# Group a board by review status

> In a board's layout menu choose Group by Status, then Horizontal or Vertical; items are sorted into Draft, In progress, Needs review, Needs changes and Approved, and dragging an item to another column changes its status.

Category: Boards and presenting
Web page: https://www.pactto.com/help/group-by-status
All guides: https://www.pactto.com/help.md

## What it does

**Group by Status** is a board layout that sorts the items in a board into five columns, one per review status, in this order: **Draft**, **In progress**, **Needs review**, **Needs changes** and **Approved**. Each column header shows the status and how many items it holds. All five columns are always shown, even when empty, so you can drop items into any of them.

Who can do it: the room owner and people with **Can edit** access.

## Turn it on

1. Click the board's name (above its top left corner) to select the board.
2. Click the layout button in the bar next to the name (tooltip **Content alignment**).
3. Click **Group by Status**. Two options open below it.
4. Choose **Horizontal** (columns side by side) or **Vertical** (status bands stacked top to bottom).

## Change an item's status by dragging

1. Drag an item from one column and drop it in another. The column under the pointer is highlighted and a line shows where the item will land.
2. The item takes the status of the new column. This is the same status you can set from the item's status menu.
3. Dragging within the same column only changes the order.

## Good to know

- Items with no status are placed in **Draft**.
- If someone changes an item's status from its status menu, the item moves to the matching column.
- Switching back to another layout keeps items where they are, and keeps any statuses you set by dragging.
- Spacing handles work here too: hover the gap between items and drag.
- To learn about review statuses themselves, see [Set a review status](https://www.pactto.com/help/review-status.md).

## Related guides

- [Create a board and add items to it](https://www.pactto.com/help/boards.md): A board is a named container on the room canvas that groups items; draw one with the Board tool (B) or select items and choose Convert to Board, then drag or drop items into it.
- [Arrange items inside a board](https://www.pactto.com/help/board-layout.md): Select a board and open its layout menu to choose Freeform, Vertical, Horizontal or Grid; managed layouts line items up, resize the board to fit, and let you drag to reorder and adjust spacing.
- [Set a review status on an item](https://www.pactto.com/help/review-status.md): Select a video, image, PDF, Pactto Doc, or board and pick a status (Draft, In progress, Needs review, Needs changes, Approved, or your own) from the status menu in its title bar.
- [Present in a room](https://www.pactto.com/help/present.md): Add your assets, put them in a board, select the board and click the play button (Enter presentation mode); turn on Spotlight so everyone in the room follows your slides.