TaskBoard User Manual

demonstrates: A task-oriented end-user manual for a cross-platform app: creating boards and tasks, moving work across swimlanes, tracking progress and comments, and what prints to the receipt printer.

TaskBoard is a Kanban board where every new task and every status change prints a paper receipt on a thermal printer. This manual covers everything you do in the app, whether you open it as a desktop window, in a browser, or on your phone. Installing it and choosing a printer live in the setup guide.

Before you start

TaskBoard has two parts: a backend (the server that stores your work and drives the printer) and a client (the board you look at). The backend must be running for any client to load.

On a self-hosted backend there is no sign-in: TaskBoard opens straight to your work, and every client that can reach the backend sees the same boards (the backend keeps everything in a single local SQLite file). The hosted version at printchit.app works differently: it has accounts, so you sign in (or create an account from an invite) and see only your own boards. Everything else in this manual applies the same way once a board is on screen.

The first time you open a fresh backend, or a new hosted account, TaskBoard starts you with a ready-made Welcome to TaskBoard board holding a few sample cards, so you never open to a blank screen. Rename it, clear it out, or build your own boards alongside it.

You can open the board three ways:

Desktop app: a standalone window on the computer running the backend.
Any browser: go to the backend’s address, by default http://127.0.0.1:8000. The board loads there directly.
Your phone: the mobile app, or a phone browser pointed at the backend’s address on the same network.

If the board shows a red “API error” banner, the client cannot reach the backend. Check that the backend is running and that the API URL is correct (see Connect to a different backend).

The interface at a glance

Area	Where	What it holds
Sidebar	Left edge	Your list of subjects (boards), a + New board button, and the API URL setting.
Board area	Center	The active board’s swimlanes (status columns) and the task cards inside them.
Task card	Inside a swimlane	One task. Click it to open its details.
Task drawer	Slides in from the right	A task’s description, progress, comments, and delete button.
Top bar	Above the board	The board’s name, and (on a narrow screen or phone) a ☰ button that opens the sidebar.

Every board starts with three swimlanes: Pending, In Progress, and Complete.

Create a board

A board is a subject: a project, a class, a household, anything you want to track separately.

In the sidebar, click + New board.
Type a name and confirm.

The new board appears in the sidebar and opens automatically, already set up with the three default swimlanes.

Add a task

Open the board you want.
In the swimlane where the work belongs, click + Add task.
Type a title and confirm.

The task appears as a card at the bottom of that swimlane.

On the phone app: there is no per-swimlane button. Type into the New task… field at the top, choose the destination column under Add to:, then tap Add.

A receipt prints. Creating a task prints a NEW TASK receipt showing the task title, the board, and the swimlane it landed in.

Move a task across swimlanes

Moving a task is how you change its status.

On the desktop app or in a browser: click and hold a task card, drag it into another swimlane, and release.
On the phone app: open the task, then under Move to tap the column you want. The mobile app moves tasks with buttons, not by dragging.

Either way, the card settles into its new column.

A receipt prints. Moving a task to a different swimlane prints a MOVED receipt showing the task, the board, the move (for example In Progress -> Complete), and a progress bar.

If you move a task into a swimlane named Complete, Completed, or Done, the receipt reads COMPLETED and the task’s progress jumps to 100% automatically.

No receipt. Dropping a card back into the swimlane it started in does not change its status, so nothing prints.

Open and edit a task

Click any task card to open the task drawer on the right. A chip at the top shows the task’s current swimlane. From here you can:

Edit the description. Type in the description box. Your text saves when you click away from the box.
Set progress. Drag the progress slider from 0% to 100%. It saves when you release the slider. (On the phone app there is no slider: use the −10 and +10 buttons or the 0 / 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 presets.)
Add a comment. Type in the comment box and press Enter or click Add. Comments are listed oldest first.
Delete the task. Click Delete task and confirm. This cannot be undone.

No receipt. None of these actions print. Only creating a task and moving it to a new swimlane produce receipts.

Close the drawer with the ✕ in its top corner.

Switch between boards

Click any subject in the sidebar to switch to it. In a phone browser, tap ☰ first to open the sidebar, then choose a board.

On the phone app: there is no sidebar. Boards live on their own Subjects screen; tap a board to open it, and use the ‹ Boards link at the top left to come back and switch to another.

What prints, and what does not

Only two actions print: creating a task, and moving one to a different swimlane.

You do this	Receipt?
Create a task	Yes (NEW TASK)
Move a task to a different swimlane	Yes (MOVED, or COMPLETED for a done column)
Drop a task back into its own swimlane	No
Edit a description or progress	No
Add a comment	No
Create a board	No
Delete a task	No

Printing happens in the background, so the board works normally whether or not a printer is attached.

Use TaskBoard from your phone or another computer

Because the backend serves the board at its own address, any device on the same network can use it:

Find the address of the computer running the backend (for example http://192.168.1.20:8000).
Open that address in a browser on your phone or laptop, or enter it as the API URL in the mobile app’s first screen.

To use TaskBoard when you are away from home, the backend can be joined to a private Tailscale network. You then use the computer’s Tailscale address the same way. The printer stays at home and prints your tasks there while you work from anywhere. Setup for this lives in the project’s setup guide.

Connect to a different backend

The client remembers which backend to talk to in the API URL box at the bottom of the sidebar.

Open the sidebar (tap ☰ on a phone).
Edit the API URL field, for example http://127.0.0.1:8000.
Click away from the field to save. The board reloads from the new address.

Use this when you move the backend to another computer, or when you switch between a local server and a remote one.

Troubleshooting

Red “API error” banner. The client cannot reach the backend. Confirm the backend is running and that the API URL matches its address.
The board looks empty. A brand-new backend, or a new hosted account, opens with a ready-made Welcome to TaskBoard board, so you should not land on a blank screen. If the board area does show a “No boards yet” message, the backend simply has no boards for you yet: click + New board to create one.
Nothing printed when I created or moved a task. The backend may be in console mode, where receipts are written to the server log instead of paper. Switching to a physical printer is a backend setting; see the project’s setup and printer-integration guides.
A “COMPLETED” receipt printed but I only wanted to move it. The destination swimlane is named Complete, Completed, or Done, which TaskBoard always treats as finished: it marks the task 100% and prints COMPLETED instead of MOVED. Renaming that column is a backend task, covered in the setup guide.