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 

    • 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

    • Recent Topics

    • Sync Issue Between Zoho Notebook Web App on Firefox (PC) and Android App

      Hi Zoho Notebook Community, I'm facing a sync problem with Zoho Notebook. When I use the web version on Mozilla Firefox browser on my PC, I create and save new notes, and I've synced them successfully. However, these new notes aren't showing up in my

    • Request for Clarity on Timeline for True GPT/Zia Auto-Response Capabilities

      I appreciate Zoho’s steady innovation, but I’m concerned that Desk and Zia remain well behind modern AI capabilities. For years, GPT-based tools have been able to generate and send contextual responses, yet Zoho Desk only supports summarization or suggested

    • Notebook audio recordings disappearing

      I have recently been experiencing issues where some of my attached audio recordings are disappearing. I am referring specifically to ones made within a Note card in Notebook on mobile, made by pressing the "+" button and choosing "Record audio" (or similar),

    • Has anyone built a ticket export that allows Help Center users to export the tickets shown in the My Area list they are looking at?

      Hi, We are moving to Zoho Desk soon. Our current support system displays an option in our help center allowing customers to export their Open, Closed, or all tickets based on which list they are looking at. We need to offer the same in Zoho Desk help

    • Two factor authentication for helpdesk users

      The company i work for wants use the helpdesk site in Zoho desk, as a place for their distribution partners to ask question and look for information about our product. The things there is suppose to go up there is somewhat confidential between my company

    • Zoho Desk: Q2 2025 | What's New

      Hello everyone, We are excited to announce Zoho Desk's 2025 Autumn updates. This release brings new features and enhancements that improve work management and enable businesses to provide a better overall support experience. Spanning from Zia Agents to

    • Change text in help desk

      Hi, Please let me know how can i change the this text, see screenshot.

    • Items Below Reorder Point Report?

      Is there a way to run a report of Items that are below the Reorder Point? I don't see this as a specific report, nor can I figure out how to customize any of the other stock reports to give me this information. Please tell me I'm missing something s

    • Blog Widget: Show recent blog posts on my homepage

      Hey there I am using the Zoho Sites Blog feature. On my homepage, on the bottom I'd like to have a featured content section where I show some of my blog posts (selected, most recent, filtered by category and so on...). It would be nice to have a blog

    • Committed Stock and To Be Received Stock via API?

      Is it possible to retrieve Committed Stock and/or To Be Received Stock for an Item via the API? I want to use this information for calculating the amount of inventory needed to be purchased.

    • Zoho Books | Product updates | October 2025

      Hello users, We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From iOS 26 updates to viewing reports as charts, explore the updates designed to enhance your bookkeeping experience. Zoho Books Updates for Apple Devices At WWDC 2025, Apple

    • Improved RingCentral Integration

      We’d like to request an enhancement to the current RingCentral integration with Zoho. RingCentral now automatically generates call transcripts and AI-based call summaries (AI Notes) for each call, which are extremely helpful for support and sales teams.

    • Cannot reject empty expense report

      Hello, We are currently having issues with two empty expense reports where if we try to reject them, either manually or through the REST API, we get error 114016, which says some of the expenses have already been billed and must be removed. I'd appreciate

    • Having Trouble Opening The Candidate Portal

      Recently am having trouble opening the Candidate Portal. It keeps loading but cannot display any widgets. Tried Safari, Chrome and Edge. Non of them work. Please solve the problem ASAP.

    • Checkboxes not adhering to any policy in mail merge - data from CRM

      I want checkboxes to appear depending on whether the checkbox in the CRM module is ticked or not. However, the tickboxes that appear are either ticked or not, but don't correlate to the actual selections in the CRM module. This is is despite updating

    • Items Landed Cost and Profit?

      Hello, we recently went live with Zoho Inventory, and I have a question about the Landed Cost feature. The FAQ reads: "Tracking the landed cost helps determine the overall cost incurred in procuring the product. This, in turn, helps you to decide the

    • CC and/or BCC users in email templates

      I would like the ability to automatically assign a CC and BCC "User (company employee)" into email templates. Specifically, I would like to be able to add the "User who owns the client" as a CC automatically on any interview scheduled or candidate submitted

    • Create Contract API Endpoint Unclear "inputfields" Requirements

      Hello, I'm trying to create a Deluge function that accepts inputs from a form in Zoho Creator and creates a barebones contract of a given type. See below for the current code, cleaned of authentication information. // Fetch form data // Hidden field client_name

    • Kaizen #46 - Handling Notes through Zoho CRM API (Part 1/2)

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! This week, we will discuss Handling Notes through Zoho CRM API. What will you learn from this post? Notes in Zoho CRM Working with Notes through Notes APIs 1. Notes in Zoho CRM 1a. Why add Notes to records? Notes are a great way to summarize your observations on customer and prospect interactions and outcomes. By saving notes as CRM data, a sales rep will always be able to keep track of how a sale is progressing. To know more about notes in

    • Marketer's Space - Why email marketing matters in ecommerce (and how to get started with Zoho Campaigns)

      Hello Marketers, Welcome to this week's Marketer's space post. Today, we'll discus why email marketing matters in ecommerce businesses. Running an online store is exciting but challenging. If you're running an online store, you've probably experienced

