How to Create and Manage Card Types?

1. What is a card type?
2. How to apply a card type? 
3. How to create card types? 
4. How to manage type settings?
5. How does "type" help in the work process?
6. How does card type help in the work process?

1. What is a Card Type?  

Type is a card property used to categorize different types of work in your process e.g. "Defect", "Customer Request", "Meeting", etc.  It is the Project manager who creates the types that each team applies to the tasks in accordance with the project itself, the process specifics, and the team expertise. 

Types not only help team members to group together cards from the workflow but also facilitate:

• further reporting
• KPI metrics collection
• process analysis
• process improvement

2. How to create a new Card Type? 

There is a Security Control related to card types under the "Cards Controls" section. 
In the first place, the card control options define who in the account will be able to create, edit, and delete types.  This could be the Account Owner, the Workspace Manager, or everyone in the account (any user role).  

Card Types are managed and created at a global account level in the Administration panel under Card Management. Select "Types" and the system redirects you to the dedicated panel. 

The dedicated "Types" panel that stores all existing types in the system. Users having the necessary permissions access this panel to create new types and manage existing ones. 

All existing types are stored in a table format that provides the following information per type: 

• Name - this is the type name along with the dedicated icon
• Availability level - controls the types' availability on the boards.  
• Boards - number of boards where the type has been applied to.  
• Settings - use the three dots icon to edit, disable, replace*, delete this type. 

*  Type replacement: Sometimes, a type you have created is not of use anymore or there are two similar types. To keep your account environment clear, you have to maintain it accordingly. The easiest way would be to delete the type, but then it will disappear from all cards. 
With the new functionality, you will be able to "replace" an unneeded type with an existing one. The redundant type will be deleted and the cards' type field will obtain the replacement. 

Create a new Type

To create a new Type, just click the New Type link on the top right side of the dedicated panel. 

In the "New Card Type" panel: 

Enter any type name suitable for your process (3). Furthermore, you can define a color (1) and select a dedicated icon (2) that’s appropriate for your new card type. In this way cards of a selected type will stand out among the others.

(4) You can select the boards on which your newly created type card will be available. Click the "+" sign to add the type to other boards in the account.  Click the corresponding “x” button to exclude the boards not suitable for the new type.  

(5) Define the Type Availability Level in your account. Note that only Account Owners can control that setting. They can select among the following options: 

• Оn-demand - When the type gets created, every Workspace Manager could choose to add it to the boards they manage. 
• Auto - When the Type is created, it will be automatically added to all new boards. It can be managed afterward, depending on user permissions in Card Controls settings. 
• Global - When a Type is created, it will be automatically added to all boards and cannot be removed. 

(6) You can select to display all cards of this type in the selected icon color. Overriding the card color will update the color of all existing cards of this type. Note that users will be not able to manually change the card color as long as a card is of a certain type. 

(7) "Lock type property": If this box is checked, users will not be allowed to custom and overwrite type characteristics per board.  Otherwise, a certain type created at a global level may be customized per board. Users will be able to change the color, the type icon, and the "override the card color" setting. 
For example, a card type named "Risk" that is enabled on "Board A" and on a "Board B" might have a red color in "Board A" and a yellow color in "Board B".   

How to clone an existing Card Type?

When you open the Card Types section from the Card Management tab, you will find a menu that opens up from the three-dot icon, where you can choose to clone an already existing card type.

Upon selecting this option, a creation window will appear where the card type information is already populated from the cloned card type. You can make any necessary changes and save the cloned version as a new card type.

Note: if you do not change the name of the card type, it will be saved with the original name + copy at the end to distinguish between the original and the clone.

4. How to Manage Card Types at a Board level 

All types that are created from the Administration become available in the dedicated "Types" Panel of the Board Sidebar. 

From here users with the respective privileges quickly check, which types are enabled for the board. If the toggle is on, it means that the type is enabled. 
Access this panel to enable and disable types per board. You only have to slide the toggle on and off. 

Use the "pencil" icon, to change type characteristics that can be controlled at a board level: 
- type color
- type icon
-"override the card color" setting  
Thus, a certain type created at a global level may be customized per board. For example, a card type named "Risk" that is enabled on "Board A" and on a "Board B" might have a red color in "Board A" and a yellow color in "Board B".  

Tip: If you have too many types, you need to scroll up and down to see which types are enabled for the current board. 

Use the filtering option  "Added to Board" to quickly get this information. Just apply the filter and you will get a shorter list with the types that are used in the respective board. 

5. How to apply a type to a card? 

There are several ways to apply a type to your card:

Option 1: To apply a type Open the card and click the default Type icon at the top left corner.
The system produces a dropdown list with all Types added to the board. Select the one that best matches the nature of the task and update the card to save all changes.
As a result, the Type icon appears at the top left corner of the card. You can see the selected type even when the card is closed.   

Note: The list of types is divided into two groups: Recent Types and Other Types.
Recent Types contain the most relevant and frequently used types in the respective workflow. The Other Types list contains the rest of the types. 

Option 2: Once it is on the card, you don’t need to open it again to change the type. Just click the icon for quick access and apply your new change. 

Option 3: Apply a type to your card from the respective Context menu. Users can quickly set up or change the type of single or multiple cards. Open the Context menu and select the respective Type icon. It opens a box with all types, assigned to the board.  Select the type and it instantly gets displayed on the card. 

6. How does card type help in the work process?

Please, review the following best practices.