One of the simplest ways Trello users can add a pop of color, structure, and clarity to your boards is by adding labels to cards. With the use of labels, you not only get an extra layer of information at a glance, you also achieve more robust filtering and search capabilities right at the tip of your fingers. You can use labels in many different ways: to prioritize tasks, to organize cards by teams, or to catalog a repository of cards by subject.
Read on to discover the ins and outs of card labels and how to use them to change the way you take on tasks forever.
Color-Blind Mode
We recognize that not all eyes work in the same way, so users who are in need of a color-blind friendly mode can easily enable this on their cards. When enabled, labels will still include their original chosen color, but a unique design will also be displayed, helping to further differentiate between labels.
To do this, simply go to the menu on your board, select Labels, and select ‘Enable color blind friendly mode’.
Trello Card Covers And Colors
As if labels weren’t enough, card attachments can now be displayed on the front as full-sized covers, and you also have the ability to change the color of a card.
In addition to being able to upload your own images as card covers, you can now select a card cover from the vast pool that is the Unsplash Gallery (just like when you’re picking the perfect board background!).
Once you attach an image to a card, you are now able to select different sizing options for the front cover display. Click on the button named “Cover” on the card back, and then choose whether you want the attachment to display above the card name (how it worked previously), or as the full height of the card:
If you select the full height of the card, you are then prompted to choose a text color to appear as the card name’s overlay. Depending on how light or dark the picture is, you can choose a different text option to display:
You can also change the color of an entire card.
In the same “Cover” button as above, you also have the option to select from color swatches. The sizing is the same as images–the colors can either appear above the card name, or as the full height of the card. Card colors can be displayed with the color-blind friendly mode for easier viewing pleasure, or just to add some more flavor to your workflows.
Label Filtering
If you want to pull up only the cards associated with a certain label, simply hit the ‘f’ key, and a menu will appear, allowing you to choose which label you’d like to filter by. Once you select one (or more), only those cards associated with the labels you’ve selected will be displayed on your board.
This enables you to focus on the tasks or topics that need your attention while filtering out the rest until later.
How To Use Labels On Your Trello Boards And Cards
Read on to spark some ideas on how labels are used within various Trello Templates—which you can customize and start using today!
Product Development
Between feature updates, glitch fixes, and decisions around prioritization, product developers have a lot to keep in mind. By using the labels found in the 5 Product Management Buckets Template, members of product development teams can more easily visualize the types of updates and tasks coming down the line.
Prioritization categories include:
- Low priority (light green)
- Medium priority (orange)
- High priority (red)
Task categories can include:
- New feature (dark green)
- Standardization (blue)
- Enhancement (purple)
- Hotfix (red)
- Module (yellow)
With this added level of organization, team members can learn to easily recognize the labels and their meaning at a quick glance.
Goal Setting
Accomplish goals of all kinds by using the labels displayed on the Goal Setting Template Board. This template board takes advantage of card colors as well as labels, creating a colorful yet organized space to map out personal, work-related, and health-related goals.
Customer Success Management
You can also use labels to signify to team members where a task falls in the process of completion. For example in the Customer Success Management template, team members can collaborate easily by referring to the “Label Key” card, and using that as an easy reference point when coming to this board to view the status of a project.
More Quick Tips For Using Trello Labels
- Hover your mouse over a card and use the “L” shortcut to open up the label menu. From there you can add labels to the card, name your labels, change their colors, and create new labels.
- Each label color also has a corresponding numerical hotkey (0-9) which is in parenthesis on each color in the label menu. Simply hover over a card and press the corresponding numerical hotkey to apply or remove the label.
- Tap “F” to open your board’s filter and select labels for which you would like to filter.
- Use the grey label color to create a tag that won’t show up on the front of a card, but will come up in searches.
- Trello has a colorblind-friendly mode that you can enable from your settings page https://trello.com/your/account