Category: versionone

VersionOne – Release Planner ”; Previous Next Release Planning is an optional activity. In this planning, the development team schedules the work items to be delivered in a release, also called a project. As part of the effort, team estimates and prioritizes the backlog items and then breaks them down into a series of sprints/iterations. In general, there are two types of release planning − Tactical release planning is done at the backlog level. It schedules individual backlog items, defects or test sets for incorporation in a release. Strategic release planning is done at the feature level. It schedules the entire portfolio items which automatically brings along the lower level backlog items. To drive strategic plans, a team can use factors such as business value, risk, team velocity, and cost (swag at the portfolio item level or Estimate at the backlog item level). The Release Planner consists of Planning and Tracking activities. The planning activities group Release scheduling, Regression Planning and Team Scheduling while the tracking activities group Release Forecasting, Program Board and Delivery at a glance. The Release Planner and its activities can be accessed by clicking on the Release Planner as shown in the screenshot below − Release Scheduling Release scheduling is part of Release Planning. In this scheduling, release is scheduled for the project. A project can have multiple releases and in this stage, all releases are scheduled like when a release will go live and when all the release related works will be completed. The Lifecycle Release Scheduling feature is an optional release planning tool. It allows to build a release plan by scheduling stories/backlog items or portfolio items into releases. Release schedules an end date of release as well. To access Release Scheduling, from the main menu, select Release Planner → Release Scheduling. The following screenshot displays the Release Scheduling page − The items in the backlog grid on the left are “unscheduled”. In other words, they have not been added to a project/release. Note that once “scheduled”, the work item is removed and no longer displays in the backlog grid on the right. To add a backlog item into release, a user can drag and drop into Child Projects → <Release Name> at the left side as shown in the screenshot below − Team Scheduling Time Scheduling defines the timeline of the releases and completion as well as the start date of other backlog items. Timeline is the standard reference to re-distribute work items and resource allocation in the project. Team Scheduling allows the user to allocate and view workload across assigned teams working on selected projects/releases. In Agile, backlog is assigned to the team, not to individual team members. Team Scheduling displays how workload is distributed across teams and the capability to redistribute the work based on needs. The following screenshot displays the Team Scheduling page − Note − The Team Scheduling feature is being deprecated in favor of new Iteration/Sprint Scheduling page. Release Forecasting Release Forecasting provides analyzed data based on the end dates. It also provides analyzed velocity of the team to achieve targets at various ends dates. It is basically forecasting of the entire project from high level to the granular level with respect to different target dates. Following are a few important features of Release Forecasting − Release forecasting report simultaneously shows the forecasted end dates. This is based on optimistic, pessimistic and average velocity. These velocity values are calculated from the visible historical data. It also indicates the end date of the selected project; with this, a user can compare the forecasted dates to the planned end date. In addition, a user can forecast the end dates based on total estimate or workitems count. Release Forecasting can be accessed by navigating Release Planner → Release Forecasting. After the selection of report fields, click on Go. It displays the forecasting report. The following screenshot displays Release Forecasting − Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

VersionOne – Import Data ”; Previous Next VersionOne supports to import data to create stories, defects and other data from excel. Consider the following to import the data from excel. Rules for Excel file. Import the excel file into system. Additionally, VersionOne provides a template to import data. A user can download the template to utilize. Download Import Template VersionOne provides sample template to import. It is a combination of required and optional fields. A user can enter the details based on the requirement. In the following section, we will discuss how to download the sample template. Select Product Planner → Import. It opens the Import page. Click on the Download Basic Excel Template to download basic template. It is used to import the backlog items such as stories, defects, tests, tasks, etc. Click on the Download Advanced Excel Template to download advanced template. It is used to import more complex system assets, such as projects, iteration schedules, change sets, requests, etc. Following screenshot displays how to download template − A basic Excel template looks like the following − AssetType Name Scope Description Estimate Priority An advanced Excel Template looks like the following − Rules for Excel File Every template has some basic rules/checkpoints to be considered before importing the data. If these checkpoints fail, data will not be imported and error message displays. In this section, we will discuss the excel rules − Consider the following points while creating an excel file − The header of the first column should always be “AssetType”. The column should have the system name for the asset type. The system names for basic asset types are included in the comments in the templates. For example, for story it should be Story, Defect for each Defect and Issue for each issue, etc. The attribute data for the new backlog item should go to the remaining columns. The column header should be the name of the attributes. The column should contain the corresponding attribute value for that asset. Worksheets are imported into alphabetical order of worksheet name. In the same excel file, a user can reference a work item that was created in an earlier worksheet. For example, to create a project and stories within the project, first add the project in the first worksheet and then add the stories in the new project in a second worksheet. The backlog import template includes system names for default assets and fields. To include other assets or fields, including custom fields, please contact system administrator for the corresponding system names. User can remove unnecessary fields by deleting the column. To maintain data integrity, each Import is conducted within a single transaction. For this reason import is limiting to 500 items per import file. In the advanced template, there are 7 worksheets to upload 7 different items in single transaction. The Epics, Stories, Tasks, Tests, Defects, Requests and Issues form the order of the worksheet. Import Excel File Data can be imported into VersionOne using excel file. A user must check the checkpoints of the excel sheet before importing it. If the imports are successful, a user will get success message along with the imported count otherwise an error message displays. For partial successful import, both success and error message get displayed. In this section, we will discuss how to import the excel file. Follow these steps to import the excel file − Go to Product Planner → Import and click on Upload A Completed Excel Template File as shown in the screenshot below − An Excel Import pop-up appears wherein, a user browses the file and uploads. Now, click on the Import button as shown below − Once the import is done, a successful message displays or an error displays if there is any data issue. It also displays the type of asset imported and the total number of assets imported. The following screenshot shows a success message − Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

