Dashboard from multiple boards

[zu.mikyskova]

Dear, 

is there any free way how to automatically export or view the task across the different boards, that are for example in the column "Doing"?

I found only Unito, that looks great but firstly I am curious if there is really not any free way how to achive some simple overview.

Thank you very much in advance

Zuzana

[Esme Crutchley · Accepted solution]

Hi!

I have a 'desktop' board that everything feeds into, meaning that anything I need to know about on any of my boards (I have a few) comes into one place.

I run a Butler command for 100 days (I like to be prepared!), it looks like this:

Admittedly, I have a lot of lists that I have Butler running on in the desktop:

So even though a card due in 100 days comes into 'Upcoming' I have further Butler commands to move cards when they are 2 weeks away and when they are due this week and so on. 

I have the command set this way, and not any other way, so that I know well in advance when something is coming, and also if I forget to move a card into the 'Doing' list on another board it doesn't matter because as long as it has a due date on it, it'll always come onto my desktop board.

I'm a bit of s Butler nerd, so feel free to ask away!

Esme :)

[Esme Crutchley]

I will point out though, if you have due dates already set on cards and you want those to come into the 'desktop' board - you have to go through each board & card and remove the due date and add it back again. This command only works on 'new' due dates, so anything that already has a due date, won't work!

Just thought I'd point that out!

Esme :)

[zu.mikyskova]

Dear Esme, thank you very much, I just create my first rule, but still need your help.

For example - I created the rule, that when anybody add my employee to the any card in other boards, the card is copy to my new board "Overview dashboard".

The aim is to have in one place (in Overview dashboard) every task from different boards that the employee have to do.

The question is - how should I create the rule that when the employee finish that task and in original board move it to column Done, it will be removed or archived or also moved to Done on my "Overview dashboard"?

Thanks a lot:)

Zuzana

[Esme Crutchley]

Hi Zuzana,

You are most welcome! Woohoo for your first rule!

I will point out that I have the paid version of Trello, and I am aware that previously there were limitations on Butler commands, and I know you wanted to do it for free, so I'm not sure if your business is on the paid Trello plan which means you won't have the same Butler limitations (just didn't want to pay out on TOP of Trello - which is exactly what I didn't want either!) or if you were just looking to keep things free because you're on the free version of Trello. I also want to point out that I use Trello on my own, even though I have the business version, my husband has an account but only watches my 'desktop' board.

So with that in mind, this is what I would have something like this (remembering that I don't have a 'done' list, I have an 'Archive 2019' list):

At the end, where it says archive the card, you could have 'move to done' - as long as you have a 'done' list on the individual boards. You could also have something that looked more like this:

So if you wanted the cards to stop being related, this is how you could separate them.

I will say that I have a few commands which are MUCH more involved than this, which might be helpful, they post comments, change the card name, add dates and all kinds of things, which might be useful. But I don't want to bombard you with that if it's not something that you can use. Please feel free to let me know and I'll happily post again with more commands!

Esme :)

[zu.mikyskova]

Wow, Esme, you are great.

I am on free version because until now it was sufficient and I do not want to pay just for one special enhancement. But your manual works perfect in free version, so really big thanks to you:) Now I am going to play with this but am very grateful that I possibly can contact you again with another question:)

Best regards

Zuzana

[Esme Crutchley]

Thanks Zuzana!

I had the free version for about 2 weeks, then I went to Gold for about 2 weeks and now I've been on business since late January! I have the education plan because I'm a Master's student, so it's not quite as expensive as the full paid business plan, but I still get all the same perks!

If you're ever unsure on how many Butler commands you've used and what's taking up what, click on Butler on any board, bottom left has 'Account' if you click on that you'll get a little box like this, which shows you how many you've used and an approximation of how much you've got left. That's when I knew I needed Business, because I'd run out!

So it breaks down what you can have, so a command run is basically a trigger, and the operations is everything after the trigger that you get it to do. I only have 1 person in my Business Class, so I have the lowest it's possible to have, but on my personal account I also get Trello Gold (which, being truthful I never use because of the limitations!). But I thought it might be useful to show you where you could find it, because they can rack up really quickly and it's perfectly possible to find that commands aren't running and you didn't realise and because they're not running, things aren't where they're supposed to be! So, from personal experience, keep an eye on that screen!

More than happy to be helpful in the future if you need me :) 

[Esme Crutchley]

So in this example, I have 1 command (the click of the button) and then 8 operations.

This quota is taken out EVERY time you run a Butler Command, click a Board Button, Click a Card Button, every time a calendar command runs, and every time a due date command runs, so in the beginning, be careful about what you run and when!

[JC]

Dear Esme @Esme Crutchley 

I'm so happy to have found this post! I'm looking to set up the exact system you have in relation to "Desktop" board, where other boards feed into. But I find all the butler rules all bit too complicated :(

In my Desktop board, I have the following lists:

1. Overdue

2. Due today

2. Due this week

3. Due next week

4. Due 2 weeks later 

5.  Upcoming (due in 30 days)

May I ask you assistance and guidance on how to create the necessary butler rules?

