Getting started with Productboard teamspaces

Whether your organization consists of 50 people or 5000, chances are it’s made up of various teams, all working on their products, tasks, projects, and goals.

With all that data living side by side in the shared workspace, you need a clear path to the content you use daily. Product leaders have to make sure everyone on their team is on track and can find what they need to get work done.

Teamspaces enable you to organize your entire product organization in one workspace. With teamspaces, everyone has easy access to all the information that’s relevant to their work and can customize the Productboard main menu to reflect their role and priorities.

In this article: 

• Joining teamspaces
  • Teamspace types
• Creating teamspaces
• Editing teamspaces
• Organizing boards within teamspaces
  • Creating new boards and folders
  • Moving boards and folders
  • Teamspace hubs
  • Board shortcuts
• Leaving, archiving, and deleting teamspaces
• See also:

Joining teamspaces

Every Productboard workspace has a default teamspace which all new members are added to automatically upon activation. This default teamspace is usually called "General" (unless someone's changed its name).  

You'll also get added to a teamspace automatically if you're on a team that gets added to a teamspace.

To join a teamspace manually:

1. In the main menu, beside Teamspaces, click 🔎 All Teamspaces. Here you’ll all the teamspaces available to you.
2. Click on a teamspace to read its full description. If it's an Open teamspace, you can also look at its boards to help you decide if you should join.
3. If you find a teamspace you want to join, click the Join button.

Teamspace types

Most teamspaces are Open, meaning you can see them and look at their boards even if you haven't joined them.

Closed teamspaces are visible to you, but you can't view their boards until your request to join is approved by the teamspace's owner or you're invited to join by that owner.

Private teamspaces are completely hidden—you can't tell they exist unless you create one yourself or you get an invite to join one. 

Note: Generally, only grids, timelines, columns boards, and documents can be placed in Closed or Private teamspaces. Features boards and roadmaps cannot be created in or moved to a Closed or Private teamspace. 

See New board sharing: Teamspace types and member access levels for details.

Creating teamspaces

Note: Customers on the Starter and Essentials plan can create 1 teamspace, Pro plan customers can create 3, and there are unlimited teamspaces available on Enterprise and Enterprise Plus plans. 

Admins and makers can create teamspaces. To do so: 

1. Click the + button to the right of the teamspaces label in your sidebar, or go to All teamspaces and click + Create teamspace. 
2. Give your teamspace a name and description, and choose the color for the teamspace icon.
3. Choose the teamspace type, if applicable.
4. Add members to the teamspace or entire teams when creating a teamspace or add them later via Teamspace settings.

Note: You can edit an existing teamspace's settings by clicking the ••• More actions button next to a teamspace your own and selecting Edit.

Restricting teamspace creation to admins

As an admin, you may want to keep your workspace tidy by keeping your makers from creating unnecessary teamspaces. 

To restrict teamspace creation:

1. As an admin, click your workspace name at the top of the main menu, and then click Settings.
2. Under the Teamspaces section, toggle on Teamspace creation for admins only.

Editing teamspace settings

To edit a teamspace's settings:

1. Hover on the teamspace in the main menu.
2. Click the ••• More actions button that appears to the right of the teamspace name.
   • Select Teamspace settings to edit the teamspace's name, icon, or description. 
   • Select Teamspace members to add other users to the teamspace or adjust their member access level.

Admins have full access to edit all existing teamspaces. They can rename teamspaces (including the default teamspace), update their descriptions, archive active teamspaces, and delete archived teamspaces.

Makers will only be able to edit a teamspace if they are also that teamspace's owner. A maker is automatically made the owner of any teamspace they create. Admins can also assign or reassign teamspace ownership as needed.

Organizing boards within teamspaces

If you have multiple product teams, your Productboard workspace may contain hundreds of boards. You can organize your boards into a hierarchy using folders. Folders will help users navigate information within a teamspace and find what they need. Folders are also helpful for grouping boards together by theme or topic.

Creating new boards and folders

1. Hover on a teamspace or folder.
2. Click the + Create a new board or folder button to the right of the teamspace or folder title.
3. From the dropdown, select Folder or the type of board you want to create.
4. Give the board or folder a name.

