Free Card Mirroring

[Martina Klimovicova]

Hello everyone,

I've read a couple articles about card mirroring but didn't find what I need. So just a quick question - is there a way how to mirror cards without having to pay for any external app?

I have several boards with the same cards so is there a way to update one card and have the same card on a different board updated simultaneously?

Thank you.

[Laura Holton _ACE Rotterdam_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @Martina Klimovicova 👋

I've taken a look at this for you and I'd recommend reading this article on Trello if you haven't already >> https://help.trello.com/article/1097-mirroring-cards

Unfortunately if you are looking for a 2-way sync the only option is to pay (after a free trial) for either:

• Unito: With Unito you can mirror cards or entire boards two-ways, meaning updates made on any one version of a card are automatically reflected on all other duplicates.
• Placker: The Placker integration allows you to setup various types of syncs across boards and cards. Check out how to get started with Placker here.
• CardSync: The CardSync integration allows you to create and manage groups of cards that sync with each other across multiple boards.

I hope this helps but if you have any other questions just ask away 😃

All the best,

Laura

[Martina Klimovicova]

Thank you very much Laura!

As you say, I am looking for the 2-way sync so I hope that Trello will release it soon.

Many thanks and have a great day,

Martina

[Kellie Bower]

Trello did a webinar back in February 2021 indicating that by May 2021 they would release the card mirror feature. As of today (a YEAR later), they still haven't delivered. It's frustrating that they would actually present this option and then not deliver when it's probably the highest-requested feature from their users. Hopefully they deliver it at some point, though it's not looking promising.

[AndrewW]

I do not accept that Laura Colton has answered this question. How do I change the annoying "Answer accepted" label — when clearly the answer provided does not really address the question?

Perhaps "Question avoided" or "Question ignored" labels are needed?

[Alex W]

@AndrewW - Laura is not an Atlassian team member but a valuable member of our Community Leaders. The OP of this post, Martina, marked her answer as accepted as she believed it answered her question. Laura added these mirroring options as an addition to Dan's answer above. She did not avoid nor ignore Martina's question. 

@Laura Holton _ACE Rotterdam_ - thank you for all you do for the Trello Community! 

[AndrewW]

My mistake — apologies for any offence caused.

[Dan Ivory · Accepted solution]

Hey @Martina Klimovicova 

You will be able to soon as Trello are working on their own version of this. However some features will probably be for Business Class users only, though this is still TBC.

I made a video a little while ago with some details of what we know so far about this. Though last I heard it they were aiming for late May for a release, but let's see!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyQS-kf8OG8 

Hope that helps,

Dan

[Martina Klimovicova]

Thank you, Dan. I hope they will release it soon.

[TechBloom]

Hi Dan i recived this information via this Youtube video you are sharing. 
Hope it's released soon.

[Sarah Rieth]

It is now mid August! Does anyone know if or when Trello will be releasing their version of card mirroring???

[Dan Ivory]

Hey @Sarah Rieth , unfortunately I don't think it is due anytime soon now, the original plans didn't work as expected from what I can tell here https://www.reddit.com/r/trello/comments/or41ng/card_mirroring_release/

[AndrewW]

We are finding the cost of Trello plus the cost of add-ons to add functionality that really should be part of Trello, is making the whole thing way too expensive. 

Being able to mirror cards (two-way) so that we can have a 'Master' board that tracks a number of project boards is really the only way we have found of making Trello anything like usable. It is bizarre that the examples shown in videos are so simplistic (organising your shopping!) when, like many users, we need to be able to use Trello to manage multiple large projects — none of which are shopping or software development!

The Unito add-on is great, but it's quite ridiculously overpriced (they expect us to pay over $980 a year for what we need!!). There is a recession looming and we are now seriously considering what value we really get from Trello in comparison to the total cost we have to pay.

Please — core features like card mirroring should be built into Trello, and users shouldn't be held to ransom by developers of 'add-ons'.

By the way, if there is a way to botch together card mirroring using the existing Trello automation scripts (Butler), please point me to the instructions. Thanks.

