Task Boards

Kanban boards for tracking tasks and milestones without leaving your workspace

Task boards are Kanban-style boards for tracking tasks, milestones, and to-dos without leaving your Plotiar workspace. Whether you are managing a writing schedule, tracking revision notes, or coordinating work with collaborators, task boards keep everything visible and organized in columns you define.

Creating a Task Board

Each project can have multiple task boards, so you can separate different types of work -- for example, one board for editorial tasks and another for research.

1
Open your project
Navigate to the project where you want to add a task board.
2
Add a new task board
Click the "+" button in the sidebar and select "Task Board" from the content type menu. Your new board opens with a default set of columns.
3
Customize your columns
Rename the default columns to match your workflow, or add new ones. Common setups include "To Do / In Progress / Done", "Backlog / Writing / Review / Published", or any structure that fits your process.
4
Start adding cards
Click the "+" button at the bottom of any column to create a new card. Give it a title and, optionally, fill in details like description, due date, priority, and tags.

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If you are not sure how to structure your board, start with three columns: "To Do", "In Progress", and "Done". You can always add more columns later as your workflow evolves.

Columns

Columns define the stages of your workflow. You have full control over how many columns your board has and what each one is called.

Column Management

Create new columns, rename existing ones, reorder them by dragging, or delete columns you no longer need. When you delete a column, any cards in it are removed as well, so move cards to another column first if you want to keep them.

•Add a column by clicking the "Add Column" button on the right side of the board
•Rename a column by clicking its title and typing a new name
•Reorder columns by dragging their header to a new position
•Delete a column from its context menu -- cards inside it will be removed
•Each column shows a count of how many cards it contains

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Keep your column count manageable. Three to five columns usually covers most workflows. Too many columns can make the board harder to scan at a glance.

Cards

Cards are the individual tasks on your board. Each card can carry a rich set of details to give you full context without opening a separate tool.

Title & Description

Every card has a title (required) and an optional description for additional context. The title appears on the card in the board view, while the description is visible when you open the card for editing.

Due Date

Set a due date to track deadlines. Due dates use smart formatting -- upcoming dates show as "Tomorrow" or "In 3 days", and overdue dates are highlighted so nothing slips through the cracks.

Priority

Assign a priority level to each card: Low, Medium, or High. Each level has a distinct color so you can scan the board and spot high-priority items instantly.

Checklists

Add sub-tasks to any card as a checklist. Check items off as you complete them. A progress bar on the card shows how many checklist items are done, giving you a quick sense of completion without opening the card.

Completion Status

Mark a card as complete to indicate it is finished. Completed cards are visually distinguished on the board so you can see what is done and what remains at a glance.

To edit a card, click on it to open the card editor. From there you can update any of the fields above. You can also right-click a card for a context menu with quick actions: edit, duplicate, or delete the card.

Drag & Drop

Move cards around the board by dragging them. Drag and drop is the primary way to manage the flow of tasks across your workflow stages.

Move Cards Freely

Click and hold a card, then drag it to a new position. You can move cards between columns to advance them through your workflow, or reorder cards within the same column to adjust priority. Drop the card where you want it and the board updates instantly.

•Drag a card from one column to another to change its status -- for example, from "To Do" to "In Progress"
•Drag a card up or down within a column to reorder it relative to other cards
•The drop position is indicated by a visual placeholder as you drag, so you can see exactly where the card will land
•All drag-and-drop changes are saved automatically

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Reordering cards within a column is a simple way to indicate relative priority. Put the most important tasks at the top of each column so they are the first thing you see.

Sidebar Tasks

In addition to full task boards, Plotiar offers a lightweight per-document task list in the right sidebar. Sidebar tasks are separate from task boards -- they are quick, informal to-dos that live alongside a specific document.

Per-Document Task Lists

Open the right sidebar while editing any document and switch to the Tasks tab. Here you can add simple tasks with a title and a checkbox. Check them off as you complete them. Sidebar tasks are perfect for tracking small action items like "add dialogue to scene 3", "check name spelling", or "insert chapter break".

•Sidebar tasks are scoped to the currently open document
•Add a task by typing in the input field and pressing Enter
•Check off completed tasks with a single click
•Delete tasks you no longer need
•Sidebar tasks are visible to all collaborators with access to the document

Use sidebar tasks for quick, ephemeral to-dos and task boards for structured, multi-stage workflows. They complement each other well -- sidebar tasks for the small stuff, task boards for the big picture.

Viewer Mode

Collaborators with the Viewer role can see the entire task board but cannot make changes. Viewer mode provides full read-only access to all columns, cards, and card details.

Read-Only Access

Viewers can browse the board, open cards to read their descriptions, checklists, and metadata, and see the overall state of the project. They cannot add, edit, move, or delete cards or columns. This is useful for stakeholders who need visibility into progress without the ability to modify the plan.

•Viewers see the same board layout as editors, including all card details
•Drag and drop is disabled in Viewer mode -- cards cannot be moved
•The "Add" buttons for columns and cards are hidden from Viewers
•Editors and Owners can fully manage cards, columns, and comments

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If you are working with beta readers, clients, or other stakeholders who need to see your progress, share the project with them as Viewers. They get full visibility into your task board without any risk of accidental changes.