How to use Trello

Hey, what's up, I'm JR Raphael.

I don't know about you, but I am obsessed with organization — in my life, my work, you name it.

And when it comes to keeping track of stuff like projects, tasks, all the random ideas crazy people like us get every 90 seconds, there's no better tool for the job than a handy little app called Trello.

Trello just makes it super easy to organize pretty much anything — notes, lists, links, you name it. But basics aside, it's got some pretty powerful options for taking your organization to the next level.

Come nerd out with me, and let's talk about some of the cool time-saving stuff Trello can do.


All right, first: Anytime you're creating a new card, you can use some special commands to take care of a whole bunch of steps in one fell swoop.

If you want to assign your new card a label, type the pound sign — the hashtag, if you prefer — while you're entering the card's title. Then, start typing the name or even just the color of a label, and... wouldja look at that? You can pull up the one you want from a list and assign it right then and there.

Along those same lines, you can type the "at" sign while you're creating a card and then start typing a team member's name to assign the card to that person right away.

And, maybe my favorite hidden feature here: Type in the carrot symbol — y'know, that little up-facing arrow above the six key — and then type the word "top" or "bottom" while you're creating a card. That'll cause the card to go to.... yup, you guessed it...... the top or the bottom of your list as soon as hit enter.... no extra effort required.

Speaking of creating new cards wherever you want 'em, you can actually start a new card anywhere within a list just by double-clicking the gray space... between two existing cards. That'll cause your new card to show up right there, in that very spot.

And a bonus: Once you've typed in your new card's title, hit Shift and then Enter.... instead of just Enter by itself. That'll open up the card right away and let you start working on it.... without having to make any extra clicks.


One last little tip for ya, and it's a good one: The next time you get something in your inbox that you want to save to Trello, save yourself the trouble of copying, pasting, and all that time-wasting silliness and instead email it directly into any Trello list you want.

Here's the secret: First, you have to go into Trello and find the board you want to use. If the big gray menu isn't already open on the right side of the screen, click "Show menu" — in the upper-right corner — and then look for the menu item labeled "More."

Inside that section of the menu, you'll find a little option called "Email to board settings." Ah, yes. Click that bad boy and then copy the email address it shows you. That's the email address you'll use to send anything into your Trello board.

Before you move on, though, look one box down in that same area. Right there, you can tell Trello exactly where anything you send in should show up — both in what list and in what position within that list.

If you want to email stuff into a specific card, you can do that, too: Just open up the card, tap "Share," and then copy the email address from there. Anything you send to that address will show up as a comment in the card.

For more ways to make the most of your favorite apps and services, check out my Android Intelligence column at Computerworld. You can also get all my top tips and mobile-tech insight delivered to your inbox every Friday... by signing up for my newsletter at AndroidIntel.net.