Parent and Child Card Relation
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In this article:
Overview
Card relations are connections between cards. These relations are designed to facilitate collaboration and enhance productivity by representing dependencies, associations, or hierarchical structures between various cards.
One of them is the parent-child relation. This relation represents a hierarchical structure where a parent card is associated with one or more child cards. Child cards can represent subtasks, subprojects, or subtopics related to the parent card. In KanBo 3.0 child cards are called subcards.
It’s important to note that subcards are regular cards, but they are time-dependent on the parent card. The parent card is always superior to the subcard. Such a pair of cards has a certain time principle: the subcard should be started and completed in the timeframe of the parent card.
Cards in the parent and child relation are visualized with icons:
parent card- subcard
parent card
subcard
Example: Card relations icons indicates information about related cards. The Urban Picnic card has 3 out of 5 subcards completed. The Picnic Lectures card has the Urban Picnic parent card.
Example: Information about the parent card is shown on the top card bar.
Card relations also work between different spaces. Child cards are not necessarily in the same space as their parent. Card relations are often used precisely to connect cards that are in different spaces together.
In practice, this means that a parent card can be located in a space that is associated with one department of the organization, while a subcard is located in a space that is associated with a completely different department.
Each card can be a task for a different department and have different people responsible for the task. In addition, a card can have several subcards and parent cards.
Example: This card has parents in the marketing department – New Product Launch from the Marketing Campaigns space and the finance department – Financial Plan from the Accountancy space.
One card can have multiple parents and children at the same time. If there are several parent cards, one of them is established as the default parent card.
Adding and removing card relations
You can create relations between existing cards or create new related cards from the current card level. A special place for subcards is the Subwork tab in the sheet, where you can manage all child cards.
Example: Subcards of the Urban Picnic card in the Subwork tab.
You can also create subcard groups and display them in the card elements section in card content.
For your convenience, you can add and remove card relations in many places in KanBo. Go to the article about adding card relations or removing card relations to learn more.
Parent-child card relation in different space views
There are many space views in KanBo. Have a look at those that are focused on the parent-child card relation: Kanban view, List view, Mind Map view and Gantt Chart view.
Kanban and List views
Kanban view and List view are two basic views in which cards are grouped by specific categories. However, you can highlight subcards in these views if they are relevant to you.
First, you can expand subcards on the card front. You can select the subcard icon to do this individually, or select the Expand subcard option in display settings.
Another thing is the visibility of card types in Kanban and List views. You can completely hide the subcards by disabling the Show subcards option in display settings. You might as well show only the subcards and hide the parent cards.
Mind Map view
A Mind Map view is a graphical representation of the parent-child relations between cards. Lines between cards reflect relations.
Example: Card relations of the Green Week space in Mind Map view.
Learn more about card relations in Mind Map view.
Gantt Chart view
In the Gantt Chart view, the relations between cards and their location in time are important. This is the best way to see if work is progressing according to schedule.
Example: The Solar Power parent card with its subcards in the Gantt Chart view. Solar power is the grandparent card of the Rooftop PV System card.
FAQ
What are the views with parent and child card relations highlighted?
You can observe parent and child card relations in the Gantt Chart view and Mind Map view. There is also an option to expand child cards in the Kanban view and List view.
What if the card has more than one parent?
Even if the card has more than one parent, only one of them is the default parent. The connection visible on the Mind Map view is the one between the child card and the default parent card.
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