    • Zoho Campaigns Event timestamps do not propagate to Zoho CRM

      We have integrated Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns. But when looking at Contact records, the Campaign event data is missing the actual timestamps: especially when a particular email was sent. They're not in the Campaigns related list, and the cannot be found

    • Kaizen #121 : Customize List Views using Client Script

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another interesting Kaizen post. In this post, we can discuss how to customize List Views using Client Script. This post will answer the questions Ability to remove public views by the super admin in the Zoho CRM and Is

    • Setting default From address when replying to request

      At the moment, if I want to reply to a request, the From field has three options, company@zohosupport.com, support@company.zohosupport.com, and support@company.com.  The first two are really internal address that should never be seen by the customer and

    • Explore Your Support Reach with Zoho Assist’s Geo Insights

      Understanding where your remote support sessions are happening can help you make smarter decisions, allocate resources effectively, and improve overall customer satisfaction. In this week's Zoho Assist's community post we will be exploring Geo Insights

    • Formatting of text pasted into Zoho documents

      Howdy, I'm a newbie and finding Zoho an improvement to MS Word. Consider yourself hugged. High on my wish list would be plain text cut-and-paste. When pasting text from the web to Zoho, presently Zoho imports the formatting along with the text. This means that every cut-and-paste operation brings in text in a different font, size, or style. Can we have at least the option of importing plain text without formatting (or better yet, is this option already out there?) ... Thanks Helen

    • Add additional features to Zoho Tables

      Zoho Tables is a really great tool, why not add features like diagramming capability into the tool from applications like Draw.io which I believe is open source, you should be able to do wireframes, process flow diagrams, network design, etc. Please note

    • The Social Wall: August 2025

      Hello everyone, As summer ends, Zoho Social is gearing up for some exciting, bigger updates lined up for the months ahead. While those are in the works, we rolled out a few handy feature updates in August to keep your social media management running smoothly.

    • The Social Wall: July 2025

      Hello everyone! July has brought some exciting new updates to Zoho Social. From powerful enhancements in the Social Toolkit to new capabilities in the mobile app, we’ve packed this month with features designed to help you level up your social media presence.

    • Use Zoho Creator as a source for merge templates in Zoho Writer

      Hello all! We're excited to share that we've enhanced Zoho Creator's integration with Zoho Writer to make this combination even more powerful. You can now use Zoho Creator as a data source for mail merge templates in Zoho Writer. Making more data from

    • Tagged problem !!!

      Damn it, we're one of dozens of construction companies in Africa, but we can't link purchasing invoices to projects. Why isn't this feature available?

    • Limited review (/questions) for Bookings 2.0

      Hi all, I'm writing this review of Bookings 2.0 for two reasons: 1) it may be of interest to others, and 2) I'd like to be corrected if I'm wrong on any points. It's a very limited review, i.e. the things that have stood out as relevant, and particularly

    • Syntax for URLs in HTML Snippets

      What are some best practices for inserting a URL in an HTML snippet? I've looked at Zoho Help articles on navigation-based and functional-based URLs, but I'm still unclear on how to incorporate them in an HTML snippet. For example, 1. How do I link to

    • The Social Wall: June 2025

      Hello everyone, We’re back with June Zoho Social highlights. This month brought some exciting feature updates—especially within the Social Toolkit—to enhance your social media presence. We engaged with several MSME companies through community meet-ups

    • Make panel configuration interface wider

      Hi there, The same way you changed the custom function editor's interface wider, it would be nice to be able to edit panels in pages using the full width of the screen rather than the currently max-width: 1368px. Is there a reason for having the configuration panel not taking the full width? Its impossible at this width to edit panels that have a lot of elements. Please change it to 100% so we can better edit the layouts. Thanks! B.

    • Tip 7: How to fetch data from another application?

      Hi everyone, Following our Zoho Creator - Tips and Tricks series every fortnight, we are back today with a tip based on one of the most popular questions asked in our forum. This tip would help you fetch data from another application(App B) and use it

    • The Social Wall: May 2025

      Hey everyone, We're excited to share some powerful updates for the month of May! Let's take a look! Reply to your Instagram and Facebook comments privately through direct messages Are you tired of cluttered comment threads or exposing customer queries

    • Sub-Form Fields as Filters for Reports

      Hi, I would like to use the Sub-Form Fields as Filters in Reports just like we do for Main Page Fields. Thanks Dan

    • Zoho CRM Formula - Current Time minus Date/Time field

      Hello, I am trying to prevent duplicate emails going to clients when more than 1 deal is being updated. To do this, I would like to create a formula to identify if a date/time field is >= 2 hours ago. Can someone please help me write this formula? Example:

    • Per Level Approval for admins

      We need Process admins like Zoho CRM in Zoho Books for per stage approval Currently in books, admins only have the option for Final Approval But for example, in cases like when an employee is on leave, we can't just approval one level we only have option

    • Billing Management: #7 Usage Billing in Telecom & Internet Service Provider

      Telecom and Internet Service Providers operate in markets where usage varies drastically from one customer to another. While flexible, usage-based models align revenue directly with consumption, they also introduce operational challenges like real-time

    • Next Page