Your assistance would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

JC

[Esme Crutchley]

Hi @JC 

Okey dokey, where to start! I have a LOT of rules!

Let's start with getting cards from other boards into the 'Desktop,' which looks like this:

Obviously, you can change it to 30 days where mine is 100 (I just like being prepared!).

So that gets the cards INTO the 'Desktop' through a rule and into the Upcoming list.

Then we need to organise them into their due dates using a calendar command.

To get cards into 'next week': 

To get cards due this week into the 'this week' list, you want something like this:

Then to get today's cards into the 'today' list - something like this:

Make sure that the 'this week' and 'next week' commands happen BEFORE the daily one, otherwise the 'today' tasks will pop back into the 'this week' list - not helpful! 

Let me know if I can help with anything else!

Esme :)

[Esme Crutchley]

Just to clarify - 

The 30 or 100 day rule needs to be enabled on ALL other boards you want feeding into the 'desktop'

The 'this week' 'today' and 'next week' need to be enabled ONLY on the 'desktop' board

Sorry, just realised that I didn't explain that properly!

Esme :)

[Esme Crutchley]

To get the overdue cards moved over, this is the due date command that I have:

[JC]

Hi Esme @Esme Crutchley ,

Thanks so much for your tutorial!! (sorry not replying earlier as life's been a bit hectic lately; hence all the more reason I need to use Trello to organise my life!)

The way you explained the rules certainly makes using butler much more logical and simpler!

I have set up the system now as you described it but noticed one issue. When I change a due date of a card in a feeder board (i.e. board feeding into desktop), it doesn't change the due in the desktop board (and vice versa). How to make the due dates sync in both boards?

Thanks!

JC 

[Esme Crutchley]

Hi @JC 

Ok, on the original board (where you copied the card from) provided that you linked the cards when you copied them, you can have a rule like this:

That should move the original card due date to the one you've just created *cross fingers*

Let me know if that works!

Esme :)

[JC]

Hi Esme, @Esme Crutchley 

Great advice again! Thanks so much for your help!

I've encountered another issue after implementing the above rule.

Whenever I change a due date on a card on the feeder board, a new copy of that card gets copied to desktop board. So I end up have multiple copies of the same card on the desktop board with different due dates.

Any ideas how to fix this?

Thanks!

JC

[JC]

@Esme Crutchley 

I guess need to set up a rule to stop copying cards to desktop board whenever a due date is changed on feeder board?

[Esme Crutchley]

Hi @JC 

I know exactly the problem you're having!

I didn't manage to find a way around it except deleting the duplicates. The only other way I found to do it, is to have a Butler rule on the 'desktop' board to change the due date on the 'feeder' card.

I've not used it, but I would imagine it looks something like this:

[Derrick]

Hello Esme,

Thank you for your useful helps posted here.  I managed to do it.  Since I am on free Trello, I am limited by 50 command runs and 500 operations.  Sad to see this.  I don't need other features and, I wonder if there is anyway or alternative I can have to achieve more commands and operations?

Thanks in-advance.

Regards,

Derrick

[Esme Crutchley]

Hi Derrick!

Welcome to the Community!

Unfortunately, unless you upgrade to Gold which has 200 command runs and 2,000 operations, there isn't a way to get more.

I don't know if @Iain Dooley might be able to help with Trellinator here?

Esme :)

[Iain Dooley]

@Derry @Esme Crutchley thanks for the ping Esme, Trellinator can certainly be used to do most of the commands that Butler does, but may not be cheaper because unless you're a programmer you still have to get it written and even then you'll typically need to pay for a G-Suite account to host the code. So it can certainly provide a more viable alternative in some cases but no always:

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

[Derrick]

Noted and thanks, Esme and Iain.

I am interested on the Trello Gold.  What is the difference between command runs and operations?  Gold have 200 command runs and 2,000 operations.  I tried just now (with free version) and I have simple dashboard features.   I moved 1 card, it use 1 command and 1 operation for each use?

[Esme Crutchley]

No worries, Derrick!

What do you mean by 'dashboard'?

You can have multiple operations under 1 command:

So in this example, I have 1 command and 7 operations.

Commands are button presses (when you create a board or card button), anything that you set a rule for, so calendar commands or things like that. Operations are the things that it does because/based on something else that you've done.

Does that make sense?

Esme :)

[Esme Crutchley]

So this is a card button that I've created, it has 1 command (clicking the button on the back of the card) and 5 operations:

[Derrick]

Thanks for your response, Esme.

I used Trigger Rule (or Create Rule).  Does this count as 1 command?

[Esme Crutchley]

Yup Derrick, everything on the left hand side is a Command:

Everything you add underneath it, is an operation

[Derrick]

Thanks, Esme.

Gold have 200 command runs and 2,000 operations per month.  And, it doesn't matter how many commands/operations I created as the actual command and operation runs will only be counted per month, right?

[Esme Crutchley]

No worries Derrick.

Yes, you're right.

You can set up as many or as few as you like, but once you hit 200 command runs (or 2000 operations), no Butler rules will run until the start of the next month, when the quota resets.

Hope that's helpful!

Esme :)