Laneboard Trello Import

What it is for

Trello lets you export a board as a JSON file, but that file is hard to read and only useful if another tool understands it. This tool reads the export and turns it into a .laneboard.json project: lists, cards, labels, assignees, due dates, checklists, comments, web links and the moves between lists, so the board keeps its history for lead and cycle times.

It is meant for people who want to leave Trello, keep an offline copy of a board, or check what an export really contains. The tool never connects to Trello and needs no login.

It does not copy files that were uploaded to Trello (they become links that still need a Trello login), and it ignores power-ups, custom fields, stickers, votes and image covers.

Worked example

The first example uses a small board called Website relaunch (made-up content in Trello’s format). With Keep archived lists and cards and Keep comments switched on, the tool returns:

Imported “Website relaunch” from Trello with 4 lists, 6 cards, 3 labels and 1 checklist.

The metrics count 1 archived card, 2 assignees, 2 checklist items, 1 comment, 2 link attachments and 5 moves between lists. The list table shows Ideas (1 card), Doing (2), Done (2) and the archived Parking lot (1). The labels arrive as Bug (red), Feature (blue) and Docs (grey — Trello’s black label has no Laneboard twin). Two warnings say that one attachment was a file uploaded to Trello and that one custom field was not imported.

Run the second example — the same board with both switches off — and you get 3 lists and 4 cards: the parking lot, the archived card and the comment are gone, while the 5 moves remain, because they belong to the cards that are still open.

How to read the result

• Imported — the counts of everything that made it into the project. Compare Cards with the number you see in Trello; archived cards are counted separately.
• Moves between lists — the history Laneboard will use for its statistics. Zero means the export held no list changes (for example when the board is older than Trello’s last 1000 actions).
• Download the Laneboard project — the file to open with File → Open file… in Laneboard.
• How Trello fields were mapped — which Trello field became which Laneboard feature.
• Warnings — anything that was skipped or changed. Read them before you delete the Trello board.

Tips and common mistakes

• Export the board itself (Print, export and share → Export as JSON), not a single card — card exports are rejected with a clear message.
• Trello’s export holds only the latest 1000 actions. On a busy board, older comments and moves are missing from the file, not lost by the converter.
• Due dates are stored in UTC. A task due at 00:30 in Berlin can show the previous day; check a few dates after importing.
• Turn Keep comments off before you share the converted file — comments often hold names and internal notes.
• Files up to 10 MB are accepted. Most of a large export is its action history; boards that are bigger still can be slimmed down in Trello by deleting old archived cards first.

FAQ

Does the tool upload my board to Trello or anywhere else?

No. It only reads the JSON you upload or paste and returns the converted file. Nothing is sent to Trello.

Are attachments copied?

Web links are kept as links. Files uploaded to Trello are kept as links that point to Trello and need a Trello login; the file content itself is not copied.

Can I import several boards at once?

One export per run. In the Laneboard app you can import one board after another into the same project — each becomes its own board.

Why are some label colours different?

Laneboard has ten label colours. Trello’s light and dark shades become the base colour, and black or colourless labels become grey. Label names are kept exactly.