Backlog items

An item's number

Every item has a number. The panel title shows the project key and the number, for example PROJ-127. The product takes the number from the project's own sequence. The product never uses a number twice, not even after somebody deletes an item.

What a new item starts as

Needsboth Write items and Refine the backlog

The backlog screen creates an item in one click, with no form. See The Product Backlog. The create control sends the open phase with the new item, so it needs Refine the backlog as well as Write items. A person with Write items alone still sees Add item. The product then refuses the click with You do not have permission to perform this action.

A new item starts as a Draft with no name, no summary, no description and no notes. It has no size and no epic. Its priority is Medium. It sits in the phase that was open when you created it.

You choose the item type when you create the item. The type list is a select beside Add item, named Type of the new item for a screen reader. It is absent when the project has only one item type, and then every new item gets that type. The panel does not show the type, and the product does not offer a way to change it afterward.

An item made from a card

A feedback card on the Sprint Review and an Action Item on the Retrospective also become items, in one click. See Sprint Review and Retrospective. Such an item does not follow the paragraph above.

The product uses the card's text as the Name, cut to 200 characters with a … at the end. The Description starts with Action item from the Sprint 4 Retrospective. or Feedback from the Sprint 4 Review. and then holds the whole card text after a blank line. The type is the project's Task type, or its first type when the project has no Task type. The item lands at the end of the project's default phase, not in the phase that was open.

The item panel

NeedsView view

Click a card on the backlog to open its panel. The Sprint Planning screen opens the same panel: click any item row, in the unplanned stack or in a sprint column. See Sprint planning. The panel has two columns. The left column holds the content fields, the Add a question button and the History. The right column holds Status, Priority, Size, Phase, Epic, the Definition of Done checklist, Waiting on and Impediments. The sections below cover the right column first, then the question box and the History.

The Epic field is the one difference between the two screens. The panel you open from Sprint Planning never shows it, whatever the project setting says and however many epics the project has.

The footer shows Version {n}. While the product saves a field, the footer shows Saving… instead.

The panel does not name the item's sprint. It has no control that puts an item in a sprint, and none that takes one out. Sprint Planning does both.

The panel shows a refusal as a red line at the top, above both columns. Any field save clears the line. So does a question, a Definition of Done check and Add on a wait. When you close the panel, the line disappears with it.

Click Close in the footer to close the panel. The top-right corner holds a × button, which a screen reader reads as Close dialog. Escape also closes the panel. A click outside the panel also closes it.

Name, summary, description and notes

NeedsWrite items item_write

Name holds up to 200 characters. Summary holds up to 1000 characters. Description and Notes each hold up to 20000 characters. The product trims spaces at both ends. The product clears a field you empty.

Without Write items, the left column shows the name as a heading (or Untitled), then the summary and the description as text. Notes are absent.

If a value is over the limit, the product refuses the save and shows Invalid request body. A save also has a size limit of its own: one megabyte. The product refuses a bigger save before it counts the characters, and shows Request body is too large. A paste from a long document reaches that size.

The history records each change. The lines read named the item “…”, renamed the item from “…” to “…”, changed the summary, edited the description and cleared the notes.

Status

NeedsWrite items item_write

The Status select offers four statuses in this order: Draft, Final, In Progress and Done. A change saves at once. Without Write items, the panel shows the status as text. That text is the stored value, so In Progress reads in_progress.

You can make every move, forward and backward, and the history records each one as moved the item from Draft to Final and so on. Two rules block a move.

Leaving Draft

To be anything other than Draft, an item needs a name, a summary and a description. The product blocks the move and the select returns to Draft. It shows every missing field at once:

• An item needs a name before it leaves Draft.
• An item needs a summary before it leaves Draft.
• An item needs a description before it leaves Draft.

Two project settings add a rule each. See Project settings.

• Require a size to leave Draft blocks with This project requires a size before an item leaves Draft.
• Show an imported system’s ID blocks with This project displays external ids, so one is required before an item leaves Draft.

On the backlog, a Draft card carries the pill Draft, or Draft · unnamed while it has no name. The card drops the pill when the item leaves Draft.

Entering Done

If the project has active Definition of Done criteria, check every one on this item before you move the item to Done. The product blocks the move and names every line nobody checked: This project's Definition of Done is not met: {criterion}; {criterion}. A project with no active criteria has no such rule.

