Where's the left board menu gone in beta

[John White]

Hi there, I run an interation of Trello with about ten board that I need to regularly, and quickly flick between.

The new beta functionality - in addition to being a bit clunky for now - is killing my workflow.

Not only has it added an extra click, but the board menu icons have changed to big image objects rather than individual lines which means I'm also scrolling to see them all. It really is in almost every way a backwards step.

I can somehow have both the planner and inbox sections permanently on the left (neither of which I actually use), but the board switcher is a popup. Rubbish!

Please please please retain the option to have the current board switcher remain on the left hand side!

[Olufunke Femi-Ojo]

We completely share the concerns expressed here.

Some of the proposed Beta changes are promising but overall, they - and the loss of the left-hand navigation panel and loss of easy access to dozens of our custom Work Table views - are going to be very problematic for our organisation.

Please don’t do this, as the proposed Beta workflow is much more complex and not at all intuitive (degradation of this feature and not an improvement)! 

If you are unable to action this feedback and the removal of the left hand panel does go ahead in Beta, please can you at least make it OPTIONAL so that users can switch it off and continue using the insofar set up. 

If this is not possible, we may have no option but to consider leaving Trello (after 8+ years).

[Maciej Pilachowski]

I agree with @Olufunke Femi-Ojo  and work in the same organisation. 

As the Finance/HR Coordinator, my extensive daily use of Trello heavily relies on its current functionality. I tested the Beta version on the first day it became available, but after two hours of struggling to get my workflows operational, I reverted to the current, more preferred version.

With the Beta version lacking functioning workflows and the highly beneficial Table views that our OPS department uses massively, I may be compelled to seek out a different collaborative platform.

[Carina Denkenwolf]

I agree with @Olufunke Femi-Ojo also! Please do not ruin this!

[Michael Stephenson]

I completely agree with OP. The new Beta "Central Board Panel" is utterly terrible. Having the Board menu on the left as it currently is, is vastly easier and quicker to use, particularly when you have alot of boards you are swapping between regualrly. I am not sure of the thinking behind this upcoming change, but it's poorly thought out.

I too have opted out of the Beta nad returned to the previous layouts. If we are forced to use this new Beta layout I will definitely be looking at other options. Thanks.

[John White]

Thanks chap - indeed this is a Trello ending disaster for me - the new workflow is just AWFUL - I can’t believe any person using it sees any benefit!

[Michael Stephenson]

It's another example of UI dev for the sake of dev. As you said, it's a step back in everyway.

[Dana]

Agree with both of you. Hiding navs doesn't work for websites so why would it work for org tools? 

[Olufunke Femi-Ojo]

@John White Just wondering if it’s possible to reopen this thread and unaccept the answer, as there are still a few unresolved points. If that’s not possible, I’m happy to start a new thread.

[John White]

Hi there I’m new here and didn’t know what I was doing when I accepted the first answer - however have now unaccepted it so hope that works!

[Amanda Cassidy]

The proposed changes will definitely make life more difficult and less efficient, I think its a nail in the coffin for Trello and it will drive our organisation away and probably others too, be very careful Trello your going to be less attractive as a software for project managers.

[Sonia]

Hello everyone...

Another newbie here, and another person concerned enough to post for the very first time.

This Trello issue report/ticket seems to broadly correspond to this thread. 

I have upvoted it already, I would suggest that more people upvote as well.

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/TRELLO-1271 

Whatever it takes to stop this "improvement".

[John White]

Hi Sonia - from my phone all i can do is read the ticket - not upvote?

[Jen Ross]

Where is the workplace table and calendar view that was on the left hand board as well? I am unable to look at all boards at once in any capacity.

[Sakshi Verma]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feedback on this change. I’ve shared all the feedback provided here with our Product Team. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you’ve experienced, and I want to assure you that our Product Team is closely monitoring all the feedback being shared regarding this update.

The left navigation bar has been replaced by our new Inbox and Planner features, which can be expanded to occupy the same left-side space. With the ability to view Inbox, Planner, and your board side-by-side, we’ve moved board and Workspace navigation into the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.

Additionally, there’s a quick and easy way to find any board across all your Workspaces without needing to use your mouse. Simply press 'b' on your keyboard from anywhere in Trello, start typing the name of the board, and then press Enter to open it.

Thank you again for your understanding and for taking the time to share your feedback!

[John White]

Dear Sakshi - with the greatest of respect, I think it’s clear that everyone here understands the changes proposed in the beta - our universal feedback is that they don’t work with respect to board navigation. 

Clicking the new navigation bar, pressing B, typing, searching - these are all much much much worse ways of doing something that already works perfectly. There’s absolutely no benefit to adding these additional clicks, key strokes etc to a workflow that already works. 

Please please please confirm this message is understood - with thanks for your effort we really don’t need you to try and convince us the new way is better (it isn’t) or explain to us how it works (we know).

many thanks. 

[Michael Stephenson]

What he said ^ ... we all completely understand how the new switcher works. It's just a worse switcher than the current, superior one.

