Trello is a web based collaboration tool that can help you to organize your projects into boards. Ah, project management? Yeah I know that sounds boring and may freak you out too. But Trello is not meant for project management alone, it can serve anyone and everyone.
Sounds confusing? Okay ever used to-do lists to accomplish tasks? If yes then Trello just does that (well actually more than that), if you haven’t used a to-do list till now then you should probably start using Trello.
Who is behind Trello?
Fog Creek Software is the company behind Trello which has already built some solid version control products like Kiln and Hg Init. The company was founded by Joel Spolsky and Michael Pryor way back in 2000. Their About page is quite interesting, so do visit it once.
How old is Trello?
Trello was born on September 13, 2011.
What Paradigm does Trello follow?
Heard of Kanban? It’s a famous scheduling system from the automotive manufacturer Toyota. That’s the paradigm Trello follows.
Trello: Vertical or Horizontal?
Software’s are created to target either Vertical or Horizontal market. For example, Patient Monitoring System is a software application that can help to monitor patients and can be only used in hospitals, this is a vertical application.
An application that can serve anyone and everyone regardless of their industry is called a Horizontal application. Gmail is a horizontal application.
Trello is a Horizontal Application which means it can be used by people from all walks of life.
What are the pre-requisites for Trello?
You need a JavaScript enabled browser, that’s all. Trello supports the following browsers out of the box:
- Chrome version 9 and above
- Firefox version 4 and above
- Safari version 5.0.5 and above
- Internet Explorer version 9 and above
Trello doesn’t come as a software package that you can install on your machine or web server. It’s a hosted web application which means you don’t have to worry about upgrades, hosting, etc.
How much you have to pay?
Trello is completely free but if you are using Trello for your company and feel Trello is very promising then you can move to Trello Business Class which offers additional features like admin controls, user management, Google Apps integration, Bulk data export etc. all for $500 per year or $50 per month per organization.
If you are a huge fan of Trello just like me then Trello Gold is for you. For each member that you get to join Trello you get a free month of Trello Gold, but the limit is just 12. Trello Gold has some cool stuff like board backgrounds, stickers, larger attachments, etc.
How many Boards and Members can I add?
There is no limit on this, you can have as many boards and members you want.
What’s missing in Trello?
- You can’t run Trello on your own server.
- Chat functionality is not available to communicate between members.
- ADFS (Active Directory Federation Services) Support is not available.
- Reporting or tracking metrics are not available.
Already using Trello? Got something to add?
I would like to suggest proofhub project management tool for organized and systematic execution of tasks and projects.
Hello Aidrick,
Thanks for your suggestion, will have a look into it. Trello is free but proofhub doesn’t seem to be. Will explore its 30 day trial and see how it is. Have a great day.
Hey Sri,
I was introduced to Trello I believe it was either late last year or early this year through Gail Gardner. She has some Trello boards set up to help other bloggers and she’s been trying to get me on those for awhile. I just hadn’t had the time to look into it further but finally had to just put that aside and check it out. It’s a great tool although I’m not that great with using it yet but thanks for this introduction and explanation.
~Adrienne
Hello Adrienne, Gail Gardner from Grow Map isn’t it? I think i saw a video from her on Trello Boards to help other bloggers. I had written this introductory article long back but just kept it aside for the right time. Trello is a wonderful web based application that helps you to manage your tasks, i have been playing around it and it looks quite promising. The major downside that i see with Trello is that you cannot run it on your own server but other than that this is great tool. Thanks for dropping by, have a wonderful day.
Hi Sri,
I’ve done a couple videos about using Trello including the one you’re thinking of for our Blogger Mastermind group. They can be found in my YouTube channel by searching for GrowMap Trello or on my site in posts.
The one concern I have with Trello may be the same as yours – that we don’t have a full backup of everything we have on there. I’m not even sure if it is possible to get one and if you did what would you really do with it anyway? I don’t see where you could restore it.
Hello Gail,
Welcome to Artic Post, thanks for pointing out the Blogger Mastermind video, i have seen it (Link: http://youtu.be/TzfSK9TTv8A) and it was really helpful
As for backup, yes you are correct we can’t restore it but at least it would be great if the data could be exported into user friendly readable format like Excel. Currently they have provision to export data which is in JSON format but still you can import the exported JSON back 😉
Thanks for dropping by, have a wonderful day.