# Planning Tools

Kanban boards, checklists, wiki pages, and surveys for organising your gathering.

# Kanban Boards

Kanban boards give your organiser team a visual way to track tasks. Cards move through columns (e.g. "To Do", "In Progress", "Done") so everyone can see what needs doing and what's already been handled.

### Board types

Each gathering can have multiple kanban boards, each with a type that reflects when the tasks apply:

| Type | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| **Planning** | Pre-event tasks (venue booking, shopping lists, form setup) |
| **During** | Tasks to manage during the gathering itself (kitchen rota, ritual prep) |
| **Post** | Post-event wrap-up (cleaning, thank-you messages, financial summary) |

### Creating a board

1. Open the gathering and click the **Kanban** tab
2. Click **+ New Board**
3. Give the board a name and select a type
4. The board is created with default columns; you can rename or add columns as needed

### Working with columns

Columns represent the stages a task moves through. A typical setup might be:

- **To Do**: tasks that need doing
- **In Progress**: tasks someone is actively working on
- **Done**: completed tasks

You can add, rename, reorder, or remove columns to fit your workflow.

### Working with cards

Cards represent individual tasks. Each card supports:

| Feature | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| **Title** | A short description of the task |
| **Priority** | LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH, or URGENT |
| **Due date** | When the task needs to be completed by |
| **Category** | A label for grouping (e.g. kitchen, accessibility, ritual, logistics) |
| **Assignee** | A member of the organiser team responsible for the task |
| **Comments** | A threaded discussion on the card for collaboration |

To create a card, click **+ Add Card** at the bottom of any column. Drag cards between columns as their status changes.

### Tips

- Keep card titles short and action-oriented (e.g. "Book venue" rather than "We need to book the venue")
- Use priorities to highlight what's urgent; the URGENT level is useful for last-minute tasks during a gathering
- Assign cards to specific team members so it's clear who's responsible
- The comments feature is handy for quick updates without needing a separate chat thread
- Consider creating separate boards for different phases rather than one massive board

# Checklists

Checklists provide a straightforward way to track tasks that need completing. They're simpler than kanban boards; just a list of items that can be ticked off as they're done.

### Creating a checklist

1. Open the gathering and click the **Checklists** tab
2. Click **+ New Checklist**
3. Give the checklist a name (e.g. "Kitchen prep", "Venue setup", "Post-gathering cleanup")
4. Add items to the checklist

### Checklist items

Each item in a checklist can have:

| Feature | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| **Text** | The task description |
| **Due date** | When it needs to be done by |
| **Assignee** | A member of the organiser team |
| **Notes** | Additional context or details |
| **Completed** | Whether the item has been ticked off |

When someone completes an item, the system records who completed it and when.

### Planning phases

Checklists support planning phases that align with the gathering timeline. The available phases are:

- **Three months before**
- **Two months before**
- **One month before**
- **One week before**
- **During** the gathering
- **Post** gathering

If you don't specify a phase, the system auto-detects the current phase based on the gathering dates. This is useful for filtering; you can quickly see just the items that are relevant right now.

### Tracking progress

The checklist progress view shows:

- Overall completion rate across all checklists
- Per-phase completion rates with progress bars
- A list of overdue items that need attention

This gives you a quick health check on how planning is going without needing to open each checklist individually.

### Tips

- Use checklists for recurring tasks that are the same for every gathering (e.g. "order firewood", "set up first aid kit")
- The template support means you can create a standard checklist and reuse it across gatherings
- Combine checklists with kanban boards: use checklists for simple "done/not done" tracking and kanban for more complex tasks that need discussion and assignment
- Check the overdue items list regularly as the gathering approaches

# Wiki Pages

Wiki pages let you create and share information about a gathering. Think of them as a mini knowledge base; you can write pages about the venue, house rules, kitchen guidelines, ritual plans, or anything else participants and organisers need to know.

### Creating a wiki

1. Open the gathering's **Overview** tab
2. Click the **Create Wiki** quick action button
3. This opens the **Wiki** tab, where you can start adding pages

### Adding pages

1. On the **Wiki** tab, click **+ New Page**
2. Give the page a title and URL slug
3. Write the content using markdown
4. Set the display order (lower numbers appear first in the navigation)
5. Click **Save**

### Publishing pages

Wiki pages start as drafts. To make a page visible to participants:

1. Open the page
2. Toggle the **Published** switch, or click **Publish**
3. The page is now publicly visible to anyone viewing the gathering

You can unpublish a page at any time to hide it while you make changes.

### Page features

| Feature | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| **Title** | The page heading |
| **Slug** | URL-friendly identifier, unique within the gathering |
| **Content** | Markdown-formatted text |
| **Order** | Display order in the page list (lower = higher in the list) |
| **Published** | Whether the page is visible to participants |
| **Version** | Auto-incrementing version number for tracking changes |

### Common wiki pages

Here are some pages that gathering organisers typically create:

- **Welcome and arrival info**: directions, what to bring, house rules
- **Kitchen and food**: meal schedule, kitchen rota, allergy information
- **Ritual and workshops**: schedule of workshops, ritual guidance
- **Venue guide**: maps, facilities, fire safety, quiet hours
- **Practical info**: WiFi details, nearest shops, emergency contacts

### Tips

- Use markdown formatting to keep pages readable; headings, lists, and bold text all work
- The version tracking means you can see how many times a page has been updated, which is useful for pages that change frequently (like the workshop schedule)
- Consider creating a "What to bring" page early in the planning process; it's one of the most commonly asked questions
- Wiki pages are specific to each gathering, so you can tailor the content to each event

# Surveys

Surveys let you collect feedback from participants after a gathering. They use the same form system as registration and carpool forms, but with a **SURVEY** type.

### Creating a survey

1. Open the gathering's **Overview** tab
2. Click the **Survey** quick action button
3. This creates a new **SURVEY** type form linked to the gathering
4. Build your survey fields using the schema editor
5. Set a URL slug so you can share the link with participants
6. Set open and close dates to control when the survey is available
7. Click **Save**

### Common survey questions

Post-gathering surveys typically cover:

- Overall experience and satisfaction
- What worked well and what could be improved
- Feedback on specific aspects (food, accommodation, workshops, rituals)
- Suggestions for future gatherings
- Whether the participant would come again

### Viewing responses

Survey responses appear in the **Survey** tab (or via the **Forms** tab). You can:

- View individual responses
- Export all responses as CSV, JSON, or markdown for analysis
- Filter by submission date

### Tips

- Keep surveys reasonably short; participants are more likely to complete them if they don't take too long
- Send the survey link within a week of the gathering ending, while memories are fresh
- Share a summary of the feedback with the community; it shows that organisers value input and helps build trust
- Anonymous submissions are supported if you want participants to feel comfortable giving honest feedback
- You can set a maximum number of submissions if needed, though for surveys this is rarely necessary