Looking for simple Deleting Lists workaround

[PeterD]

In the Trello documentation, it is mentioned that lists and cards cannot be deleted:
Deletion is permanent in Trello and in an effort to prevent accidental deletions we do not have an option to delete a list on the original board. 
On the other hand, it is quite easy to delete a complete board, accidental or not. (?)
So the only workaround to delete a list is to move it to another board and delete this board.

Tedious in my case: I have a board with 60+ guests, with two lists per day for tasks. At the end of the month, the users remove the lists by archiving it - deleting is not possible-. So I now have a board hitting the limit of 2.850 lists (archived and active)

The users now cannot create new lists, according to the Trello workaround, I now have to move all the archived lists back to active and move them to another board. Doing this a few thousand times is not why I got into this business.

Only solution: duplicate the board, only active lists are copied.
But I still have to find a way to direct the 60+ guests to this new board.

Is there no scripting solution to delete my 2.800+ archived lists?

[Theodoro Reato]

Hi Peter, 

Unfortunately, you mentioned all the options, there isn't a native feature to bulk delete lists, 

We don't have visibility on third-party Power-ups, so you may find one that suits your needs. 

In the future you can create an automation, such as scheduled automation to move all the cards from the lists you usually archive to a different board, then you can delete the backup board or just rename it. The scheduled automation would be also able to move the list to a different board.

Right now, you would need to copy the board as you mentioned and worked on the new one, inviting all your users once more, or you can unarchive the lists and transfer it to a different board. 

Let us know how it goes

[PeterD]

Unfortunately, as far as I can see, Scheduled or Triggered automation only allows me to move or otherwise manipulate cards, not lists.

I would love to create an automation that moves lists to a Trash board on archiving.
But again, in none of the automation presets I can manipulate lists.

I have instructed all the users to join a Trash board and move superfluous lists to this board. Problem solved, sort of.

[Theodoro Reato]

Hey Peter,

Hope you're having a nice week,

I tested and I was able to create board buttons and also scheduled automation to move lists with the cards on them, here are the actions you'd need to use:

Any doubts let me know.

[PeterD]

For all of these actions, I have to explicitly name in the automation the list in that should be moved. 

These list names are all dynamic, so that would not work.
The automation would only work for one list at one time. 

[PeterD]

This is a typical board for one of our departments, as you can see, the overview is great in Trello. Not being able to easily delete the lists of items that are already published is not a problem, but eventually the threshold is reached.

[Theodoro Reato]

Yeah, you're correct,

Unfortunately, there isn't a way to create automation where a list would be archived based on a different trigger - in your case being published, 

I don't understand your scenario enough to think of a different workaround, renaming the lists to a different name would be possible? Such as the list naming To be published/Working on/Published.

In this case, you could transfer or archive the cards for the Published list keeping the same list on the board, moving only the cards.

[PeterD]

The trigger is not a problem. It could be Archive List (AND move to Trash Board).

Another workaround could be: rename the lists that should be deleted to 'done' and create a board button that moves a list called 'done' to the Trash Board.

The problem here is: when I rename 5 lists to 'done' and click the board button, only 1 list per click is moved. So I have to click the board button 5 times. 

So I'll have to remind people of their instruction to move a list to Trash Board rather than archive it.

[Theodoro Reato]

There's a workaround for multiple lists with the same name, you can add multiple times the same actions, 

Let me know if it worked.

[PeterD]

That's something that I can try. For now I have to remind Wokspace members and Guests to clean up after them by moving superfluous lists to the Trash Board.

But there is something else.
When a guest can completely see and use one board and can completely see and use the Trash board, it's not possible for them to move a list from the one board to the Trash board.

[PeterD]

Also, I've created this Board button Done and delete which moves lists named done to the Trash board.
But I'm the only one that can see this button.
No other Workspace member or Guest can see this button, even after furiously refreshing the Trello board in their browser.

[Sal]

Hey @PeterD, if your board members (Guests) aren't seeing the board button, it is because you have the checkboxes Enabled on all boards on this workspace and Shared with this Workspace checked. Doing this way, it will only share the board and card buttons with Workspace members. In this case, disable the option Enable on all boards on this Workspace, and your board members should be able to see the board button.

You can read more about it here: https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/creating-and-managing-butler-commands/#Share-Automation-buttons

[PeterD]

The instructions are somewhat ambiguous.
But if I understand correctly, by checking the boxes Enabled on this board AND Enabled on all boards on this workspace and leaving Shared with workspace unchecked, the Board Button I created will be visible to all users Guests and Members alike on all boards.

[Sal]

Nope! You'll need to leave only the Enabled on this board enabled to allow your Guests (board members) to see your Automation button. Otherwise, only your Workspace members (including you) will have access to it. I hope that helps! 

[PeterD]

Well, I mentioned the instructions were somewhat ambiguous.
So I created a guest account for myself in order to see what a Guest would see.
Checking the Enabled on this board AND checking Shared with Workspace gave me as a guest and me as a member access to the board button.
Sharing is caring, I thought, and this worked, so I keep it this way.

Only thing is I had to create this board button on each board separately.

Thank you very much for the assistance.

[Theodoro Reato]

Hi Peter,

Yeah, totally agree the naming of the option could be changed to something clearer. 

Actually, it'd be the opposite, disabling Enabled on all boards on this Workspace and Shared with Workspace, will share the button with all users inside the board Guests or Workspace members, 

To use the board button the user will need to be a member of the Trash board. Unfortunately, right now the workaround exists when you're moving only the cards, not the entire list,

If you want to move only the cards of the list you can set a label with the board button and then a rule which moves the cards with this label to the Trash board, it won't for the whole list thought.

[PeterD]

I have tested this with premium members (me and some other members) and with guest users (me and some other guest members) and checking the Enabled on this board AND checking Shared with Workspace together seemed to work.
And with the lists, all the cards are sent to oblivion. 
As you mentioned, access to the Trash board is a prerequisite. 

In my instruction mail to guests and members, I included the share link of this board.

Also: I discovered the name-trigger is not case-specific. Also nice to know.

[Theodoro Reato]

Cool, any other doubts let us know,

Hope you have a good week.