What is an Aptly Board?
An Aptly Board is a visual workspace that helps your team manage processes step-by-step.
Think of it like a digital whiteboard with columns where you can track tasks, conversations, or applications from start to finish.
Each board is made up of:
- Stages: Represent steps in your workflow, such as “New Leads,” “In Review,” or “Approved.”
- Cards: Each card represents a single item you’re managing, like a lease renewal, work order, or prospect inquiry.
- Fields & automations: These keep information organized and help streamline repetitive tasks.
Why Boards are Useful
- Stay organized: See exactly where every item is in the process.
- Collaborate easily: Assign tasks, add notes, and communicate with your team in one place.
- Track progress: Quickly identify bottlenecks and keep things moving smoothly.
Example:
On an Renter Leads Board, each card might represent one prospect. As you review their information, their card moves through stages like:
New → Engaged → Tour Scheduled → Applied
How to Navigate a Board
Boards in Aptly help you manage processes from start to finish — whether that’s tracking leases, renewals, maintenance requests, or any other workflow. With the new Boards interface, it’s easier than ever to organize your work, switch between views, and customize your setup for your team’s needs.
This article covers how to navigate a board, including key menus, views, and tools.
The Board Navigation Menu
When you open a board, you’ll see the board navigation menu on the left. This menu helps you switch between boards, organize your folders, and manage your board settings.
Collapsing or Expanding the Menu
If you want more room to view your board:
- Hover near the app navigation bar until you see an arrow.
- Click the arrow to collapse or expand the navigation menu.
Navigating Between Boards
At the top of the navigation menu, you’ll see a dropdown menu showing your current folder or Favorites.
From here, you can:
- Switch between folders or boards
- Search for a specific board
- Add a new board
You can also click the cogwheel to Manage Folders. This allows you to:
- Reorder folders
- Add new folders
- Move boards between folders (this won’t affect any automations, templates, or forms — it’s purely for organization)
Keep in mind: folder changes are visible to everyone in your workspace.
Managing Boards
Hover over a board name and click the three dots to see more options. You can:
- Add the board to Favorites
- Change its icon or color
- Move it to a different folder
- Duplicate or delete it
⚠️ Note: Duplicating a board is especially helpful if you want to create a template board or replicate an existing process with the same fields and structure.
Global Search and Quick Actions
Across the top of Aptly, you’ll see several tools that help you navigate quickly.
Global Search
The search bar at the top lets you search across all of Aptly.
- Use it to find specific cards, conversations, or documents.
- Filter by board or card type to narrow your results.
If you’re in the Inbox, search will return conversations instead of cards.
Quick Create Menu
Next to the search bar, the plus (+) icon lets you start something new from anywhere in Aptly:
- Send a new email, SMS, or make a phone call
- Create a new card, event, or contact
Recent History and Notifications
On the far right, you’ll find:
- Recent History: Quickly reopen cards, conversations, or docs you’ve viewed recently
- Notifications: View updates without leaving your current page
- Profile Avatar: Access your settings, the Aptly Community, or the Help Center
Exploring the Board Views
Inside your board, you’ll notice there are multiple view options that help you visualize and manage your workflow.
Kanban View
This is the default visual layout, where cards appear within stages (columns). Each stage represents a step in your process.
Table View
The Table View displays your cards in a spreadsheet-style layout. You’ll see each card as a row with its fields shown as columns.
Diagnostics
Every board includes a Diagnostics tab, which provides a high-level overview of board activity and performance.
Learn more about this in the Diagnostics article.
You can also add custom views at the end of your view list and reorder or manage existing views to match your preferences.
Board Settings and Tools
Board settings are now grouped together under icons on the right-hand side of the screen.
- ⚙️ Settings (Cogwheel): Board fields, card options, assignment rules, business hours, reporting, showing details, qualification questions, and approval conditions
- 📘 Templates (Book): Communication templates, forms, and task templates
- 🔌 Integrations (Plug): Manage card sources and connected integrations
- ✨ Automations (Sparkle): View and edit all board automations
- 👥 Members (People): Manage team members, permissions, and privacy settings
- 🕓 Activity Feed: See who made recent changes on the board
Use the three dots menu for additional actions, like exporting board data to a spreadsheet or sharing a showing link.
Working With Cards and Stages
Each board represents a process — and each stage within the board represents a step in that process.
- Cards move through stages as work progresses.
- Each card can only be in one stage at a time.
- Stages can include automations, tasks, and emails triggered by activity.
Use the filters at the top of your board to:
- Search for specific cards
- Filter and sort results
- Choose visible fields
- Select date ranges to view cards created within a specific period
Summary
Boards are the foundation of Aptly’s workflow system. Once you’re comfortable navigating the new interface, you’ll be able to organize, track, and automate your processes more efficiently than ever.
To learn more, check out related articles on Board Settings, Custom Views, and Stages & Cards — or reach out to our team at help@aptly.com.