Board Tracking
- David Ortiz
Table of Contents
Since version 7.0.0, Links Hierarchy Jira + Agile helps you keep track of your Agile boards issues in an easy and fast way.
You will know
Sprint progress
Sprint progress is affected by third issues
and more...
How to access board tracking?
You can access board tracking in an easy way from the Links Hierarchy option on the Agile board.
Depending on the type of Agile board, you will see the option Kanban Tracking or Scrum Tracking
How do I use board tracking?
The Agile board tracking screen is divided into two sections.
Select the source from where the issues will be taken for track progress.
Results of the request made.
How do I choose the source of issues to track?
To choose the source of the issues, three fields are provided.
Field | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
Sprint/Backlog Active/Backlog/All | Issues of a sprint, issues that are in the backlog... | Yes |
Fix Version | Select a specific fix version. | No |
Component | Select a specific component. | No |
Field “Sprint/Backlog” and “Active/Backlog/All”
Select the origin from which the issues will be taken. Available options vary depending on the type of Agile board:
For Kanban board: there are three options available.
1. Active Issues: set of issues that are being worked on.
2. Backlog: set of pending issues. (View Kanplan)
3. All Issues: all issues present on the board (Active Issues + Backlog)For Scrum board: the available options will be
1. Sprints: all the sprints of the Agile board.
2. Backlog: Agile board backlog.
Field “Fix Version”
Shows the Agile board versions. It allows working with a subset of issues over those seleted in the "Sprint/Backlog" or ”Active/Backlog/All” field.
For example,
if…
”Sprint/Backlog” = Sprint_1
”Fix Version” = Version-3
then…
Sprint_1 issues that have Version-3 in fix version will be taken.
Field “Component”
Show the components of the projects in Agile board. It allows working with a subset of issues over those selected in the "Sprint/Backlog" or ”Active/Backlog/All” field.
For example,
if…
”Sprint/Backlog” = Sprint_1
”Component” = Component-5
then…
Sprint_1 issues that have Component-5 in components will be taken.
“Fix Version” vs “Component”
You can use the “Fix Version” and “Component” fields simultaneously.
if…
”Sprint/Backlog” = Sprint_1
”Fix Version” = Version-3
”Component” = Component-5
then…
Sprint_1 issues that have Version-3 in fix version AND Component-5 in components will be taken.
Issues from different projects can appear on an Agile board, depending on the filter used by the board.
but a certain issue can only have versions and components defined in its project.
When this happens, the fields help to identify the version and component that you want to select, adding the project key as a suffix.
Both fields are synchronized.
If you select a version of a project, you can only select components from that project.
and vice versa, if you select a component of a project, you can only select versions of it.
How do I use the results?
A set of tabs showing the Tracking Summary will be displayed on the screen.
As well as the Hierarchy of the issues that are being used.
What is shown in the tracking summary tabs?
The Tracking Summary can show up to 4 tabs
Name | Description | Always visible? | Condition to be shown |
|---|---|---|---|
Issues | Shows the progress of resolved issues. | Yes |
|
Times | Shows global progress | Yes |
|
Story Points | Shows the progress of story points | No | If there is an issue in the hierarchy that has story points, the tab will be displayed automatically. |
Custom field | Shows the progress of the selected custom field | No | Have a custom field selected in the "Custom field" filter of the hierarchy. |
What is shown in the hierarchy of issues?
For the chosen issues source, it displays its issues as a hierarchy.
For example, if we want to work with sprint “3_2 Sprint 2“
it shows us the issues that exist in the sprint “3_2 Sprint 2“ as a hierarchy.
where…
The root node shows the source of issues being used.
Some examples,The children of the root node are the issues that are in sprint “3_2 Sprint 2“.
How does the hierarchy work?
The hierarchy works similar to the Tree View.
With the following difference:
More menu does not contain the Auto-expand option. The level 1 hierarchy is always displayed. From there, you can expand as much as you like.
That the hierarchy works similar to the Tree View gives you a powerful way to fine-tune the issues that you can track.
For expample, for sprint “3_2 Sprint 3”, I'm interested in tracking for errors.
First, the sprint is tracked…
So I can apply filters to get only Error issues in the hierarchy…
et voilà!!!!!
Can I know there are third issues that are affecting?
Yes, you just have to expand the hierarchy. Suppose a simple example like the following…
and we keep track of said sprint…
we expand the hierarchy...
and we can see how LI-27 is blocked by BAS-2, which affects the tracking global.
“Tracking Summary” vs “Hierarchy”
From the above examples, it can be easily deduced that "Tracking Summary" and the hierarchy are synchronized.
Any change in the hierarchy (applying filters, expand/collapse...) will be automatically reflected in "Tracking Summary"
FAQs
Why does it seem that the number of issues shown in the hierarchy is different from what I can see on the Agile board?
Although it may look different, the issues shown in the hierarchy are correct.
The issues that you can see on an Agile board will depend on the view you are viewing and its configuration.
Let's see it with examples:
For Kanban board.
For active issues, the hierarchy might show something like the following
If we look at the backlog view and Kanban board view
Backlog view | Kanban view |
|---|---|
It may appear that there are only 5 active issues, but what is there really? to… now… 6 issues in TO DO status + 1 issue in IN PROGRESS status = 7 issues. |
Similar to what is explained on the left side, when changing the "Epics panel" configuration… 6 issues in TO DO status + 1 issue in IN PROGRESS status = 7 issues. |
For Scrum board.
For a given sprint, the hierarchy might show something like the following
If we look at the backlog view and Active Sprint view
Backlog view | Active Sprint view |
|---|---|
We only see 2 issues in sprint 3_2 Sprint 6.
So this view by itself is not very useful to know the total number of issues, including subtasks. We can use the board's issue view to know the subtasks. BAS-8 has no subtasks
BAS-3 has 3 subtasks
2 Issues + 3 Subtaks = 5 issues | In Active Sprint view it is practically immediate to know the real number of issues. 2 Issues + 3 Subtaks = 5 issues The downside is that this view is not available for future or closed Sprints. |
Why doesn't it show issues when I check the backlog?
Obviously, the hierarchy won't show issues in the backlog, if the board doesn't show issues in its backlog either.
Make sure you have your Agile board correctly configured(the issues matches the board's saved filter, the issue's status maps to board backlog column…)
Why can't you choose the components of a project?
This can only happen when the app shows the following message
The app extracts the components that you can choose from the projects on the board. Sometimes, if the Agile board filter is complex, the Agile board cannot get the projects…
In these cases, the app tries to obtain the projects from the Agile board versions.
How does it affect getting the projects from the versions?
If there are projects that have components but no versions, the app will not be able to get those projects. Therefore, you will not be able to obtain its components.