Kanban Backlog split

[Michael Naylor]

Hi, I would like to be able to add sections in the Kanban backlog which are not viewable on the Kanban board, this doesn't seem to be possible? 

[Jack Brickey · Accepted solution]

Correct. It is not possible. depending on your goal you might consider multiple boards leveraging the board filter but generally that isn't a good solution and I prefer the use of quick filters.

[Prem Chudzinski _extensi_]

We're planning to implement this as part of the Agile Board Filter app.

[Jack Brickey]

that would be a nice feature for sure. I can see a number of UCs, e.g. place new 'un-vetted/ranked' issues in the bottom section. This allows product managers to then vet and drag to the right place in the backlog that is ready for sprints.

[Michael Naylor]

Totally agree, this would be great, keep us posted regarding the app, when do you think it will be ready?

[Prem Chudzinski _extensi_]

Hard to say, now we're heavily redesigning the app itself and preparing for Jira 8.

Afterwards we'll look into the backlog split. If it is implementable, it may be ready in 3-4 months from now.

@Michael Naylor, @Jack Brickey

Could you drop me an email (pch@extensi.io) or post here detailed requirements including a screen mockup? Just draw it using a pen and take a photo :)

I'd like to make sure we're talking about the same thing.

[Cindy Ticha]

@Prem Chudzinski _extensi_ - Can you provide an updated status on this? Thanks!

[Prem Chudzinski _extensi_]

Hi @Cindy Ticha

We've got that on our list but we've been working couple months to release a Jira 8 compatible version. The feature itself seems to be nice to have, but I can see some use cases behind it. 

The question would be how do we display it on the backlog. Separate statuses? All in one called "Tasks on the board". It will definitely slowdown the  backlog itself, as we would have to load a lot of issues to backlog every-time you refresh the page.

Cheers

Przemyslaw

[Cindy Ticha]

Thanks @Prem Chudzinski _extensi_ ! It rates pretty high on the want list from our group of scrum masters/product owners. This would really help to keep the priorities clear for all. I'd like to see sections to break out by each status.

[Prem Chudzinski _extensi_]

@Cindy Ticha but then if you look at the board there are no statuses but columns.

Columns may have multiple statuses. Another issue is the order of statuses sections.  We'd have to create a configuration or a drag & drop ability save settings and so on. That seems to be a super complex task.

In my opinion a section "Active issues" (similar to Active sprints) including a Status labels for each issue would do the trick. If you'd be interested in a single status you could use the top filtering bar.

What do you think?

Anyway what would you say to become the sponsor of this feature? Drop me an email on p.chudzinski@extensi.io and I'll send you all the details.

Cheers

Przemyslaw

[Matthis Thorade]

In the board settings, columns, you can select which statuses are mapping to Kanban backlog. In that page, you can also select and order, that is the order that should be used for the sections in the backlog!

[Tim Haynes]

This is an obvious requirement.  I'm astonished it's not already there.

Clearly the top status on the Kanban backlog should show the group of stories in a Ready (or "Selected for Development") state, ie refined, ready to be worked on and also visible on the Kanban board.  This we already have.

Below that we should be able to group by more than one status, to reflect whatever workflow states stories go through before making it to the Ready state.  That might include "Ideas", "Futures", "Next Release" or whatever pre-Ready states we may have.

[Jack Brickey]

@Tim Haynes, while I could see where this would be a useful feature I don't necessarily see it as an obvious requirement. However, clearly you do so would suggest you have a look at JAC and search for an existing request or open one. I performed a quick JQL search but did not see anything. Also, something makes me think that I saw reference to an addon app that might allow you to customize the backlog but again I could not find anything. You might want to have a look at the Marketplace regardless.

[Yevgeniy Pinchuk]

We used to be able to do it. The PO would have a Kanban section, a section for developers to estimate story points on, and a general backlog. That way the PO did not have to make it to Backlog Refinement but could easily set the priority of issues to estimate.

[aliona.danilenko]

Hello,

Me and my teams are also trying to find out how it´s possible to set up the sections in Kanban board, something similar to what you can do with sprints in Scrum backlog. For example, we need a section "ready for refinement" and "ready for planning" to visualize our flow of the tickets before they are selected to be worked on.

Examples of the "sections" are attached.

Are there any news on that?

Thanks in advance! 

[Stephen Herrick]

My team was hoping to do the same.  Doesn't look like this is currently possible. 

At least the ability to add a column would help.

[Jack Brickey]

Correct

[aliona.danilenko]

Right. What I did - just created another board with the columns "ready for refinement", "ready for planning" etc. and added a "To Do" column which is shared with the team board. It also works fine, although not as great as the "sections" in the backlog of course.

[Rooke_ Daniel]

I was just trying to do this myself and I'm opting to use the flag function.  This highlights tickets that are prioritised for some sort of action in the backlog and you can add an optional comment as to what it is flagged for (estimates, review etc) 

[Martin Rau]

What are the updates on this? 

Can we get the possibility to integrate another column to divide the backlog into multiple stages for tickets? (backlog + refinement + ready for dev -> then go the the active kanban board?)

[Jack Brickey]

Hi Martin, there are no updates on this. One thing to understand is that this being a public community forum it does not provide insight into any feature enhancements, suggestions, or roadmap. You might search in JAC (see above for link) for open suggestions.

[Cristian Rosas [Tecnofor]]

Hi Michael,

What do you mean by "sections"?

[Yevgeniy Pinchuk]

If you run a Kanban board and you go to the backlog there are two sections, the Board and the Backlog. The request is to be able to add an additional section/separation i.e. Priority Issues, or Issues to be Estimated. Where issues that are not being worked on but need to prioritized out of the backlog can live.

If you have an extensive backlog it can get overwhelming trying to categorize or section out key issues to focus on. I believe in the past there was a way to do that by adding "extra sprints" and just renaming them and never starting them. But I don't see that functionality anymore and I think it has a lot to do with not being able to have a Kanban and Scrum board at the same time on the same project.

[Luis Navalpotro]

I agree with Yevgeniy, otherwise the mix of using "scrum" to get sprint like sections to be able to organise the backlog a bit with kanban is a bit of a mess for the team. The scrumban approach is not agile.