[WG Trello Admin]

Hi Andrew, Yes you could do a simplistic version of this with the current automation tools. using something like, the following approach, this is a specific example, but you could use all sorts of triggers. but you will need to do it field by field, rather than just a whole card update.

Works OK if you have a small number of key fields that need to be in synch. but its a one way push update, if you need a two way synch, this may cause a looping issue.

when custom field "xxxx" is set in a card in list "yyyyy" with a name starting with "blah -", for each card linked in the attachments, set custom field "xxxx" to "{customfieldvalue}"

https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/mirroring-cards/

[AndrewW]

Thanks for the suggestion. We did set this up to try and unite cards from around a dozen project boards into a 'Master' board. As stated previously, we manage multiple projects with teams that range between 8 and 35 persons.

Unfortunately, as you stated, the Butler automation workaround is somewhat limited.

I just wanted to gently prod you to see if there was an update on the native card mirroring in Trello first announced in May 2021... Any progress on this? I see you have released a number of recent updates relating to, for example, different 'views' of Trello content (e.g. the new 'Table' view). I'm afraid that, for us at least, these are unneeded bells and whistles that don't address core functionality gaps in Trello.

Over the past month, we have trialled replacing Trello with GoogleSheets — using one master sheet (tab) drawing on multiple projects sheets in the same workbook.

I hate to say it, but this works better for us than Trello — in terms of running weekly review meeting and project management meetings! We are using linked shared folders to store items relating to projects / tasks that would normally be 'attachments' in our Trello setup.

But I must say, as an early, pre-Atlassian adopter of Trello, I find this rather disappointing. I still hold out hope that one day your team will shift focus to key functionality such as native card mirroring. This would be the update that allows use of Trello to really shift gears, in our opinion.

Until then, I'm afraid we're forced — simply for time-saving and project delivery efficiency reasons — to leave Trello and switch to GoogleSheets for daily and weekly project management. But I do hope one day to be back using Trello.

Until then, best of luck with everything.

[Simon Reed]

I'm having the same problem.  I tried to get the not-for-profits I work with to use Trello and they like it at first but then get stuck.  In one case they wanted to separate routine tasks and ad hoc tasks onto different boards to make management easier, but then found reporting and scheduling was harder.  In another, some of the staff have found Trello great for their personal lives but then cannot visualise work activity and personal activity together, so stop using Trello for their work activity!

Trello is nice and good and great as a Kanban board or a personal To Do list, but as soon as you have more than one project, the lack of visibility and management of multiple boards concurrently just gets in the way.  And not-for-profit organisations are not going to spend what those add-ons cost.

Even my public sector employer has come unstuck here and the bill for them to have such add-ons is a non-starter.  I suspect we could employ someone to just copy and paste the cards for less money!  We've gone back to spreadsheets.

[Underwood Property Services Ltd]

I've been using Trello for several years and found there are some really good options for managing a specific project on one Board.  We have been reviewing the way we work and how we could use Trello more effectively.  As far as I can see, there does not seem to be a free option for mirroring boards, is this still the case? 

As a small business, we need to keep costs down and I would rather change the project management system than pay a third party a considerable monthly/yearly fee for one feature.  I find it hard to believe that with all the power-up functions, Trello has not solved the mirroring issue that has been ongoing for years.  

Any thoughts or insights into this or alternative methods are much appreciated.  Thank you fellow business owners/Trello community.

[Alexa Jutila]

I just want to keep this thread alive and current because I still really want this feature. I'm baffled how this is not a native feature yet!!!!! I just want Atlassian to know: WE STILL WANT THIS!!!

[Graciela Rincón]

Agree!

[Imogene Grant]

Hi Atlassian, 

This is a really big issue to solve. Can you provide an update on card mirroring into other boards so we can get a master view of work across teams and projects? Otherwise Trello is not a scaleable option. Not interested in paying third parties for add-ons that should be pretty standard and included. 

Thanks!

Imogene

[Imogene Grant]

Not sure why this is congratulating me for posting an answer when I was posting a comment :/

[Craig Canapari]

I too am curious about this feature. Congrats for bumping the thread, maybe?

[AndrewW]

Don't hold your breath!

