Board settings

Board settings is where you shape how a project’s board works. It is the one place to set up the columns that cards move through, and the hub for the project’s labels, epics and roles. You set this up once, near the start of a project, and adjust it whenever the way you work changes.

If the board itself is new to you, read the board overview first.

Board settings is a section of the project’s settings, alongside the project details, its spaces and who may open it. You can get to it two ways: from Settings > Board settings, or from the Board settings tab across the top of the board, which is often nearer to hand when you are already looking at the columns you want to change.

That tab only appears if you are allowed to manage the project, so column setup is usually something an admin or a project manager does. Everyone else simply uses the board that is already set up.

What columns are

A column is a vertical lane on the board that stands for a stage of the work. A card sits in one column at a time, and you move a card from left to right as its task moves forward. A typical building or interior project starts with four columns, ready to use the moment you create the project:

• To do: work that has not started yet.
• In progress: work being done right now.
• Inspection: work that is finished but waiting for a check or sign-off.
• Completed: work that is done.

You are free to rename these, add more, remove the ones you do not need, or put them in a different order. The board is yours to shape around how your team actually works.

The closing (“Completed”) column

One column is special: the closing column, usually called “Completed”. When you drag a card into it, the card is marked as completed and moves out of the active board into the Completed view, with a record of who completed it and when. Drag the card back out, or use Move to backlog, to reopen it.

Because the board relies on having one place for finished work, the closing column is a system column. You cannot delete it or switch it off, and it does not take new cards from the New card button. It is always there to catch completed work. You can still give it a name and a colour that suit your project.

Active and inactive columns

Every other column has an on/off switch.

• An active column shows on the board and can hold cards.
• An inactive column is hidden from the board. The column and any setup stay safe, but nobody sees the lane until you switch it back on.

Turning a column off is a tidy way to simplify a busy board, or to park a stage you are not using yet, without losing it. The closing column cannot be switched off, since the board always needs somewhere for finished work to land.

How to set up your columns

Add a column

1. Open the board and go to Board settings (or Settings > Board settings from anywhere in the project).
2. In the Columns section, click Add column.
3. Type a name (at least two letters) and pick a colour from the swatches.
4. Save. The new column appears at the end, ready for cards.

Each column name must be unique on the board. If you try to add one that already exists, Wyroo tells you and lets you pick another name.

Rename a column or change its colour

Open the column’s menu (the three dots) and choose Edit, then change the name or colour and save. You can also double-click a column row to open the same editor.

Reorder the columns

Drag a column up or down by its handle (the small grip on the left of the row). The order you set is the left-to-right order cards see on the board.

Turn a column on or off

Use the switch on the column’s row. Off hides the lane from the board; on brings it back.

Delete a column

Open the column’s menu and choose Delete, then confirm. A column can only be deleted when it is empty: if any cards are still in it, Wyroo asks you to move them out first, so no card is lost by accident. The closing column cannot be deleted at all.

Tip: Keep the number of columns small. Three to five clear stages that everyone understands beat a long row nobody keeps up to date.

Labels, epics and roles

Board settings is also the home for the rest of a project’s board setup:

• Labels and epics: colour-coded tags and named groups that help you sort, group and filter cards. See Labels and epics.
• Roles: who is involved and in what capacity, from the architect to the electrician. See Roles.

You manage all of these in the same Board settings section, so setting up a new project is one stop rather than several.

Who can change board settings

Changing board settings is limited to members of the company that owns the project who are allowed to manage it. In practice that means people on the owning team with project-management rights. Invited collaborators from other companies, and team members with view-only access, can see and use the board but will not see the Board settings tab and cannot change the columns, labels, epics or roles.

If a company’s subscription has lapsed and the workspace is read-only, board settings cannot be changed until billing is back in good standing, even for an owner. The board itself stays readable.