The Board
The infinite canvas at the heart of taskpapr.
Table of contents
- Canvas
- Tiles
- Tasks
- WIP state
- Today tile (๐ )
- Context menu
- Search
- Sync stamp
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Canvas bookmarks (๐ Views)
Canvas
The board is an infinite canvas. There are no pages, no fixed grid, and no forced layout. Tiles sit wherever you put them.
Navigating
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Pan | Click and drag on empty canvas |
| Zoom in / out | Scroll wheel, or + / - keys |
| Reset zoom to 100% | Home key |
| Zoom indicator | Bottom-left corner; shows current zoom % |
The canvas position and zoom level are saved per-device in localStorage and restored on reload.
Off-screen beacons
When tiles exist outside the visible area, pill-shaped indicators appear at the edges of the viewport โ top, bottom, left, right โ showing how many tiles are off-screen in that direction. Click a beacon to pan to the nearest off-screen tile in that direction.
Beacons pulse gently and disappear as tiles come into view.
Tiles
Tiles are columns. Each tile holds a list of tasks. Tiles can be freely positioned anywhere on the canvas.
Adding a tile
Click + Add tile in the header.
Renaming a tile
Click the tile header text to edit it inline.
Moving a tile
Drag the tile by its header. On mobile / iPad, press and hold the header for ~400ms to initiate drag.
Resizing a tile
Drag the resize handle in the bottom-right corner of the tile.
Per-tile colour
Click the ๐จ icon on the tile header (visible on hover) to open the palette picker. Choose from 8 colours, or clear back to the default parchment.
Per-tile scale
Shrink or enlarge an individual tileโs content in 0.1ร steps. Range: 0.5ร โ 2.0ร. Default: 1.0ร.
| Gesture | Effect |
|---|---|
| Scroll wheel on tile header | Shrink (scroll down) or grow (scroll up) |
| Two-finger pinch on tile (mobile) | Pinch to scale; snapped to 0.1ร steps |
When a tile is at a non-default scale, a scale badge (e.g. 0.7ร) appears in the tile header. Click the badge to reset the tile to 1.0ร instantly. The badge is always visible when relevant so itโs immediately obvious why a tile appears large or small.
Scrolling on the tile header adjusts tile scale. Scrolling on the canvas background zooms the whole canvas. The two gestures donโt interfere.
Deleting a tile
Click the โ icon on the tile header (visible on hover). This deletes the tile and all its tasks permanently.
Hidden tiles (Someday / Maybe)
Any tile can be hidden from the main board. Hidden tiles are for tasks you want to keep but donโt want cluttering your everyday view โ a Someday/Maybe list.
- Hide a tile: Click the ๐ icon on the tile header (visible on hover)
- Reveal hidden tiles: Click the ๐ N button in the header (only visible when hidden tiles exist). Hidden tiles are shown with a dashed border and hatched header.
- Unhide a tile: Click the ๐ icon on the tile header while itโs revealed.
Tasks
Adding a task
Click + Add task at the bottom of any tile, type, and press Enter. The task is added immediately.
Checking off a task
Click the checkbox on the left of the task. The task stays visible with strikethrough โ it doesnโt disappear. This is intentional: the visual record of done work is the progress signal.
Checking off a task does not delete it. Use Clear done (see below) when youโre ready to clear a tile.
Inline editing
Double-click a task title to edit it in place.
Task detail panel
Click a task title (single click) to open the detail panel on the right. The panel contains:
- Editable title and notes (auto-saved, debounced)
- Notes render as live Markdown preview
- Due date, recurrence interval, visibility window
- Goal assignment
- Colour picker
- Rot settings (see Recurring Tasks)
- Touched / Created metadata
- Action buttons: Find on board, Park, Touch
Dragging tasks
Drag tasks to reorder within a tile, or drag them to a different tile entirely.
Clearing done tasks
- Per tile: Click the Clear done button on the tile header (visible when done tasks exist). Tasks animate out with a fade-and-collapse effect.
- Global: Click the Clear done button in the main header to clear done tasks across all tiles.
WIP state
Mark a task as Work In Progress to give it a visual teal left stripe and a WIP badge.
UI vignette โ WIP stripe
Approximates the teal left stripe and WIP badge on an active task (not a pixel-perfect screenshot).
- Mark WIP: Click the left stripe of any active task, or use the context menu โ Mark WIP
- Clear WIP: Click the WIP badge on the task
WIP is a signal, not a filter. WIP tasks remain in place on the board.
Today tile (๐ )
Flag tasks for today and see them in a focused, floating view on the board.
Flagging tasks
Right-click a task โ ๐ Add to Today to flag it. A ๐ badge appears on the task card in the main board. Completing a flagged task removes it from the Today tile automatically โ done tasks donโt linger.
Opening the Today tile
- Click the ๐ N button in the header (only visible when at least one task is flagged)
- Press D to toggle the tile open or closed
The tile floats in the top-right corner of the viewport. It lists all flagged tasks with the tile they came from, sorted by your manual order then original board position.
Working in the Today tile
- Check off a task โ marks it done; removes it from the Today tile
- Unflag a task โ click the unflag button to remove it from Today without completing it
- Reorder โ drag the โ ฟ handle to set the order within the tile
The Today tile is draggable โ grab the header to reposition it anywhere on screen.
Context menu
Right-click any task (or click the โฏ button) to open the context menu:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Properties | Opens the task detail panel |
| Mark WIP | Sets WIP state |
| Set colourโฆ | Opens the 8-colour palette picker |
| ๐ Add to Today | Flags the task for the Today tile |
| Assign Goal | Links the task to a goal |
| Touch | Resets the rot clock (acknowledges youโve seen this task) |
| Snooze 24h | Hides the task for 24 hours without changing its due date |
| Park | Moves the task to a hidden tile (creates one if none exists) |
| Delete | Permanently deletes the task |
Search
Press โK (or Ctrl+K) to open the command palette search.
- Searches all tasks, including dormant ones
- Results are score-ranked
- Matching text is highlighted in yellow
- Click a result to open the task detail panel; if the task is dormant, it is auto-revealed in its tile
Click the ๐ button in the header to open search with the mouse.
Sync stamp
A quiet โsynced X agoโ label appears in the title bar next to the version badge. It shows when the board data was last fetched โ useful when working across multiple devices to confirm youโre looking at the latest state.
- Updates every 30 seconds
- Flashes green briefly when the 60-second background poll detects remote changes
- Hover for the exact timestamp
Keyboard shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
โK / Ctrl+K |
Open search |
+ |
Zoom in |
- |
Zoom out |
Home |
Reset zoom to 100% |
D |
Toggle Today tile |
G |
Toggle goal smart-tiles |
โ1 โ โ9 |
Jump to canvas bookmark by position |
Escape |
Close open panels / dismiss overlays |
Canvas bookmarks (๐ Views)
Named saved views. A bookmark stores the current canvas position and zoom level so you can jump back to it instantly with a smooth animation.
Useful for maintaining separate โzonesโ on the canvas โ e.g. jump between a Work area and a Personal area with one click.
Saving a bookmark
- Pan and zoom the canvas to the view you want to save
- Click ๐ Views in the header
- Click Save current viewโฆ and give it a name
Bookmarks are stored in the database and sync across devices.
Jumping to a bookmark
- Click ๐ Views in the header, then click any bookmark in the list
- Or press โ1โโ9 to jump to bookmarks by their position in the list
The canvas animates smoothly to the saved position and zoom level.
Renaming or deleting a bookmark
Click ๐ Views to open the panel:
- Click the โ icon next to a bookmark to rename it
- Click the โ icon to delete it