Trello – Visual Project Management and Collaboration Tool

What is Trello?

Trello is a visual collaboration and project management tool that organizes work using boards, lists, and cards. Developed by Fog Creek Software and launched in 2011, Trello was later acquired by Atlassian in 2017. Its intuitive Kanban-style interface makes project management accessible to everyone, from individuals tracking personal tasks to enterprises coordinating complex workflows.

The simplicity of Trello’s drag-and-drop interface belies its powerful capabilities. Cards can contain checklists, due dates, attachments, labels, and custom fields. Power-Ups extend functionality with calendar views, automation, integrations with external services, and advanced reporting. This flexibility makes Trello adaptable to virtually any workflow.

Millions of users across industries rely on Trello for project management, content planning, sales pipelines, product development, event planning, and countless other applications. Its visual approach provides immediate clarity on work status, making it easy to see what needs attention and track progress toward goals.

Key Features and Capabilities

Boards, Lists, and Cards

Boards represent projects or high-level containers. Lists organize cards into stages or categories—commonly “To Do,” “In Progress,” and “Done.” Cards represent individual tasks or items that move through lists as work progresses. This simple hierarchy provides a clear visual representation of workflow.

Card Features

Cards support rich content including descriptions with markdown formatting, checklists with progress tracking, due dates with reminders, file attachments, labels for categorization, and custom fields for additional data. Card comments enable discussion directly on tasks, creating an activity log of all changes.

Power-Ups

Power-Ups enhance Trello’s functionality through native features and third-party integrations. Calendar and Timeline views visualize deadlines. Automation (Butler) executes rules and scheduled commands. Integrations connect Trello with Slack, Google Drive, GitHub, Jira, and hundreds of other services.

Butler Automation

Butler provides no-code automation through rules, buttons, and scheduled commands. Rules trigger automatically based on events (card moved, checkbox completed). Buttons execute multiple actions with a single click. Scheduled commands run at specified times (daily standup reports, weekly cleanup).

Views

Multiple views present board data in different formats. Board view shows the traditional Kanban layout. Timeline view displays Gantt-style scheduling. Calendar view organizes cards by due date. Table view presents cards in spreadsheet format. Map view plots location-based cards.

Templates

Pre-built templates provide starting points for common use cases including project management, kanban, weekly planning, remote team hub, and industry-specific workflows. Templates can be customized and shared across teams.

System Requirements

Web Application

Trello’s web interface works in all modern browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. No installation required—sign in and start working from any device with internet access.

Desktop and Mobile

Desktop apps are available for Windows and macOS, providing native experience with offline support. Mobile apps for iOS and Android enable on-the-go access with full functionality including notifications, card editing, and photo attachments.

Getting Started

Creating an Account

Sign Up Options:
1. Email and password
2. Google account
3. Microsoft account
4. Apple ID
5. Slack account

Account Setup:
- Choose username
- Set profile picture
- Configure notification preferences
- Create or join workspace

Creating Your First Board

Board Creation:
1. Click "Create" button
2. Select "Create board"
3. Choose background image/color
4. Name your board
5. Select workspace
6. Set visibility (Private/Workspace/Public)

Default Lists:
- To Do
- Doing
- Done
(Customize as needed)

Keyboard Shortcuts

Navigation

?          - Show keyboard shortcuts
B          - Open boards menu
W          - Toggle workspace sidebar
/          - Focus search box
?/?        - Navigate cards (when selected)
?/?        - Navigate cards vertically
Enter      - Open selected card
Esc        - Close card/menu

Card Actions

N          - New card (when list selected)
E          - Quick edit card
C          - Archive card
D          - Set due date
L          - Open labels
M          - Add/remove members
T          - Edit title
V          - Vote on card
S          - Watch/unwatch
Space      - Assign yourself
-          - Remove all members

Board Actions

F          - Filter cards
X          - Clear filters
Q          - Toggle "Cards assigned to me"

Card Configuration

Card Elements

Title:
- Concise task description
- Appears on card front

Description:
- Detailed information
- Supports markdown formatting
- @mentions for notifications

Checklists:
- Subtasks with checkboxes
- Progress percentage shown
- Multiple checklists per card
- Copy from other cards

Due Date:
- Date and optional time
- Reminder notifications
- Overdue indicators
- Start date option

Members:
- Assign team members
- Multiple assignees allowed
- Profile pictures on card

Labels:
- Color-coded categories
- Custom label names
- Up to 10 colors
- Filter by labels

Attachments:
- File uploads (250MB limit)
- Link attachments
- Cover images from attachments

Custom Fields:
- Dropdown lists
- Text fields
- Numbers
- Checkboxes
- Dates

Butler Automation

Automation Types

Rules (Event-triggered):
Trigger: When a card is moved to "Done"
Actions:
- Mark due date complete
- Add comment "Task completed!"
- Remove all members
- Move to archive

Card Buttons:
Button: "Start Working"
Actions:
- Move card to "In Progress"
- Assign me
- Set due date 3 days from now

