Configure an Agile Board
This page describes how to configure the settings for an agile board. For a detailed description of each setting, see Agile Board Settings.
To open the Board Settings panel, click the
button in the board toolbar. When you create a new board, its settings are displayed automatically.
Configure General Settings
The General tab displays the basic settings of the board. These settings are configured when you create the board. The Sprint options is set by default. This setting defines the relationship between sprints and issues.
- The default option is to assign issues to a sprint manually. With this option, you can either add issues as cards directly on the board or move an issue to the board from the backlog. Issues are never added to the board automatically.
- The Add new issues to sprint option lets you select a sprint to which all new issues are assigned automatically. Any issue that matches the criteria for the board is added to the selected sprint.
- The Link sprints to custom field option lets you link sprints on the board to values in a selected custom field. When enabled, the behaviour of the board resembles how sprints worked in the previous version of the board. Any issue that is assigned a value in this field in the projects that are managed on the board is added to the corresponding sprint automatically.
For a detailed description of these options and their behavior, see Sprint Options.
Configure Columns
The Columns and Rows tab lets you to define which columns are displayed, arrange them on the board, enable swimlanes, and choose how to identify swimlanes.
To configure the columns on your board:
- Open the Board Settings > Columns and Rows tab.
- Select a field to identify columns.
- Click the Add column option and select the values that you want to use as columns on the board.
- Optionally, set the Min WIP and Max WIP for each column. WIP stands for "Work in progress" — the number of cards that can be present simultaneously in the column. You can set the minimum and maximum WIP here. When the number of tasks in the column is less than the "Min WIP" or is more than the "Max WIP" value, in the column's title, a warning message is displayed.
- Optionally, drag a value to reorder the columns.
You can also edit the set of values for the field that identifies columns on your board.
When you edit a column, you effectively edit the corresponding custom field and its set of values. The warnings on this tab show you how many projects use this set of values in a custom field. When you add or rename values, these changes are applied in all of the projects that you have permission to update, including projects that are not managed on this agile board.
If you want to change these values without affecting other projects, create an independent copy of the set of values in your projects. For more information, see Manage Custom Fields.
To edit column values:
- To add a column for a new value, click Add column > Create column button and enter the parameters for a new value. This value is added to the set of values for the custom field in all of the projects that you have permission to update.
- To remove a column from the board, click the Remove icon to the right of the column.
Configure Swimlanes
Swimlanes let you group issues visually on an agile board. YouTrack lets you use the set of values in a custom field or select specific types of issues to identify each swimlane.
To enable and configure swimlanes:
- Select an option to identify swimlanes.
- From the Add value drop-down list, select the values that you want to use as swimlanes on the board.
- Optionally, enable the Show swimlane for uncategorized cards option. When enabled, you can choose to display this swimlane at the top or bottom of the board.
To disable swimlanes, select the No swimlanes option.
Configure Cards
The Cards tab lets you display estimations on the board, set the default issue type for new cards, and manage the visual presentation.
To configure cards on the board:
- Click the Settings () button to open the Board Settings and switch to the Cards tab.
- Select the Estimation Field for the board.
You can only select from fields that store a
period,integer, orfloattype. This field is also used to calculate the burndown chart. - Optionally, set the Default Value for Type. All new cards that are added to the board are assigned the selected value. This parameter is only visible when swimlanes are enabled and identified by Issue.
- Select a Color Scheme for cards on the board.
- Optionally, enable the Show colors for other custom fields option. When enabled, color-coded visual indicators for custom fields are displayed on each card.
Configure Charts
The agile board has a built-in reporting feature. This feature lets you display one of two report types directly on the board.
To configure a chart for the board:
- Open the Chart tab of the Board Settings.
- Select the Type of the chart that you wish to use for your board. By default the Burndown chart is selected.
- In the Issue Filter parameter, select which cards should be counted for the chart:
- All cards: all cards that are assigned to the current sprint of the board are taken into account. Swimlanes are not taken into account in this case.
- Custom: All cards and swimlanes that match the Query are taken into account. You can update the query at any time: Just open the settings and correct the query. When done, click the Recalculate button next to the Query filed to immediately see the updated chart.
- For a burndown chart, you can also define how to calculate the burndown. The availability of the Burndown calculated by options depend on the settings of the time tracking in the board projects:
