Can I use two templates to build one new board?

[Susan Hewitt]

OK, so we have a number of workflow templates created, but at some steps there are different options. We have new templates that kick in at various branches of the tree. So if I use a template to create a new board and half way through the work flow I need to start using a second template (workflow) on top of the first - can i merge that second template into the same board or do I need to create a second board? 

[Iain Dooley]

@Susan Hewitt instead of merging 2 templates, what about moving cards from one board to another as they go through these different "branches"? I did an implementation at one point that had a similar issue: throughout the life of a card (which was a feature in a software project) it would simultaneously go to two different teams.

As the card got to the end of one board, it was copied and linked to one board, and moved to another, then later "merged" by archiving the copy when it reached the end of its process.

You could do this with Butler something like:

When a card is moved into list "Last list" move it to list "First list" on board "Board 2.1" and copy it to list "First list" on board "2.2" and link the cards together

Another option would be to pull in lists from different template boards on demand as you configure what types of work you'll do during the project. This was something you used to be able to do with Butler Bot but it looks as though "for each list" isn't an option in the power up, but this Trellinator command would do that when you add a label to a "Project Configuration" card:

https://gist.github.com/iaindooley/56dba24e332f4fe785b0f50f6a96fcb7

You can read more about Trellinator here:

https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Marketplace-Apps-Integrations/Introducing-Trellinator-Automate-Trello-with-Google-Apps-Script/ba-p/925271

[Susan Hewitt]

Thanks! I’ll definitely investigate all that!

one thing I found though in copying and moving boards is that they don’t always retain their template status, ie before I discovered templates if I copied a board it got updated everywhere when one person worked on it. So with template I can keep the original by making a new board of it - the new board gets worked on without the template board changing.

if I copied boards across is there a way to do that without the o e in the first place changing?

One option i guess is to make a huge board with everything in it, create a template if it then each time we make a new board you delete out what you don’t need ....  but I feel that still requires me to oversee it a bit rather than automating it for younger staff