Board view

Board view provides a visual, interactive display of work items and their current status.

In this topic:

Overview

Board view provides a visual, interactive display of items. Board view is divided into swimlanes, where each lane represents a different phase for the selected entity. Under each swimlane header, the relevant items are displayed as cards.

Board view is available for epics, features, backlog items, tasks, and requirements (Children tab). It supports drag and drop, allowing you to adjust the status of your items as required.

For items that support board view, select the Board View option from the view types list.

The example below shows a Story board with backlog items in the New, In Progress, and In Testing phases.

Back to top

Board view types

The common board views that can help you in your planning and backlog management are the Planning board, Story board, and Task board.

Type	Access	Description
Planning board	Backlog module > Features > Board View	Use this view to help you plan your sprints and releases. For details, see Planning board.
Story board	Team Backlog module > Backlog Items > Board View	Use this view to see work items according to their context, such as a specific release, sprint, and team. The Story board view shows the Team Backlog > Backlog Items tab in board view, showing the status of user stories, quality stories, and defects. For details, see Story board.
Task board	Team Backlog module > Tasks > Board View	Use this view to see the current status of your tasks: user stories, quality stories, and defects. The Task board shows the Team Backlog > Tasks page in board view. For details, see Manage backlog items.

Back to top

Work in board view

The following table describes actions you can perform in board view:

Action	Details
Change card size	Move the Card size slider to change the card size.
Print cards	Click the Print cards button to open the cards in a preview and print them. The filter you apply to the view also applies to the printing. For example, in Backlog items, if you only want to print the defects, select Defects as the Item type.
Set board background color	In the Background color list , select a color for the board's background. This color only applies to the online view, not to the printout.
Customize card view	Customize the card's view to include specific fields, both system and user-defined fields. The fields can be represented on cards as: Icons in the card. Values or progress bars in the card's footer. Depending on the board, the predefined fields are different and may include: rank, blocked status, attachments, test coverage, owner, or other fields. You can change the predefined fields to include other fields that are available for the given item type. Click the Cards customization button , and select the fields you want to be displayed as indicators or in the card footer. Tip: To view or drill down to an item details, hover over a card's field icon, specific value, or bar. Note: Some fields cannot be represented on cards. For example, boolean, memo, cross-fields, text fields, user tags, product milestone, and team. If the board is viewed in small size, fields are not represented on cards. Scale the board up to the medium or large size to display specific fields on the cards.
Add colors according to rules	Click the Assign Colors button and select color preferences based on filter attributes. For details, see Assign colors.
Set filters	Set a filter by clicking the Advanced filter button in the toolbar, or the Show quick filters button in the sidebar to open the quick filter sidebar.
Change a card's phase	Drag and drop a card horizontally to change a card's phase. For example, from In Progress to In Testing.
Change a card's rank	Drag and drop a card vertically to change a card's rank within its phase.
Add items	Click the More button next to + <Add item> and select the type of item to add.

Back to top

Planning board

For features, the board view is referred to as the Planning board because it helps you plan the content of a release or several releases. It is typically used before a release, but you can also use it during the release to verify and adjust planning.

The Planning board displays features according to any single-value field selected in the Columns box. For example, product managers can use a milestone, priority, or release field to share their roadmap with the team. Values of the selected field are displayed under each column header, and the relevant items are displayed as cards. You can also filter the display by clicking the Choose Columns button and selecting the columns that you want displayed.

To access the Planning board:

1. Select the Backlog module > Features.

2. In the toolbar, in the View Type list, select Board View .

3. In the Columns box, select a view option. You can base your feature board columns on any single-selection referenced fields.

The following table describes how you can use the Planning board.

