Trello Card Creation: I'm Now Automatically "Watching"

[Stephanie Climer]

 Hello! 

For starters: this is NOT in regards to being added as a watcher on a card when a comment is made. This is specifically referring to creating a brand new card in a list.

I have found that starting today, at any point I create a new card through my browser (multiple browsers tested), the "watch" option is automatically selected. Multiple boards and teams were tested.

I can see this feature being useful for some users; but for myself, I create a lot of lists/boards for others, when I really have no interaction with the work itself and have no need to receive notifications. I also create reference boards where there shouldn't be any activity to watch.

This automatic feature has not yet begun on iOS, from my testing. 

Help in subtracting this feature from my use would be remarkably helpful - I make a LOT of cards a day, and hitting "s" for every one is getting old very quickly! 

Thank you!!!!

[Jodi LeBlanc · Accepted solution]

Hi @Stephanie Climer I noticed there were six community users writing in with the same issue since Friday so I thought I would do a bit of investigating. Trello support is looking into it, however you can send info to trello.com/contact See screen shot, they are currently investigating the issue.

Once I know more I will share with you.

Thanks and have a good day,

Jodi

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Hi @Stephanie Climer & @Jessica Kate Tweed I just found out that the Trello team made a temporary change as part of an experiment that includes the behavior you're seeing. There isn't currently a way to disable that, but I've passed your comments about the change along to the team. Sorry for the frustration in the meantime! Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help.

Have a great rest of your day.

Jodi

[Jessica Kate Tweed]

Hi @_Trello_Leader__Jodi_LeBlanc, thanks for the update and passing our comments onto the team!

Good to know it's a temporary change :D Guess I won't be making any boards till the feature is turned off again.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Thanks @Jessica Kate Tweed - it appears to be random at the moment as I have created some cards this morning and they weren't auto-watched. 

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Hi @Stephanie Climer @Carl Blake @petertamashorvath & @Jessica Kate Tweed , the Trello Team received a lot of feedback about this autowatching feature that was recently enabled in Trello.   As a result they are planning to disable the auto-watch feature on creation of new cards for now.  However there is still an auto-watch enabled for any user that changes a due date on a card, that one will remain in effect for the time being. This change will take affect sometime between now and by end of day tomorrow (Thursday) for all Trello sites.

I hope this helps and have a great day,

Jodi

[Dominic_Beaudoin]

Hi Jodi, are there any plans on having the option to disable the auto-watch feature in the future?(I'm sure _some_ people might find it useful) I don't have a use for this and since I change due dates on cards all the time, this is an added hassle/step I'd rather not have to deal with.

That's something I noticed with Trello, that there are very few options you can configure to customize the way it handles. I'll keep details for another post but for example the calendar view, it would be nice to also have the option to display 2 weeks, or 2-3 days at a time, instead of only month / week.

Have a great day!

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Hi @Dominic_Beaudoin I followed up with Trello team yesterday and it is still in experiment mode, they are reviewing the community threads to determine if people find it useful (or not useful) before determining next steps. I will keep you posted when I hear more.

Have you tried the Trello API? https://developers.trello.com It will help you customize your Trello boards and features. 

Thanks and have a fantastic day!
Jodi

[Dominic_Beaudoin]

Thank you @_Trello_Leader__Jodi_LeBlanc for the quick reply.

I don't know how involved editing APIs would be but I will definitely check it out!

[Greg C.]

Hi Like Dominic, I really don't need this option of automatically watching a card when I change the due date. 

I now have to press "s" every time to remove it.

My feedback: Please remove this automatic watching when changing due date of a card, or provide an option in settings to be able to deactivate it. Thanks!

[anomaly13]

I would like to second adding the ability to turn off auto-watch when updating a card's due date - I have enough notifications as it is.

[ebjerkelund]

I am disliking the auto-watch on due date changes. I am changing dates on multiple cards per day and am getting annoyed with all of the notifications I forget to turn off.

Any ETA on turning off auto-watch on due date changes?

[Ben]

@[Trello Leader] Jodi LeBlanc

Created this account just to say: I am also super frustrated by this new feature. Trello cards ARE my reminders - having reminders trigger off of them is just annoying noise to me, and detracts from the value of the overall tool.

