FAQ

Getting Started

Where do I find Next Boards after installing?

In the Joomla administrator under Components → Next Boards. To use it on the public side of your site as well, add a menu item of type Next Boards → Boards; see Frontend access.

Do team members need separate accounts?

No. Next Boards uses your Joomla users. Anyone with an account on the site can be added to a board. There is no limit on the number of users or boards.

How do I create my first board?

Click New board, pick a template, give it a title and click Create board. The Quick Start walks through it.

Why can a user not see the New board button?

Creating boards needs the Create boards site permission, and a workspace that lets the person create boards in it. See Access and permissions.

Can I try it with sample data?

Yes. A Super User can install a demo organisation with two workspaces and about 185 cards, and remove it again without touching real data. See Demo data.

Permissions & Teams

What is the difference between site permissions and board membership?

Board and workspace membership decide which boards a person sees and whether they can edit them. Site permissions grant a few site-wide capabilities, such as creating boards or administering every board. The two are separate. See Access and permissions.

Can I give someone access to just one board?

Yes. Keep the board Private and add the person to it. They see that board and nothing else.

Can I give a client read-only access?

Yes. Add them to the board as an Observer. They can read cards and comments and cannot change anything.

Can I assign a role to a whole Joomla user group?

Yes. A site role can be given to individual users or to Joomla user groups, and everyone in the group then holds it.

What is a workspace for?

A workspace groups the boards of one team and has its own members. A board set to Workspace visibility is visible to all of them without adding each person to each board. See Workspaces.

Can a Super User read my Inbox?

No. An Inbox is visible to its owner only.

Cards & Workflow

Can a card have more than one assignee?

Yes, as many as you like. Checklist items take one assignee each.

What happens to cards when I delete a stage?

They are deleted with it, after a confirmation that says how many. To keep them, choose Archive stage instead: the stage and its cards leave the board and can be restored from Archived items.

Can I get an archived board back?

Yes. Open View options → Archived boards on the boards page and click Restore.

Can one card be on two boards?

Yes, as a mirror. The card lives on one board and is shown on the other; changes show on both. See Cards.

Can I add my own fields to cards?

Yes: text, number, date, checkbox and dropdown fields per board. See Custom fields.

Can I see tasks by date?

Yes. The Calendar view shows a board's cards on their due dates, the Roadmap view shows them as bars on a timeline, and My Tasks groups your own cards from all boards by due date.

Can a card move by itself when something happens?

Yes. Automation rules can move, complete, label, assign or archive a card when it is added, moved, completed, labelled or due soon. See Automation.

Can I create cards by e-mail?

Yes, once a Super User has connected a mailbox. Each user then has a private address; a message sent to it becomes a card in their Inbox. See Inbox.

Notifications & Calendar

How do I get e-mails about my cards?

Open Notifications → Preferences and switch E-mail on for the events you want. Choose between an e-mail per event and one daily digest. E-mails are sent by Joomla's Scheduled Tasks, so the site's scheduler must be running.

Can I see my due dates in Google Calendar or Outlook?

Yes. On My Tasks, open Calendar feed, switch it on and subscribe to the address in your calendar application. See My Tasks and the calendar feed.

Which time zone are dates shown in?

In the time zone of your Joomla user account, and the site's time zone if you have not set one. See Time zones.

Phones & Offline

Does Next Boards work on a phone?

Yes. A phone opens a dedicated phone app with tabs for Boards, My Tasks, Inbox, Planner and Notifications. See Phone app.

Is there an app in the App Store or on Google Play?

No. Next Boards is a web app. When the site administrator has switched the installable app on, you can add it to your home screen from the browser, and it then opens like an app.

Can I work without a connection?

Yes, when the installable app (PWA) is switched on for the site. You can read recently opened boards and make everyday changes; they are sent when you are back online. See Offline use and the installable app.

Technical

Which Joomla and PHP versions are required?

Joomla 4.4, 5 or 6, on PHP 8.1 or newer, with MySQL or MariaDB.

Is my data sent to an external service?

No. Boards, cards and uploaded files stay in your own Joomla database and on your own server. The only outside contact is Joomla's update check with nextsoftware.dev.

Can I turn off parts I do not need?

Yes. Inbox, Planner, Automation, Reports and most other parts are apps that can be switched off under Configuration → Apps. Their data is kept. See App Manager.

Can I translate the interface?

Yes. Every text is a Joomla language string. Use Joomla's Language Overrides to change a wording, or add a language file for your language.

How do I move a board to another site?

Export it as JSON on the old site and import the file on the new one. See Import and export.

How do updates work?

Through Joomla's own updater, once the download key from your nextsoftware.dev account is entered under System → Update Sites. See Installation.

What happens to my data if I uninstall?

Uninstalling the package deletes all Next Boards tables. Export the boards you want to keep first.