Action	Steps
Move features	You can distribute features between releases, sprints, and teams to balance the workload. To move features: Open the Planning board in either the release or sprint view via the context filter on the top toolbar. To move features between teams, click the Group by button and select Team. Drag and drop the features, as required. Releases/sprints. If you move a feature to a different release or sprint, the feature's Target sprint or Release field changes accordingly. Teams. The Team field of the feature changes accordingly.
Add features to a release or sprint	Select Release or Target Sprint from the view options, and then add a new or existing feature. To add a new feature: Hover over a column of the sprint or release to which you want to add the feature. Click the Add button . To add an existing feature: Do one of the following: In the main Backlog module window, drag an item from the No Release or No Sprint column to a release or sprint column. In the Details tab of a feature, assign the item to a release or sprint. In the Planning sidebar, drag an item to a release or sprint bucke. For details, see Backlog planning buckets.
Remove features from a release or sprint	To remove features from a release or a sprint, drag the items to the No Release or No Sprint column, depending on your view type. The Target Sprint or Release will be cleared automatically. To display the No Sprint column, select either the Show all or No Sprint option in the sprint context filter.
View dependencies between features and identify problematic dependencies	For details, see Planning board feature dependencies.

Back to top

Planning board feature dependencies

Dependencies between features are reflected in the Planning board. Features in a dependency relationship have Dependencies exist on their card along with the number of dependencies the feature has.

To see the dependencies on the Planning board, click the Dependencies exist button .

The following example shows the dependency relationships for feature 1023. Upstream and downstream dependencies are labeled accordingly.

Problematic dependencies are when an upstream dependency activity does not finish before its downstream dependency activity. For details on dependencies, see Create a dependency. In case of problematic dependencies, Problematic dependencies exist is displayed.

Dependencies map

The dependencies map provides a comprehensive view of a feature's dependencies. While the Planning board is limited to the context of features and a specific sprint or release and displays only direct dependencies, the map displays all dependencies, regardless of the item type, sprint or release.

To open the dependencies map:

1. Click the Dependencies exist button to display the dependencies on the Planning board.

2. Click the Dependencies map button to display the feature's dependencies map.

   

3. In the dependencies map you can perform the following actions.

   Action	Description
   Add dependencies	Select the item to which you want to add an upstream dependency, and then click Add Upstream Dependency. Note: When you add a dependency to an item in the map, it does not immediately display potential issues. Click Refresh to see problematic dependencies. This may take a few seconds
   Focus on different items	Click the Dependencies exist button to switch the focus to different items to see their dependencies. Dependencies are linked by lines. A faded line indicates the branch of this dependency is not in focus. A colored line indicates the branches of this dependency that are problematic. indicates that an item has problematic dependencies.
   Collapse a branch	Click the Collapse button to collapse a dependency branch.

Back to top

Story board

The Story board is a board view that displays your team's backlog items using either Kanban or Scrum methodologies. The board displays work items in the selected context: release, sprint, and team.

To access the Story board, in the main menu, select Team Backlog > Backlog Items.

You can switch between the Story board display modes by selecting Phase or Metaphase in the Columns list.

Mode	Description
Phase	Select Phase to view your board lanes by phases. The board view divides into the additional phases you have set to reflect your team's workflow.
Metaphase	From the list, select Metaphase to view your board lanes in an aggregated view. Metaphases are provided by default, cannot be modified, and are the same for quality stories, user stories, and defects. The categories are New, In Progress, In Testing, and Done. All phases for quality stories, user stories, and defects must belong to one of the metaphases.

Back to top

Customize the Story board

When working in the Story board, you can customize the layout.

Area	Details
Board layout	You can include more columns for phases, merge phases for different item types, rename, or hide a specific column.
Cards layout	You can change fields that are displayed on cards, and apply card color preferences. For details, see Work in board view.

You can also set the Work in Progress (WIP) limit and the card time limit. For details, see Story board workflow rules.

Prerequisites

To customize the Story board, you need the following:

• To be a team member of the selected team. For details, see Teams.
• To have the General System Actions > Customize Story Board By Member permission. For details, see Roles and permissions.

Customize the Story board

To customize the Story board, select a single team in the context filter.

The following table describes different actions and steps needed to customize your view.