Reminders should be optional - not forced on with default and need to be turned off on a case-by-case basis. I set 10-20 due dates a day, so having to do this each time is really frustrating. 

[Jacki Brown]

It looks like last year's "test" is now back. Is this a full feature roll out and if so, can an option please be added to turn it off. It's doubling my time every time I create a card or change the due date on a card to have to turn the watch off. 

[Dominik K_]

+1

[danielwqfree]

any updates on this?

[Thomas Packer]

Ditto most of the comments: Trello people, please stop adding the feature to auto-add people to newly created cards and auto-turn-on "watch" for cards.  Or at least have a setting where we can prevent these auto card settings from happening.  They are extremely annoying.  

[Jessica Kate Tweed]

I have never had this issue up until today. Now suddenly ever card I make, even though it's a private board, I'm automatically watching. SO ANNOYING.

Why is there no way to turn this off! Let's hope someone has some answers.

[Stephanie Climer]

Fingers crossed!!! I'm sure they're testing it. I doubt we're the only ones annoyed. It's an acceptable feature that could be good for some people, but it NEEDS to be toggle-able.

[Dominic_Beaudoin]

I totally agree! People use Trello in so many ways that making things customizable/toggle-able seem like the way to go.

[renee@iterable.com]

IT'S OFF! IT'S OFF IT'S OFF IT'S OFF AND I AM SO GRATEFUL! Thank you for changing this (at least on my end)!!! Best day ever.

[Dominic_Beaudoin]

The auto-watch feature on creating new cards has been disabled for a while, but when changing a due date, it still ads the auto-watch to the card, at least for me.

[Dominic_Beaudoin]

It works! I mean, they changed it, on my end too! Very happy.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Wonderful news, thanks for sharing!

[Chris Buehler]

I stll get the autowatch on every single date I change on a card. This is REALLY super annoying. When will all users get the option to disable this?

[Jodi LeBlanc]

I am sorry to hear this @Chris Buehler are you using the Trello app or a browser? 

[Chris Buehler]

Thanks for your answer, @Jodi LeBlanc I've just tested on two browsers and the mobile app againa and you won't believe it: I didn't get the auto-watch on any of these. Strange, but I'm happy about it. Hope this isn't just temporary.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

That’s wonderful news Chris, thanks for letting me know. 

[Greg C.]

Yes, it's off for me too!!! Thanks for listening Trello !!!!

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Great news!!

[Rich McElroy]

Please! Please! Please! Disable this feature especially on due date change.  It's causing me more work than it's worth...

[renee@iterable.com]

Hi, I also came here today hoping to find a solution and am just chiming in to say I *also* hate this feature and would appreciate a toggle. Thanks!

Also, obviously this is not an answer, just a comment.

[Rodrigo Castro]

I came here hoping to find a solution. Super annoying to de-watch every card. Also, my e-mail gets flooded with notifications because of this.

[Andrew Zhu]

Same here as @Diego Morodo. I edit tens of due dates every day and auto watching is a function that is totally annoying to me. I can imagine that some might find this useful but at least give us an option for disabling it!!! 

Please do fix that!!!

[Diego Morodo]

Hi,

I would like to let you know as a feedback that I have the same : 

Anytime I change a due date on a card I get the watch thing, I absolutely don't need that, since I edit dozens if not hundreds a card a day for which I don't need a reminder, it's a nightmare.

Please allow to disable it as fast as possible.

Thanks!

Fred.

[Carl Blake]

Please disable the automatic Watch feature!

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Thanks @Carl Blake for your feedback, I let the Trello team know. I am waiting on an ETA on when this will be resolved, I will update you when I hear more. Thanks for your patience.
Jodi

[petertamashorvath]

I see I am not the only one with this problem. This is quite a frustrating manual step I have to do for all cards I create. Please disable auto-watch and/or add option to disable it.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Thanks @petertamashorvath for your patience, I hope to have more information from the Trello team soon. I will keep you posted when I know more.

[Ca Ferreira]

It's 2021 and this is still a feature? How can we turn this off? Can I at least use butler to unwatch all my cards?

