Public Board Best Practices for Product Teams

A public board turns your Linear issues into a transparent view of your product. Here are best practices to run it effectively.

What Issues to Make Public

Not every issue belongs on a public board. Include:

• User-facing features — New capabilities and improvements
• Bug fixes — Especially those requested by the community
• Community requests — Ideas that align with your strategy

Exclude internal tooling, security work, and speculative experiments. A focused board is easier to understand and trust.

How to Organize Your Public Board

Structure helps visitors find what matters:

• Use clear workflow states — In Progress, Done, Backlog
• Group by theme — Features, Fixes, Improvements
• Keep descriptions concise — Enough context without internal jargon

Kanban and list views both work; choose based on how your team thinks about work. Real-time sync with Linear keeps the board accurate without manual updates.

Engaging with Community Feedback

When users comment or vote, respond. Reply from Linear so conversations stay in one place. Acknowledge requests even when you can't build them soon—explain why or when they might fit.

Email notifications help: when you update an issue, contributors get notified. That closes the loop and shows you're listening.

Maintaining Transparency Without Oversharing

Transparency doesn't mean sharing everything. Share enough to build trust:

• Show progress on public issues
• Explain decisions when you deprioritize popular requests
• Use a changelog to announce what shipped

Balance openness with focus. A cluttered board with too many internal details can confuse more than it helps.