The Kanban Card

Cards are the basic unit in Kanbanoo. Each card represents a task or amount of work. In Kanbanoo cards directly correspond to M-Files objects.

Cards can be in collapsed or expanded state. In the collapsed state a card shows only its title, the assignee(s), the deadline and and a set of icons. In the expanded state the card will also show the assignment description (if set)

The Icons on Kanban Cards

The meaning of the icons is as follows:

• The calendar icon

shows the deadline date, if present on the M-Files object. If the deadline has passed it will be highligted in red. If the deadline is today it will be highlighted in yellow.

• The comment icon

shows the number of comments on the M-Files objects (if present). The most recent comment will be displayed as tooltip if you hover the mouse above the comment icon.

• The paperclip icon

shows the number of related documents (if present).

• The checkmark icon

shows the number of separate assignments related to the M-Files object preceeded by the number of completed separate assignments. If all separate assignments are completed it will be highlighted in green. Note that rejected approvals are also considered completed in this context and will result in a green highlight.

Screenshot of Kanban card with annotated elements

A Kanban card in collapsed state showing the most basic properties.

Actions for Kanban Cards

You can select any card with a single click and it will be expanded and be shown in the metadata card or preview window, whichever you have open.

If you double-click on a card Kanbanoo with either open the metadata card (for M-Files objects and multi-file documents) or prompt the user to checkout the document (for single-file documents).

You can drag and drop a card from one column to another within a board. This corresponds to a workflow state transition.

If a workflow state transition is not allowed the corresponding columns will appear greyed out once you grab a card. Note that a drag and drop move of a card may still fail due to lack of permissions or violation of workflow pre- or post-conditions. In such a case the card will drop back into its original location.

You can change the sort order of cards by dragging cards within a column.

The sort order is saved by Kanbanoo and applies to all users, but it does not change the underlying M-Files object and therefore does not require edit permissions to the object.

In Kanban, the sort order of cards within a column can be used to communicate a desired sequencing of work (to be agreed by the team). Note that Kanbanoo will by default append new cards to the end (bottom) of a column [1].

Using the Card Context Menu

Additional actions are accessible via the card's context menu - opened by right-clicking on a card.

The Open command corresponds to a double-click: opens the metadata card or the document.
The Explore in M-Files command opens a new M-Files client window with the card's M-Files object in focus.
The Check Out, Check In and Undo Check Out commands appear based on the current state of the M-Files object and perform the usual action.
The Assign to Me command adds the current user to the assignees.
The Choose title image command (only visible if Show Title Images is checked in the top panel) allows the user to select one image file to be displayed directly on the card. The image can be selected from the constituent files of the M-Files object. The command will be disabled if no image files are found for the selected M-Files object.
The Reload command reloads the card from server.
The History, Relationships and Comments commands open the respective M-Files windows (Desktop client only).
The Move card to command moves a card to a target workflow state that can be selected from the sub-menu.
Assignments will show Mark Complete, Mark Approved and Mark Rejected commands, depending on the state and type of the assignment.
The Delete command deletes the M-Files object (soft delete).

Note that operations may fail due to lack of permissions in which case the user will be notified by an appropriate error message.

Kanban card context menu for assignments

Context menus for Kanban cards: left: documents, right: assignments.

The Kanban Card in Expanded State

In the expanded state a card shows the detailed assignment description, a list of related documents, and optional additional properties of the underlying M-Files object.

A Kanban card in expanded state showing the assignment description and related documents.

Using Files with Kanban Cards

Adding Files to a Kanban Card's object

You can add files to a Kanban card by dragging and dropping files from a Windows Explorer window outside the M-Files client onto a Kanban card. This will add all dragged files to the underlying M-Files object.
For this to work, the M-Files object must be either a multi-file document an object type which has adding files enabled in M-Files Admin [2].
If the underlying object cannot accept files you will see a "forbidden" icon as soon as you drag the files over the Kanban card.
If the underlying object is a single-file document, Kanbanoo will ask you whether you want to convert it to a multi-file document first.

If any of the files are image files you can subsequently chose it to be displayed as "title image" for that Kanban card. Prerequisite is that the "Show Title Images" option is checked in the Kanbanoo top panel. To set a title image, right-click the card and select one of the image(s) from the Choose title image submenu.

Image of dragging a PDF file on a Kanban card

Dropping a PDF file on a Kanban card.

Working with References to Documents

If you wish to simply refer to existing documens in your M-Files vault, you can

use the metadata card and add an appropriate property which refers to your document, or
use the Relationships dialog and add a relationship to your document, or
open a second M-Files window, navigate your target document and add the M-Files object underlying your Kanban card to the relationships (again, using either its metadata card or the Relationships dialog).

Any document referring to the Kanban card's object or referred to by the Kanban card's object will be listed in the Related documents section of the Kanban card. You can click on the link

icon to open a new M-Files client window with the respective related document in focus.

A Kanban card after dropping the "Invoice Scan.pdf" and showing a related document.

Tips

To expand all cards use the "Expand Cards" switch in the Kanbanoo top panel
To move a card to the bottom end of another column initiate the transition from the card's context menu Move Card To and select the target workflow state.
To work with a card's object in a regular M-Files listing, select the card and press the Hide Kanbanoo button in the task area. The M-Files object will remain selected and you can for example inspect related objects.

Footnotes

[1] Cards are appended to the bottom of a column if: i) they become newly visible in the hosting view, or ii) a workflow-state transition is triggered outside Kanbanoo, e.g. using the metadata card, a task area button or automatically by the M-Files server, or iii) a workflow-state transition is triggered using the card's context menu (i.e. not drag and drop).

[2] To allow an M-Files object to have files, you need to ask your M-Files administrator to enable "Objects of this type can have files" in the object type definintion in M-Files Admin, as described in the M-Files User Guide here.