Manage kanban backlog
The original idea of kanban does not include the concept of backlog. Because the kanban board maintains its focus on the tasks that are in progress, keeping them moving from one stage to another and ensuring that the team is occupied to it's manageable capacity. However, the potential of a backlog in scrum framework has greatly influenced agile teams to adopt the same for kanban. Aligning with this structure, Zoho Sprints includes a kanban backlog that makes the requirements gathering and maintenance process just as functional as scrum.
Backlog and work items
The backlog is a receptacle that contains all your requirements. Every business that's a service or solution provider involves meticulous planning and requirements gathering. These gathered requirements could be solutions that the customers are seeking, enhancements that make your business or product better, improvements to existing products, or fixing issues in your service or solution. These are the work items that get added to your backlog or the kanban board.
Visit this page to learn all about backlog, work items, and item types.
Enable kanban framework
To allow your team to create kanban projects, you must enable the kanban project type in settings:
- Sign in to your Zoho Sprints workspace.
- Click the gear icon in the top-right corner.
- Select the Feature Preference option under Workspace Settings. The feature preference window will appear.
- Select the Kanban for Project Type specification. This will allow your team to create and manage kanban projects.
Add work items to backlog
To add work items to backlog:
- Open the required kanban project.
- Go to Backlog.
- Click the Create button. The item creation form will appear.
- Enter item name and description.
- Add attachments, if any.
- Select the sprint to which the item needs to be added. If not, you can add it to the project backlog to be picked up later.
- Select item status.
- Specify the item type as Story, Task, or Issue based on the nature of the item.
- Select the priority level, specify start and end dates, and enter the estimation points.
- Click the Create button to add the item to backlog. Or, click the Add More button to create this item and add another item.
- Set priority level to denote the significance of the item.
- Estimation points help in quantifying the likely effort required for the item, providing a measurable assessment system. You can define estimation type in Project Settings.
- Customize the item creation form by adding more fields. You can customize the form layout in Customization under Settings.
- Associate the item with relevant epics and releases.
- Drag and drop items from the project backlog into the sprint backlog under the respective sprint.
- Drag and drop items under an item to create subitems.
Quick add option for items
Alternatively, you can quickly add items to backlog and board using the inline quick add feature.
- Click the (+) icon displayed by the backlog.
- Select the item type.
- Enter item name.
- Press enter key. The item will be added to the backlog.
Click the More Details link to open the item creation form.
Create work items
You can create work items in the kanban board or use the global add option to create work item for any project within your workspace from anywhere across the application.
To create a work item:
- Open the required kanban project.
- Go to Board.
- Click + item. The item creation form will appear.
- Enter the item name and description.
- In the Add to field, choose Kanban Board.
- Add attachments, if any.
- Select item status.
- Specify the item type as Story, Task, or Issue based on the nature of the item.
- Select the priority level, specify start and end dates, and enter the estimation points.
- Click the Create button to add the item to the project. Or, click the Add More button to create this item and add another item.
Clone work items
The work items details page comes with the option to clone items. This allows you to make a copy of the work item and make modifications based on your requirement. The clone includes checklists, item links, subitems, and checklists of subitems of the parent item and also creates a work item link between the clone and the parent.
To clone an item:
- Select the required item to navigate to the item details page.
- Click the clone icon on the right side navigation bar. A confirmation pop-up will appear.
- Click Yes. The item is cloned and added to the respective backlog or kanban board.
The cloned item can be identified using the prefix "[Clone of]" in the item title.
Item views
There're two views to the items listed in the backlog: Plain View and Detail View.
- Plain view provides a simple view comprising only the item ID, item name, and assignee.
- Detail view offers a more comprehensive view displaying the item ID, item name, priority level, estimation points, tags, item status, assignee, and more actions.
- Sheet view lets you view the work items or team users in a spreadsheet. This gives a comprehensive view of the data in your backlog or users module.
- You can include the subitem details in the view. Click the View dropdown and select Subitem Expand View.
- You can customize the fields visible in this view. Click the View dropdown and select Backlog View Setting. Select the fields that need to be included in the view. You cannot remove the default fields from the view.
Search work items
You can search for items in the backlog using item name or ID.
To search for items:
- Go to the Board.
- Click the search icon.
