Using the Capture Board: A Guide for Group Leads

The best ideas often emerge when everyone has space to contribute. The Capture Board gives your group a structured way to brainstorm together. Quieter voices get heard alongside louder ones, ideas get refined together, and patterns become visible through +1s and voting.

This article is for Group Leads (GLs) and Capture Board Admins: the people who prepare and share a board during a meeting.

Quick Start

New to running a Capture Board? Here's the short version. Each step is covered in more detail below.

1. Open the Capture Board for your meeting. If you don't see the Admin Panel on the right, choose your name from the Board Admin menu at the top of the board and confirm.
2. Add a topic. In the Prepare tab, type your question under Add a New Topic and press Enter.
3. Share it. In the Share tab, check the topic and click Start Sharing.
4. Collect responses. Optionally set a timer and click Start Timer. Turn on +1 if you'd like people to show agreement as they go.
5. Narrow it down. When you're ready to prioritize, turn on Voting. New responses pause while people vote.
6. Reveal the results. Turn on Results to show vote counts, sorted highest first.
7. Save it. From the topic's ⋯ menu, choose Send Topic Board to Agenda, review the text, and click Add to agenda notes.

When you're done, click Stop Sharing. Responses are kept with the meeting.

What the Capture Board Does

During a meeting, you pose one or more questions (called topics). Everyone adds responses at the same time, and the responses appear for the whole group as they come in. When you're ready, the group can +1 ideas they agree with or vote on the strongest options. Then you send the results to your meeting notes.

The Capture Board is especially useful when you're:

• Gathering input on a specific question or challenge
• Identifying concerns or obstacles the group is facing
• Generating options before making a decision
• Collecting ideas you'll discuss and refine together

The Capture Board doesn't replace conversation. It organizes the group's thinking so your discussion can be more focused and productive.

Who Runs the Board

Every Capture Board has one Board Admin: the Group Lead who is running it. Only the Board Admin sees the Admin Panel on the right side of the page, where topics are created, shared, paused and exported.

Everyone else sees the participant view. That includes other Group Leads on the same table or team. They can add responses, +1 and vote just like any participant.

Other Group Leads also see a Board Admin menu at the top of the board. If you need to take over (for example, the Board Admin had to step away), choose your own name from the Board Admin menu. You can also choose another Group Lead to hand the board to them. You'll be asked to confirm before anything changes.

The status strip

As Board Admin, you'll see a status strip across the top of the board. Only you see it, so it's a quick check on what the group is seeing:

• Meeting: which meeting this board belongs to
• Topics Showing: how many topics the group can currently see
• Responses: the total number of responses
• Board: whether the board is shared with the group
• Timer: whether a countdown is running

The strip also has its own Board Admin menu, so you can hand the board to another Group Lead. The strip is hidden while you're in Focused View Mode.

Preparing Your Board

The Admin Panel has two tabs: Prepare and Share. Use Prepare before (or between) activities to set up your topics.

Adding topics

1. Open the Prepare tab.
2. Under Add a New Topic, type your question.
3. Click Create Topic or press Enter.

Your new topic appears in the On the Board list. To rename a topic, click its name, edit it, and save.

Copying topics from a previous meeting

If you ask the same question across sessions, there's no need to retype it.

1. Under Copy From a Previous Meeting, choose the earlier meeting.
2. Click Copy next to each topic you want to bring over.

Topics you've already copied move into a Moved Topics list, so you can see what's done. Use Hide Moved Topics to tidy the list away.

Putting topics in order

Click Sort in the On the Board section, then use the up and down arrows to reorder your topics. Click Done when you're finished. Participants see topics in this order.

Running the Board

Switch to the Share tab when it's time to bring the group in.

Choosing what the group sees

1. Check the topics you want to show under On the Board. Use Select All or Clear Selection to change them all at once.
2. Click Start Sharing. The board now shows the checked topics to everyone in the meeting.

Until you start sharing, participants see a message letting them know topics will appear when you begin. You can check and uncheck topics at any time while you're sharing. Participants see the change straight away.

Stop Sharing hides the board from participants. Their responses are kept, so you can share again later and pick up where you left off.

Using the timer

Once you're sharing, choose a number of minutes and click Start Timer. Everyone sees the same countdown. The timer is optional; it just helps the group keep focus.

Inviting people to the board

As Board Admin, you'll see a request icon near the top of the page. Use it to ask your table or team members to come to the Capture Board. This is handy if people are still on another page of the meeting.

Focused View Mode

Short on screen space? Focused View Mode hides the page header so you can see more responses at once. Click Exit focus to return to the normal view.

Managing Each Topic

Click a topic in the Admin Panel to open its controls.

Pausing and resuming responses

The topic's status tells you whether it's Accepting responses. Click Pause when you're ready to move from collecting ideas to discussing them. New responses stop until you click Resume.

