Work Management Deep Dive

The Board System

Every project in XeroFlow lives on a board. Boards are flexible workspaces that combine tasks, data columns, and multiple visual layouts into a single shared surface. Think of them as a spreadsheet that understands your workflow -- each row is a task, and each column holds a specific piece of data about that task.

You can create as many boards as you need. Most agencies organise boards by client, by department, or by project type. Each board can be templated, shared with specific team members, and linked to chat channels for real-time discussion. Board-level permissions let you control who can view, edit, or manage the board structure itself.

Column Types

XeroFlow supports over 20 column types that cover everything from simple text and numbers to complex formulas and linked items. The core set includes Status (customisable label groups with colours), People (assign one or more team members), Date (single dates or date ranges for timelines), Number (with formatting for currency, percentage, or plain values), and Text (single-line or rich text).

Beyond the basics, you have Dropdown for single or multi-select options, Checkbox for boolean values, Rating for priority scoring, File for attachments uploaded to R2 storage, Link for URLs, Email, Phone, and Location fields.

The Formula column type lets you compute derived values from other columns -- sum hours, calculate margins, or concatenate labels. Formula columns update in real time as their source values change, making them ideal for budget tracking or progress calculations across tasks.

Views: Five Ways to See Your Work

Every board supports five distinct views, and you can switch between them instantly without losing any data or configuration.

The Table View is the default spreadsheet layout with sortable columns, inline cell editing, and bulk row selection for mass updates. It is the fastest way to triage a large number of tasks.

Kanban View groups tasks into swim lanes based on any status column. Drag cards between columns to update status instantly. Each card shows a configurable preview of key fields so you can scan priority, assignee, and due date at a glance.

Timeline View renders tasks as horizontal bars on a Gantt-style chart. Tasks with date-range columns display their start and end dates visually. You can drag to reschedule, resize to adjust duration, and see overlapping work across your team.

Calendar View displays tasks on a monthly calendar grid. Tasks appear on their due date or within their date range. Drag a task card to a new date to reschedule it. Calendar view is particularly useful for content calendars, campaign launch timelines, and deadline tracking.

Gallery View shows tasks as visual cards in a grid layout, prioritising file previews and images. Creative teams use this view for asset review, proof management, and visual project tracking. Each card expands into a detail panel for comments and approvals.

Groups, Subtasks, and Hierarchy

Tasks within a board can be organised into groups -- collapsible sections that let you partition work by phase, sprint, priority, or any other category you need. Groups carry their own colour coding and can be reordered by drag-and-drop.

Any task can have subtasks nested beneath it, creating a parent-child hierarchy. Subtasks inherit the board's column structure but can have their own status, assignee, and dates. A progress indicator on the parent task automatically reflects how many subtasks have been completed.

Templates and Bulk Actions

Save any board configuration as a template to spin up new projects instantly. Templates capture column definitions, groups, default values, and automation recipes -- everything except task-specific data. When you create a board from a template, a fresh workspace appears with all the structure already in place.

Bulk actions let you select multiple tasks and apply changes in one operation: update a status, reassign ownership, move tasks between groups, duplicate rows, or delete in batch. Combined with table view's checkbox selection, bulk actions make it practical to manage hundreds of tasks without tedious one-by-one edits.

Real-Time Collaboration

XeroFlow uses Server-Sent Events (SSE) backed by Durable Objects to deliver live updates to everyone viewing a board. When a teammate changes a cell value, adds a subtask, or drags a card in Kanban view, your screen updates within milliseconds -- no manual refresh required.

Online presence indicators show which team members are currently viewing the board. The system gracefully degrades through a WebSocket to SSE to polling fallback chain, so real-time updates work reliably regardless of network conditions or browser support.