YouTrack Standalone 2019.2 Help

Update Issues on an Agile Board

An agile board lets you visualize how issues and tasks move from creation to completion. As issues move through this process, you and your team apply updates that reflect your actions.

This page describes how to update issues on an agile board. You can apply the same changes that you would for issues in the Issues list or single issue view, but the location of these controls is unique to the agile board.

Issues as Cards

The first thing you'll notice is that issues are transformed into interactive cards that you can move around the board. When you move a card to another position on the board, the values that represent the new column or swimlane are updated in the fields that identify these positions on the board.

Controls for updating other issue properties are displayed on the card itself. The amount of detail and number of interactive elements are affected by the Size slider in the header. The following example shows the controls that are visible on a large-sized card.

Issues as cards

You can apply the following actions to one or more issues as cards on the board:

Action

Description

Open the issue in single issue view

The issue ID is set as a link to the issue. When you click this link, the issue opens in a new browser tab.

Update custom fields

Each card displays the first three custom fields in the project, excluding fields that are used in the board settings and Assignee. To update the value for a field, click the field and select a value from the list. Use the input field to filter values in the list.

Remove tags

The card displays as many tags as can be shown in one line. To remove a tag from an issue, click the Remove tag icon.

Assign or reassign an issue

The avatar of the current assignee is displayed in the lower-left corner of each card. Unassigned issues display the Set assignee button instead. To assign or reassign an issue, click this control and select a user from the list. Use the input field to filter values in the list.

View and open subtasks

Issues that are linked as subtasks to an issue that is shown as a card on the board are visible on medium-sized and larger cards.
  • On M and L cards, the total number of unresolved versus unresolved subtasks are shown as a ratio. Click the Subtasks icon to view a list of subtasks. Use the input field to filter value in the list. Select an item to open the subtask on the board in view mode.

  • On XL cards, the issue ID and summary for each subtask is set as a link. Links for resolved subtasks are struckthrough and dimmed. Click a link to open the subtask on the board in view mode.

Add attachments

To attach one or more files to an issue, drag files to a card on the board. The card itself becomes a drop zone.

View and update estimations

If your board shows estimations for tasks, the estimation and progress indicator is displayed in the lower-right corner of each card. Move the pointer over the progress indicator to display the unspent or overdue estimation. Click the estimation to update the value.

Options for Selected Issues

You can select one or more cards on the board.

  • Click a card or use the arrow keys to select an issue. The current issue is marked with a blue border. As long as you don't select another issue, updates are applied to the current issue.

    Issues selected card

  • To select multiple issues, use the Spacebar and arrow keys or Ctrl + click with the mouse. Selected issues are marked with a blue background. When you select multiple issue, the current issue (marked with a blue border) is not included in the selection until you select it with the Spacebar or Ctrl + click with the mouse.

    Issues selected multiple

When you select one or more issues, the toolbar at the bottom of the page displays the number of selected issues. The following options are available in the toolbar:

Option

Description

Remove selection

Click the x icon to deselect selected cards.

Set Assignee

Opens the list of users who are set as assignees in the project. Select a user to set or change the assignee for all of the selected cards.

Add Tag

Opens the list of tags. Select a tag to add the tag to all of the selected cards.

Add Link

Opens the list of issue link types. Select an issue link type to open the Apply Command dialog and add a link type to all of the selected cards.

Move to Next Sprint

Moves all of the selected cards to the next sprint.
  • If the next sprint has not been scheduled, this control opens the New Sprint dialog. When you create the sprint, the selected cards are added to the new sprint.

  • If the next sprint has been scheduled, this control opens the Apply Command dialog. The command to move the selected issues to the next sprint is entered in the input field automatically. Apply the command to move the selected cards to the next sprint.

The drop-down list next to this control lets you move the selected cards to a specific sprint or return them to the backlog.

Commands

When you select one or more cards on the board, you can update the selected issues with a command. To enter a command, press Ctrl + Alt + J, or just start typing. When you start typing, the Apply Command dialog opens automatically.

Apply command agile board

View Mode

When you double-click on a card or select card and press F3, the issue opens in view mode. This mode is similar to the single issue view.

Issue view mode

In view mode, the following options are available in the toolbar:

Control

Description

Star issue

Add yourself to the list of watchers. If you are already watching this issue, you are removed from the list.

Open Apply Command dialog

Opens the Apply Command dialog. Enter a command to update multiple issue properties at once.

Add link

Adds a link from the current issue to another issue. Select the link type from the drop-down list.

Add tag

Adds a tag to the issue. Use the input field to filter the list of tags. Select an item from the list to add a tag to the issue.

Assign issue

Sets the Assignee for the issue. Use the input field to filter the list of assignees. Select a user from the list to set or the assignee.

Show more

Opens a menu with additional actions.

Edit issue

Opens the issue in edit mode. Here, you can change the basic properties of the issue, such as the Project, Summary, and Description.

