Defect Boards Overview

5 min read

A defect board is a Kanban view of the same defects the Defects list holds, grouped into columns you can drag cards between.

Every project gets one automatically, and teams can add more for the way they actually work — a triage board grouped by status, a workload board grouped by assignee, a release board for the next milestone.

Where Boards Live

Open a project and select Boards under Data Insights. The board is the default Defects view for a project, so opening Defects takes you there unless you have chosen the list.

Two controls sit at the right of the filter bar:

List switches to the Defects table.
Board is the view you are on.

Hawzu remembers which one you chose and reopens it next time. A defect opened by link stays open across the switch, so a URL pointing at a defect works in either view.

Open a project.
In the project panel, open Data Insights.
Select Boards.

Boards belong to a single project. The workspace-level defect view, which shows defects across projects, stays a table.

Create Defect in the board header opens the full create page and returns you to the board when you are done. There is no way to add a card directly inside a column.

Defect Board — the default status board, with the board picker, group-by picker, and the list and board toggle in the toolbar

The Default Board

The first time anyone opens the view, Hawzu creates a board called Defect Board, grouped by status and visible to everyone in the project.

Every project has exactly one default board. It appears in the board picker marked (default) and it cannot be deleted — it is the board Hawzu falls back to when another one is removed.

Creating A Board

Select + (New board) in the board header.
Enter a Name.
Optionally add a Description.
Select Create.

New boards start grouped by Status and visible to everyone in the project. Change either afterwards in board settings. There is no limit on how many boards a project can hold.

The description is stored as context for whoever opens the board next and is shown in board settings.

New Board Modal — a new board needs a name; the description is a line of context for whoever opens it next

Duplicating And Deleting Boards

Both live under the ⋮ menu in the board header.

Duplicate board copies the grouping, columns, WIP limits, swimlanes, and card settings, then asks for a name — pre-filled as <name> (copy) — so the copy is named before it exists.

Delete board is available to the board owner, and never for the default board.

Filtering A Board

The board uses the same filter panel as the Defects list. Filter by Status, Priority, Severity, Assignee, Reporter, and Labels, plus any dropdown or checkbox custom field on defects. The search box finds defects by code, title, or assignee.

Filters are applied by Hawzu rather than in the browser, so the column counts and the paging agree with what you see.

Team Bottlenecks and Due Date cannot be applied to a board. Rather than dropping them silently, Hawzu shows a note saying the board is showing more than the list would, and that every other filter is still applied.

See Filters and Insights for what each filter matches.

Switching Boards And Refreshing

Pick a board from the Board list in the toolbar. Hawzu remembers the last board you opened and reopens it next time.

Switching boards or changing a filter replaces every column, so Hawzu shows a loading screen instead of leaving the previous layout on screen. Closing a defect or changing one from a card’s ⋮ menu refreshes the board quietly in place. Refresh in the header reloads on demand.

Board Settings

The gear icon opens Board settings, which is organised into four sections:

Section	Controls	Documented in
Layout	Grouping, columns, rows	Board Layout
Cards	What a card shows, card order	Board Cards And Dragging
Behavior	What dragging does	Board Cards And Dragging
Access	Who can see the board	This page

Save stays disabled until something changes, and an indicator reads Unsaved changes or All changes saved.

Only the board owner can change settings. Everyone else sees the gear disabled, with a note that only the owner can change the board.

Under Access, choose who can see the board:

Everyone in the project — the default.
Only the people I choose — pick project members to share with.
Just me — nobody else sees the board, and it does not appear in their board picker.

Open Board settings.
Select Access.
Choose a visibility.
For Only the people I choose, pick project members.
Select Save.

Two roles decide what a person can do with a board:

Role	Who	On the board
Owner	The person who created the board, or a project administrator	Opens board settings and the grouping picker, deletes the board, and keeps collapsed columns between visits
Editor	Everyone who can see the board	Drags cards and uses the card menu, given edit access to defects

Board Access Settings — visibility decides who sees the board's layout, never which defects they can read

Permissions

Your role controls what you can do with boards.

You need access to view defects before a board opens at all. Users who can create defect boards see the + action in the header. The board’s owner is the person who created it, or a project administrator with rights to manage boards; only the owner opens board settings, changes the grouping, or deletes the board.

Users with edit access to defects can drag cards and use the card menu. Deleting a defect from a card also needs delete access.

If you can read defects but not change them, the header shows a View only badge and the board stays a reading surface — cards open, but nothing moves.

Next Steps

Shape the board with Board Layout
Work with cards in Board Cards And Dragging
Measure flow with Board Analytics
Use the table view with Manage Defects
Narrow what you see with Filters and Insights