Define your Backlog

You can create your product backlog from the sub menus in Projects. You can then pull the cards (user stories/defects/issues) from the backlog onto the Kanban Board to work on them. You can also add cards from the Kanban Board and add to the backlog.

To define a product backlog in Swift Kanban, you may want to:
Create User Stories
Create Defects
Create Issues

Create User Stories

To create a user story, from the selected Project ▼ Backlog » User Stories view, click the Create button.

In the Details tab, enter the details such as, Title, Priority, etc., and then click Save.

• Prioritize a User Story: You can define the priority for a user story so that you can pick up the card on the board accordingly. You will find it easier to identify the high priority cards based on the color code.
• Associate Class of Service based on Business Impact: You can associate a ‘Class of Service’ to categorize work items on business impact based on cost of delay, risk, and Service Level Agreements.  This category, again can be used to pull work items for prioritization.
• Define the Story Size: Define the size in generic sense which can be used to create an work estimate for a user story, if required. The sizes are based on the t-shirt sizes format .
• Rank a User Story: Enter a value to prioritize the user story.

When you select the above attributes, it will help you to pick up cards on the highest priority on the  Kanban Board using the Board Filter option.

After you save the details, additional sections – Comments and Attachments appear in the Details view, and also additional tabs i.e. To-Do, Traceability, and Activity Log appear.

Add/Reply to Comments: Collaborate with your team members on work related to a specific story. Add your comments to the story and reply to a particular comment. Click the Add Comment button to add your comment, and then click Save. Click the reply button for a comment to reply. The Comments window displays the date, time, etc. so you can view and track the comments. Click the link for example, “has 2 replies” to view the replies to a particular comment. Whether you add your comments from the Detail view or Kanban Board, you can track the comments for the story here.

Upload/Download/Delete Attachments: Upload your files to the story, or download, or delete them. To upload files, click Add, browse the file, and then click Upload.

Add a Task/To-Do: Add Tasks to a user story if you want to break up the user stories and allocate to multiple owners. Click the Add button to add a To-Do and assign a appropriate name, owner, and add an estimate if required. For the first task, a blank row already exists which you can just double-click, and rename or select.

By default, the Current State will be ‘Pending’, which you can update after you complete the task. You cannot change the default ‘Applicable Queue’ which displays the queue under which the task was created and remains valid for the queue.

Add Traceability to Other Items: The traceability feature can be useful to set relationships between items. F0r example, after you set relationship from a user story to a defect , you can later trace how a story was initiated. To add traceability from a story, click the Add Traceability button. Use the Search boxes to search based on a string, workspace, and an item type. The right panel lists down the searched items. From the Searched Items panel, drag the required item to the Traced items on the left. Click Save.

When you return to the Traceability tab, the tab displays the relationship set. You can click the List View button on the right. If you have set relationship for example, from a user story to a defect, it is listed in the Downward Traced Items panel. If you have set a relationship from a Defect item to the story, it is listed in the Upward Traced Items panel.

The User Story view displays the list of user stories created in the selected project. From this view, you can:

• View/Edit/Delete User Stories by selecting a user story and clicking the relevant icons on the toolbar. Alternatively, you can just double-click a user story to view the details and make changes.
• Filter User Stories by typing a text in the empty filter textboxes above any columns. For example, type any text in the textbox above ‘Title’ to filter all User Stories containing the text in the title. If you are not able to see the filter boxes, click the Filter button on the toolbar.
• Sort User Stories based on any column name by clicking the column label.
• Export all User Stories to MS Excel all the stories by clicking the Export column.

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Create Defects

To create a defect, from the selected Project ▼ Backlog » Defects view, click the Create icon.

Enter the details such as, Title, Priority, etc., and then click Save. If you have created releases for your project, you can tag the defects to the release from the Release list.

• Prioritize a Defect: You can define the priority for a defect so that you can pick up the card on the board accordingly. You will find it easier to identify the high priority cards based on the color code.
• Associate Class of Service based on Business Impact: You can associate a ‘Class of Service’ to categorize work items on business impact based on cost of delay, risk, and Service Level Agreements.  This category, again can be used to pull work items for prioritization.
• Define the Defect Size: Define the size in generic sense which can be used to create an work estimate for a working on a defect, if required. The sizes are based on the t-shirt sizes format .
• Rank a Defect: Enter a value to prioritize a defect.

After you save the details, additional sections – Comments and Attachments appear in the Details view, and also additional tabs i.e. Resolution Details, Traceability, and Activity Log appear.

