Use sticky notes and mind maps on a board

A board is a whiteboard where you can freely place sticky notes, shapes, arrows, mind maps, images, and freehand drawing. When members of the same organization open the same board, they see each other’s cursors and names and can edit at the same time. Your changes are saved automatically.

Before you begin

• An organization owner or admin must add the service Boards. Open More in the icon column on the left, choose Add a service, and select Add next to Boards. Once added, Boards appears in the icon column on the left.
• Boards uses your organization’s dedicated storage (a separate database for each organization). Adding Boards sets it up automatically, and it’s ready in about a minute (until then you’ll see Setting up dedicated storage, and the page switches over on its own). If you see Couldn’t set up dedicated storage, an owner or admin selects Try again. Each person can have it set up automatically for up to 3 organizations. If you need more, or it still doesn’t work after trying again, contact support.
• Only people with the Member role or higher can create and edit boards. People with the Viewer role can only look (View only appears at the top left of the screen).

1. Create a board

1. Select Boards in the icon column on the left.
2. Select New board.
3. Enter a Board name.
4. Choose a Template.

The selection screen shows a small preview of what each template places.

5. Select Create. The board opens with the template you chose.

Your boards appear in the list with a preview. Use the pencil button on a card in the list to rename a board. You can also open the board and select the name at the top left.

2. Place things

Choose a tool in the tool column on the left (at the bottom on smartphones), then click the board to place it where you click. You can also double-click an empty spot to place a sticky note.

You can type text right after you place something, or double-click to type. Press Esc to finish typing.

3. Grow a mind map

1. Choose the Mind map tool, click the board, and write the central topic.
2. Press Tab to add a child branch and Enter to add a sibling branch. You can use them while typing. Press Shift+Enter for a line break.
3. Branches line up to the right automatically. When you move the center, the whole mind map moves.

When you select a branch, a “+” appears at its side and below it. You can also select it to add a branch. When you delete a branch, the branches under it are deleted too.

4. Connect with arrows

1. Hover over a sticky note or shape. Dots appear on its four sides.
2. Drag from a dot and release over the sticky note or shape you want to connect. If you release on an empty spot, a sticky note is placed there and connected.
3. Select an arrow and select the circle in its middle to write text on the arrow.

5. Move and arrange

• Drag to move, and drag a corner to resize. When the edge or center of what you are moving gets close to the edge or center of another sticky note or shape, it snaps and a pink line appears.
• Drag from an empty spot to select several things at once. Hold Shift or ⌘ (Ctrl on Windows) while selecting to add more.
• The bar above your selection lets you choose a Color, a Shape, Bring to front, Send to back, Duplicate, and Delete.
• To move around the board, scroll with two fingers, or use the Pan tool (H). You can also hold Space and drag.
• Group: Select several things and select Group in the bar, or press ⌘G (Ctrl+G). Select any one of them to select the whole group, and they move together. Select Ungroup or press ⌘⇧G to undo it.
• Lock: Select things and select the lock button in the bar, or press ⌘⇧L (Ctrl+Shift+L). Locked things can’t be moved, resized, recolored, rewritten, or deleted. Use it so you don’t accidentally move a background image or a frame. Locking any part of a mind map locks the whole map. Select it again to unlock.
• Find on the board: Press ⌘F (Ctrl+F) or select the magnifier at the bottom right (on narrow screens, “…” at the top left) and type to find text in sticky notes, shapes, text, mind maps, and frame names. The match is selected and the board moves to it. Press Enter for the next match, Shift+Enter for the previous one, and Esc to close.
• To zoom in and out, pinch, scroll while holding ⌘ (Ctrl), or use “−” and “+” at the bottom right. Fit to screen (Shift+1) shows everything you placed. Shift+2 zooms to what you selected.
• Align: When you select two or more things, Align appears in the bar. Align left, horizontal centers, right, top, vertical centers, or bottom. With three or more, you can also distribute them horizontally or vertically. When you align frames, the things inside move with them. You can also use keys (Option+A, D, W, and S for left, right, top, and bottom; Option+H and V for horizontal and vertical centers; Option+Shift+H and V to distribute horizontally and vertically. Use Alt on Windows).

Organize with muku

Select sticky notes, shapes, text, or mind map items, and select the muku icon in the bar above them.

• Sort into themes: Groups the selected sticky notes (3 or more) into themes of related ideas and rearranges them into columns, each with a heading.
• Summarize: Places a sticky note to the right with an overview, the key points, and next steps of what you selected. If your notes are inside frames (such as “Try” in a KPT board), the frame names are used as hints too.

Both use AI credits. If the result isn’t what you want, undo (⌘Z) puts things back.

Make tasks from sticky notes

Select sticky notes, shapes, text, or mind map items, select Make tasks in the bar above them, and choose a project in Tasks. One task is created for each selected item. The first line becomes the task name, the rest becomes the description, and a link to the board is added at the end of the description.

Each item then shows the task number (for example, WEB-12) and its status at the bottom right. Select it to open the task in Tasks. When the status changes in Tasks, the board updates right away. If your organization doesn’t use Tasks yet or has no projects, open Tasks and set it up first.

