What are Card Sources?

A card source on any board is exactly that - the source of the card. How did the card get on the board? It could come from your Property Management System as an Integration, a form submitted by a prospective owner, an email notifying you of a renter lead, or from other boards.

There are a few different ways that a card can be added to a board.

This is the main source of all your cards. In some way or another one of your PMS items will be part of a process. This could be the Portfolio, Building, Unit, or Lease or it could be one of your contacts like and owner or resident. PMS Integrated items can be found in the Locations section of Aptly. These are sacred pieces of data. They carry the power to start processes as well as sync back up to your PMS.

See: Integrations

Cards can also come from other boards. This is typically in one direction. Cards don’t move back and forth. For example, on the Lease Renewal boards (we have 2 - Owner and Tenant Renewals) cards come from the Leases board (synced from the Property Management System) and are added to the Owner Renewals board. Once approved, the card will copy to the Tenant Renewals board. At the end of the Tenant Renewals board, it will archive.

See: Copy Cards to a Board

An email parser automatically extracts important information from emails, saving property management teams time and reducing manual data entry. For example, when a renter lead inquires about a property, the parser can pull out the prospective tenant's name, contact details, and property they're interested in, then automatically add it to a board. Similarly, it can extract maintenance details from work order emails, like the issue description, tenant contact info, and property address, ensuring the right team is dispatched quickly. By organizing renter leads, owner inquiries, and work orders efficiently, email parsers streamline communication and boost productivity.

See: Email Parsers

A board can have a dedicated email address. Any email sent to the board email address will be passed through every single Email Parser that we have to see if there’s a match, details are parsed, and created as a card on the board.

See: Dedicated Board Email Address

Forms can create new cards on a board upon submission. For example, a form can be embedded on your website to collect owner leads. Once a prospective owner completes and submits a form, a card is created with the data that they submitted.

See: Forms