Note: Some boards inherit access permissions from their parent teamspace. See New board sharing: Teamspace types and member access levels for details.

Moving boards and folders

You can move boards within a teamspace or between teamspaces. You can do this individually by dragging a board and dropping it into the desired teamspace or folder. You can also use the Move to option available from the More actions menu next to the board.

Moving multiple boards at once

You can move multiple boards at once by moving the entire folder to which they belong. If a folder contains a board that isn't shared with you, it may restrict your ability to move that folder.

Teamspace hubs

When you click directly on a teamspace or folder, you'll be shown a home page that lists of all its associated boards and folders. From a teamspace's hub, you can read its description, browse through its boards and folders, and (if permitted) join the teamspace if you decide it's for you. You can even share a direct link (••• More actions > Copy link) to help your colleagues find it.

If you have the right permissions, you can create new boards or folders from within a hub using the Create button. Admins can also access and edit teamspace settings from the Settings button. 

Consider the following when looking to make the most out of hubs:

• Onboarding simplified: Lead your new team members to a central hub where they can view all relevant boards, ensuring a smooth transition into the team.
• Cross-team visibility: Explore workspaces across teams without joining them, providing context and understanding of company-wide projects.
• Effortless sharing: Promote resource accessibility by sharing links to entire folders full of boards.
• Efficient navigation: Breadcrumbs have been introduced for seamless navigation through the system's hierarchy. You can easily track your current location and access respective pages for each item in the path.
• Direct access: Navigate to a teamspace hub directly from the All teamspaces page by clicking on an individual teamspace card.

Board shortcuts

Board shortcuts allow you to access the same board from multiple places in your teamspace hierarchy.

Creating a board shortcut:

1. Navigate to the board you want to share and click the three dots to open the More actions menu.
2. Create a shortcut by clicking Add shortcut to.
3. Choose the teamspace or folder where the new shortcut should be located.
4. Confirm your selection.

Accessing boards through shortcuts: When you click on a shortcut, the linked board will open as if you'd accessed it from its original location.

Adding shortcuts to multiple teamspaces: You can add the same board to multiple locations by following the process above.

Managing existing shortcuts: You can move or delete a shortcut from its More actions menu.

Note: If you find you're creating a lot of shortcuts for one board because many people need to access it, consider deleting those shortcuts and moving the board itself to a more publicly accessible teamspace like General. This can help keep your teamspaces clutter-free.

Leaving, archiving, and deleting teamspaces

Leaving a teamspace

To leave a teamspace: 

1. Navigate to the All teamspaces section by selecting it from the main menu OR from the 🔎 icon in the Teamspaces section header.
2. Find the teamspace you want to leave and click Leave.
3. The Teamspace will be removed from your main menu list.

Alternatively, you can select Leave from the teamspace's More actions menu.

Note: Teamspace owners will have to transfer ownership of the teamspace before leaving the teamspace. If you were added to a teamspace as part of a team, you won't be able to leave the teamspace.

Archiving a teamspace

Admins and teamspace owners can archive a teamspace like so: 

1. Navigate to the All teamspaces section in the main menu OR select the 🔎 icon in the Teamspaces section header.
2. Hover over the teamspace you want to archive and open the More actions menu.
3. Choose the Archive option.

Alternatively, you can select Archive from the teamspace's More actions menu.

Archived teamspace will be removed from the main menu for all users. Boards that are located within an archived teamspace will still be available via search or direct link.

Teamspace owners and workspace admins can restore archived teamspaces in the All teamspaces section. 

Note: The default teamspace can't be archived. 

Deleting a teamspace

A teamspace must be archived before it can be deleted. Admins and teamspace owners can delete an archived teamspace like so:

1. Navigate to the All teamspaces section in the main menu OR select the 🔎 icon in the Teamspaces section header.
2. Expand the Archived section below the list of available teamspaces.
3. Hover over the teamspace you want to delete and open the More actions menu.
4. Choose the Delete option.

See also:

• Navigating Productboard
• Hubs for teamspaces and folders
• Productboard teamspaces best practices
• Teamspace types and member access levels