6. Edit with members at the same time

The icons of the members who have the same board open line up at the top right. You see other people’s cursors and names, and the frames around what they have selected, as it happens. Cursors move smoothly, as in Figma, and disappear when that person leaves the board or switches to another tab. The cursor of someone in voice has a microphone mark, and their name glows green while they speak.

• Say something at your cursor: Press “/” and an input box appears next to your cursor. What you type appears next to your cursor on other people’s screens while you type. If you press Enter to show it, it disappears after a few seconds, and Esc removes it right away. Use it to point at something and say “look here”.

• Follow: Select an icon and your screen follows the view of that person (the edge of the screen takes their color). Move the board yourself, or select Stop, to stop following.

• Bring everyone here: Select Bring everyone here next to the icons and other people’s screens follow your screen. Use it when you want to show something as you explain.

If two people write on the same sticky note at the same time, both texts are kept. Saved at the top left means your changes are saved. When you go offline, you see Offline. Changes will be sent when you reconnect, and they are sent automatically when you reconnect.

7. Talk by voice

You can talk by voice with the members who have the same board open while you edit. People with the Viewer role can talk too.

1. Select Talk at the top right. If others are already talking, the number of people appears next to the button.
2. If your browser asks to use the microphone, select Allow.
3. Once you join, the faces of the people in voice line up at the top right. The face of someone who is speaking glows green.
4. Use the microphone button to switch your microphone off and on. Someone whose microphone is off has a mark on their face.
5. Select the red button to leave voice. You also leave when you close the board.

• Up to 10 people can talk at the same time on one board.
• If you have the same board open in another tab of your own, you can’t hear that tab’s voice (so your own voice doesn’t come back to you).
• Voice isn’t saved (it isn’t recorded). It doesn’t use credits either.
• If you see Can’t use the microphone, allow the microphone for this site from the icon at the left of your browser’s address bar.

8. Duplicate and save as an image

• To make another board from the same board, select Duplicate on the card in the board list, or select “…” (Board menu) at the top left of the board and choose Duplicate board. This creates “Copy of (name)” with the contents and images copied (timers, votes, and comments aren’t copied). People with the Member role or higher can use it.
• To put a board in a document or chat, select “…” at the top left of the board and choose Save as PNG (whole board). If you select some things first, Save as PNG (… selected) saves only what you selected. People with the Viewer role can use it too. Other people’s cursors and selection frames, and comments, aren’t included.

9. Use the timer and voting

These tools are for meetings and brainstorming. On a computer, they are at the bottom center of the screen. On a smartphone, they are under the board name. People with the Member role or higher start and stop them. People with the Viewer role can only watch.

• Timer: Select Timer and choose 1 to 15 minutes. Everyone who has the board open sees the same countdown. You can pause, resume, add 1 minute, or remove it. At 0, Time’s up appears and a short sound plays.
• Vote: Select Vote and choose how many votes each person can give (1, 3, or 5 votes). Select the badge at the top right of a sticky note to vote, and select it again to take the vote back. Select the check button to close voting, and the results appear with the most votes first (select one to jump to that sticky note). Use the trash button to clear the votes.

If you ask muku “Summarize the voting results on this board”, it reads the vote counts and summarizes them.

• Private mode: Select the eye icon in the bar at the bottom center. Until it ends, sticky notes, shapes, text, drawings, and images that each person adds appear only on their own screen, and others see only how many are hidden. Use it when you want people to write without being swayed by others’ ideas. Select Reveal to end it and show everything to everyone. This only hides notes from other screens, so don’t write anything that must stay secret.

10. Add comments

You can add comments anywhere on a sticky note or the board and talk with members.

1. Select the Comment tool (C) in the left tools.
2. Select the sticky note or shape you want to comment on, or an empty spot.
3. Write your comment and select Send (you can also press ⌘Enter or Ctrl+Enter). A pin with your face appears where you selected.
4. Others can select the pin to reply. When the discussion is done, use the check button (Resolve) to resolve the comment.

• A comment on a sticky note or shape moves with it.
• Use the speech bubble button at the top right to open the list of comments. It is split into open and resolved comments, and selecting one takes you to it. Resolved comments don’t appear on the board, but you can open them from the list.
• New comments notify the person who created the board, and replies notify the person who wrote the comment, by email and push notification. Opening the link in the notification opens that comment.
• People with the Member role or higher write, reply to, and resolve comments. People with the Viewer role can only read. You can edit your own comments. The person who wrote a comment, and owners and admins, can delete it. If you delete the first comment, its replies are deleted too.
• If you ask muku “Summarize the comments on this board”, it reads the open comments and summarizes them.

Shortcuts

You can also see them with the keyboard button at the bottom left (Shortcuts).

Delete a board

Select the trash button on the card in the list, then select Delete. Only the person who created the board, and owners and admins, can delete it. All sticky notes, shapes, and images are deleted and can’t be restored. The board also closes for anyone who has it open.

You can also ask muku to create a board (Ask muku to create a board).