Delete issue

Deletes the issue.

Visible to

Sets the visibility for the issue. To restrict the visibility, select a group from the drop-down list.

The following options are available from the Show more menu:

Option

Description

Clone issue

Creates a copy of the issue. The values that are assigned to custom fields for the current issue are assigned to the new issue. The new issue is added as a card to the same column and swimlane as the original issue.

Print issue

Opens the issue on a printer-friendly page. Use the Print command in your browser to print the page.

Add files

Opens a dialog to locate and attach a file.

Add files privately

Opens a dialog to attach files and restrict their visibility. Click to select files or drag files to the drop zone. Select a group from the Visible to drop-down list to restrict the visibility for the attachments.

Vote for issue

Add your name to the list of voters. If you have already voted for the issue, your vote is removed. You cannot vote for your own issues.

Repeat last command

Applies the most recent command that you entered in the Apply Command dialog.

In view mode, you have additional options for adding attachments to an issue. For issues without attachments, a drop zone is displayed.

  • Click the drop zone to select and attach files.

  • Drag files to the drop zone.

  • Press Ctrl + V to paste an image from the clipboard.

For issue with attachments, additional options are available from the Attachments menu.

Issue attachment options

Option

Description

Download all

Downloads all of the attachments in a zip archive.

Open all images in new tab

Opens all of the images that are attached to the issue in your web browser. All of the images that are attached to the issue open in a new browser tab.

Add files

Opens a dialog to locate and attach a file.

Add files privately

Opens a dialog to attach files and restrict their visibility. Click to select files or drag files to the drop zone. Select a group from the Visible to drop-down list to restrict the visibility for the attachments.

Additional options are available for individual attachments. Move the pointer over an attachment and click the icon that corresponds with the option.

Attachment options agile

Option

Description

Download

Downloads the attachment in its native format.

Edit

  • If the attachment is an image file, the file opens in the image editor. Here, you can edit the file name and change the visibility of the attachment. Additional tools let you add annotations and modify the image. For more information about the image editor, see Edit Images. Opens all of the images that are attached to the issue in your web browser.

  • For all other files, this option opens the Edit Attachment dialog. Here, you can edit the file name, change the visibility of the attachment, or delete the attachment.

Remove

Removes the attachment from the issue following a confirmation dialog.

When you select a card and press F2, the issue opens in edit mode. In addition to the updates that you can apply in view mode, edit mode lets you update the issue Summary and Description.

To exit view mode or edit mode, press Esc or click outside the issue pop-up window.

Activity Stream

In this issue view, all changes applied to an issue are displayed as a single feed with filters that let you select which types of changes you want to show or hide.

Here's an example of the activity stream filtered to show comments and VCS changes:

Activity stream agile board

The following controls are available in the toolbar at the top of the activity stream:

Control

Description

Comments

Toggles the visibility of comments in the activity stream.

Spent time

Toggles the visibility of work items. This control is only visible when the Time Tracking features is enabled in the project.

Issue history

Toggles the visibility of the issue change history.

VCS changes

Toggles the visibility of VCS changes that have been linked to the issue. This control is only visible when the project is integrated with a version control system or is connected to a VCS through an integration with TeamCity.

Code reviews

Toggles the visibility of activities related to a code review in Upsource. This control is only visible when an integration with Upsource is configured for the project.

The following options are available from the Activity settings menu:

Control

Description

Sort: oldest first

Displays changes in chronological order.

Sort: newest first

Displays changes in reverse-chronological order. In this mode, the input field for comments is displayed at the top of the activity stream.

Show permalink

Displays a link to the issue with the currently active set of activity types.

Issues as Swimlanes

On agile boards that use issues as swimlanes, the swimlane itself represents an issue. All of the cards that are added to the swimlane are linked as subtasks to the issue that represents the swimlane.

Issue as swimlane

When you reorder swimlanes on the board, the issues that represent each swimlane are not modified in any way. Some teams use the order to determine which features or user stores should be resolved first, but the order does not affect the value of the Priority field in the issue itself.

Use the following actions to update issues that represent swimlanes on the board:

Action

Description

Open the issue in single issue view

The issue ID is set as a link to the issue. When you click this link, the issue opens in a new browser tab.

Open the issue in view mode

Click the edit icon to open the issue in view mode. Here, you can apply updates to the issue that represents the swimlane just as you would when you open a card in view mode.

Add a new issue as a swimlane

The New swimlane button in the toolbar at the bottom of the board opens a dialog for a new issue. Enter a summary and description, then click the New swimlane button in the dialog to add this issue to the board as a swimlane.

Move the issue to the backlog

To remove a swimlane from the board and return the issue to the backlog, click the Backlog button to show the backlog, then drag the swimlane to the backlog. All of the cards that are assigned to the swimlane are also returned to the backlog.

Last modified: 17 December 2019