Spotlight #1 - Linking work items

Spotlight #1 - Linking work items



Hello everyone, 
  
We are excited to launch our spotlight series. Well, before we get into the topic, I wish to give a short brief on the focus line of this series. 

Spotlight     

Spotlight carries a monthly update on a specific feature in Zoho Sprints. I will walk you through an in-depth analysis of a particular feature with an use case. At the end of each session, you can comment your queries or suggestions. 

We recently launched a feature and I hope you would have seen a new section under 
Settings ---> Manage Work Items ---> Link Work Items

Today, we will be discussing on Work Item Linking.  
 
Prerequisites
  • Ensure whether you are either on the premium or enterprise plan to access this feature. 
  • Only the team owner and admin can create link types. 
Working with default link types
 
Link defines a connection between two relevant work items. Relevance can be related to different types and we call them the Link Types. Zoho Sprints comes up with six default link types.
 
A link type is composed of Link Name and Back Link Name
  • A link name is the direct linking that you define between two work items. 
  • A back link name is the reverse linking that is set for two work items.  
Case 1:  Let us take a simple scenario where there are four work items in the backlog. The user wants to create a link between the work items. 
  • Item A:  Create the task form 
  • Item B:  Character limit exceeds for the task name
  • Item C:  Generate task reports
  • Item D:   Resource utilization chart 
User sets the following link types for the above work items:
  • Depends on: Use the "depends on" link type when either of the work item depends on the other. Here, Item C depends on Item A. Only after the user creates a task form they can view the task report.   
  • Has bug: Use the "has bug" link type only for linking bugs. Item B is a bug of Item A. While testing the task form the user finds that the predefined character value exceeds the allowed limit. 
  • Impacts: Use the "impacts" link type when either of the items affects or influences the other. In the above case, Item A impacts Item D. For example, based on the load of the user you can create and assign tasks to them. The resource utilization chart looks balanced if the tasks are assigned equally.  
You can assign similar link types to the relevant work items in your project.
 

 
Working with custom link types
 
If the default link types are not what you are looking for, to link work items, you can create your own link types. Learn more on how to create custom link types. 
 
Case 2:  Becky has used up all the default link types and now she has a different use case. There are three prioritized work items that blocks a work item.
  • Item A: Process invoice to workers
  • Item B:  Time logs of the workers are missing in the back end 
  • Item C: Hours logged via mobile are not saved
Becky cannot process the invoice for her workers as there's a problem in the timesheet module. This blocks her from generating invoice. 

She can create a new link type. Here the Link name is ' Blocks'  and the Back Link Name is ' Is blocked by'. While linking Item A , you can select the back link as 'Is blocked by' and choose Item B and Item C . Since these two items blocks the invoice process. 

Did you know?
  •  We don't restrict users to reopen or close the dependent items before reopening or closing the main work item. You can individually modify the status of the items linked to the 'Depends on' link type.  

  •  You can delink the work items anytime and link them back.
  •  We support linking of work items across projects and sprints. 
Do you have work items that can be interlinked? Use the default link types or create new link types as per your business requirements. If you have any queries or suggestions comment below. 
 
Watch this space for the next spotlight. 
 
Happy sprinting!
Monica. R 


      Zoho Campaigns Resources


        • Desk Community Learning Series


        • Digest


        • Functions


        • Meetups


        • Kbase


        • Resources


        • Glossary


        • Desk Marketplace


        • MVP Corner


        • Word of the Day


        • Ask the Experts


          • Sticky Posts

          • Ask the experts - Live Q and A on the latest releases from Jan-Apr 2019

            Hello all,   We are excited to kick-start the 'Ask the experts' community series for Zoho Sprints. This series is user-centric and we will focus more on the latest releases and queries that are frequently discussed in our customer support tickets. The first version will cover all the features released in the first quarter of 2019.    What's in the first half?   The first half of this year has been successful with some feature releases and enhancements. Take a look at the list below: Custom layouts
          • Focus Group #1 - Epics in Zoho Sprints

            Hello, everyone! As a part of our community learning series, we kick-start "Focus Groups" where you'll get a chance to have a look at a feature that's in its beta phase. "Epic" has been one of the most requested features of late. So, our first focus is on epics.  Our engineering team has developed a module for Epic in Zoho Sprints and the feature is in its testing phase now. We've planned to show a small demo to the folks who register with us through this post. You can also evaluate this feature

          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

            Zoho Books Resources


              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                Zoho Projects Resources


                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                    Zoho Orchestly Resources


                      Zoho Creator Resources


                        Zoho WorkDrive Resources



                          Zoho CRM Resources

                          • CRM Community Learning Series

                            CRM Community Learning Series


                          • Tips

                            Tips

                          • Functions

                            Functions

                          • Meetups

                            Meetups

                          • Kbase

                            Kbase

                          • Resources

                            Resources

                          • Digest

                            Digest

                          • CRM Marketplace

                            CRM Marketplace

                          • MVP Corner

                            MVP Corner




                            Zoho Writer Writer

                            Get Started. Write Away!

                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ






                                ご検討中の方

                                  • Recent Topics

                                  • Bigin Android app update: Custom buttons and widgets

                                    Hello everyone! We are excited to introduce custom buttons and widgets on the Bigin Android app. Widgets: A widget is a customizable UI component in Bigin that improves efficiency and user experience. It lets businesses embed components, streamline interactions,
                                  • Biometric Access Support on Zoho Vault Desktop App

                                    Is there any plans to add biometric authentication (fingerprint, face recognition) for Vault desktop apps (Windows/macOS) to enhance security and ease of access. I would love to hear other members view on this
                                  • Zoho Sheet for Desktop

                                    Does Zoho plans to develop a Desktop version of Sheet that installs on the computer like was done with Writer?
                                  • Zoho Sheet - Desktop App or Offline

                                    Since Zoho Docs is now available as a desktop app and offline, when is a realistic ETA for Sheet to have the same functionality?I am surprised this was not laucned at the same time as Docs.
                                  • Collective-booking event not added to all staff calendars

                                    We assign two staff to certain events. When the client books this event, it adds it to one staff calendar (the 'organiser') but not the other. How can I ensure all staff assigned to a collective booking get the event in their calendar? (A side note: it
                                  • Project Management Bulletin: October, 2025

                                    Every need leads to innovation. Project Management tools were developed out of sheer necessity to drive large projects. With wide usage, the specifications grew precise, and so did the refinement. Over years we’ve crafted one of the best project management
                                  • Zoho Sheets saying locked when not locked

                                    Zoho Sheets won't let me add more rows to sheet because it's saying the sheet is locked, but the sheet is not locked. I tried using a different browser but I still have the same issue.
                                  • Identifying and Merging Accounts with Similar (Non-Exact) Names

                                    Hello everyone, I’m aware of the built-in deduplication feature in Zoho CRM that allows merging records with exactly matching values for selected fields. However, I’m running into a situation where our migrated data contains multiple variations of the
                                  • Option for super admin to recover the deleted chats in Zoho Cliq

                                    Currently, in Zoho Cliq, if a user accidentally deletes their chats, there is no option for the Super Admin to recover or view those deleted messages. I believe it would be helpful if Super Admins had a recovery option, perhaps within a certain time frame,
                                  • Zoho CRM iOS app updates: the Homepage, Zoho Survey integration, and support for multiple file uploads in subform

                                    Hello everyone! The Zoho CRM mobile app continues to evolve to bring you a smoother and more powerful CRM-on-the-go experience. We're excited to share some important updates now available in the iOS app. Here's what's new: Homepage support Zoho Survey
                                  • I am trying to integrate my module in sandbox environment to add data via API

                                    I went through the documents and tried to setup the API for adding the module via the api but the problem is the token setup is done on "https://accounts.zoho.in/oauth/v2/token" domain and the bulk write is done on "https://content.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/upload"
                                  • Setting up primary mobile number.

                                    Hi Sir Earlier I joined IIFL team and got an organizational email of zoho services. Later i quit and now my account is deactivated with IIFL but i am unable to link my mobile number to my own email id with zoho.
                                  • Zoho sheet for desktop

                                    Hi is zoho sheets available for desktop version for windows
                                  • Tables for Europe Datacenter customers?

                                    It's been over a year now for the launch of Zoho Tables - and still not available für EU DC customers. When will it be available?
                                  • Guided Conversations - Ticket Creation

                                    Hi there, Using Guided Conversations to Take Customer Data and apply it into a Support Ticket for internal use, Is there a way to take multiple Textual Variables Inputs (A series of questions), and have the answers all appear in the Description of the
                                  • How to send certain invoices for Approval based on condition?

                                    To streamline operations, I need the invoices to go for approval when certain conditions are met. For example, if my staff gives a discount of x amount, it must go for approval. If there is no discount, then the invoice will be approved automatically.
                                  • Unable to continue payment

                                    Hi, I want to make a payment for my email subscription, but I cannot proceed with the payment because my NITKU is invalid. In Indonesia, the NITKU consists of 22 digits, but Zoho only provides 20 digits, causing my NITKU to be invalid. Please help me
                                  • Is there a way to show contact emails in the Account?

                                    I know I can see the emails I have sent and received on a Contact detail view, but I want to be able to see all the emails that have been sent and received between all an Accounts Contacts on the Account Detail view. That way when I see the Account detail
                                  • Massive spam pretending to come from our address – is this a Zoho security issue?

                                    Hi, We’ve been receiving more and more suspicious emails lately — many of them clearly look like scams. But yesterday, we got an email that appeared to be sent from our own address, which was very concerning. We're starting to wonder if this might be
                                  • Cant recieve mails

                                    I’m having an issue with my external IMAP account not fetching any emails into Zoho Mail, even though the connection test says “Success”. I can send, if someone sends an email to me. my original directory (home.pl host) recieves it in their portal but
                                  • Zoho Sheet Autofit Data

                                    While using Autofit Data function in Zoho Sheets with Devnagri Maratji or Hindi Fonts, a word or a number, it keeps couple of characters outside the right side border.
                                  • Enhancements to finance suite integrations

                                    Update on the migration (October 28, 2025): Starting this week (October 29 tentatively), we’ll begin migrating Zoho CRM users to Zoho Books as integration users. This means actions will now run under each user’s own Zoho Books access, instead of the admin’s.
                                  • Edit 'my' Notes only

                                    The permissions around Notes should be more granular, and allow to user to be able to edit the notes he created only. The edit Notes permission is useful as it allows the user to correct any mistakes or add information as needed. However, with this same
                                  • How do I filter contacts by account parameters?

                                    Need to filter a contact view according to account parameter, eg account type. Without this filter users are overwhelmed with irrelevant contacts. Workaround is to create a custom 'Contact Type' field but this unbearable duplicity as the information already
                                  • Job Alerts for Candidates

                                    hi All, I have 2 questions relating to sharing job details with candidates. 1. is there a way to notify candidates that meet certain criteria of current jobs available? eg. I run a candidate search, and identify 50 candidates that might be suitable. Can
                                  • Add multiple users to a task

                                    When I´m assigning a task it is almost always related to more than one person. Practical situation: When a client request some improvement the related department opens the task with the situation and people related to it as the client itself, the salesman
                                  • Enhancing Task Accuracy: Automatically notify the owners upon Task duplication.

                                    Hello Everyone, A Custom function is a user-written set of code to achieve a specific requirement. Set the required conditions needed as when to trigger using the Workflow rules (be it Tasks / Project) and associate the custom function to it. The requirement
                                  • Show/ hide specific field based on user

                                    Can someone please help me with a client script to achieve the following? I've already tried a couple of different scripts I've found on here (updating to match my details etc...) but none of them seem to work. No errors flagged in the codes, it just
                                  • Where are Kanban swimlanes

                                    So i've been playing with Zoho Projects Kanban view a bit more. It appears that task lists are being used as the Kanban columns, which makes sense from the implementation point of view but not the logical one.  Kanban columns are statuses that a task can flow through, while a task list has been a logical way to organize related tasks and relate them to a mislestone. In other words a task in a particular task can go through several stages while remaining in the same task list. After doing some research
                                  • Tip 19: How to display images in Pages using ZML snippets

                                    Hi folks, We're back with another tip on how to use Zoho Markup Language (ZML) to create interactive pages in Zoho Creator. You can use ZML snippets to add various kinds of components to your pages and structure them in meaningful ways. That's not all, though—using ZML you can ensure your application is automatically compatible with all kinds of devices without any inconsistencies. We often get questions from users about how to invoke Deluge scripts within ZML code. Here's a simple use case for adding
                                  • Can zoho swign format block text spacing automatically when prefilled from zoho crm?

                                    I'm sending zoho sign template from zoho crm, so that zoho crm pre-populates most fields. I have existing pdf documents that i am having signed. I have no ability to change the pdf documents, they are standardized government forms. The problem I am facing
                                  • Forced Logouts - Daily and More Frequent

                                    In the last month or so, I've been getting "power logged out" of all of my Zoho apps at least daily, sometimes more frequently. This happens in the same browser session on the same computer, and I need to re-login to each app separately after this happens.
                                  • Zoho Inventory / Finance Suite - Add feature to prevent duplicate values in Item Unit field

                                    I've noticed that a client has 2 values the same in the Unit field on edit/create Items. This surprised me as why would you have 2 units with the same name. Please consider adding a feature which prevents this as it seems to serve no purpose.
                                  • Reference lookup field values in Client script

                                    hello all, I'm using a "ZDK.Apps.CRM.Products.searchByCriteria" function call, which is returning the matching records correctly; however, one of the fields is a lookup field which I need the associated data. I believe there is a way to get this data
                                  • In App Auto Refresh/Update Features

                                    Hi,    I am trying to use Zoho Creator for Restaurant management. While using the android apps, I reliased the apps would not auto refresh if there is new entries i.e new kitchen order ticket (KOT) from other users.   The apps does received notification but would not auto refresh, users required to refresh the apps manually in order to see the new KOT in the apps.    I am wondering why this features is not implemented? Or is this feature being considered to be implemented in the future? With the
                                  • Every time an event is updated, all participants receive an update email. How can I deactivate this?

                                    Every time an event is updated in Zoho CRM (e.g. change description, link to Lead) every participant of this meeting gets an update email. Another customer noticed this problem years ago in the Japanese community: https://help.zoho.com/portal/ja/community/topic/any-time-an-event-is-updated-on-zohocrm-calendar-it-sends-multiple-invites-to-the-participants-how-do-i-stop-that-from-happening
                                  • How can I filter a field integration?

                                    Hi,  I have a field integration from CRM "Products" in a form, and I have three product Categories in CRM. I only need to see Products of a category. Thanks for you answers.
                                  • How to implement new online payment gateway?

                                    Hello, Can you tell me how to proceed to implement my local payment gateway? DIBS has an open avaiable API that should be easy to implement into ZOHO BOOKS. http://tech.dibspayment.com/dibs_payment_window
                                  • Zoho CRM - Portal Users Edit Their Own Account Information

                                    Hi Community, I'm working on a client portal and it seems like the only I can make the Account record editable to the Contact, is if I add another lookup on the Account to the Contact record. Am I missing something as the account already has a list of
                                  • I’ve noticed that Zoho Sheet currently doesn’t have a feature similar to the QUERY formula in Google Sheets or Power Query in Microsoft Excel.

                                    These tools are extremely helpful for: Filtering and extracting data using simple SQL-like queries Combining or transforming data from multiple sheets or tables Creating dynamic reports without using complex formulas Having a Query-like function in Zoho
                                  • Next Page