The rule runs only on the move into Done. A criterion you add later does not change an item that is already Done. A Done item leaves the backlog list until you click Show Done. Done is also the only status that releases items that wait on this one.

Back from Done

You can move an item out of Done to any other status. Items that wait on it become blocked again, and their history says became blocked because an item it waits on changed status. To move the item back into Done, it must pass the checklist as it stands now, not as it stood before.

Priority

NeedsRefine the backlog refine

The Priority select offers Low, Medium, High and Critical. A change saves at once. Priority is never empty. Without Refine the backlog, the panel shows the priority as text. That text is the stored value, so Medium reads medium.

Priority says how important an item is. Backlog order says what comes first. The two are independent: a priority change never moves the card, and a move never changes the priority. The card's left stripe and its priority pill show the priority. The history line reads changed the priority from Medium to High.

Size

NeedsRefine the backlog refine

1. Type a number in the Size box.
2. Press Tab to leave the box. The product then saves the size.

To remove the size, empty the box. Then press Tab to leave it.

A size must be greater than zero and at most 9999.99, with at most two decimal places. The box steps by 0.25, but the product accepts any value with two decimals. If a value is outside these limits, the product refuses the save and shows Invalid request body. Without Refine the backlog, the panel shows the size as a number, or — when there is none.

The project setting Size unit names the unit, but the panel and the card show the number alone. The history reads sized the item at 3, resized the item from 3 to 5 or removed the size (was 5).

Phase

NeedsRefine the backlog refine

Every item is in exactly one phase. The Phase select lists the project's phases by name, and a change saves at once. The item lands at the end of the new phase's order. Order belongs to a phase. Without Refine the backlog, the panel shows the phase name as text.

This select is the only way to move an item between phases. You cannot drag a card from one phase tab to another. The history reads moved the item from Phase 1 to Launch, or names a removed phase when a phase no longer exists.

Epic

NeedsRefine the backlog refine

An item belongs to one epic or to none. The Epic select offers No epic and the project's epics by name. Pick No epic to remove the item from its epic. Without Refine the backlog, the panel shows the epic name as text, or —.

The field is absent in three cases. The project setting Epics is off. The project has no epics yet. You opened the panel from Sprint Planning.

You make epics on the project screen. You need Refine the backlog, and the project setting Epics must be on. See Project settings. If somebody removes an epic there, its items stay and lose the epic. The card does not show the epic. The history reads put the item in an epic or removed the item from its epic.

The Definition of Done checklist

NeedsWrite items item_write

The Definition of Done section shows a count such as 2/3 and one checkbox per active criterion. Beside a checked line stands the name of the person who checked it. The section is absent when the project has no active criteria. The panel does not list a retired criterion.

Check a line to say this item meets it. Clear a line to withdraw your check.

While any line is not checked, the section says One line outstanding, so this item cannot move to Done yet. or {n} lines outstanding, so this item cannot move to Done yet. This is the same rule the Status select applies. Without Write items, you can read the checklist and the names, but you cannot check a line.

If you check a line somebody already checked, the panel keeps the first person's name. Anybody with Write items can clear a line somebody else checked. The history records every change as checked off “…” or cleared “…”. If somebody retires the criterion first, the product shows That criterion has been retired.

A change to the criterion does not clear a check. A retired line keeps its check, and it comes back checked, with the original name, when somebody reinstates it. New wording on a line keeps every check made under the old wording.

Manage the project edits the checklist itself, on the project screen. See Project settings.

Waiting on other items

NeedsRefine the backlog refine

The Waiting on section lists the items this one waits on. Everyone with View sees the list. When there are none, it reads Nothing. The box and the Add and Remove buttons are absent without Refine the backlog.

1. Type the other item's number in the box, as PROJ-131 or as 131.
2. Click Add.

The row shows the number and name of the other item, or Untitled. A pill reads Done when the other item is Done. Otherwise the pill shows the status as the stored value, such as draft, final or in_progress. The history reads marked the item as waiting on PROJ-131.

• The other item must be in the same project. If no item has that number, the product shows No item PROJ-131 in this project. If the box is empty, the product shows Enter the number of the item this one waits for.
• You can add a Done item. It does not block anything.
• The product does not add the same item twice. The list does not change. The history still records another marked the item as waiting on PROJ-131 line.

To end a wait, click Remove on its row. There is no confirmation. The history reads stopped the item waiting on PROJ-131. If a row is already gone, the product shows That dependency does not exist.