Board Buttons:
Button: "Weekly Report"
Actions:
- Create card in Reports list
- Add checklist from template
- Set due date to Friday

Scheduled Commands:
Schedule: Every Monday at 9 AM
Actions:
- Sort list "Backlog" by due date
- Move overdue cards to "Urgent"

Due Date Commands:
Trigger: 2 days before due
Actions:
- Add comment "@member reminder!"
- Move to "Priority" list

Butler Command Examples

# Auto-complete checklist items
when a checklist item is checked,
if all checklist items are complete,
move the card to list "Done"

# Daily standup
every day at 9:00 AM,
create a card named "{date} Standup"
in list "Daily" on board "Team Standup"

# Sprint cleanup
every Friday at 5:00 PM,
archive all cards in list "Done"

# Priority labeling
when a card is moved to list "Urgent",
add the red "Critical" label,
set due date 1 day from now,
add comment "Escalated to urgent"

Power-Ups

Essential Power-Ups

Calendar:
- Visualize cards on calendar
- Drag to reschedule
- iCal feed for external apps

Timeline:
- Gantt-style view
- Dependencies visualization
- Drag to adjust dates

Card Repeater:
- Duplicate cards on schedule
- Daily, weekly, monthly options
- Automatic list placement

Voting:
- Team voting on cards
- Vote counts displayed
- Sort by votes

Custom Fields:
- Add structured data
- Dropdown, text, number, date
- Filter and sort by fields

Table:
- Spreadsheet view
- Bulk edit capabilities
- Export to CSV

Integration Power-Ups

Slack:
- Card notifications in channels
- Create cards from Slack
- Update cards via Slack

Google Drive:
- Attach Drive files
- Preview without leaving Trello
- Automatic permissions

Jira:
- Link Jira issues
- Sync status updates
- Two-way integration

GitHub:
- Link pull requests
- Automated status updates
- Branch and commit links

Zapier:
- Connect 3000+ apps
- Automated workflows
- Multi-step zaps

Board Templates

Common Templates

Project Management:
- Backlog | Planning | In Progress | Review | Done

Kanban:
- To Do | Doing | Done

Content Calendar:
- Ideas | Drafting | Editing | Scheduled | Published

Sales Pipeline:
- Leads | Contacted | Qualified | Proposal | Closed

Sprint Planning:
- Backlog | Sprint | In Progress | Testing | Complete

Personal Productivity:
- Today | This Week | This Month | Someday

Team Collaboration

Workspace Management

Workspace Features:
- Centralized board organization
- Team member management
- Billing and subscriptions
- Guest access controls
- Activity logs

Member Roles:
- Admin: Full workspace control
- Normal: Create boards, invite members
- Guest: Limited board access

Board Permissions:
- Private: Workspace members only
- Workspace: All members see
- Public: Anyone can view

Commenting and @Mentions

Comment Features:
- @mention individuals
- @board to notify all members
- @card to link cards
- Emoji reactions
- File attachments in comments
- Edit/delete own comments

Trello Pricing

Plan Comparison

Free:
- Unlimited cards
- Up to 10 boards per workspace
- Unlimited Power-Ups
- 250 automation runs/month
- 10MB file attachment limit

Standard ($5/user/month):
- Unlimited boards
- Advanced checklists
- Custom fields
- 1000 automation runs/month
- 250MB attachments

Premium ($10/user/month):
- Dashboard view
- Timeline view
- Calendar view
- Unlimited automation
- Admin controls
- Priority support

Enterprise ($17.50/user/month):
- Organization-wide permissions
- Public board management
- SSO/SAML
- Free SSO
- Multi-board guests

API and Integrations

API Examples

# Get all boards
curl "https://api.trello.com/1/members/me/boards?key={apiKey}&token={apiToken}"

# Create a card
curl -X POST "https://api.trello.com/1/cards" \
  -d "key={apiKey}" \
  -d "token={apiToken}" \
  -d "idList={listId}" \
  -d "name=New Task" \
  -d "desc=Task description"

# Move a card
curl -X PUT "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{cardId}" \
  -d "key={apiKey}" \
  -d "token={apiToken}" \
  -d "idList={newListId}"

# Add a comment
curl -X POST "https://api.trello.com/1/cards/{cardId}/actions/comments" \
  -d "key={apiKey}" \
  -d "token={apiToken}" \
  -d "text=Comment text"

Best Practices

Board Organization

Tips:
1. Keep list count manageable (5-7)
2. Use consistent naming conventions
3. Archive completed cards regularly
4. Use labels for categorization
5. Set due dates for accountability
6. Leverage Butler for repetitive tasks
7. Create board templates for recurring projects
8. Use descriptions for context

Conclusion

Trello’s visual approach to project management makes it accessible while remaining powerful enough for complex workflows. Its flexibility through Power-Ups and Butler automation enables teams to customize their workflow without complexity.

Whether managing personal tasks or coordinating enterprise projects, Trello provides the clarity and collaboration features needed for effective project management.