Boards
Contents
Introduction to Boards
Boards are the key element managed in EasyBoards®. They can be used to manage activities and tasks.
Board creation
In this guide, you will learn how to create boards.
Boards can be created from templates or they can be created empty. To create a board you may use the + button in the boards window or access to the list of the "boards" (use menu Boards / Boards) and use the + button.
Watch this short video tutorial to learn how to create a board from a template.
Remember that to be able to create boards, users shall have the board creation privilege (see see Users & Groups for more details).
Boards layout management
Managing the layout of Boards very easy. In the following tutorial, you will learn how to create an empty board and how to manage its layout (adding lanes, moving lanes, removing lanes).
Types of lanes
Remember that lanes are of two types: composite lanes and card lanes. Composite lanes are lanes containing other lanes. Card lanes are lanes containing cards. Lanes can belong to one type only.
Composite lanes can have two layouts: Horizontal or Vertical. In Horizontal layout, created sub-lanes are placed one after the other horizontally (last created lane is placed as last on the right). In Vertical layout, created sub-lanes are placed one after the other vertically (last created lane is placed as last below the others).
It is possible to distinguish visually the two types of lanes because they have inverted background and text header colours.
Summary of the commands to manage the layout of lanes in a board
| Command | Use |
|---|---|
| Create a new lane in the board not contained in other lanes | This command is in the board toolbar and allows to add a lane to the board. Use this command to create a new lane in the board. The lane is placed as the last in the board vertically. |
| Create a new lane in a composite lane | This can be done by using the context menu of a lane. Recall the menu (use the three dots in the lane header, ...) and recall Create Lane menu item. |
| Change the position of a lane | This can be done by dragging and dropping the lane to be moved. Click on the lane (where the name of the lane is printed) header to start the process and move the it while keeping the left mouse button clicked. Drag the lane on the target lane to replace. The system will show with a green sign when the position is acceptable. Just release the mouse button to place the lane in the target position. |
| Remove a lane | This can be done by using the context menu of a lane. Recall the menu (use the three dots in the lane header, ...) and recall Remove menu item. |
| Rename a lane | This can be done by opening lane settings. Recall them by double clicking with the left mouse button the header of the lane (where the name of the lane is printed). Edit the Description field with the target name and press Save & Exit. |
For more information on lanes management, read Lanes.
Boards settings
It is possible to access boards settings from the boards toolbar, by clicking the Options icon.
The following table, explains the available options General form. Remember that to access settings you need to have sufficient privileges.
| Option | Use |
|---|---|
| Name | This is the name of the board and can be changed. |
| Status | This is the status of the board and can be "Active" or "Inactive". "Inactive" boards can be edited having the privileges but cannot be viewed and used by boards members. |
| Category | Defined by the application's Manager are used to categorize the Boards (eg. "Marketing","Training"). |
| Auto Assign Cards | If set, the system will automatically assign the creator as assignee of the card at creation time. |
| Rate (sec) | The rate, in seconds, used by the application to check for incoming updates or send them (in other words to synch with the backbone server). |
The following table, explains the available settings for Estimation form.
| Setting | Use |
|---|---|
| Story Point Scale | Here you can define the scale to be used to assign 'story points' to cards. Story points are used by agile teams to assign a complexity value to work. A fibonacci sequence can be used as the one pre-set. Just enter the values you want to use seprated by ','. You can use '.' for decimal values, for example '0.5'. |
| Show in Board | This comprehends a group of three settings to visualize Story Points, Forecast Effort and Actual Effort as icons on the card. Visualization will be triggered by Show Actuals/Estimations command on board toolbar. What shown will depend on the previous settings and Cards Sign Order' settings (see below). |
| Work Start Date | This is the start date and time the activities included in the board 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 board are expected to end. This information is used in some reports (see Reporting) and can be overwritten by the settings provided in lanes. |
Cards Sign Order form shows the order of signs when appearing graphically on the cards. The order of priority set is the one appearing in the list, from higher (up) to lower (bottom). it is possible to drag and drop the items to change the desired order.
To update settings press Update command. To discard, Cancel. The Reset command set back the default values.
Boards commands
Several commands are available for a board. They can be launched using the board toolbar clicking on the icons displayed in it.
The following table, explains the available commands. Remember that to use some of them you need to have sufficient privileges.
