Four columns with explicit meanings
Keep dates out of a card unless you are prepared to explain and maintain them. The public roadmap guide includes an audience policy you can adapt.
| Column | What it communicates |
|---|---|
| Considering | A recognized need. The team has not committed to building it. |
| Planned | The team intends to work on it. Timing and scope may change. |
| Building | Work has started. This is not a release announcement. |
| Shipped | Available to the audience the team has confirmed. |
Your team controls the plan
Editors can move cards and control their order. The status menu provides an alternative to drag and drop, including on a keyboard or small screen. Customers can read and participate in accessible ideas; they cannot move roadmap cards.
The default roadmap leaves out pending, Not planned, Cancelled, merged, and archived cards. Closed decisions remain available through the appropriate filters and existing links when access permits. This keeps the board readable without erasing what happened.
Changing direction deserves an explanation
A plan is allowed to change. Cancelling committed work or moving it back to Considering requires a reason, and the decision history stays attached to the card. Reopening a closed request also needs an explanation.
Do not use an archive to quietly retract a promise. Record the decision first, then archive if it no longer belongs in everyday browsing. Restoring the archive restores the underlying status; it does not invent a new commitment.
Public progress does not mean public everything
Choose a public or invitation-only portal. The roadmap follows the portal’s access rules, while pending submissions and internal material remain restricted. A branded custom subdomain serves the same portal with the same permissions.
BuildCaster is a customer-facing roadmap, not a sprint planner, issue tracker, or Gantt scheduling tool. Keep implementation tasks in your development workflow and use the roadmap to explain customer outcomes.
When something becomes available, connect it to a changelog update. A status change and a customer announcement are separate actions, so the team has time to check the wording and audience.