Kanban boards are one of the most powerful ways to manage tasks visually.

In this blog, I’ll walk you step-by-step through building a fully dynamic Project Task Kanban Board in Oracle APEX using the Material Kanban Board Plugin, including:

• ✅ Database Table Design
• ✅ SQL Query Structure (Columns, Groups, Items)
• ✅ Dynamic Links
• ✅ Avatars & Attachments
• ✅ Status-Based Styling
• ✅ Real UI Implementation

🎯 Final Output

Your Kanban board will look like this:

• Columns: Backlog, To Do, In Progress, Done, Blocked, Review
• Groups: Project-based grouping
• Cards: Task name, story points, priority, progress %, assignees, due date
• Drag & Drop enabled

🗄️ Step 1: Database Tables

Below is a simplified structure used for this implementation.

📌 PROJECTS Table

📌 TASKS Table

📌 EMPLOYEES Table

🔌 Step 2: Install Material Kanban Board Plugin

1. Download plugin from APEX Plugin Repository
2. Go to:

Shared Components → Plugins → Import

Or Directly Download and install from here.

3. Install the plugin
4. Create new region → Select Material Kanban Board

🧠 Step 3: Understanding the Kanban Query Structure

Material Kanban plugin requires 3 logical sections:

🏗 Step 4: Define Columns (C)

These define board columns like To Do, Done, etc.

WITH C AS (
    SELECT 1 COLUMN_ID, 'To Do' COLUMN_TITLE FROM DUAL
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 2, 'In Progress' FROM DUAL
    UNION ALL
    SELECT 3, 'Done' FROM DUAL
)

In your implementation, you defined:

• Backlog
• To Do
• In Progress
• Done
• Blocked
• Review

Each column also includes:

• Font Awesome icon
• Header color
• Border styling

👥 Step 5: Define Groups (G)

Groups represent Projects.

SELECT
    P.PROJECT_ID AS GROUP_ID,
    P.PROJECT_NAME AS GROUP_TITLE
FROM PROJECTS P
WHERE P.PROJECT_ID = :P32_PROJECT_ID

Advanced Features You Added:

✔ Project manager avatar using:

APEX_UTIL.GET_BLOB_FILE_SRC

✔ Dynamic link to project page:

APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL

✔ Status-based header styling

✔ Animated icon for “In Progress”

📝 Step 6: Define Items (I) – The Task Cards

Items represent individual tasks.

Mapping example:

CASE T.STATUS
    WHEN 'To Do' THEN 1
    WHEN 'In Progress' THEN 2
    WHEN 'Done' THEN 3
END AS COLUMN_ID

This maps task status to column.

🎨 Advanced Card Customization

Your implementation includes:

🔥 Priority Badge Styling

CASE T.PRIORITY
    WHEN 'High' THEN 'background-color:#D32F2F;'
    WHEN 'Medium' THEN 'background-color:#FF9800;'
END

👤 Assignee Avatars

You split comma-separated IDs using:

REGEXP_SUBSTR

Then joined with EMPLOYEES table.

If:

• 1 assignee → Show avatar + name
• Multiple → Show group icon + count

Very clean UX design 👌

📎 Footer Icons with Modal Links

Each card has:

• Attachments icon
• Related links icon
• Schedule icon
• Assignees icon

All generated using:

APEX_UTIL.PREPARE_URL

🎯 Final Query Structure

Your final SELECT joins:

FROM C
FULL OUTER JOIN G ON 1=1
LEFT JOIN I ON I.GROUP_ID = G.GROUP_ID 
AND I.COLUMN_ID = C.COLUMN_ID

Ordered by:

C.COLUMN_ID,
G.GROUP_ID,
I.ID

This ensures proper Kanban rendering.

🖼 Step 7: Region Settings in APEX

After pasting query:

Set mapping in plugin attributes:

💡 Why Material Kanban Plugin?

Compared to Classic Reports:

🏁 Conclusion

With:

• Clean SQL structure
• Proper Column/Group/Item mapping
• APEX_UTIL functions
• Styling logic

You can build a fully enterprise-level Kanban Board inside Oracle APEX without external JS frameworks.