Issue boards
Issue boards are a tool that helps you track and manage your issues in a streamlined manner. There are two types of boards in Tracker:
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Basic boards can be used by any teams and allow arranging issues in columns based on their status. Creating a basic board.
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With a backlog and sprints: For teams that use Agile methodologies. Creating a board with a backlog and sprints.
How to work with boards
You can add no more than 2000 issues to the boards, so we recommend that you follow these guidelines:
- Only add issues to a board that you plan to complete in the near future (such as in the next six months).
- To avoid overloading issue boards, configure automatic issue removal so that issues in a specific status are removed from the board automatically.
- To analyze closed issues that have been removed from the board, use the search issues page or, if you are using a board with a Backlog and sprints, you will see a link to a filter with a completed sprint's issues in the Backlog tab.
- To work with all of your issues (for example, to perform their general analysis through filtering or sorting), use queues: do not try to add all the issues to one board.
You cannot restrict access to a board, but you can restrict access to issues shown on the board.
The board shows the issues only from the queues that the user has access to. To restrict access to individual issues, add components with restricted access.
Basic concepts of agile development
To manage your issues and projects in Tracker, you can use Agile tools and methodologies, such as issue boards, sprints, burnout charts, and planning poker.
Agile development methodologies were originally created for managing software development processes. Now, they are successfully employed a variety of domains. There are several Agile approaches that you can use. For example, Scrum and Kanban.
Tracker uses the following terms and concepts from the Scrum methodology:
- Backlog
- A list of issues or product requirements that must be implemented in a project. Backlog issues are usually sorted by priority.
- Sprint
- Project cycle, usually lasting from one to four weeks. It is assumed that, under each sprint, a team should develop a set of new features (also known as increment) and make it release-ready.
- Planning poker
- Method for collaboratively estimating issue complexity using cards, where team members each rate complexity in story points.
- Issue board
- Board for tracking the status of issues in the current sprint. Columns on the board correspond to issue statuses. Cards with issue descriptions are pinned to the board and moved between columns as the issue status updates.
- Burndown chart
- Chart that shows how fast planned issues are completed during a sprint and the amount of work remaining.
- User story
- Description of a feature to implement in a product based on the previous experiences or problems faced by users. A user story is broken down into individual issues. You can use Story issues to group any issues based on a common topic in Tracker.
- Story point
- Relative rating that describes the effort needed to complete an issue. A story point unit is not usually measured in terms of man-hours. The team rates issues collectively by comparing them to a simple task.
- Epic
- Large feature or requirement that cannot be implemented within a single sprint. It is usually broken down into several user stories or issues. You can use epics to group any issues based on a common topic in Tracker.
- Sub-epic
- Issue that is included in an epic.