How to forward content of an email to the right card

[Jonas Spring]

Often a client will write to me about a project we are working on. I want my team to know what was said when they access the card for that client. In the past we have manually copy pasted the email into the correct card and uploaded attachments. I know that I can create a new card for a new client by forwarding the email to trello. But what I am looking to do is forward the email from an existing customer to their existing card in Trello. 

[Hannah Humbert - Simpla Workflows]

@Jonas Spring have a look at email to card. See: https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/creating-cards-by-email/ scroll down to the bottom under "Email comments to card".

I'd suggest creating a contact and saving it as something like "Trello - client name" so it's easy to find whenever you want to send an email to that client card. 

[Mary from Planyway]

Hi @Jonas Spring 

It's Mary from Planyway power-up for Trello.

To forward an email to an existing card in Trello and have the contents of the email, including attachments, appear as a comment or attachment on that card, you'll need to use a workaround or third-party integration since Trello does not support direct email-to-card updates by default. Here are a few methods to achieve this:

1. Email-to-Board and Move

You're already aware that you can create a new card by forwarding an email to the board's email address. You could continue doing this and then manually move the newly created card to merge with the existing client's card. While not entirely efficient, it keeps all information in one place.

2. Use Third-party Integration Tools

Several third-party tools and services like Zapier or Integromat (now called Make) can automate the process of adding emails as comments or attachments to an existing card. Here's a general idea of how to set it up using Zapier:

• Trigger: The process begins when you receive an email from a client (you can use Gmail, Outlook, or any other email service supported by Zapier).
• Action: Zapier searches for the specific card in Trello based on a predefined search term, such as the client's name or project identifier.
• Outcome: Once the card is found, Zapier adds the email content as a comment and uploads any attachments to the card.

This method requires setting up a Zapier account and possibly a premium subscription, depending on your usage level.

3. Trello Email-to-Board Feature with Labels

If the project or client cards are labeled uniquely, you could use Trello's email-to-board feature to create a new card and then automate the movement of this card to a specific list or merge it with a specific card based on the labels. This might require a combination of email rules and Trello Butler (Trello’s built-in automation tool) to automate as much as possible.

4. Custom Email Handling Script

If you have access to development resources, you could create a custom script that uses the Trello API to search for an existing card by name or other criteria and then posts the email content as a comment to the card. This would require programming knowledge and maintenance but offers the most flexibility and direct integration.