Understanding Boards and Workflow

How to get there: Go to Settings in the sidebar → Boards (opens a separate page for managing boards and statuses).

Learn how boards organize your content in ProductLift and how posts flow through your workflow from submission to completion.

What are Boards?

Boards are sections of your ProductLift portal that organize posts by purpose and lifecycle stage. Each board serves a specific function in your product development workflow.

Four Main Board Types:

  • Feedback Board - Collect and prioritize customer ideas
  • Roadmap - Show what you're building
  • Changelog - Announce what you've shipped
  • Knowledge Base - Help documentation and guides

Board Types Explained

Feedback Board

Purpose: Collect and organize customer feature requests and bug reports.

Typical Statuses:

  • New (just submitted)
  • Under Review (being evaluated)
  • Planned (committed for roadmap)
  • Won't Build (declined)

Who Sees It: Public (all customers can submit and vote)

Example: "Feature Requests", "Ideas", "Feedback"

Roadmap Board

Purpose: Communicate what features you're building and their progress.

Typical Statuses:

  • Planned (committed features)
  • In Progress (actively developing)
  • Testing (in QA/beta)
  • Ready to Ship (complete, awaiting release)

Who Sees It: Public (transparency builds trust) or Members Only

Example: "Roadmap", "What We're Building", "Coming Soon"

Changelog Board

Purpose: Announce completed features and updates.

Typical Statuses:

  • Released (shipped to production)
  • Completed

Who Sees It: Public (customers want to know what's new)

Example: "Changelog", "What's New", "Release Notes"

Knowledge Base Board

Purpose: Help documentation, guides, and tutorials.

Typical Content:

  • How-to guides
  • Feature documentation
  • FAQs
  • Troubleshooting

Who Sees It: Public (help customers learn your product)

Example: "Help Center", "Documentation", "Guides"

[Screenshot: Portal navigation showing four boards: Feature Requests, Roadmap, Changelog, Help Center]

How Boards and Statuses Work Together

Status-to-Board Mapping

Posts appear on boards based on their status. A post can appear on multiple boards or no boards.

Example Workflow:

Feedback Board              Roadmap              Changelog
---------------            ---------            ----------
[New]
[Under Review]
[Planned]              →   [Planned]
                           [In Progress]
                           [Testing]
[Released]             →                    →  [Released]

Status Assignments:

Navigate to Settings → Statuses to configure which statuses appear on which boards.

Example Configuration:

Status Feedback Board Roadmap Changelog
New ✓
Under Review ✓
Planned ✓ ✓
In Progress ✓
Testing ✓
Released ✓
Won't Do ✓ (unlisted)

Unlisted Statuses:

A status can be marked as Unlisted so it doesn't appear on boards for users, but posts in that status are still accessible via search or direct link. This is useful for statuses like "Won't Do" or "Won't Fix" — you can close the loop on feedback without cluttering your public board. See Unlisted Statuses for details.

[Screenshot: Status management showing checkboxes for board assignments]

Creating and Configuring Boards

Create New Board

Steps:

  1. Go to Settings → Boards
  2. Click "Add Board"
  3. Configure:
    • Name: Descriptive name
    • Type: Feedback Board, Roadmap, Changelog, or Knowledge Base
    • Icon: Visual identifier
    • Color: Brand color
    • Visibility: Who can access
  4. Save board

[Screenshot: Board creation form with fields for name, type, icon, color, visibility]

Board Visibility Options

Public:

  • Anyone can view without logging in
  • Best for transparency and engagement
  • Recommended for most boards

Members Only:

  • Only logged-in users can access
  • Good for private beta or customer-only features

Group-Restricted:

  • Specific user groups only
  • Example: "Beta Features" board for beta testers group

Admin Only:

  • Internal team only
  • Good for internal planning or moderation queues

Board Ordering

Reorder Boards:

Drag boards in Settings → Boards to reorder:

  • Left-to-right order in navigation
  • Most important boards first
  • Typical order: Feedback → Roadmap → Changelog → Help

