Columns

Where columns come from

GitLab boards mirror a GitLab issue board, list for list and in the same order. Lists can be labels, statuses, people (assignee lists) or milestones; iteration lists aren't shown. If the project has several GitLab boards, pick one with the board menu in the filter bar. GitGumbo starts on the board assigned to you, if there is one, and remembers your choice for each project in this browser. With more than 20 boards, the menu has a search box.

To add or change columns on a GitLab project, change the lists on your GitLab issue board (Plan → Issue boards). If the project has no lists, the board shows just Open and Closed. GitLab only offers status, assignee and milestone lists on its Premium tier and above.

GitHub boards use labels that start with Stage::, such as Stage::To Do and Stage::Doing. Each one becomes a column, in alphabetical order, so number them if you want a particular order (Stage::1 To Do, Stage::2 Doing). Until you create any, the board shows one column per label, hiding empty ones. A firm admin can also switch a GitHub board to Your columns and define the columns in GitGumbo; see below.

Open and Closed

GitGumbo adds two columns of its own:

• Open collects open issues that match no other column. On a board whose columns are all labels, it's hidden while empty.
• Closed is always last. It holds the 200 most recently updated closed issues. It's shown whenever you can move cards, so there's always somewhere to drop a card to close it, and otherwise only when it has cards.

When a card matches two columns

A card only ever shows once. If it matches two columns (say, a label list and an assignee list on GitLab), it shows in whichever of them comes last in the board's own order. Your personal column order doesn't change this. GitLab boards that mix list types show a one-time notice explaining it.

WIP limits

A work-in-progress limit caps how many issues should sit in a column. The header count then reads like 7/5, turning amber at the limit and red past it. It's a warning only: you can always drop a card there. While any filter is on, the count is plain.

• GitHub: set limits in Your columns.
• GitLab: limits come from each list's settings on your GitLab board, which GitLab offers on Premium and above.

Sorting a column

Each column has its own sort menu: Default, Idle time, Recently updated, Ticket created, MR created and Blocking most. Pick the active one again to reverse it. Cards without the data a sort needs, such as a card with no merge request under MR created, stay at the bottom. Default is the provider's order.

Sorts are kept in the page address, so a link you share keeps them, and Boards in the sidebar brings them back.

Collapsing and expanding

• Collapse a column to a narrow strip. The strip still shows how many issues it holds, and how many match while a filter is on. GitGumbo remembers collapsed columns for each project in this browser.
• Expand column (for screenshot) shows one column on its own, full height. Press Esc or ✕ to go back. You can't drag cards there, so every card you can move shows its move menu, whatever your settings.

New issue

The + on a label column opens the provider's new-issue form in a new tab, with the column's label filled in and the board's connected account as assignee. On GitLab, this arrives as /label and /assign lines in the description, which GitLab applies when you create the issue. The + isn't shown on Open, Closed, or status, assignee and milestone columns.

Arranging columns for yourself

Drag a column header left or right, or use its Move column menu (First, After …, Last). The order you choose is yours alone: it doesn't change the board for anyone else, or which column a card lands in. Open and Closed stay where they are. Once you've moved something, Reset column order puts it back.

On GitLab, your order is kept per project, not per board. On a project with several GitLab boards, moving a column on one board moves the same-named column on the others, and Reset column order resets all of them.

Your columns (GitHub)

On a GitHub board, a firm admin or owner can choose Columns to define the columns in GitGumbo instead of relying on Stage:: labels. Other members see the button greyed out.

The first time, GitGumbo asks "Set up your own columns?". Your columns start as a copy of the board's Stage:: columns; if the board has none, they start as a first guess from your labels. If you set up your own columns before and handed them back, switching again brings back the columns you set up last time. From then on, new Stage:: labels aren't picked up automatically.

In the editor, each column has a name, a type (Label, Assignee or Milestone), the label, person or milestone it stands for, and an optional WIP limit. Reorder columns with ▲▼. This order is shared, and decides where a card that matches two columns shows. The editor checks, when you save, that names are unique, that each column has a value and that no value is used twice. "Open" and "Closed" are taken.

To go back, choose Use your Stage:: labels instead in the editor. It switches straight away, and your column setup is kept in case you come back.

A GitHub board can also follow a GitHub Project. A firm admin or owner chooses Follow a GitHub Project and picks one: the Projects linked to the repository come first, then the owner's other Projects. Your own GitHub account must be able to see the Project you pick. The board's columns become the Project's Status options, each card sits in the column of its issue's Status, and moving a card sets its Status in GitHub. Moving a card between Status columns needs write access to the Project on your own GitHub account, not just to the repository. A card with no Status, or whose issue isn't in the Project, sits in No Status; the second kind is marked Not in Project, and moving it into a column adds the issue to the Project. A Status changed in GitHub reaches the board within about ten minutes. To stop following the Project, use the board-mode button, which switches the board back to Stage:: labels.

Default columns for new boards

A firm admin can set the columns new GitHub boards start with, in Firm settings → Default board columns. New GitHub boards then open in Your columns with that setup. Existing boards don't change, and GitLab boards always mirror their GitLab lists.