Lanes
Introduction to Lanes
Lanes are board areas containing cards or other lanes. They allow to organize the layout of the board and provide the best configuration for the target activity or process to support. For example, they typically represent the process steps.
Read the Boards page to learn how to create and change the layout of lanes. In this page, you will learn how to mange specific settings and use commands on lanes.
Lane settings
To access lane settings double click with the left mouse button the lane header (where the name of the label is printed) or use the lane context menu (click on ...) and choose Options.
Remember that you need to have the board edit layout privilege to access lane settings, see Boards privileges.
Options are organized in different forms: General, Appearance, Flow, Policies, Estimation and Chat.
The following table, explains the available settings for General.
| Setting | Use |
|---|---|
| Description | This is the name of the lane appearing on its header. |
| Type | This setting can be defined only at lane creation time. Afterwards it is read only. It defines the type of lane (composite lane or card lane) and therefore its behaviour. For more information on lane types, see Types of lanes. |
| Layout | This setting can be defined only at lane creation time. It defines the type of lane. In "Horizontal" lanes, sub-lanes are added horizontally, in "Vertical" vertically. It is available only for composite lanes. |
| Minimum Width (cards#) | This setting defines the minimum width of the lane in number of cards that can fit horizontally. The actual size is automatically set to optimize layout but this minimum values is always respected. This setting can be changed any time and it is available only for card lanes. |
| Minimum Height (cards#) | This setting defines the minimum height of the lane in number of cards that can fit vertically. The actual size is automatically set to optimize layout but this minimum values is always respected. This setting can be changed any time and it is available only for card lanes. |
The following table, explains the available settings for Appearance.
| Setting | Use |
|---|---|
| Color | This defines the background colour of the header of the lane. |
| Text Color | This defined the colour of the text for the title of the lane. |
The following table, explains the available settings for Flow. These settings are available only for lanes of type card lane.
| Setting | Use |
|---|---|
| Cards Limit | This limits the Work in Progress (number of cards) in a lane to the maximum set. |
| Cards Limit Per Board Member | This applies the Cards Limit setting per each board member (and not for all). |
| Allow only if Story Points Set | If set, this setting allows to place in the lane only those cards with Story Point set (estimated) . |
| Allow only if Forecast Effort Set | If set, this setting allows to place in the lane only those cards with Forecast Effort set (estimated) . |
| Allow only if Actual Effort Set | If set, this setting allows to place in the lane only those cards with Actual Effort set. |
| Allow only if Assigned | If set, this setting allows to place in the lane only those cards with an Assignee set. |
| Backlog | If set, the lane will be considered a Backlog lane for the board. Accordingly, all the cards that are placed in the lane will be considered backlog and any information about the Commitment Point, Delivery Point and/or Work In Progress for the card will be reset. |
| Commitment Point | If set, the lane will be considered a commitment point for the board. Accordingly, the commitment point will be set for all the cards that are placed in the lane. See Reporting to better understand the use of commitment point. |
| Work in Progress | If set, the lane will be considered a Work in Progress lane for the board. Accordingly, all the cards that are placed in the lane will be considered Work in Progress. See Reporting to better understand the use of Work in Progress. |
| Delivery Point | If set, the lane will be considered a delivery point for the board. Accordingly, the delivery point will be set for all the cards that are placed in the lane. See Reporting to better understand the use of delivery point. |
Policies allows to enter a text that may be used to explain the meaning of the lane (e.g. what's going on for cards in it) and/or requisites that cards shall satisfy to be placed in it. They make clear the "rules of the game". The presence of a lane policy is highlighted with an information (i) icon on the lane header. By passing with the mouse on it, the policy content is shown.
The following table, explains the available settings for Estimation form that is available only for composite lanes.
| Setting | Use |
|---|---|
| Work Start Date | This is the start date and time the activities included in the lane (or sub lanes if not more specifically defined for them) are expected to start from. This information is used in some reports (see Reporting) and can be overwritten by the settings provided in lanes. |
| Work End Date | This is the end date and time the activities included in the lane (or sub lanes if not more specifically defined for them) are expected to end. This information is used in some reports (see Reporting) and can be overwritten by the settings provided in lanes. |
The Chat form allows to view and use the chatroom dedicated to the lane. For more information on chat tool, read Chat.
To update settings press Save&Exit command. To discard, Close.
Lane commands
Several commands are available for the lanes. To access lane commands use the lane context menu (click with the mouse on ...) and choose the requested command. Somme commands are available either as icons in the lane header. This behaviour is variable and automatic to optimize the lane header look&feel, depending on the environment (mobile, desktop) and size of the window where Easyboards® is running.
The following table, explains the available settings for General.
| Command | Use | Available in |
|---|---|---|
| Create Card | This allows to create a new card in the lane. The new card will be positioned top left. Alternatively it is possible to use the Create Card icon with the same result. | Card lane |
| Duplicate | This duplicates the lane and all its sub-lanes (cards excluded). The menu item has sub-items to define where to position the duplicated lane (e.g. As First Lane). | Composite lane and Card lane |
| Paste Card | This command allows to paste in the lane a previously copied card. | Card lane |
| Settings | This menu item allows to define lane settings. See Lanes settings for details on settings. | Composite lane and Card lane |
| Archive | This command allows to archive the lane and its content (sub-lanes and cards). The archived contents are removed from the board and moved to the repository (from where they can be restored). | Composite lane and Card lane |
| Remove | This command removes (deletes) the lane and all its content (sub-lanes and cards). The removed lane and content is lost and cannot be restored. | Composite lane and Card lane |
| Show Cards Estimation | This enables viewing complexity estimations for cards as icons on them. | |
| Cards List | This command allows to see all the cards has been created and their position in terms of lane, sublane | |
| Chat | It allows to view and use the chatroom dedicated to the lane. For more information on chat tool, read Chat. | |
| Refresh | This command forces the refresh (update) of the lane and all its contents, should someone else had updated it. The refresh of all the board is performed automatically according to the time interval set in Rate (sec): | Composite lane and Card lane |
| Reports | This command allows to launch reports for the lane. Currently the Effort Estimation report is available and it can be activated with the lane icon Effort Estimation Report. For more information about this report and its use, read Reporting. When launched from here, the scope of the report will be the content of the lane (and sub-lanes if applicable). | |
| Collapse | It allows to collapse the lane and all its content to save space in the board. The collapsed lane is shrunk but still visible. | Composite lane and Card lane. |
| Expand | This command allow to restore the original size of a shrunk lane and all its content. | Composite lane and Card lane. |
| Hide | This command allows to hide a lane and all its content. The hidden lane becomes no longer visible. | Composite lane and Card lane. |
| Visibility | It allows to make newly visible the hidden lanes. | Composite lane. |
| Collapse All | It collapses all the sub-lane of the lane. | Composite lane. |
| Expand All | It restore the original size of all the collapsed sub-lanes of the lane. | Composite lane and Card lane. |