[matt jackson]

Please either turn it off or provide a means to disable esp. when you are 'testing' the feature -- it is a nuisance for those of us who do NOT need an automatically applied watch. 

[Vladislav]

It is 2023 and the issue is still there. There's no switch or anything, when using it together with Planyway it becomes a complete mess.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Hi Everyone, you can now start or stop watching cards directly from within the notifications panel. Just click on the "..." icon beneath the read/unread dot on the left.  There, set or remove the checkmark to watch a specific board, list or card.

https://help.trello.com/article/799-watching-cards-lists-and-board

Hope this helps so that you don't have to disable each card one by one.

Thanks,

Jodi

[renee@iterable.com]

Hi Jodi! Thanks for the response!

I don't think the issue everyone on this thread is having relates to not understanding how to unwatch cards. It's that no one here wants the Watch feature to enable automatically on any of their cards. The above suggestion doesn't fix that.

Is Trello planning to implement a toggle ability for this feature? Every time I make a new card and set a due date for it, I also have to uncheck the Watch feature afterward. It's a small inconvenience but because I use Trello all day to trask my work tasks, this feels like death by a thousand papercuts. Would really, truly appreciate it if your team could just add the ability to turn that feature off (or they could turn it off for everyone across the board--pun intended).

:)

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Thanks Renee, yes I understand. I just wanted to share the new way of unwatching boards, cards via the notification window. I saw this response on another community post and thought it may be helpful. I will continue to followup with the Trello team to see if the toggle ability will become a feature, last time I checked they were still in the experiment phase with the auto watch for date changes.

~~~~~~~~~~~

@Iain Dooley wrote the following on another post:

I created an integration for Trello called Benko Board:

https://trello.com/integrations/#benkoboard

In addition to allowing you to use Trello as a Gmail client, it also unsubscribes you from every card you're added to (ie. automatically "unwatches" every card when you're added to it as a member).

This means you only get notified about being added, mentioned and removed, and all cards you're added to or mentioned in get a linked copy in a central board so you can see them and prioritise them in one place.

This dramatically reduces the total number of notifications you receive, making them way more useful. It does mean that you need to tell your clients you won't see their comments unless they mention you though (which I've never had a problem with :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope this helps,

Jodi

[Aimee Stokes]

Hello, just adding one more "vote" in favor of disabling auto-watch on cards when changing the due date. My account incorporated this feature within the last two weeks. I don't use the watch feature and strongly dislike having to unwatch cards every time I change the due date (which is every day). 

Along with many others here, I would also like this function to be optional or to have the ability to disable card auto-watch (for both the creation of new cards and changing due dates on existing cards). 

[Sam Haddaway]

This is still happening for me, even on cards where I have not changed a due date.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

How about now Samuel? It is supposed to be fixed by end of day today. Please keep me updated. 

Thanks,

Jodi

[Carl Blake]

It appears to be fixed when checked a moment ago. Thanks!

[Jodi LeBlanc]

That's great to hear, thanks for the update Carl!

[Sam Haddaway]

Fixed for me now, thanks!

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Excellent, so happy to hear that @Sam Haddaway :)

[upthepiano]

@Jodi LeBlanc, I'm still seeing this behavior across multiple boards on multiple accounts. Oddly enough, it only started this week (after it should have been fixed). I'm added as a watcher only whenever I add or change a due date. Can you help?

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Hi @upthepiano Trello disabled the auto-watch feature on creation of new cards, however there is still an auto-watch enabled for any user that changes a due date on a card, that one will remain in effect for the time being. Trello is monitoring the community threads for input on user experience.

[upthepiano]

@Jodi LeBlanc Thanks for the update - I thought the due date aspect had been changed as well. I'd love to see this become optional for people who don't use the watch feature. Unwatching cards has now become one more step for every time I change or add a due date, which is frustrating.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Thanks so much for your patience @upthepiano even though the Trello Team is monitoring the community threads, you may also consider contacting Trello support to let them know how this feature is impacting you. 

https://trello.com/en/contact

Hopefully a workaround is in the works for those affected by this feature.

Thanks,

Jodi