Copy / Sync Linked Card Properties

The daily work with linked cards often requires synchronizing some properties between the linked cards. For example, keeping a parent card and all its children having the same color, deadline, custom fields, etc.

Kanbanize makes this possible using the Copy and Sync Card Properties functionality.
It is available upon creating new linked cards and linking existing cards. There are multiple ways to create new linked cards in the system. Let's focus on three of the most popular approaches. 

1. How to Create New Linked Cards - the copy/sync option  

1.1 Creating a linked card via the card Context menu. 

• Click on the card Context menu (1) -> then click on Link/Copy (2)
  This way you can create a linked card without inheriting and sync any properties. If you click on the Sync icon (3) a panel of options appears, where you can select which properties from the original card to copy/sync. 

1.2 Creating a linked card via the Links tab in the card details. 

• Open a card and click on the card Links tab (1), select the Kanban preview option (2). It displays the original card in a Kanban board view. Left-click the column or lane, where you want to create the linked card (3).

If you click on the Sync icon a panel of options appears, where you can select which properties from the original card to copy/sync. 
If you don't click on the sync icon a card will be created without additional copy/sync configurations. 

 1.3 Creating a linked card via the related boards' panel 

• Go to the sidebar located to the right of each board interface and open the Related boards' panel (1). Drag and drop the card onto the related board, where the linked card is to be created (2). 
  
  
  After you drop the card. the link menu appears (img.1). If you click on the Sync icon a panel of option appears, where you can select which properties from the original card to copy/sync. 
  If you don't click on the sync icon a card will be created without additional copy/sync configurations. 
  
  Img.1 

2. Copy/Sync link details panel  - selecting properties to be copied/synced   

When creating new linked cards -> clicking on the sync icon triggers different behavior that clicking on the menu item. Whichever of the three scenarios above you choose, the same configuration window (img.2) will appear if you click on the sync icon:

(img.2)

All the card properties are listed on the left side of the panel. 

In the "Copy" column, select all the properties you want to copy from the existing card into the newly created linked card. This is a one-time action. 

In the "Sync" column, select the properties you want to keep synchronized between the linked cards. In all cases except the Parent or Child link, the synchronization will be bidirectional.
Important: For Parent / Child linking, the synchronization is only available from the Parent to the Child.

There are two different categories of fields: Standard and Custom Fields. In order to open the custom fields you need to click on the category title to expand the list. If you select to sync all custom fields by checking the custom fields category, a disclaimer will appear. 

The disclaimer states that all custom fields will be synced between the linked cards, both existing and future custom fields.

Users are also able to select specific custom fields, which are relevant to their specific use-cases, and only sync those. 

3. Sync Properties while Linking existing Cards 

There are several ways to link existing cards in Kanbanize. Let's focus on the most common scenarios: 

3.1 Linking a card to another existing card via the card context menu:

3.2 Linking a card to another card via the links tab in the card details:  

3.3 Linking cards on the same board via drag and drop: 

If you want to link cards on the same board, just hit the Ctrl on your keyboard and drag one card over the another. When you drop the mouse button, the same menu pops up:  

Selecting properties to be synchronized 

If you use option 3 to link existing cards, you can click directly on the "Sync" icon, which will take you to the Sync configuration panel. If you use options 1 or 2 from the list above, this configuration window appears (img.3)

Select the type of link you want to create (1)

Search for the card to link to (2)

Configure the synchronization properties (3)

(img.3)

When you click on the Sync options button (3), the following configuration panel will appear: 

Just as it was with the newly created cards, you can select the properties to be synchronized between the linked cards.

As soon as you confirm the linking, the values of the properties selected for synchronization will be taken from the source card and will be applied to the destination card. In the first two scenarios, the source card is the one we link from. In the third scenario, the source card is the one we drag over the destination card.

4. How to edit the Sync settings?

You can easily change the sync settings in already established card relations. 
Open the card details and go to the Links Overview at the bottom right side of the card -> hover over the linked card and click the "copy and sync" settings icon to expand the panel of options.  

5. Copy parents when creating a new linked card  

The latest added options in the copy/sync configuration panel allow you to copy the parents of an existing card as well as its synced properties.  
This enhancement is particularly useful in the following scenario:  
Very often the card you are working on is linked to more than one initiative. This usually makes the task more complex and requires the attention of multiple teams (next step on a task has to be executed by a different team), that work on different board/workflow. 

Moving the card to another working environment disrupts the metrics and the integrity of the current flow. So far, there wasn't out of the box solution for easier implementation of such a scenario. Users either had to create a new child or a card relative to the original one and then manually link it to the Initiatives for clear visualization.  

The new additions to the Copy/Sync settings save your time and allow for easier and automated setup. When you create a new linked card, you can choose to copy the parents of the original one as well as its synced properties.  

As a result, the new card will be automatically linked to the Initiatives and will inherit the sync properties of the original (parent or relative) card i.e. color, deadline, etc. 

TIP: This improvement is very useful in the context of business rules that trigger new card creation.  
The new options become available in the configuration panels of the rules.