Action	Steps
Display phase lanes or metaphase lanes	In the center, click the Phase button. To display metaphase lanes, select Metaphase from the drop down.
Rename a column	Click the column name to enter into the edit mode. Rename the column and click outside the column name to save.
Merge columns	If several columns represent the same phase for different item types, you can merge them into a single column. To merge columns: Right-click the column of the phase you want to merge, and then click Edit. In the Select Phases dialog box, select the phases for the relevant item types, and then click OK. If required, click the column name to rename it.
Split a column	If you want to create separate swimlanes for different item types that share the same phase, you can split a column. To split a column: Right-click the column header of the phase in which you want to split a phase, and select Edit. In the Select Phases dialog box, for a specific item type, clear the phase field that you want to display as a separate lane, and then click OK. A new lane is added for the phase that you cleared. Hover over the column header to see the workflow phases for that specific column. The column name is a duplication of the existing column. Click the column name to rename it.
Hide a column	Right-click the column that you want to hide, and then click Hide. To restore the column, in the toolbar, click the Choose Columns button and select the column.

Add team phases to the Story board

As a team member, you can add additional phases to your team's Story board without modifying the general workflow.

Team phases are aimed for a specific team. They are available for all the team members and are not visible for other teams.

When creating a team phase, consider the following.

Points	Details
View type	Team phases are displayed only in the board view, and are not represented in the grid view.
Phase - team phase relationships	The following relationships between phases and team phases exist: You can create team phases from phases that are originally defined for your workflow, or from other team phases. You cannot create team phases from phases in the "Done" metaphase. The new team phase inherits properties of its parent phase. For example, if the parent phase exists for defects and user stories, the new team phase includes the same set of items. You can then edit the team phase to include or exclude certain item types from the phase. Note: Editing a team phase to include or exclude certain items results in creating a new team phase swimlane. For example, if the team phase includes all the backlog item types, and you edit the phase to exclude defects, a new team phase is automatically created. It includes only defects, the item type you excluded when editing the original team phase. The name of a new team phase includes the name of its parent phase. You can edit the team phase name to remove the name of its parent phase. You can edit a team phase to select original phases or other team phases for separate item types. In the grid view, the items in the team phase are displayed as belonging to its original parent phase. In an item's document view, the item's phase is always displayed as the original phase. You can check for the item's team phase in the item details.
Moving items between phases	If a team phase includes a certain item type, you can not move its cards to a phase aimed for a different item type. For example, if a team phase includes defects, you can not move a defect from this phase to a phase designed for quality stories.

To add a team phase:

1. Right-click in the header area of an existing phase, either original or a team phase.
2. Select Add team phase before or Add team phase after and provide the name for a new team phase.

The team phase is added to your team Story board as a new swimlane.

Back to top

Story board workflow rules

When you work with the Story board, you can specify rules to structure your workflow.

A work-in-progress (WIP) limit	A per-team limit for the number of items allowed (WIP) in each metaphase and phase. Each team can have different limits for each metaphase and phase.
Card time limit	A per phase limit on the cycle time for an item in each phase. The cycle time is the time spent working on an item. This is the time it takes from when work begins on an item to when it is completed. The cycle time is measured as the number of days in which the item is in In Progress or In Testing phase.

To set the Story board rules:

1. At the top of the Team Backlog module, select a release and team from the lists.

2. The headers of the story board columns display the WIP for each phase, which is the number of items currently in that phase. Hover over the number in the header.

   

   Note: The WIP represents the total number of items in the phase for the currently selected Release and Team. The WIP ignores other filters so you will always be able to tell if you are within or have exceeded the WIP limit.

3. In the displayed tooltip, click the infinity symbol in the relevant field and enter a new limit.

4. If the team violates one of the limits, an alert is displayed.

   Rule	Description
   For WIP limits	An alert is displayed in the phase column header:
   For card time limits	An alert is displayed in the Board View header. An alert with a clock is displayed in the individual Board View card. Hover over the Time limit alert to see details on the limit violation:

   Hover over the alert to see the details.

5. For card time limits, track completion using the Control Chart widget in the Dashboard. For details, see Dashboard.

   Note: This widget is per release and sprint, not per team.

Back to top

See also:

• Execute a release
• Team backlog
• Backlog planning buckets