Reference Board Planner

What it is for

You have a list of websites you want to study – from a chat, a spreadsheet or your bookmarks – and you want them as a board you can sort, filter and arrange. The Reference Board Planner turns that list into a native Pageboard project in one step. Each line becomes one reference card with a title, an optional source link, a section (for example Hero or Pricing), a platform and tags.

It is also the simplest way for a script or an AI agent to prepare a board: send the list to the JSON API or call the tool over MCP, then open the returned project in Pageboard.

The tool does not visit the links, take screenshots or copy anything from a gallery. Links are stored as text. Screenshots are something you add yourself later in Pageboard, using images you are allowed to keep.

Worked example

Say you are collecting ideas for a studio website. Board name Studio website refresh, and four lines in the format Title | URL | Section | Platform | tags:

Hero with one strong sentence | https://example.com/studio | Hero | Desktop | typography, minimal
Case studies as a quiet grid | https://example.org/work | Projects | Desktop | grid, photography
Pricing with three plans | https://example.net/pricing | Pricing | Desktop | conversion
Signup in one step | | Form | Mobile | forms, conversion

The tool answered "Created a board with 4 references." The report counted 3 source links (the signup line has none), four sections (Hero, Projects, Pricing, Form), 3 desktop and 1 mobile reference, and six tags – conversion appears twice. The entries received the IDs reference-1 to reference-4, and the whole project was 963 bytes. The editor link was 1,333 characters long, short enough to open directly.

How to read the result

• References and Source links confirm that every line was read and how many have a link.
• Download editable board is the .pageboard.json project. Open it with File → Open project file… in Pageboard.
• Open in Pageboard is a link that carries the whole project after #project=. Opening it loads the board and saves it in that browser's Saved boards.
• The JSON result also contains the full project and a report with counts per section, platform and tag – useful when an agent wants to check its own work.

Tips and common mistakes

• Only the title is required. Leave a field empty but keep its pipe, e.g. Ticketing page | | Event | Desktop, so later fields stay in the right column.
• Use at most five fields per line; a sixth pipe is rejected so that text never lands in the wrong field.
• Links must start with http:// or https:// and must not contain a user name or password.
• Keep tags short and consistent (typography, not Typography and type). The Reference Tag Organizer can tidy them later.
• A board holds up to 100 references and eight tags per reference; longer lists are refused, not cut.
• Very large projects get no editor link (over one million encoded characters); download the file instead.

FAQ

Does the planner add screenshots?

No. It never loads the websites. Add your own screenshots in Pageboard by uploading, pasting or dropping an image into the reference editor.

Can I plan a board without any links?

Yes. The second example on the page plans an "Event ideas" board with two references and no links; the report then shows 0 source links.

What happens to the moodboard?

A planned board starts with an empty moodboard. Open the Moodboard view in Pageboard and add reference cards, notes and color swatches there.

Is my list stored on the server?

The API runs the tool and returns the result; the project file is offered as a temporary download. Pageboard itself keeps boards in your browser.