanban card is one of the main components of Businessmap. Let's explore its purpose, configuration, and capabilities!
1. The Definition of a Kanban Card
Together with the Kanban board, the card is an essential part of Businessmap. It represents a work item that carries information about a task, including who is responsible for it (a.k.a. its owner), its title and description, its size and priority, and many other key details.
When moving cards on the board, you essentially indicate their work progress within the workflow.
2. Overview of the Kanban Card Properties
When you create a card, it is important to fill in the task-related details within the designated card fields. You can start by giving your card a name and assigning an owner. Once ready, click on the Add card button in the bottom right corner to finalize the card creation process.
Whenever you click inside the description field, a rich-text editor will become available. It also supports markdown for simple text formatting. You can add a description that is relevant to the task.
The title of the card (or initiative) is sticky, meaning it will stay fixed at the top of the page while you scroll through its description and details.
2.1. Card Properties in the Header
The card "dissection" below illustrates the structure of the card, highlighting the location of all relevant card properties and functionalities.
2.1.1. Top right side
In the top right corner of the card header, you will find the following card details:
- Color (1): Selecting a custom color for a card is a quick and easy way to make it stand out, as well as to categorize and group your work for further reporting.
- Priority (2): It indicates how urgent a task is. There are 4 stages of priority in Businessmap: Low, Average, High, and Critical, visualized by different colors.
- Template (3): You can create templates of cards with predefined properties. This will cut the time it takes to set up all necessary properties whenever a new card is created. Just apply the template, and the card will convert to the desired structure.
- Settings (4): This is a shortcut to many of the functionalities available in the closed card view (e.g. block the card, add a sticker, log time, etc.).
- Close the card (5)
2.1.2. Top left side
This is where you can apply a type to your card. In Businessmap, card types help you categorize your tasks by using predefined categories. Types are added at the board level, and you can customize them to meet your requirements (if you have the necessary permissions in the Card Controls).
To apply a type to your card, click on the Card Type icon in the upper left corner. This will open a dropdown menu with all types that have been added to the board. Just select the type you want from the available options.
2.2. Card Properties Inside the Card
To the right of the description field, you will see four distinct sections:
- Card fields
- Custom fields
- Attachments
- Links overview
In the Card fields menu (1), you can set:
- Owner — this is the user who is working on the task and responsible for its completion.
- Co-owner — this is for other team members who are contributing to the completion of the task.
- Deadline — use the Calendar picker to set a deadline for the task.
- Size — you can use different values to indicate how big a task is.
- Tags — tags let you organize your cards by certain criteria which makes it easy to filter cards later on.
Use the plus icon if you want to add additional card fields:
- Watcher — When someone is assigned as a watcher to a card, they receive notifications for any changes that have been made on that card, even if they are not subscribed to get notifications for the board where the card is located.
- Custom card ID — This field lets you assign a custom ID number to the card, separate from its internal Card ID. If you enter a custom ID, it will replace the internal Card ID which is visible at the top left corner of the card.
- Milestones — Select this field if you want to associate milestones with the current card. Similar to tags, you can select multiple milestones per card from the available dropdown. On hover, you will see the date the milestone is scheduled for.
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Custom fields (2) that you have enabled for the board — custom fields let you extend the properties (fields) of your cards without limitations. If you have many custom fields in a card, you can view them in a separate window by clicking the “Open to spacious view” icon. You can also organize custom fields within a card by category using the “Group by categories” icon.
Important: Once you select a custom field from the dropdown, it will appear under the Custom fields section, and you can enter its value. If a custom field is marked as “Always present,” it will instantly appear on each card.
The attachments section (3) shows all files attached to the card. Use the plus icon (+) to upload a file from your computer, Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, or OneDrive. You can also select a card cover from the attached files.
The Links overview section (4) visualizes all card relations in the system, as well as their type of links. Click on any of the links to open the related card. Use the plus icon to link the current card to new and existing cards in the system and to instantly establish their type of relation.
2.3. The Position Control View
At the bottom of each card, you will find the Position Control View that lets you easily move the card to the next stage on the board.
The Position control mirrors the workflow stages of the board where the selected card is currently located. The stages that the card has already passed through are colored in grey. The stage where the card is currently at is marked with an icon matching that stage's color. For example, if a card is in the In Progress column, the icon will be colored in orange (see image above). This lets you identify where the card is at a glance.
You can click on any of the stages ahead and the card will immediately be moved to that position. Just don't forget to click on Update card to save the change.
2.4. The Closed Card View
Once you have created a card, it will be visualized on your board.
The default closed view shows the information you have filled in while creating the card. Unless you have modified your card view settings, you will see the Card ID/Custom Card ID, Title, Owner, Deadline, Priority, Size, Tag, Comment, Subtasks, and Attachments. To modify a field, just click on its icon, and enter the new value. This will update the details without having to open the card.
Important card details:
- Card ID: Every card in Businessmap has a unique card ID. Think of it as the serial number of the card. The card ID is the easiest way to refer to a card in the system. It is displayed at the top left corner of the card. You can replace the internal card ID with a custom ID number to match your company numeral system.
- Cycle Time: It indicates the time a card has spent on the board. Businessmap automatically records the time each card has spent in each stage of the process: from the initial phase until delivery.
- Context Menu: It provides a shortcut to many functionalities in the software. This is the three-dot icon at the top right corner of the card.
- Subtasks: These are small action items that are part of a bigger task, resembling a checklist necessary for completing the overall task.
You can see all this in action in this video:
3. How to Configure Your Card View?
You can customize the card properties you want to see in the closed card view from the Configure views menu. You can access it from the Board Sidebar located to the right of your board.
Note: Only the Title of the card cannot be switched off from the view settings.
4. Description of the Kanban Card Tabs
The Kanban card has six main tabs that appear once it has been created. When you open the card, you will see them as follows: Details, Subtasks, Comments, History, Metrics, and Links.
- Details (1): The Details tab gives you access to all card properties and the Position Control view of the card. It is recommended to add a description of the card in the dedicated text box with more details about the task. A rich-text format is available.
- Subtasks (2): Here you can create and visualize subtasks for the card. A subtask can have two statuses — checked (completed) and unchecked (incomplete). Checkmark a subtask to mark it as done. You can assign subtasks to different users in the account. From the Options menu (the three-dot icon), you can edit, delete, or convert a subtask into a regular card.
- Comments (3): In this tab, you can add comments relevant to the task. If you have set up email integration, you can even send and receive emails from/in the Comments tab. If you mention users in the comment section via the "@" symbol, they will receive an email or system notification that will re-direct them to the card.
- History (4): This tab lets you review the history log of the card. All activities and card changes that happened are documented here. The following information is provided: event type, description, author, details, and date.
- Metrics (5): Here you can get an overview of the lead time, the logged time, and the blocked time for the card.
- Links (6): This tab gives you complete control of the links of each card that you open. You can create new links, monitor the status of existing ones in a Kanban Board/Table/Graph view, and even create new links to related cards.
Note: The cards' titles are added to your browsing history. When you open a card, its title is added to the browsing history, so you can use your browser history to quickly access cards you have opened before.
To learn more about the topic, we recommend reading this Kanban card guide.