TrestleBoard

Download and install

This page is for the person who is going to use TrestleBoard, not for a programmer. Nothing here can break your computer, and if you get stuck at a step you can stop and ask.

Choose your download

Pick the one that matches your computer. If you are not sure, each card says how to tell.

Version 1.5.0. Every version ever released stays on the releases page, along with portable copies that run from a folder without installing.

Windows and macOS will both warn you the first time you open it. TrestleBoard is free and is not signed with a paid certificate — a certificate costs money the lodge has not spent. The warning is about the certificate, not about the program. The steps below quote the words you will see, letter for letter, and tell you which button to press.

Installing on Windows

  1. Open the download page and find the newest release at the top.
  2. Under Assets, click TrestleBoard-win-x64-Setup.exe. It is about 55 MB — a minute or two on most connections.
  3. Open the file you just downloaded. Your browser usually shows it along the bottom of the window; otherwise it is in your Downloads folder.
  4. A blue box appears saying Windows protected your PC. Click the small underlined words More info. The box grows and a new button appears: Run anyway. Click that.
    If you cannot see More info, click the box once first — it appears after the box has been clicked.
  5. TrestleBoard installs itself and opens. There is nothing to choose and no next, next, finish.
  6. You now have TrestleBoard on your Desktop and in the Start menu.

Installing on a Mac

  1. Open the download page and find the newest release.
  2. Under Assets, take the file that matches your Mac: TrestleBoard-osx-arm64-Setup.pkg for Macs from late 2020 onward (Apple M1, M2, M3, M4), or TrestleBoard-osx-x64-Setup.pkg for older Intel Macs.
    Not sure which you have? Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner and choose About This Mac. If it says Chip: Apple something, take arm64. If it says Processor: Intel, take x64.
  3. Open the .pkg file you downloaded.
  4. macOS says TrestleBoard.pkg cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer — or, on newer versions, Apple could not verify TrestleBoard is free of malware. Click OK or Done to close it.
  5. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and scroll down to Security. There is a line about TrestleBoard being blocked and, beside it, a button that says Open Anyway. Click it and confirm with your password or Touch ID.
    The other way, which is the one Apple documents: in Finder, hold Control and click the downloaded file, choose Open from the menu, then click Open in the box that follows.
  6. The installer puts TrestleBoard in your Applications folder.

The warning appears once for each new version you install. That is expected, and it is the same certificate matter as the first time.

Installing on Linux

  1. From the download page, take TrestleBoard-linux-x64.AppImage under Assets.
  2. Make it runnable — in your file manager, Properties → Permissions → Allow executing file as program, or in a terminal:
    chmod +x TrestleBoard-linux-x64.AppImage
  3. Run it. There is no separate install step; the AppImage is the whole program.

The first run also registers .tboard files with your desktop, so double-clicking a newsletter opens it.

Keeping it up to date

Nothing to do. When a new version is published, TrestleBoard downloads it quietly while you work and installs it when you close the program — the next time you open it, it is the new one. You can ask at any time with Help → Check for an update.

If something goes wrong