Trello Multi-Board Dashboard
Asked by Dorian:

Howdy y'all! Just started at a new company that is using Trello, which I've never used before. I am a longtime Jira user. Most recently I used Asana (shock, horror!) and really liked its ability to create a portfolio view, i.e. a rolled up view of data across projects. Our projects are large and predictable and typically go on for 1-3 years. Using PMP language they are largely predictive with elements of agile in certain phases.

What I am trying to do is create a 1-page dashboard view of summary information across all projects. I'd like to track significant milestones for each project and see those on the dashboard, and also give the project manager the ability to write a periodic status report and have that display on the dashboard too - something the like the google sheet shown in the attached screenshot.

I searched the power-ups store for 'dashboard' and the most popular results seems to be [Dashcards](https://blog.trello.com/dashcards-powerup). Will this give me what I need? Is there something better?

<br />

Thanks!

![Dashboard.PNG](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/292852iF42885A7FD8622E0/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Dashboard.PNG")


Answers:
author: Dreamsuite Mike
body: Hi [@Dorian](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5368911)

The beauty of Trello is it's flexibility and the fact that you know what you want is a good start. However, with flexibility comes many ways to do the same thing.

I will list some options that I have used:

1. Having a master board will work (you don't necessarily need Unito for this but it certainly will make things easier if you're new to Trello  
   ![Parent-Child Structure-Page-4.drawio.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/292935i485BF2AEF016F4C3/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Parent-Child Structure-Page-4.drawio.png")  
   Using only Trello automation and dashcards, you can have a completely automated system and a live dashboard.
2. Try [Reports by Bluecat](https://trello.com/power-ups/5d9c90aa18965066fcd44730/reports-by-blue-cat) power-up. This is an amazing app for providing dashboards and reports across multiple boards
3. Try [Projects by Placker](https://trello.com/power-ups/590f10d117d6ebad37ed3dd5/projects-by-placker) power-up. This enables you to view projects across multiple boards, create dashboards and use alternative views such as Gantt and much more...
4. Try [Dashboards by Screenful](https://trello.com/power-ups/570262ea1100fa611d7e200a/dashboards-by-screenful) for highly customisable and beautiful presented dashboards.

comments: author: Dorian
body: [@Dreamsuite Mike](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5153180) Thank you! Is the image above generated using Dashcards?


author: Dorian
body: Which would you recommend that I try first?

One data point I want to track for each project is the phase the project is currently in (we have a defined list of phases) and the % of cards completed in each phase. What's the best way to do this? Should I use a label or a custom field for the phase? And if I then apply that label or custom field to each card, I assume there is someway for me to then report out this data?


author: Dorian
body: [@Dreamsuite Mike](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5153180) Any thoughts please? Thanks!


author: Dorian
body: [@Dreamsuite Mike](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5153180) Can you elaborate on this please: "Using only Trello automation and dashcards, you can have a completely automated system and a live dashboard."


author: Dreamsuite Mike
body: HI [@Dorian](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5368911)

Sorry for the delay in answering your question, it is quite a detailed 1 and I have only been jumping in for short answers the past few days.

Using Trello automation and dashcards to build a live dashboard requires a fair bit of experience and knowledge of Trello automation. It is something I have done many times but it is very difficult to elaborate on here, especially if you're fairly new to Trello.

The whole process involves linking project boards to a higher level dashboard by using the concept of linking checklist items to cards.

You use the links to then dynamically update things.

As an example, if you have a bunch of tasks for Project A, which are connected to a "Project A" card on your dashboard by using Trello linked checklist items, when a task in Project A is complete, it will automatically check it off in the Project A card on your dashboard. You can then work out progress at each stage.

I created an article that demonstrates linking items in Trello to give a parent/child structure, please take a look.

<https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Trello-articles/Mikes-Trello-Tips-Parent-Child-Card-Linking/ba-p/2418149>

If you need some help setting things up correctly, you could tap into the pool of Trello consultants that are on this community:

<https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Trello-articles/Trello-Consultants-Right-Here-In-The-Community/ba-p/1983694>


author: Dorian
body: deleted


author: Dorian
body: deleted


Tags: dashboard