SimpleScrumTools

The Product Backlog

The Product Backlog

The backlog screen: add items, put them in order, filter them, and open one to work on it.

Open the backlog

NeedsView view

The backlog belongs to one project. Open the project screen. Click Product Backlog in the row of links under the Product Goal. The heading shows the project key and the words Product Backlog.

The product sends a signed-out visitor to the sign-in page. A person without View on the project does not see the page. The address answers with the not-found page instead.

What the screen shows

The screen is one column. From top to bottom:

  1. The Product Goal section. It shows the project's Product Goal, or the text No Product Goal set for this project yet. You write the goal on the project screen (see Projects).
  2. The toolbar. On the left, one tab per phase. On the right, the Show Done switch, the type list and the Add item button.
  3. An error line, only when a request fails. After a lost connection the line reads Could not reach the server. Check your connection and try again. The line stays until you move a card again or add an item. A click on a phase tab, on Show Done or on a card does not clear it.
  4. The list of cards for the open phase, in backlog order. A + button floats to the right of the list.

The backlog has no side pane and no divider. An item opens in the item panel, a dialog over the list. The list is there again when you close the panel.

An item has no address of its own. The browser address does not change when the panel opens, so you cannot bookmark an item or send a link to it. If you reload the page, the panel closes.

Phases

NeedsView view

A phase is one part of the backlog. Every item is in exactly one phase, and the screen shows one phase at a time. Each tab shows the phase name and the number of its items that are not Done. That number does not change when Show Done is on.

When the page opens, the product selects the default phase. Click a tab to show another phase. The tabs are in the order of the Phases list on the project screen. A new phase goes to the end, and the product does not offer a way to reorder phases (see Project settings).

Filters

NeedsView view

The backlog has one filter, the Show Done switch. It is off when the page opens, so the list hides Done items. Click Show Done to show them. A Done card keeps its place in the order and carries a Done pill. The counts on the phase tabs do not change.

The switch applies to every phase. It stays on when you click another tab. The product does not remember it, so it is off again each time the page opens.

There is no search box on the backlog. The product does not group cards, and does not filter them by epic, type, priority or text.

Add an item

NeedsWrite items item_write

NeedsRefine the backlog refine

There is no form. When you click Add item, the product makes the item at once and opens the item panel. The new item is a Draft with priority Medium and no size. It goes to the end of the open phase.

  1. Click the tab of the phase the item belongs in.
  2. If the project has more than one item type, choose one in Type of the new item.
  3. Click Add item.
  4. In the item panel, type the Name.
  5. Type the Summary.
  6. Type the Description.
  7. Change Status to take the item out of Draft.

The item stays a Draft until you change its Status. A name, a summary and a description are what that change asks for. Two project settings add a size rule and an imported-ID rule (see Backlog items).

The item number comes from the project's own count. The product gives that number to no other item, even after a delete.

The type list

NeedsWrite items item_write

The type list is a select beside Add item. Its name for a screen reader is Type of the new item. It lists the project's item types by name. The list starts on the first type. It is absent when the project has only one item type.

You set the type once, when you make the item. The product does not show the type on the card or in the item panel, and does not let you change it later.

Insert below a card

NeedsWrite items item_write

NeedsRefine the backlog refine

The + button floats to the right of the list, level with the third fully visible card. Its tooltip names that card, for example Insert below PROJ-127.

When fewer than three cards are fully visible, the button is level with the last fully visible one. The button is absent when no card is fully visible. An empty phase, a card taller than the window, and a scroll position that cuts every card all do this. Use Add item instead.

  1. Scroll until the card you want to insert below is the third fully visible card.
  2. Read the tooltip on + to make sure it names that card.
  3. Click +.

The item panel opens on the new item, directly below that card. The new item has the same defaults as Add item, and the same rule about Refine the backlog applies. If the card is gone or in another phase when you click, the product refuses with The item to insert after is not in this phase.

What a card shows

ID
The project key and the item number, for example PROJ-127. When the project setting Show an imported system’s ID is on and the item has an imported ID, the card shows that ID instead (see Importing a backlog). The setting is in the Settings section of the project screen and needs Manage the project (see Project settings). The tooltip on +, the panel title and the screen-reader announcement never change. They always use the project key and the item number.
Title
The item's name, or Untitled in italics.
Size
A bare number after the title, when the item has a size. The card shows no unit.
Priority
The priority colors the left edge of the card. A pill also names it: Low, Medium, High or Critical.
Draft
Draft while the item is a Draft, or Draft · unnamed while it also has no name. The pill is absent once the item leaves Draft.
Blocked
A pill that names the cause: Blocked · predecessor, Blocked · impediment, Blocked · predecessor + impediment, or a count such as Blocked · 2 predecessors. It reads Blocked alone until the causes load. The pill counts every item this one waits for. That count includes items that are Done. A Done item does not block, but the pill still names it.
Done
A Done pill. The card shows it only when Show Done is on.

