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Whiteboards

A free canvas of stickies, text, frames and arrows, where any note can become an issue.

Whiteboards

A whiteboard is an open canvas for sticky notes, text, frames and arrows. Use one for a brainstorm, a retrospective or a rough flow, and when an idea is worth doing, turn it into an issue without leaving the board.

Create a whiteboard

  1. Choose Whiteboards in the sidebar, then New whiteboard.
  2. Give it a Name and pick what to Start from: Blank, Retrospective, Brainstorm or Flow. Each starter lays out a few frames and notes you can rename or delete.
  3. Optionally choose a Project. A board pinned to a project is listed when you choose Whiteboards in that project's header, and offers the project first when you turn something into an issue. Leave it as Not pinned to a project for a workspace-wide board.
  4. Choose Create. The board opens straight away.

The Whiteboards page shows every board as a thumbnail of its layout, with its element count, project and when it last changed. Rename a board by clicking its title at the top of the board.

Add stickies, text and shapes

The toolbar above the canvas has four kinds of element:

  • Sticky — a short note on a coloured fill.
  • Text — a bare label with no background.
  • Frame — a rectangle for grouping things visually.
  • Ellipse — a round shape, also for grouping or for steps in a flow.
  1. Choose a kind in the toolbar, and a colour if you want one.
  2. Click the board where it should go (the toolbar says Click the board to place it). Choose Cancel to put the tool down.
  3. Type its text straight away. Double-click any element later to edit its text.

Drag an element to move it, and drag the handle at its bottom-right corner to resize it. Use the zoom buttons at the right of the toolbar to zoom in and out; click the percentage to reset to 100%.

Connect elements with arrows

There are two ways to draw an arrow between two elements:

  • Select an element, then drag one of the small handles on its edges onto another element.
  • Select an element, choose Connect to… in the side panel, then click the element it should point at.

Arrows stay attached as you move the elements at either end.

Deleting an element also deletes every arrow attached to it.

Colour, arrange and delete

Select an element to open its side panel. From there you can:

  • Pick a Colour, or Clear it.
  • Under Arrange, bring it to the Front or send it to the Back when elements overlap.
  • Choose Delete, with any connectors attached (or Delete this connector for an arrow).

Delete board at the top removes the whole board for everyone. Issues created from it are kept.

Turn a note into an issue

  1. Select the sticky, text or shape.
  2. Under Issue in the side panel, choose a project and an issue type (Epic, Story, Task or Bug).
  3. Choose Create issue. The element's text becomes the issue title.

To point an element at an issue that already exists, type its key in the box below (for example ABC-12) and press Enter. A linked element shows the issue key on the canvas; click it to open the issue. Choose Unlink to remove the link without touching the issue.

Issues made from a board are ordinary issues: they get the project's default status, assignment rules and automation like any other.

Working with others

Everyone who can see the board can open it at the same time. The avatars at the top of the board show who else has it open. Each change is saved as you make it; changes made by someone else appear when your page next refreshes its data, so reload if you need to be sure you are looking at the latest version.

Who can do what

  • Anyone whose role can view issues can view whiteboards.
  • Adding elements and creating boards needs permission to create issues; moving and editing them needs permission to edit issues.
  • Deleting a board needs permission to delete issues.
  • A board pinned to a private project is visible only to that project's members and to Owners and Admins.
  • A board holds up to 1,000 elements.

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