VersionOne – Templates ”; Previous Next VersionOne Templates allow creating and maintaining a grid-formatted repository. In this repository, it contains common, reusable stories/backlog items or defects. Using this grid, a user can − Create and manage story templates. Create and manage defect templates. Assign common repetitive tasks and tests to existing backlog items. Export templates to other projects. Add a Template Template helps to maintain uniformity throughout the project. It helps to write all the required and optional details at one place. Usually, the Project Leads or users in higher positions of the hierarchy can add a template. In this section, we will discuss about how to add a template − Follow these steps to add a template − Go to Product Planner → Templates as shown below. It opens the Template page. Click the Add Backlog Item Template or click the Add Defect Template. The Backlog Item (Template) or the Defect (Template) page opens. Enter the template information into the appropriate fields (the required fields are Title and Project). In the Defect template, the Resolution and the Resolution Details are added. Click on Save. The template gets added into the project. Create a Story/Defect from Template Once a template is created, user can add story/defect using the same. User can utilize template to add details. In this section, we will discuss how to create backlog item using the existing template. Follow these steps to create a story/defect from the template − Go to the Product Planners → Templates. It opens the template page. To add a story, click on existing template from Backlog Item Templates. Or, To add a defect, click on existing template from Defect Templates as shown below − It displays the template details. User can click on Edit and change the details if required. After editing click on Edit Dropdown → Generate Backlog Item to add a story. It will add the story and move the story into project. Upon clicking Generate Backlog Item, a user can see a new Story ID. Following screenshots display before generating a story from template − Following screenshot displays after generating a story from template − Similarly, a user can add a defect from the template. Click on Edit to change details. Now, click on Edit Dropdown → Generate Defect. It provides a unique defect id and the defect moves to the project. Move a Template to another Project VersionOne provides unique feature to move an existing template to another project. One template can be used across all projects to maintain uniformity at the company level. Follow these steps to move a template to another project − Go to Product Planner → Templates. It opens the Template page. Check the checkbox of the template that needs to be moved. After checking the checkbox, Click on the Move To Project button as shown below − A pop-up window appears wherein, a user selects the project to move the template. Now, click on the Move button as shown below. It will move the current template to another project. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

VersionOne – Conversation ”; Previous Next Conversation is one of the important features of VersionOne. It connects all members, stakeholders and others to actively participate and collaborate. Access and Participate In this section, we will discuss how to access and participate in a conversation. Conversation occurs at the left side of each backlog item and defect. It appears in the Team Room and the Planning Room. Conversation can be accessed through the Collaboration tab as well. For starting and replying in a conversation, a user can enter the message in the left side of the conversation box. To mention the team members in a conversation, type the first 3 characters of the name, it displays all the matched names. Select the name. A user can select multiple team members one by one. Once the selection is done, click on Share to start a conversation. If the email notification is enabled in preferences, all added members will get an email for the conversation. They will receive the email if any other member comments/replies to the same conversation. Following screenshot displays how to use conversations Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

VersionOne – Detail Planning ”; Previous Next In this chapter, we will see how Detail Planning works in VersionOne. The Detail Planning page helps display the list of all workitems in the current sprint. It also displays associated tasks and acceptance tests. The page makes it useful to identify, assign and estimate the activities those are required to complete the backlog scheduling in the sprint. The Detail Planning Page can be accessed by navigating Team Planner → Detail Planning as shown in the screenshot below − In the Sprint Summary section, a user can compare different values such as Total Estimate Pts, Detail Estimate Hrs, Total Done Hrs, Total To Do Hrs of the current sprint”s contents with the last closed sprint. In the Backlog Details section, a user can define Detailed Estimate and track progress directly at the backlog item or the defect level. A user can also create tasks or tests to further breakdown work for the team. The overall status can be seen by viewing the Status column of each item. The following screenshot displays the Detail Planning page − Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