Add/Reply to Comments: Collaborate with your team members on work related to a specific defect. Add your comments to the defect and reply to a particular comment. Click the Add Comment button to add your comment, and then click Save. Click the reply button for a comment to reply. The Comments window displays the date, time, etc. so you can view and track the comments. Click the link for example, “has 2 replies” to view the replies to a particular comment. Whether you add your comments from the Detail view or Kanban Board, you can track the comments for the defect here.

Upload/Download/Delete Attachments: Upload your files to the defect, or download, or delete them. To upload files, click Add, browse the file, and then click Upload.

Add Resolution Details after Resolving the Defect: Whenever you resolve the defect, you can add the resolution details. From the Details view, click the Edit button on the right. Return to the Details view, and then click Save.

Add Traceability to Other Items: The traceability feature can be useful to set relationships between items. To add traceability from a defect, click the Add Traceability button. Use the Search boxes to search based on a string, workspace, and an item type. The right panel lists down the searched items. From the Searched Items panel, drag the required item to the Traced items on the left. Click Save.

When you return to the Traceability tab, the tab displays the relationship set. You can click the List View button on the right. If you have set relationship for example, from a defect to a user story, it is listed in the Downward Traced Items panel. If you have set a relationship from a user story to the defect, it is listed in the Upward Traced Items panel.

The Defects view displays the list of defects logged in the project. From this view, you can:

• View/Edit/Delete Defects by selecting a defect and clicking the respective icon on the toolbar. Alternatively, you can just double-click a defect to view the details and edit it.
• Filter Defects by typing a text in the empty filter textboxes above any columns. For example, type any text in the textbox above ‘Title’ to filter all defects containing the text in the title. If you are not able to see the filter boxes, click the Filter button on the toolbar.
• Sort Defects based on any column name by clicking the column label.
• Export all the Defects to MS Excel by clicking the Export column.

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Create Issues

To create an issue, from the selected Project ▼ Backlog » Issues view, click the Create icon.

Enter the details such as, Title, Priority, etc., and then click Save. If you have created releases for your project, you can tag the issues to the release from the Release list.

• Prioritize an Issue: You can define the priority for an issue so that you can pick up the card on the board accordingly. You will find it easier to identify the high priority cards based on the color code.
• Associate Class of Service based on Business Impact: You can associate a ‘Class of Service’ to categorize work items on business impact based on cost of delay, risk, and Service Level Agreements.  This category, again can be used to pull work items for prioritization.
• Define the Issue Size: Define the size in generic sense which can be used to create an work estimate for a working on an issue, if required. The sizes are based on the t-shirt sizes format.
• Rank an Issue: Enter a value to prioritize an issue.

After you save the details, additional sections – Comments and Attachments appear in the Details view, and also additional tabs i.e. Resolution Details, Traceability, and Activity Log appear.

Add/Reply to Comments: Collaborate with your team members on work related to a specific issue. Add your comments to the issue and reply to a particular comment. Click the Add Comment button to add your comment, and then click Save. Click the reply button for a comment to reply. The Comments window displays the date, time, etc. so you can view and track the comments. Click the link for example, “has 2 replies” to view the replies to a particular comment. Whether you add your comments from the Detail view or Kanban Board, you can track the comments for the issue here.

Upload/Download/Delete Attachments: Upload your files to the issue, or download, or delete them. To upload files, click Add, browse the file, and then click Upload.

Add Resolution Details after Resolving the Defect: Whenever you resolve the issue, you can add the resolution details. From the Details view, click the Edit button on the right. Return to the Details view, and then click Save.

Add Traceability to Other Items: The traceability feature can be useful to set relationships between items. To add traceability from an issue, click the Add Traceability button. Use the Search boxes to search based on a string, workspace, and an item type. The right panel lists down the searched items. From the Searched Items panel, drag the required item to the Traced items on the left. Click Save.

When you return to the Traceability tab, the tab displays the relationship set. You can click the List View button on the right. If you have set relationship for example, from an issue to a user story, it is listed in the Downward Traced Items panel. If you have set a relationship from a user story to the issue, it is listed in the Upward Traced Items panel.

The Issues view shows the list of issues registered in the selected project. From this view, you can:

1. View/ Edit/ Delete Issues by selecting a Issue and clicking the relevant icons on the toolbar. Alternatively, you can just double-click any Issue row to view the details and make changes.
2. Filter Issues by typing any text in the empty filter textboxes above any columns. For example, type any text in the textbox above ‘Title’ to filter all Issues containing the text in the title. If you are not able to see the filter boxes, click the Filter button on the toolbar.
3. Sort Issues based on any column name by clicking the column label.
4. Export all the Issues to MS Excel by clicking the Export column.

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