mattermost-community/focalboard - Detailed Review#

1. Overview & GitHub Stats#

• URL: https://github.com/mattermost-community/focalboard
• Stars: 24832

2. Project Description#

Focalboard is an open-source, self-hosted project management tool designed as a versatile alternative to popular platforms like Trello, Notion, and Asana. Built by the Mattermost community, it offers kanban boards, task management, and collaborative workspaces, all while giving users full control over their data through self-hosting capabilities. Whether for personal use or team collaboration, Focalboard combines flexibility with privacy.

3. What Software Does It Replace?#

Focalboard serves as a robust replacement for several well-known project management and productivity tools, including:

• Trello: For kanban-style task and project tracking.
• Notion: For note-taking, databases, and collaborative workspaces.
• Asana: For team task management and project planning.
• Monday.com: For customizable workflow and project boards.

4. Core Functionality#

Focalboard’s feature set is comprehensive and user-friendly, focusing on:

• Kanban Boards: Create, organize, and track tasks using customizable columns and cards.
• Views: Switch between table, board, gallery, and calendar views for flexible project visualization.
• Collaboration: Real-time updates, comments, and mentions for team coordination.
• Templates: Pre-built templates for common workflows like product roadmaps, sprint planning, and personal task management.
• Self-Hosted: Full data ownership and privacy, with options for on-premise or cloud deployment.
• Integrations: Compatible with Mattermost for seamless chat and collaboration, with potential for other integrations via API.

5. Pros and Cons#

6. Detailed Installation Guide (Self-host)#

Follow these steps to deploy Focalboard on an Ubuntu server (22.04 LTS or later). This guide assumes you have sudo privileges and basic command-line knowledge.

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sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
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sudo apt install docker.io docker-compose -y
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sudo systemctl enable docker && sudo systemctl start docker

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mkdir focalboard && cd focalboard

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version: '3'
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services:
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  focalboard:
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    image: mattermost/focalboard:latest
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    ports:
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      - "8000:8000"
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    environment:
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      - DB_TYPE=sqlite3
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      - DB_CONFIG='./focalboard.db'
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    volumes:
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      - ./data:/opt/focalboard/data
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    restart: unless-stopped

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sudo docker-compose up -d

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sudo apt install nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

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server {
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    listen 80;
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    server_name your-domain.com;
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    location / {
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        proxy_pass http://localhost:8000;
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        proxy_set_header Host $host;
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        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
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    }
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}

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sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/focalboard /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
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sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx
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sudo certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com