Choosing what to show

The Show toggles control what everyone sees on that topic:

Voting and Results pause the topic. While either is on, new responses and edits are paused, and the topic shows Paused for voting. To reopen the topic for new ideas, turn Voting or Results back off. Voting and Results can't be on at the same time: turning one on turns the other off.

Sorting responses

Use Sort by to choose how responses are ordered. Some options only appear when the matching toggle is on:

• Order Entered: oldest first (the default)
• Custom Sort: drag responses into any order you like
• +1 Count: most +1s first (when +1 is on)
• Participant Name: alphabetical (when Names is on)
• Vote Count: highest vote count first (when Results is on)

Removing a response

As Board Admin, you can remove any response that's off-topic or a duplicate. Click the red person icon on the response, then confirm.

The Topic Menu

Click the ⋯ button in a topic's controls for more options.

• Duplicate Topic Board: makes a copy of the topic and all its responses, named "(copy)". It's handy for running a second round, such as voting on a shortlist while keeping the original intact.
• Send Topic Board to Agenda: exports the topic to your meeting notes (see below).
• Delete This Topic Board: removes the topic from the board.

Sending Responses to Your Meeting Notes

After collecting responses, you can add them to the meeting's notes in a couple of clicks.

1. Open the topic's ⋯ menu.
2. Choose Send Topic Board to Agenda.
3. Review the text in the Send to agenda notes window. You can edit anything before it's added.
4. Click Add to agenda notes.

The export includes the topic, the number of responses, and every response in the topic's current sort order. It also follows what the topic is showing:

• +1 counts are included when +1 is on, for responses with at least one.
• Names are included when Names is on.
• Vote Count are included when Results is on.

The text is added to the end of your current meeting notes, and you're taken back to the meeting so you can pick up the conversation.

What Participants See

Participants see only the topics you've checked and shared, in the order you set. They don't see the Admin Panel.

Participants can:

• Add responses by typing a response and pressing Enter (or clicking Submit Response)
• +1 responses they agree with, when +1 is on
• Vote for responses they support, when Voting is on (and change their mind by clicking again)
• Edit their own responses while the topic is accepting responses
• Delete their own responses

Their own responses are marked with a yellow bar so they can find them easily. Responses from others have a purple bar.

Tips for Getting the Most from Capture Boards

Frame your question clearly. The more specific your prompt, the more useful the responses. Instead of "What should we focus on?", try "What are the top 3 obstacles keeping us from reaching more community members?"

Prepare topics ahead of time. Add your questions in Prepare before the meeting, then reveal them one at a time by checking them in Share.

Give people time to think. Not everyone processes ideas at the same speed. Set the timer long enough that both quick and thoughtful responders can contribute.

Keep responses anonymous for sensitive topics. When you're asking for honest feedback about challenges or concerns, leave Names off. You can turn it on later if the conversation calls for it.

Wait to reveal results. Use Voting first and switch to Results once most people have voted, so early results don't sway later votes.

Hand off when you need to. If you're co-facilitating, any Group Lead can take charge of the board from the Board Admin menu.

Common Questions

Why can't I see the Admin Panel?
Only the Board Admin sees it. If you're a Group Lead, choose your name from the Board Admin menu at the top of the board to take charge. You'll be asked to confirm first.

Why does my topic say "Paused for voting," and how do I reopen it?
Voting or Results is turned on for that topic, which pauses new responses and edits. Turn Voting or Results off in the topic's Show toggles to start accepting responses again.

What's the difference between Pause and Paused for voting?
Pause is a manual stop you control with the Pause and Resume buttons. Paused for voting happens automatically while Voting or Results is on.

Can participants edit their responses after submitting them?
Yes, they can edit their own responses while the topic is accepting responses. Editing isn't available while the topic is paused or paused for voting. Participants can delete their own responses.

How many responses can each participant add?
There's no limit. You may want to suggest one, such as "your top three", when you introduce the topic.

Can participants see who submitted each response?
Only when Names is turned on for that topic. By default, responses are anonymous.

Do participants need to be in the meeting to see the Capture Board?
Yes. The Capture Board is a live meeting tool, and participants need to be logged in to JustOrg Design to see it. As Board Admin, you can use the request icon to invite table members to the board.

What happens to responses when I stop sharing?
They're kept. Stopping sharing only hides the board from participants. Share again and everything is still there.

What happens to Capture Board responses after the meeting?
They stay with that meeting. You can copy topics into a future meeting from the Prepare tab, and anything you sent to the agenda stays in the meeting notes.

Related articles:

• How to Use The Meeting Space
• Group Voting: Building Agreement Through Structured Proposals
• Using the Planner to Manage Teams/Tables

Updated on: 28/10/2026