As John stated, searching via pressing "b" and typing in a board name is in no way quicker than simply clicking once on an already open list, paritcularly when literally everything else on the interface is mouse driven, and my hand is already on the mouse.

Pushing the planner and inbox isn't something we need to hear, we know what it does, the switcher is the problem, it just doesn't work as well for everyone as you'd like.

[Karl Macnaughton]

Yes, I definitely agree with this. The 'b' option isn't the answer as it generates a clumsy little box that things don't fit in properly in the lower centre of the screen, which is not somewhere it feels natural to look. It's now really awkward to flick between boards when it was just _so_ easy before.

The inbox and planner features just seem pointless to me. Maybe other users will find them worthwhile but they're just not something I see a need for.

This is yet another example of an amazingly functional app 'innovating' and making things worse and messing up your work flow for no gain.

[Sakshi Verma]

Hi @John White  ,welcome to the community!

Thank you for sharing your feedback on the new beta version of Trello. I see that you have opted out of the beta and returned to the older version of Trello.

In the new version, to switch boards, you need to click on the switch board icon at the bottom (see screenshot).

Additionally, there is a section in the documentation that explains how to switch boards.

Thank you.

[John White]

Hi Sakshi - many thanks for your reply.

Just to be clear - as per my note - I already know how to swap boards in the Beta, I'm just offering some feedback that it's an absolutely horrible, slow, extra clicks plus scrolling experience and for me at least a massive backwards step.

Especially given that in the beta you can have inbox and planner on the left it seems crazy not to offer board swapping there too.

I was about to grab trello and upgrade for my entire office, but I think now I'll wait and see how this beta pans out.

Thanks

John

[Sakshi Verma]

Hi @John White 

Thank you for sharing your input. I'll make sure to pass your thoughts and feedback on to our product team. Your insights are valuable in helping us improve our services. I apologise for any inconvenience you faced, and I want you to know that I'm here to help in any way I can.

You can share your feedback regarding the beta version through the Share feedback button. Feel free to share your thoughts from here.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any more questions.

Thank you 

[D Casbeer]

I'll echo John's position as the loss of the left hand navigation panel is troublesome and is definitely affecting my efficiencies. When will this Beta version be shelved?

[Lukas Langenkämper]

I also represent this position. Since the beta, Trello has been absolutely overwhelmed. In addition, the new design takes up a lot of space. If the sidebar is really permanently removed and nothing can be changed with "Chrome extention," we will definitely change the software.

[Sakshi Verma]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you all for taking the time to share your thoughts and feedback regarding this issue.

I’m truly sorry to hear that your experience with the beta version hasn’t been as smooth as we hoped. Please know that your feedback and insights are incredibly valuable to us, and I will make sure to share them with the product team.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to improve the product based on your experiences.

[Michael Stephenson]

@Sakshi Verma ,,, can we get some assurance the left hand board switcher won't suddenly disappear over night ?

[John White]

I would like that assurance too so I can decide whether to make departure plans in advance

[Karl Macnaughton]

...aaaand that's exactly what's just happened :-/

[Alexandros Mathopoulos]

👋🏻 Hi all, Lex from the Trello Product Management team here! I want to eco Sakshi that we do really really appreciate all of yall's feedback and candor. 

One of the reasons we decided to have an elongated beta (with certain users getting access to the new Trello from the very start of this year) is to be able to have time to incorporate as much feedback as we can. This is what we have been obsessively doing over the last 6+ months and will continue to do. 

I can not say at this point what exact improvements we will continue to make to the Trello navigation/experience (many are in discussion) but I can assure you that every single day we are reviewing the thousands of pieces of good and bad feedback we get and making the best decisions we can based on new data/feedback. 

In terms of moving from Beta (when the new Trello experience/features are optional) and GA (when the old experience completely goes away) this is something we are doing very slowly across the user base starting a week or so ago. Every user will receive (or has received already) an in product notice that GA is coming. 

Thank you again for all the feedback! If anybody has any other feedback/ideas for improvement please continue to share. 

[John White]

Hi Lex, how is it you cannot confirm what changes (or as you say improvements - something we all vehemently disagree with) will make their way into the final version of Trello whilst at the same time you are already rolling users forcibly from beta into GA? Surely you must have a definitive list of what’s in and what’s out if you are rolling out GA. 

For clarity, my office, which would have represented about 130 new premium accounts, will not be moving forwards now you have confirmed the board switching backwards step is being implemented. It’s a workflow killer all day long, you must know this yourself. 

John

[Michael Stephenson]

@Alexandros Mathopoulos ... if you have started moving it to GA then you are going ahead with it as is and not acting any further on feedback ? 

[ACE]

Hi @John White   and everyone, I'm leaving you another thread that's directly related to this one, although I imagine you're also following it. Good luck to everyone.

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Trello-articles/The-new-Trello-is-coming-soon-to-everyone/bc-p/3034982#M3607