- Enter item name or ID. The work items matching the search criteria will appear.
Filter work items
The advanced filter mechanism allows you to sift through abundant data and easily find what you're looking for. You can apply filters to the items in the backlog or board. There are two types of filters: Quick and Custom filters. Quick filters are the in-built filters that are based on the various attributes of projects. Whereas, custom filters equip you with AND/OR conditions to create your own criteria pattern. You can save the filter criteria and reuse them to avoid the rework. Click here to learn all about filters.
To filter items:
- Go to the Board.
- Click the filter icon at the top.
- Select Backlog or Board to filter items in the Kanban project.
- Select Quick or Custom filter.
- Select built-in filter criteria or define your custom criteria.
- Apply the filter to view the work items matching that filter criteria.
Group work items
There is a list of grouping criteria with options to group your items. This allows the items to be categorized under the selected criteria, facilitating an organized view. For instance, if you want your items to be grouped as story, task, and bug, select item type as grouping criteria.
To group items:
- Go to the Board.
- Click the Group by option within the backlog pane.
- Enable the Show all groups option to view the groups without any work items as well.By default, only the groups that have work items matching the group criteria will be listed.
- Select a criteria for grouping. The items in the backlog will be organized into groups of the selected criteria.
Select None to remove grouping.
Sort work items
You can sort the work items in the backlog in ascending. You can select a criteria for the order, and the items will be sorted accordingly. For instance, if you want to sort the items based on creation date, select Item Created on option as sorting criteria.
To sort items:
- Go to the Board.
- Navigate to the Backlog pane and click
.
- Click the Sort By option.
- Select a criteria for sorting. The items in the backlog will be sorted based on the selected criteria.
Select Default to remove sorting.
Pick up an item
You can pick up work items from the backlog or board. Click the plus icon inline with the item. You will be added as an assignee.
You can only pick items that do not have anyone assigned.
Bulk actions
You can make changes to multiple items in bulk, move multiple times, and delete multiple items.
You can either select items from the backlog pane or from the kanban board.
To update multiple items:
- Use the checkbox in the work items to select them. The bulk actions will appear.
- Click the Update button.
- Select the required field.
- Enter the new value.
- Click the Update button. The changes will be saved to the selected items.
To move multiple items:
- Use the checkbox in the work items to select them. The bulk actions will appear.
- Click the Move button.
- Select the target project and the Kanban board.
- Click the Move button. The selected items will be moved.
To delete multiple items:
- Use the checkbox in the work items to select them. The bulk actions will appear.
- Click the Delete button. A confirmation pop-up will appear.
- Click Delete to confirm. The selected items will be deleted.
Import items:
You can import and export work items. You can import work items using the following methods:
- From file - Import by uploading XLSX,XLS,CSV, or JSON files into Zoho Sprints. Learn more.
- From Zoho Projects - Import by selecting the required Zoho Projects portal. Learn more.
- From JIRA - Import by configuring your JIRA account. Learn more.
To import items:
- Go to the Board module.
- Click the ellipsis icon at the top. The menu will appear.
- Select Import. The import details page will appear.
- Select Project, File, and Target.
- Click Import.
The work items from the selected file will be imported to the chosen project.
Export items
You can export the work item data in an xls or csv file and download it to use outside of the application. This can be used to transform data from Zoho Sprints into a file that you can process in third party apps or other in-house devices.
- You can apply filters to export select data.
- You can access the exported file in Export History.
- Go to the Board module.
- Click the ellipsis icon at the top. The menu will appear.
- Select Export. The Export Filter will appear.
- Select the required file format.
- Define grouping if necessary.
- Select the fields that need to be exported.
- Specific Recurrence Type to set up scheduled exports.
- Enable Header to assign the field names as headers for the columns.
- Select the filters that need to be applied or create custom filters. Learn more.
- Click the Apply & Export button. The export will be initiated.
- Click the ellipsis icon and select Export History in the projects menu. The exported file will be available in the Completed Export tab.
- Completed Export lists the Date, Time, and File Name of your export. View the export details and, if applicable, the recurrence details of the file.
- Active Export lists all the files that are active and scheduled for export.
- Click the file or the Download icon to download the file.
- Or, click the Export icon on the right navigation bar to download file.
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