The section shows what this item waits on. Nothing on an item shows which items wait on it, so open the other items to learn that.

The Blocked pill

You never set Blocked by hand. An item is blocked while any item it waits on is not Done, or while any impediment on it is open. The backlog card then carries a pill: Blocked · predecessor, Blocked · 2 predecessors, Blocked · impediment, Blocked · 2 impediments or Blocked · predecessor + impediment. The Sprint Planning rows, the sprint cards and the board show Blocked alone, with no cause.

The predecessor count on the card is the number of items this one waits on, Done items included. An item that waits on one open item and on one Done item reads Blocked · 2 predecessors.

Sprint Planning warns when you plan a blocked item ahead of an item it waits on: PROJ-140 waits on PROJ-131, which is not planned earlier. The warning does not block the move. See Sprint planning.

Impediments

NeedsWrite items item_write

An impediment is an obstruction that is not another item. The Impediments section lists the open ones on this item, or reads None open. Everyone with View sees the list. The box and the Raise and Resolve buttons are absent without Write items.

1. Describe the impediment in the box What is blocking this?
2. Click Raise.

A description holds up to 2000 characters. If the description is over the limit, the product refuses it and shows Invalid request body. An empty box does nothing. An open impediment makes the item blocked. The history reads raised an impediment: “…”.

To resolve one, click Resolve on its row. There is no confirmation and no place to write how it was resolved. The row leaves the list, and the history reads resolved an impediment. The panel does not show resolved impediments. The product does not offer a way to give an impediment an owner.

Questions for the Product Owner

NeedsComment comment

1. Click Add a question.
2. Write the question in Your question.
3. Click Ask.

Under the box the product says: It will be added to the description with your name, and the Product Owner will be emailed. The Ask button is available once the box holds text. A question holds up to 2000 characters. If the question is over the limit, the product refuses it and shows Invalid request body. Click Cancel to close the box.

The product adds the question to the end of the Description after a blank line. The line reads Question from {your name}, {date and time} UTC: and then your text. The time is in UTC, not in your own timezone. The history reads asked a question: “…”. The email goes to the project's Product Owner, or to the person who made the project when no Product Owner is named. See Projects.

The product keeps no list of questions and no field for an answer. An answer is ordinary text in the Description. Anybody with Write items can change or delete a question there. Somebody with Comment alone can read the description but cannot edit it.

History

NeedsView view

The History section is the item's record. Nothing in it is a control, and nobody can edit it. To write something on the item, use the Notes field.

The newest line comes first. Each line shows a name, a sentence, and the date and 24-hour time in your own timezone. See Time and timezones. The name is usually a person. The hourly jobs write under a built-in account named SimpleScrumTools. An item with no lines reads Nothing has happened to this item yet.

The record holds:

• Creation: created the item as PROJ-127.
• Every change to a field, the status, the priority, the size, the phase and the epic.
• Reorders: reordered the item, or reordered the item, re-spacing the phase to make room.
• Waits added and removed, and impediments raised and resolved.
• The Blocked pill after a status change: is no longer blocked and became blocked because an item it waits on changed status.
• Questions asked, and every Definition of Done check and clear.
• Sprint moves: planned the item into Sprint 4, took the item out of Sprint 4, returned the item from Sprint 4 when it closed, returned the item to the backlog when Sprint 4 was cancelled and moved the item out of Sprint 4 when it goes straight into another sprint.

The product shortens a long quoted value with …. Each line also records the Scrum Event that was open at the time, so the session's record can list it. See Scrum Events.

The assignee

An item can name one person as its assignee, and only while the item is in a sprint. The item panel has no control for it. No other screen has one either, so nothing in the product can name an assignee.

When the project setting Assign items to individuals is on, a board card shows the assignee's name. See Project settings. The product clears the assignee whenever an item joins a sprint, leaves a sprint, or returns to the backlog at a close.

The external id

An external id is an identifier from another system, up to 64 characters. Only a .csv import sets one. See Importing a backlog. The item panel has no field for it, and the product does not offer a way to set or change it on an item.

When the project setting Show an imported system’s ID is on, a card shows the external id in place of PROJ-127. An item with no external id still shows PROJ-127. The panel title always shows PROJ-127.

Deleting an item

The product does not offer a way to delete an item from any screen. Neither the card nor the panel has a delete control.