Mini-boards allow you to create a nested kanban board inside a card. This powerful feature helps you break down complex tasks into subtasks without cluttering your main board. When a single card represents work that has multiple distinct steps, a mini-board provides the structure to track those steps individually.
Understanding mini-boards
Think of a mini-board as a card's own personal project board. While your main board tracks high-level tasks, a mini-board lets you dive into the details of a specific task.
For example, imagine you have a card called "Prepare quarterly presentation". This single task actually involves multiple steps: gathering data, creating slides, writing speaker notes, rehearsing, and incorporating feedback. Rather than creating five separate cards on your main board, you can keep "Prepare quarterly presentation" as one card and use a mini-board inside it to track each step.
When to use mini-boards
Mini-boards are useful when:
- A task has multiple distinct subtasks
- You want to track progress within a larger piece of work
- The subtasks do not need to be visible on the main board
- You want to keep related items grouped together
- A task is complex enough to warrant its own workflow
When not to use mini-boards
Consider keeping items on the main board when:
- The subtasks are independent enough to track separately
- Other people need visibility into the individual items
- The items have different timelines or priorities
- You want the work visible at the board level for planning
Accessing the board
To access a card's mini-board, open the card details window by clicking on the card. In the details window, you will see tabs for different views. Click on the "Mini-Board" tab to see and manage the nested board.
If the card does not yet have a mini-board, you will see a prompt to create your first mini-column.
Creating columns
A mini-board needs at least one column before you can add mini-cards. Mini-columns work similarly to regular columns but exist only within the card.
Adding a mini-column
If the mini-board has no columns, the view shown will ask you to add a first column. Once added, you'll be able to add new columns by clicking the "Add column" icon button in the top right of the card window (next to the pin/unpin button).
- A modal window will open prompting you to enter the name of the column to add.
- Enter the and press return or click the "Add new Column" button
- The modal will close and the new column added after the last on.
Naming mini-columns
Mini-column names should be:
- Brief, as the mini-board has limited horizontal space
- Clear about what state items are in
- Consistent with how you think about subtask progress
For a mini-board, simpler column structures often work best:
- "To Do" and "Done" for basic tracking
- "Not Started", "In Progress", "Complete" for more detail
- Custom stages specific to the task at hand
Mini-Column name length limits
Mini-Column names have a character limit of 50 characters to ensure they display well throughout the interface.
Column headers
Each mini-column displays a header containing the column name and optional card count.
Mini-Card count display
When enabled in Settings, the mini-column header shows how many mini-cards are in that column. This helps you quickly assess workload distribution across your workflow stages.
You can enable or disable the mini-card count display in Settings under Board Settings.
Mini-Column menu
Click on the mini-column header to access the mini-column menu. This menu provides options for:
- Renaming the mini-column
- Clearing all mini-cards from the mini-column
- Deleting the mini-column
Renaming columns
To rename a mini-column:
- Click the 3-dot menu on the mini-column to open it's menu
- Select "Rename Column"
- A modal will open
- Edit the new name
- Press return or the save changes button
- The modal will close and the mini-column name will be updated.
Reordering columns
The order of mini-columns matters in kanban. Work typically flows from left to right, so your leftmost mini-column should represent the earliest stage and your rightmost mini-column the final stage.
To reorder mini-columns:
- Click and hold on a mini-column header
- Drag the mini-column left or right
- A visual indicator shows where the mini-column will be placed
- Release to drop the mini-column in its new position
The new order saves automatically and persists across app sessions.
Drag behaviour
When dragging a mini-column:
- The mini-column being dragged becomes slightly transparent
- Other mini-columns shift to make room
- A drop indicator shows the target position
- Mini-cards within the dragged mini-column move with it
Deleting columns
To delete a mini-column:
- Click the 3-dot menu on the mini-column to open it's menu
- Select "Delete Column"
- A confirmation dialog appears
- Confirm to proceed
Important: Deleting a mini-column permanently removes the mini-column and all mini-cards within it. All mini-card content, checklists and attachments (if not used on other mini-cards) are deleted. This action cannot be undone.
Before deleting
Consider whether you want to preserve any mini-cards. If so, drag them to another mini-column before deleting this one. Once a mini-column is deleted, all its mini-cards are gone permanently.
Alternatives to deletion
Instead of deleting a mini-column, you might:
- Rename it: If the issue is just the name
- Clear it: If you want to keep the mini-column but remove all cards
- Move cards out: Drag valuable mini-cards to other mini-columns first
Clearing cards
Sometimes you want to remove all mini-cards from a mini-column without deleting the mini-column itself. This is useful when:
- Clearing completed items from a "Done" mini-column
- Starting fresh with a clean slate
- Removing outdated items in bulk
To clear mini-cards from a mini-column:
- Click the 3-dot menu on the mini-column to open it's menu
- Select "Clear Cards"
- A confirmation dialog appears warning that all mini-cards will be deleted
- Confirm to proceed
Important: Clearing a mini-column permanently removes all mini-cards within it. All mini-card content, checklists and attachments (if not used on other mini-cards) are deleted. This action cannot be undone.
Creating cards
Please refer to mini-cards for comprehensive information on working with mini-cards on a mini-board
Board limits
The basic version of Kanodo has limits on mini-board features:
- 2 mini-columns per card
- 10 mini-cards total (across all cards)
- 5 checklist items per mini-card
The Pro version removes these limits, allowing unlimited mini-columns, mini-cards, and checklist items.
See Basic Vs Pro for details on version differences.
