Situation. You have a folder of Markdown notes: ideas, tasks and unfinished specifications. You want to see where everything stands without copying it all into a tracking tool.
What you get at the end. A progress board where each card is one of your files, versionable alongside the project.
1. Open the folder, then the board
Open the folder as a workspace, then choose Tools > New kanban board….
The board starts with Backlog, To Do, In Progress and Done. All Markdown files initially appear in Unassigned, including those in subfolders.
2. Organize
Drag cards into columns or use their contextual menus.
A card uses the file’s first level-one heading as its title, or the filename if there is none. If a card title looks wrong, correct the document itself.
Rename the columns to describe your actual stages rather than the four defaults.
3. Add what is missing
Each column can create a new Markdown item directly at the appropriate stage.
You can also drop Markdown files from Finder onto Unassigned. Balise copies them to the workspace root without overwriting a namesake.
4. Add details only when useful
Priority and due date are optional and set in the inspector.
Use them where they help. A card marked complete is never considered overdue.
5. Find something
Search covers card titles, paths and their entire Markdown content.
Unlike a conventional tracker, you search the actual text of your notes, rather than a copied summary.
Priority and due-date filters combine with search.
6. Work inside a card
A click shows a preview on the right. A double-click opens the document in a tab without closing the board.
You edit a real Markdown file using all the Markdown workspace commands.
To share several cards with an assistant, select them with ⌘-click or ⇧-click, then choose Copy context. Balise copies their local links and available summaries in board order, without including their full sources.
Paste normally into your assistant (⌘V). See Copy card context for how references appear and what happens when a card has no summary.
7. Commit the board, or keep it personal
In a folder named Project, the organization lives in the visible Project.balisekanban file at the workspace root. This file contains none of your text: only columns, order and metadata.
Commit it if your team shares the board. Add it to .gitignore if the organization is personal.
If something goes wrong
- A dropped file was not copied: When Balise can no longer read a file or folder
- Every command in detail: The Kanban view