A card does not show the item type, the epic or the sprint. The phase is the tab the card sits under. Open the item to see the rest (see Backlog items).

The list holds every item in the phase, including the items a Sprint already holds. Nothing on the card names that Sprint, and you can still drag the card here. The Sprint Planning screen behaves in another way, because its backlog pane hides a planned item until you ask for it (see Sprint planning).

Put items in order

NeedsRefine the backlog refine

Backlog order is the position of a card in its phase. The card at the top is the next thing to do. Each card has a grip ⠿ on its left, with the tooltip Drag to reorder.

  1. Press the grip ⠿ of the card you want to move.
  2. Drag it onto the card you want it to sit below.
  3. Release the card.

The card lands directly below that card, and the list reloads. If you drop a card on itself, nothing happens. You can only drop a card below another card. No drop makes a card first in the phase. To put a card first, move it with Alt+↑ until it is first.

A card moves only inside the open phase. To put an item in another phase, open the item. Use the Phase select in the item panel. The item then goes to the end of that phase.

Without Refine the backlog, the card still shows the grip, but you cannot drag it. Alt+↑ and Alt+↓ do nothing. The project setting Drag to reorder the backlog does not change this screen.

Move a card with the keyboard

NeedsRefine the backlog refine

  1. Press Tab until the card has focus.
  2. Press Alt+↑ or Alt+↓ to move it one place.

Alt+↑ on the first card and Alt+↓ on the last card do nothing. The product sends no request and shows no message. Alt+↑ on the second card puts it first.

Order and priority are two things

Order says what comes first. Priority says how important an item is: Low, Medium, High or Critical. You set it in the item panel.

The product keeps them separate. When you drag a card, its priority does not change. When you change the priority, the card does not move. A Critical item can sit at the bottom, and the product does not warn about it.

Open an item

NeedsView view

To open an item, do one of these:

  • With the mouse, click a card.
  • With the keyboard, press Tab until the card has focus. Then press Enter or Space.

The item panel opens as a dialog. Its title is the item's ID, for example PROJ-127. The card behind the panel keeps an outline while the panel is open. The panel holds everything about the item (see Backlog items).

While it loads, the title is Loading item… and the body is Loading…. If the request fails, the panel stays on Loading item… and shows no message. Close the panel. Open the card again.

To close the panel, do one of these:

  • Click Close.
  • Click the Close dialog button.
  • Press Escape.
  • Click outside the panel.

Focus returns to the card. The list already shows what you saved, because it reloads after each save.

Empty states

  • No Product Goal: the Product Goal section reads No Product Goal set for this project yet.
  • An empty phase: the list reads Nothing in this phase yet. For a person with Write items, the product adds Add the first item to start the backlog.
  • A phase where every item is Done, with Show Done off: the same text, and the tab count reads 0. Click Show Done to see the items.

Who may do what

The server decides every action. The toolbar hides Add item, + and the type list from a person who lacks the bundle. The grip and the item panel work in other ways. See Roles and permissions for the roles that grant each bundle.

  • Every person sees the grip ⠿. Only a person with Refine the backlog can drag it.
  • In the item panel, Status, Priority, Size, Phase and Epic are plain text without the bundle. The field is absent, and the value is there to read.
  • That plain text is not always the label. Phase gives the name of the phase. Epic gives the name of the epic, or — for an item in no epic. Size gives the number, or — for an item with no size. Status and Priority give the stored value, such as in_progress.
  • Without Write items, the panel shows Name, Summary and Description as text. The Notes field is absent.
  • Every person sees the Definition of Done checkboxes. Without Write items you cannot tick them. After a click, the checkboxes do not accept another click for a moment.
View
Open the backlog, switch phase, click Show Done, and open an item.
Write items
Add item, + and the type list. Inside the item panel, the content fields, Status, the Definition of Done checkboxes, and Raise and Resolve under Impediments. Nothing on this screen deletes an item.
Refine the backlog
Drag a card, and move a card with Alt+↑ or Alt+↓. Also Add item and +, which need Write items as well. Inside the item panel, Priority, Size, Phase and Epic, and Add and Remove under Waiting on.
Comment
The Add a question button inside the item panel.