| Command | Use |
|---|---|
| Back to List | This command enable to leave the board and return to the EasyBoards® home page. |
| Create Lane | This allows to add a lane in the board. More information in Boards layout management. |
| Settings | This enables the management of settings for the board. More information available in Boards settings. |
| Members | This command allows to invite members to the board and to set privileges for them. More information available in Boards members and privileges. |
| Archive | Lanes and cards in a board can be removed (lost forever) or archived (removed from the board and stored in a repository from which they can still be restored later). This command allows to archive the whole board content. |
| Repository | This command allows to access the repository where archived lanes and cards can be search and, if needed restored to the original board. In the repository elements, cards or lanes, can be searched, selected and restored. |
| Cards List | This command allows to see all the cards has been created and their position in terms of lane, sublane |
| Set Lead time Targets | This command allows to set specific targets for the Lead Time report. In particular, the target target processing time of cards for each priority type of them. For more information about the available reports and their use, read Reporting |
| Collapse All | This command collapses all the lanes in the board. |
| Expand All | This command expands all the lanes in the board.. |
| Effort Estimation Report | This command allows to understand the relative weight of activities in the board and launch the homonymous report. For more information about this report and its use, read Reporting. When launched from here, the scope of the report will be the whole board content (lanes and cards). |
| Visibility | This commands allows to hide/show the top lanes of the board (and their sub-lanes). Specific lanes can be selected. |
| Filter | It allows to filter the cards in the board. Use Filter Term to set the search words, Highlight to highlight the matching cards but show all the others too, Show Only to show only the matching cards, Off to disable filter mode. |
| Search | It activates the search functionality that allows to find cards matching given words. The functionality lists the matching cards and allows either to open them or to locate them on the board/lane where they are positioned. |
| Reports | This allows to open the reports page from which it is possible to launch the reports for the board activities. For more information about the available reports and their use, read Reporting. |
| Progress View | This command allows to show the overall progress of activities in the board. For more information about this report, read Reporting. |
| Show/Hide Cards Estimations | This command allows to show or hide a sign on cards reporting the Story Points, if set for the card. |
| Show/Hide Cards Identifiers | This command allows to show or hide a sign on cards reporting the identifier number of the card. |
| Follow/Unfollow Cards Changes | This command allows to follow or unfollow the following main changes for all the cards of the board: creation of new card, archiving of a card, restore of a card from archive. These changes are notified to the other participants of the board (read Notifications). |
| Reset | This clears all the contents (lanes and cards) of a board. Note that the content is not archived and cannot be restored after being removed. Use this functionality with care. |
| Chats | The chat icon allows to open the chat console where it is possible to manage all the chats at the same time. For more information about the use of chats, read Chat. |
| Send | Synchronization with backend is done automatically to retrieve and send updates to content according to the time interval set in Rate (sec):. This command forces sending data before the next refresh interval. |
| Show Cards Estimations | This enables viewing complexity estimation for cards as icons on them. |
| Receive | Synchronization with backend is done automatically to retrieve and send updates to content according to the time interval set in Rate (sec):. This command forces retrieving data before the next refresh interval. |
Boards members and privileges
It is possible to invite users to a board and to set privileges to access functionalities for them. This can be done by using the Member board toolbar command (see also Boards commands).
Remember that you need to have the requested "Invite Members" privilege to invite, remove or set privileges for board members.
Invite new members
Only active users of the application can be invited (see Users & Groups).
To invite users, click Members in the board toolbar and then Invite in the opened window. Move required users or groups from the left Uninvited column to the right Invited one and press Apply.
Remove invited members
To remove member, click Members in the board toolbar and then Invite in the opened window. Move users or groups to be removed from the right the right Invited column to the left Uninvited one and press Apply.
Manage privileges for members
To manage privileges for board invited members first click Members in the board toolbar. Then decide if you want to edit single member privileges or those for group of users. You can switch from one mode to the other by clicking Resources or Groups in the opened window. For the visualized members or groups, just set the privileges as required. Note: privileges are immediately activated and you don't need to perform other actions.
The following table reports a description of the available privileges.
| Privilege | Rights |
|---|---|
| View | This is the minimum privilege. It allows to access the board and to view all its content (read all). |
| Edit Content | This allows to create and edit cards in the board. If set, it implies the "View" privilege too. |
| Edit Layout | This privilege allows to edit the settings and the layout of a board (its lanes). |
| Invite Members | This privilege enables to invite, remove and set privileges for the members of a board. |
| Collaborate | This privilege enables to use the collaboration features of EasyBoards®. In particular the chat (see Chat). |
| Edit Estimation | This privilege enables editing Estimation data for a card. |
| Edit Poker | This privilege enables starting a "planning poker" session. |
| Vote Poker | This privilege enables to vote during a "planning poker" session. |
| View Poker | This privilege enables to assist and visualize a "planning poker" session. |
Typical configuration privileges for a user are:
- "View" + "Collaborate". The user can view all the contents of the board and collaborate on items.
- "Edit Content" + "Collaborate". The user can create and edit cards and collaborate on items.
Boards templates
Board templates are models of boards containing a structure of lanes. Templates can be used to quickly instantiate new boards without the need of configuring them and thus, saving time. They allow allow to standardize the approach to deal with the same activities among different teams.
Creating a board template
Use the Board and then Board Template home page menu item to access to board templates management screen. Use the + icon to add a new template. You will need to enter Name, mandatory, Description of the board template and then click on Create to create and enter it.
Defining the layout of the board template is done in the same way described for actual boards. See Boards layout management for more details.
You can also manage board template settings defining the template Status.
Using a board template
When creating a new board, you have the option of to enable Use Template and then to chose from the Template field the one to be used to create the new board. Only templates with Status "Active" are listed.
The board will be created with the lane layout defined in the board template.
Removing a board template
Use the Board and then Board Template home page menu item to access to board templates management screen. Select the templates you want to remove by ticking the squared selector on the left of each template row. Finally press the X (Remove Template(s)) icon. The selected templates will be deleted:
- nothing will happen to boards already created using the deleted templates;
- the deleted templates can't be restored.