Atlassian / Trello do not give a sh*t about the needs and requirements of end-users. Like too many once great apps, it's now only about the money. While great for the original founders, selling to Atlassian has ended meaningful development of a once promising tool. Their latest cynical wheeze ("Workspace View") is such an obvious yet half-arsed attempt to avoid the clearly better 'card-mirroring' solution, it's embarrassing.

Unfortunately, Trello is now little more than a sad exemplar of squandered opportunities. Such a waste.

My organisation has dumped Trello-like kanban boards (Trello aptly demonstrated that, beyond shopping lists, such apps actually decrease visibility and project management effectiveness). We're currently trialling awork (www.awork.io). A young app that has yet to be invaded by the money maggots like Atlassian and actually shows some promise. 

[Angger Yofan]

Hi @AndrewW how is your experience using awork, is there a 2 way sync feature in it?

[Graciela Rincón]

THIS IS NOT RESOLVED. WHY IS IT MARKED AS RESOLVED?

IS IT A STRATEGY TO BE FORGOTTEN AND PEOPLE TO FORGET IT?

PLEASE DON'T TREAT US LIKE IGNORANTS!

IF YOU CANNOT PERFORM THE FUNCTION THAT YOU OFFERED, PLEASE COMMIT RESPONSIBLY BUT STOP PLAYING WITH OUR TIME.

[Graciela Rincón]

I would like to know how much longer (days, months, or years) we have to wait for us to have a concrete response to this functionality that was offered to us and we have not yet received since 2020. We are already in 2024 and we still don't have it, we don't have concrete answers, nobody says anything, and nobody gives a viable solution. Using Unito or the other options that are not free but only for a few days, and are more expensive than TRELLO is not an option.

Why do they offer something that they can't deliver to us? - THIS IS NOT SOLVED!!

[AndrewW]

One can only assume that Atlassian has struck some 'deal' with UNITO to withhold this native Trello functionality. But then, from our experience, Atlassian has little interest in really improving Trello — or in the opinions of their users.

Situations like this demonstrate how far the IT (and internet) revolution has travelled. The present model of software development no longer really supports innovation or true improvement longer term (i.e. post IPO or company sale). As apps like Trello mature, simple greed becomes the dominant motivating driver of their once idealistic and revolutionary developers.

I would love to be proved wrong by Atlassian, but (as stated previously) won't be holding my breath!

[Graciela Rincón]

I very much agree with what you say. Exactly the idea that they sold this functionality to UNITO and now perhaps they cannot revoke it or they have some agreement that we do not know about, was the first thing I thought of since I could not find a viable answer to this situation.

Anyway, whether or not they are interested in granting us functionality, the only thing I think they should do is at least RESPECT US as TRELLO consumers and NOT OFFER US things that were 4 YEARS ago (YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!) !!) they cannot comply because that is a lack of respect for the consumer and us as clients/users.

If you are not going to comply, communicate it, but DO NOT PUT THE ISSUE RESOLVED SO THAT IT IS FORGOTTEN BECAUSE THAT IS LYING.

It seems to me that they offered it and they have postponed it or they have forgotten it so that we can forget about this but I have been using TRELLO for 4 years waiting for this and I am honestly getting discouraged.

[Graciela Rincón]

Do you realize that they only put SOLVED ANSWERED on responses that defend their interests? HAHAHA, how ironic! TOO POLITEEE

[Nadja von Massow]

Kraisst, the 2-way-sync is not a native feature? Even for Enterprise Users??

I'm new to Trello and about to sign up for my organisation, but the amount of £$€ to spend on top of the Trello license for even the most obvious and logical utilities like card syncing across multiple boards fir a helicopter view of activities is so essential for project management. 

Showing UNITO where to stick their horrendously overpriced subscription by bringing some of these tools directly into Trello would be amazing. But I have the feeling that UNITO are paying Trello to not do exactly that.

[Kellie Bower]

We use the Enterprise version, and this is not an included feature. You can use power-ups (and pay additional costs) or limited rules (like copying comments made on one card to another), but no, this is not released.

[Nadja von Massow]

Yes, that's what I gathered. Thanks for confirming. I revert back to my original point. It would be a massive added value to the paid Trello plans and take some wind out of UNITO's sail.