Board view

The board view shows the work items list as a board. It uses the same filters and saved views as the list.

Each column is a status from your group or project. The board can group work items only by status. Work item types without a status, like incidents, are not shown on the board.

Switch to the board view

To switch to the board view:

1. In the top bar, select Search or go to and find your project or group.
2. In the left sidebar, select Plan > Work items.
3. To the right of the filter bar, select Board.

GitLab remembers your choice for each group and project. To return to the list, select List. A saved view opens in the mode saved with the view.

The default State filter is set to Open, which hides closed items. Columns for closed statuses, like Done, look empty. To see closed items, remove the filter.

Move and order work items

Prerequisites:

• Have the Planner, Reporter, Developer, Maintainer, or Owner role for the work item’s project or group, be the author of the work item, or be assigned to the work item.

To move a work item to another column, drag it to the column. Alternatively, hover over the work item, select the vertical ellipsis ( ), and under Move to list, select the column. The work item gets the status of that column.

Work items on the board are always in manual order. The order is shared with the Manual sort in the list view. To reorder a work item in its column, drag it, or select the vertical ellipsis ( ) > Move to start of list or Move to end of list.

Create a work item in a column

When you create a work item from a column, the work item gets the status of that column. It also gets the confidentiality, labels, assignees, milestone, parent, iteration, weight, and health status from active filters that use the is operator.

To create a work item in a column:

1. In the column header, select Create new item ( ).
2. Complete the fields.
3. Select Create for the type you selected, for example Create issue.

On a group’s board, Create new item is available only if status for epics is turned on.

Configure columns

GitLab saves your column settings for each group and project. In a saved view, column changes are saved with the view when you select Save changes.

To configure a column, use the controls in the column header:

• To collapse the column, select the down arrow ( ). To expand it, select the right arrow ( ).
• To move the column, drag it, or select the vertical ellipsis ( ) > Move left or Move right. The column sort changes to Manual.
• To hide the column, select the vertical ellipsis ( ) > Hide list.

The board shows up to 25 columns. If your group or project has more than 25 statuses, the board shows the first 25. To choose which columns to show, select Display ( ) > Group by. To change the column order in this drawer, set Sort to Manual.

Choose the fields shown on work items

The board uses the same field settings as the list, except Comments and Popularity, which are not available on the board. For more information, see configure list display preferences.

Real-time updates

Changes to work items show up on open boards without a page refresh. This includes changes made by other users, and changes made in the list, on the board, or in the work item drawer.

Related topics

• Issue boards