Common Workflow Patterns

Basic Workflow

Simple 3-stage flow:

  1. Feedback Board (New, Under Review)

    • Customers submit ideas
    • Team reviews and prioritizes

  2. Roadmap (Planned, In Progress)

    • Committed features
    • Development progress tracking

  3. Changelog (Released)

    • Shipped features
    • Release announcements

Advanced Workflow

Detailed multi-stage flow:

  1. Moderation Queue (Admin Only board)

    • Status: Pending Review
    • Moderate before publishing

  2. Feedback Board (Public)

    • Statuses: Under Review, Won't Build
    • Collect votes and comments

  3. Roadmap (Public)

    • Statuses: Planned, In Progress, Testing, Ready
    • Show development progress

  4. Changelog (Public)

    • Status: Released
    • Announce completed features

  5. Knowledge Base (Public)

    • Articles and guides
    • Help documentation

Status Lifecycle Example

Feature Request: "Dark Mode"

Week 1: Submitted

  • Status: New
  • Visible on: Feedback Board
  • Action: Team reviews

Week 2: Approved for consideration

  • Status: Under Review
  • Visible on: Feedback Board
  • Action: Collect votes (gets 150 votes)

Month 2: Added to roadmap

  • Status: Planned
  • Visible on: Feedback Board + Roadmap
  • Action: Prioritized for Q3

Month 3: Development starts

  • Status: In Progress
  • Visible on: Roadmap only
  • Action: Team building feature

Month 4: Testing

  • Status: Testing
  • Visible on: Roadmap only
  • Action: QA and beta testing

Month 5: Shipped

  • Status: Released
  • Visible on: Changelog only
  • Action: Users notified, feature live

[Screenshot: Post showing status history timeline with dates and status changes]

Board Permissions and Features

Per-Board Settings

Configure for each board:

Voting:

  • Allow/disable voting on posts
  • Roadmap: Often enabled (continued interest)
  • Changelog: Often disabled (already shipped)

Commenting:

  • Allow/disable comments
  • Feedback: Enable (collect context)
  • Changelog: Enable (feedback on releases)

Post Creation:

  • Who can create posts
  • Feedback: Anyone or logged-in users
  • Roadmap: Admins only (curated)
  • Changelog: Admins only

Following:

  • Allow users to follow posts for updates
  • Typically enabled on all boards

Multi-Product Boards

Organize by Product

For companies with multiple products:

Option 1: Separate Boards per Product

  • Product A - Feature Requests
  • Product A - Roadmap
  • Product B - Feature Requests
  • Product B - Roadmap

Option 2: Single Boards with Categories

  • Feature Requests (all products)
  • Use categories to separate: "Product A", "Product B"
  • Filter by category

Option 3: Separate Portals

  • Completely separate ProductLift instances
  • Different domains/subdomains

Best Practices

Keep It Simple

Don't Overcomplicate:

  • 3-5 boards typically sufficient
  • Too many boards confuse users
  • Start simple, add complexity as needed

Clear Naming

Use Descriptive Names:

  • ✓ "Feature Requests", "Roadmap", "What's New"
  • ✗ "Board 1", "Section A", "Ideas"

Consistent Structure

Standard Pattern:

  • Feedback collection first
  • Roadmap second
  • Changelog third
  • Help last

Users expect this flow.

Visibility Strategy

Public by Default:

  • Transparency builds trust
  • Customers see you're listening
  • Shows product direction

Private When Necessary:

  • Sensitive features (pre-announcement)
  • Internal planning
  • Beta/preview features

Troubleshooting

Issue: Post Not Appearing on Expected Board

Solution:

  • Check post status
  • Verify status is assigned to that board (Settings → Statuses)
  • Refresh page

Issue: Users Can't See Board

Solution:

  • Check board visibility setting
  • Verify user has appropriate access (logged in, correct group)
  • Check if board is published

Issue: Too Many Boards, Users Confused

Solution:

  • Consolidate boards
  • Use categories within boards instead
  • Hide rarely-used boards

Setup:

Workflows:

Management: