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

                                  • Paid Support Plans with Automated Billing

                                    We (like many others, I'm sure) are designing or have paid support plans. Our design involves a given number of support hours in each plan. Here are my questions: 1) Are there any plans to add time-based plans in the Zoho Desk Support Plans feature? The
                                  • Can't change form's original name in URL

                                    Hi all, I have been duplicating + editing forms for jobs regarding the same department to maintain formatting + styling. The issue I've not run into is because I've duplicated it from an existing form, the URL doesn't seem to want to update with the new
                                  • Calendar report with order options and more quick view templates

                                    I think many of us regularly work with calendar-style reports. It would be great to be able to customize the quick view with new templates and have options to sort the entries for each day of the calendar by different criteria. I think this is an interesting
                                  • Shared Views

                                    Hello, is there a way to prevent an agent from changing a shared table view? I have no issues with agents being able to create and customize their own view, but when I create a view and share it to my team -- the expectation is that they are viewing it
                                  • Using Zoho answer bot across departments (help center articles from another department)

                                    Hi Zoho Community, I’ve run into a major issue and hope someone here has experience with this setup. We currently have a Help Center in the department A where all of our knowledge base articles are maintained. However, we would like to use a Zoho Answer
                                  • Zoho Desk Partners with Microsoft's M365 Copilot for seamless customer service experiences

                                    Hello Zoho Desk users, We are happy to announce that Zoho Desk has partnered with Microsoft's M365 to empower customer service teams with enhanced capabilities and seamless experiences for agents. Microsoft announced their partnership during their keynote
                                  • The Social Wall: January 2026

                                    Hello everyone, We’re back with the first edition of The Social Wall of 2026. There’s a lot planned for the year ahead, and we’re starting with a few useful features and improvements released in January to help you get started. Create a GBP in Social
                                  • Pipeline: Copying rulesets from one data source to another

                                    When creating and editing data pipelines, it would be really helpful to be able to copy the ruleset from one data source and 'paste' it to another. This would save time and reduce manual mistakes.
                                  • Doubt about maximum email reach

                                    Good morning, greetings. This is Bramdon García from EDULABS S.A.S ESP, located in Colombia. I'm writing to inquire about the possibility of sending an email to 35,000 people simultaneously. Our company has a Zoho account, but we'd like to know if there's
                                  • Zoho calendar not working in browser

                                    Hello, I am new to Zoho. I have two accounts for two separate businesses. In one of them, calendar loads in a browser no problem. However, if I use this account (sairfeetmusic.co.uk) calendar does not load. I also cannot add it to my Thunderbird Lightening
                                  • Authentication Failure when adding POP3 accounts

                                    Hi everyone, I am a new user currently migrating from Gmail to Zoho Mail. I decided to make the switch following Google's decision to discontinue POP3 fetching. I previously used Gmail as my primary mail hub, and Zoho seems like the perfect alternative
                                  • Trident Application Folder

                                    Hi, How to choose installation folder for Trident, by default it gets installed in C drive. How to change drive?
                                  • Email disappeared to specific contact

                                    Good afternoon, this morning I emailed somebody. This email isn’t showing up in my sent folder. They sent me a response which I clicked on and it disappeared immediately. Why could this be?
                                  • Create an Eye-Catching Announcement Widget for Your Help Center

                                    Hello Everyone! In this week’s edition, let’s explore how to keep your customers updated with exciting news in the Help Center. See how ZylkerMobile wowed their customers by bringing updates right to their portal. ZylkerMobile, the renowned brand for
                                  • Enable Free External Collaboration on Notecards in Zoho Notebook

                                    Hi Zoho Notebook Team, I would like to suggest a feature enhancement regarding external collaboration in Zoho Notebook. Currently, we can share notes with external users, and they are able to view the content without any issue. However, when these external
                                  • Updating records through Zoho Sheets View doesn't update timeline or trigger workflow rules

                                    I have noticed that when i update a series of record with the zoho sheets view (see here http://d.pr/i/ahnR) it doesn't update timeline history or trigger workflow rules. I am using it in the Deals module. Looking forward for some more info. Denis
                                  • How do I change the account bank charges are charged to?

                                    I want bank charges charged to my Credit Card Fees account. Is there a way to do this?
                                  • Mail Search should allow grouping by conversation like Gmail.

                                    Having switched from gmail I have found the search function hard to use. Mostly because mail is not grouped by conversation in search. If I search for a word when looking for a conversation had with someone then sometimes 10 emails will come up from the
                                  • Ability to CC on a mass email

                                    Ability to CC someone on a mass email.
                                  • Updation of Old Browsers Versions for Zoho CRM

                                    We have upgraded the default browser version for CRM to facilitate features like widgets and scripts that are often implemented aside from advanced functionalities for various business requirements. The latest version is aimed to provide better performance
                                  • Project-Based Inventory Consumption and Proforma Invoice in Zoho ERP

                                    While working with customers across different industries, we have identified a few functional questions and gaps that commonly arise—especially for project-based and service-oriented businesses. Many organizations, such as those in shipping, construction,
                                  • Zoho Desk domain Mapping not Working Showing CNAME Error

                                    I have created the subdomain and created the Cname as well as its instracted on the Zoho website  but when i try add the domain on help desk its showing error msg : Make sure you've mapped the CNAME entry and linked it to desk.cs.zohohost.com.au on your
                                  • Founders using Zoho — are you leveraging Zoho Campaigns + Zoho Social for thought leadership… or just sending emails?

                                    I’ve noticed something interesting in the Zoho ecosystem. Many founders use Zoho Campaigns and Zoho Social for basic marketing—newsletters, scheduled posts, and announcements. But very few are using these tools strategically to: • Position themselves
                                  • I have the item field and Quantity field in the sub form , on the submit of the form if the quantity is grater than inventory means show alert on submit validation only for item type goods ,

                                    I have the item field and Quantity field in the sub form , on the submit of the form if the quantity is grater than inventory means show alert on submit validation . Stock Check Validation only for item type goods , not for item type service . For the
                                  • IMAP stopped working after enabling 2 factor authentication

                                    IMAP stopped working after enabling 2 factor authentication. Is there any solution for this?
                                  • Rename Service Report

                                    Some of our customers are requesting the name of the service report PDF to be in a specific format, for example, instead of REP-001.PDF some are requesting to include their name like customername.pdf. is that possible?
                                  • Approvals in Zoho Creator

                                    Hi, This is Surya, in one of  my creator application I have a form called job posting, and I created an approval process for that form. When a user submits that form the record directly adding to that form's report, even it is in the review for approval.
                                  • Outgoing emails rejected due to SpamCop RBL listing (IP 136.143.188.12)

                                    Hi All, I am writing to report a deliverability issue affecting outgoing emails from my Zoho Mail account. Recently, several messages sent from my domain (example.com) to external recipients have been rejected with the following error message (redacted
                                  • Share Record Ownership in Zoho Recruit

                                    We’re introducing User Fields in Zoho Recruit designed to make collaboration easier when multiple team members need to work on the same record. With User Fields, you can extend record ownership beyond a single user and enable smoother teamwork across
                                  • Recherche d'un développeur

                                    Bonjour, j'ai un projet de SAAS sur une base de zoho créator et zoho CRM et je recherche un développeur qualifié français pour créer l'application créator (fonctionnel et graphique) et les workflow et blueprint de CRM
                                  • API to Apply Retainer invoice payment to Invoice

                                    Hi Team, I could not find  API to apply the Retainer invoice payment to existing Invoice. Can you please help ? Attaching the screenshot
                                  • Display actual mileage on an invoice

                                    My users are creating expenses in Zoho expense. For example, they expense 10 miles and get paid 7 dollars (10 miles * IRS rate of .70). If I look at the expenses in Zoho Books, it does show them at 10 miles at .70 cent When I add these expense to an invoice
                                  • Customer Parent Account or Sub-Customer Account

                                    Some of clients as they have 50 to 300 branches, they required separate account statement with outlet name and number; which means we have to open new account for each branch individually. However, the main issue is that, when they make a payment, they
                                  • Cloning a Pick List

                                    I have an existing Pick List in my Contacts that I want to drop into my Leads.  Is there a way to copy or clone the field with it's accompanying Pick List?  Thanks for your time.
                                  • How do I link my invoice to an estimate?

                                    There has been instances where I have created estimates, however, invoices for the same estimate were created independently. The status of these estimates hasn't converted to 'invoiced'. 
                                  • I wish to upload 40000 Resumes in Zoho Recruit Database. Can I do this in batch of 1000 Resumes ?

                                    I would like to upload thousand or few hundred of resumes in Zoho Recruit in one go. Please let me know how can I do this Or migrate my 40000 resumes from previous ATS to Zoho Recruit.
                                  • Zoho Writer for Proposals

                                    Hi, one of the things we've struggled with since moving to Zoho ecosystem is our proposal software Qwilr does not integrate well. It surprises me Zoho doesn't have proposal software but given all the capabilities of Zoho Writer, I'm wonder if anyone is
                                  • Custom Fonts in Zoho CRM Template Builder

                                    Hi, I am currently creating a new template for our quotes using the Zoho CRM template builder. However, I noticed that there is no option to add custom fonts to the template builder. It would greatly enhance the flexibility and branding capabilities if
                                  • Foutmelding bij uitvoering/opslaan functie 'Left expression is of type TEXT and right expression is of type NUMBER'

                                    Hoi! Ik heb een workflow (zie bijlage) die wordt getriggerd zodra de verwachte weekomzet van een bedrijf wordt aangepast naar een bedrag hoger dan 0. Op dat moment moet een functie (zie bijlage) gaan berekenen wat het benodigde kredietlimiet moet zijn.
                                  • Hoe kun je Nederlandse loonstroken boek in Zoho Books?

                                    Beste Community, Heeft er iemand een idee hoe je standaard loonstroken kunt inboeken in Zoho Books? Ik ben benieuwd hoe jullie dit doen en wat de mogelijkheden zijn.
                                  • Next Page