Statuses and release stage
A status is the label on a roadmap item that says where it is in your process. Examples are Planned, In Progress, and Done. On the public board, statuses become the columns of the roadmap. This page explains how statuses work and what the Release stage flag does.
Where statuses live
Statuses are managed under SimpleBoards > Statuses in the WordPress admin. Statuses only apply to roadmap items. Ideas do not have a status.
You can:
- Add a new status.
- Rename a status.
- Change a status color.
- Delete a status.
- Tie a status to one specific board, or leave it global (available on every board).
When you delete a status, items that were using it lose the status. They do not get deleted.
What each field does
When you add or edit a status, you see these fields.
Name
The text shown as the column heading on the public roadmap and as the status label on each card. Type a short word or short phrase. Examples: Planned, In Progress, Done, Under Review, Released.
Belongs to Board
A board picker. Pick a board if the status should only show on that one board. Leave it as All Boards (global) if the same status should be available on every board.
If you change this from one board to another after items already use the status, items on the old board lose this status. They keep the rest of their data.
Status Color
A color picker. The color is used for the column header on the roadmap and for the small dot or chip next to the status name on a card. Pick something easy on the eyes. Common choices:
- Grey for Planned
- Blue for In Progress
- Green for Done
- Red for Blocked
Release stage
A single checkbox: Items in this status are released.
This is the flag that tells the public board, "items in this column are shipped". When the box is checked, two things change:
- On a card in this status, the date label reads Released instead of Due.
- The date is treated as a release date, not a deadline. It will not be flagged as overdue.
You usually only check this on your final shipped status, such as Done, Shipped, or Released. Leave it off for Planned, In Progress, and any other in-flight status.
How status columns appear on the public board
On the Roadmap tab, each status that has at least one roadmap item becomes a column. Columns appear in the order statuses are saved in the admin. Inside each column, items are listed by vote count, highest first.
If a status has no items right now, the column is not shown on the public board.
A short example
You sell a WordPress plugin. You set up four statuses:
| Name | Color | Release stage |
|---|---|---|
| Planned | Grey | Off |
| In Progress | Blue | Off |
| Done | Green | On |
| Won't do | Red | Off |
When work starts on an item, you change its status from Planned to In Progress. When it ships, you change it to Done. Because Done has Release stage turned on, the card now shows Released on (date) instead of Due (date).
Items in Won't do still appear on the roadmap. They show the Due label by default. If you do not want them on the roadmap at all, delete them or move them back to the Ideas tab.
What statuses do not do
- Statuses are not item types. An item is always either an idea or a roadmap item. The status is just a label on the roadmap side.
- Statuses do not control who can see an item. That is done by board visibility (Pro) or by item visibility (Pro).
- Statuses do not move items by themselves. You change a status by hand. (With Pro, you can write a workflow rule that changes status when a checklist is finished or when a deadline passes. See How workflow rules run.)
Related
Last updated
2026-05-23 · SimpleBoards 1.0.4