Visual Space manual, Live Apps, Create And Open A Retrospective
This walkthrough creates a persistent retrospective in the space area where the team’s work belongs, opens its focused board, and confirms that it can be found again later. For an introduction to the feature before you begin, read [Retrospectives](../retrospectives.md).
This walkthrough creates a persistent retrospective in the space area where the team’s work belongs, opens its focused board, and confirms that it can be found again later. For an introduction to the feature before you begin, read Retrospectives.
Choose the Board’s Home
The space, subspace, activity, or Documents folder you use for creation becomes the retrospective’s home. Choose it deliberately: placement determines where the linked draft appears, while the owning space area determines who can reach the board.
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Open the intended space area - Navigate to the space, subspace, or activity connected to the work the team will review. If you are creating from Documents, open the intended folder as well.
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Check Retrospectives access - Creation requires Retrospectives app access, currently included with Coordinator. If Visual Space asks you to unlock Retrospectives, the board has not been created.
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Confirm membership - You must belong to the space. For a private subspace or activity, you must also be a member of that private area; a direct board link does not bypass this boundary.
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Choose an active activity - If the intended home is an activity, make sure it is not archived before trying to create the board.
Participants who will open the board later need access to the same owning area. Coordinator access is required to create the retrospective, not simply to join an existing board that their area membership permits them to use.
Create from the Retros Explorer
Verify the area in the explorer before using New retrospective; the maintained seed is intentionally empty.
Use this path when you want to browse and create retrospective boards without working through the full Documents library.
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Open Apps and choose Retros - The explorer starts in the current space area and shows folders alongside retrospective boards.
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Select the correct area or folder - Check the visible location before creating. Moving through the explorer changes where the new retrospective belongs.
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Choose New retrospective - Visual Space creates the board and opens it in the focused Retrospectives workspace.
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Wait for the board to load - Creation succeeds when the workspace shows Went Well, To Improve, and Action Items. The creator also appears as the first participant.
If creation reports an error or the board does not open, remain in the explorer and try again after checking the area and your Retrospectives access. Do not assume an empty or failed screen represents a saved board.
Create from Documents
Creating from Documents places the retrospective beside the files and app content already in that location.
Use Documents when the retrospective should sit beside other files and app content in a particular area or folder. Create and Publish from Documents explains the broader app-file flow.
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Open Documents in the intended location - Navigate to the exact space area and folder that should contain the retrospective’s linked draft.
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Open New and choose Retrospectives - Visual Space creates a retrospective together with its connected draft Article.
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Find the new draft - Look for the Retrospective draft in the current Documents location. An unfinished item may use Retrospective or a draft fallback as its visible title.
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Open the draft card - Selecting a retrospective-linked item routes to the focused board rather than the normal Article reader.
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Confirm the board shape - Check that the three fixed columns appear and that the participant header includes you.
Creating the board does not publish the connected Article or create a post. The linked Article remains a draft until someone makes a separate publication decision. This is expected even though the retrospective itself is ready to use.
Use a Meeting as an Alternate Entry
An activity meeting can also host a retrospective as a Live App. This is one of the meeting Live Apps paths available when the team wants the board on stage while discussing it.
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Open Live Apps in the activity meeting - Choose Retrospectives, then create a board for that activity or select an existing one.
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Check the meeting context - A new board still requires Retrospectives creation access and valid activity details. The meeting does not override Coordinator eligibility or private-area membership.
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Confirm the embedded board - The same three columns appear on the meeting stage. The meeting owns the surrounding controls, so the standalone board’s exit action is not shown there.
Starting from a meeting changes the presentation, not the board’s durability. The retrospective can be opened again outside the meeting through Retros or its linked item in Documents.
Leave the Board Safely
Retrospectives do not have a formal finish or lock action. Leaving the workspace keeps the board available and editable.
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Exit an activity-based board - Use the board’s Back to activity exit action. It returns to the source activity’s posts.
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Use surrounding navigation when there is no activity - For a board created directly in a space or subspace, leave through the app or space navigation. Exact return to that originating area is not yet guaranteed, so do not rely on the board exit action to restore it.
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Leave a meeting-hosted board through the meeting - Use the meeting’s stage or Live Apps controls because the embedded board does not repeat the standalone exit action.
Leaving does not publish the linked Article, remove cards, or mark the retrospective complete.
Browse and Open It Again
Reopening the retrospective is the practical confirmation that creation and placement succeeded.
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Return to the owning area - Navigate back to the same space, subspace, or activity you selected before creation.
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Browse with Retros - Open the app and navigate through its folders until you find the board, then select it.
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Or browse with Documents - Open the original Documents location and select the linked retrospective draft. It should route back to the board.
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Wait for the saved board - Confirm that Went Well, To Improve, and Action Items load again. If you added cards before leaving, verify that they remain in their original columns with their authors.
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Check participant context - Your return may refresh your participation on the board, while the saved board and earlier participant record remain available.
A loading indicator is normal while the board is retrieved. If an unavailable-board message appears instead of the columns, confirm that you opened the correct item and still have access to its owning area.
Verify the Result
The setup is complete when the retrospective can be found from its intended location, opens as the focused three-column board, and survives leaving and reopening. The connected Article should still be a draft unless someone deliberately published it.
Next, follow Run a Team Retrospective to turn the empty board into a facilitated reflection. Cards and Participation explains authorship, saved edits, reactions, and what the participant display means.
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