While the ability to forward an email into Trello isn't new, it isn't very handy. Trello lets you forward emails, but what are you going to do with that email now? You cannot respond to it, and what if this individual contacts you again in this thread? There will be no updates.
Emailing tasks in Trello with SendBoard is an entirely new experience. SendBoard for Trello is perfect for teams that need to quickly turn incoming emails into action items.
What Is SendBoard?
SendBoard is an emailing power-up for Trello. It helps you reply, view, and manage your emails within your Trello board. SendBoard appears in the top-right corner after enabling it on your Trello board.
When you click on the SendBoard option on your board, your first stop should be the mailbox. SendBoard automatically creates an address for you when you sign up. The name here will be the name that you choose for your account. Then, you can choose whatever you want in front of the @ symbol.
If you don't want a new email address, you don't have to create one. You can use your custom email address if you have one. So people can email you at the same address as they have always done.
If you click the Board tab, there's this option to select where emails should appear. Using a dropdown, you can choose where you want those emails to arrive.
You can use the Templates tab to create an auto-reply. If you receive a substantial amount of emails and want to make sure everyone gets a reply, this is very useful.
SendBoard is absolutely free to use. There are no restrictions on how many people can use it, but you can only use it on a single board. If you need more features and functionality, their essential plan starts at $6/per user/per month and $10/per user/per month. You can download SendBoard from the official site.
How to Use SendBoard
You can forward any of your emails to your Trello board, by emailing them to the SendBoard address given for your board. When you forward an email, it'll automatically show itself in the form of a Trello card.
1. Reply to an Email
Upon opening a card, for instance, you might first notice nothing appears to be amiss. But as you scroll down, you can see the entirety of an entire email thread. Entire email conversations appear in the activity area. They are not only accessible here, but you can reply to them as well. As a result of enabling SendBoard power-up, your incoming email messages will include two buttons called View Emails & Reply and SendBoard.
To reply to an email through Sendboard:
- Click the View Emails & Reply button.
- It's going to open up the SendBoard dialogue, and you’ll see the entire email thread.
- Click the Write a reply box. Type your reply and hit Send.
Or
- Click the SendBoard button on the Trello card. Select the Reply option.
- The Reply box appears. Type your reply and hit Send.
The members of your team who have access to this board can also see it. When this person replies to you, you can reply from within Trello. All the functions and features you expect to find in your email client, such as forwarding, replying, and even starting a new email, are available with this power-up.
2. Merge Cards Together
Another great feature of SendBoard is being able to see all the messages from a single user and the ability to merge different cards together. Sometimes, you have two different emails from the same person and about the same thing. Meaning that the person has not continued the same thread, but has started a new one.
When you open up a card and click the View Emails & Reply button, on the left-hand side, you'll see other conversations from the same person. That means there are two different cards for two conversations from the same person.
To merge these cards together, all you need to do is:
- Open one of these cards and click the SendBoard button.
- Select the Merge Card option. It'll ask if you want to keep this card or merge it with another.
- Choose to merge this card with another and select Next. Immediately, it’ll give you a suggestion to merge the card with another card from the same sender. You can also select any other card.
- You can also decide whether to keep or not to keep any comments, attachments, or archived cards.
- Lastly, click Merge.
You'll also see a comment that you can edit, so you know how this all started. After clicking on Merge, you will see your primary card.
3. Use Saved Replies
While managing your email within your business, you'll receive questions that a templat-ed answer can answer. One of the great things about SendBoard is that you can create as many email responses as you need. So let’s say your client asks a very common question, and you don't want to waste your time by typing out the same thing. To create a template for this:
- Click the View Emails & Reply button. Then click the Write your reply box. A reply box appears.
- Click the Saved Reply option on your right-hand side. And then click the Create option.
- You can create your replies here.
- And then use them by clicking the Saved Reply option while replying to a message.
You can also use Insert fields to address the recipient by name, enclose your own signature, or you can just allow SendBoard to do the work for you.
Bring Standard Email Features to Your Trello Boards
If you or your company uses Trello as the project management tool, SendBoard becomes an absolute boon. Even if you use Trello as a to-do list, SendBoard becomes useful. Overall, SendBoard is a great integration of email with project management.
But, it's a waste of time if you need to learn Trello before using SendBoard. There are many more features to SendBoard; we have only listed the important ones.