VersionOne – Storyboard ”; Previous Next Storyboard displays the committed stories in the sprint. It displays the stories as card under different status categories. The Agile team uses the storyboard to track the progress of each story from the day 1 of the sprint to the completion of stories and acceptance by the product owner. Storyboard’s progress is highly visible and team members can identify easily the newly added stories in the sprint and what progress is done in the product development lifecycle. To access the Storyboard, go to Team Planner → (Sprint Tracking)→ Storyboard as shown below − View/Update Story Details A user can view/edit all details of the story including title, priority, estimation and dependencies. The only unmodified field is the unique id of the story, it can never change or get modified. It is similar to the backlog section. Follow these steps to update story details at Storyboard − Go to Team Planner → Storyboard. It displays the Storyboard page. The Storyboard page opens. Here, a user can see different categories as status and stories are placed under different status. The following screenshot displays the storyboard details − To view the basic details, hover over the title or ID. It displays the basic details of the story like title, id, description and estimation. To see the full story details, click on the story title or ID. Click the dropdown and select the Edit button, and then modify the story details. The following screenshot displays the story details and options − Along with edit, a user can copy, assign, close and rack the story using different options in the dropdown. Update Story Status The story status displays the current stage of story. Storyboard is categorized into various statuses to provide the current stage of the story. The status can be customized by the admin. In this section, we will discuss how to update the story status − The status columns in the storyboard are as follows – None, Future, In Progress, Done, Accepted. To update the status of a story from storyboard, go to Team Planner → Storyboard. Drag and Drop each story horizontally to a status column to update it. A user can update the status of a story at the other board as well. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

VersionOne – Issues ”; Previous Next In VersionOne, we can track impediments slowing down or blocking the progress of workitems such as story, defect, portfolio item or test set with the use of the Issues Page. In many cases, the impediments are small issues belonging to BA, Dev or test team; document or requirement delays can also be considered as impediments. With a little bit of attention, most of the issues can be quickly resolved and the impact minimized. If issues are unresolved, it can have a huge impact on the team and there is high risk of not completing the committed task. Access the Issue Page In this section, we will discuss the various ways to access the Issue page. An Issue Page can be accessed by either of the following ways − Product Planner → <Input> → Issues. Team Planner → <Sprint Planning> → Issues. Team Planner → <Sprint Tracking> → Issues. The following screenshot displays issues page − In this page, a user can view the summary of all issues like title, unique id, owner, priority, target date, projects and Team as shown in the above screenshot. Add an Issue All team members having project access can add issue and link with impacted backlog items. Issues can be logged not only related to backlog items but also process, delays in FSD or other documents, resource allocation and any other issue that is affecting the team to achieve their goal as a team. Issue also includes the Risk items. In this section, we will discuss how to add an issue. There are two ways to add issue − Navigate to the Issue page and click on the Add Issue button present at the top right side as shown below − Or, Go to the side menu bar and click on the + icon. Select Issues options from the Add New field as shown below − new window opens along with different fields to enter the details about issue. Once the details are entered, a user clicks on Save/Save & View/Save & New button to save the issue into the project. The following screenshot displays how to add an issue − View Issue Details All team members can view the details of the different issues. All issues have unique id and title. In this section we will discuss about issue details. To view the issue details, click on Title or ID anywhere it appears in VersionOne. Its unique ID starts with I and the yellow triangle that is an error symbol separates it from the story and the defect. Conversations and Activity Stream are present at the left side of the page. At the top right, the Action Menu is present. Relationship Links are present at the top bar. After that, the main page consists of the issue details. The following screenshot shows the Issue Details page From the Issue Details page, following tasks can be done using the tabs at the top right of the grid − If a user wants to… Do this… View all issue details Click the Details tab. View the change history for a issue Click the History tab. View a graphical representation of the issue”s relationships to other workitems Click the Visualize tab. Edit issue details Click the Dropdown arrow to select the Edit tab to open the Issue Edit window. A user can also open this dropdown menu to perform many other actions (Generate Backlog Item, Generate Defect, Copy, Close Issue, Delete and Watch Issue). The following screenshot shows the tab of high level tasks − Manage Issue Details At the bottom of the Issue Details page, a user can perform the following functions by clicking the Assign buttons. To remove any item, a user can click Remove from the selected field. If a user wants to… Do this… Assign the issue to a backlog item such as story, defects etc Go to the Backlog Items Blocked by This Issue and click Assign. Assign a defect to plan and track bug fixing work that was identified as a result of this issue. Go to the Defects to Resolve This Issue and click Assign. Assign a defect identified as blocked due to this issue. Go to the Defects Blocked by This Issue and click Assign. Assign a test set identified as blocked due to this issue. Go to Test Sets Blocked by This Issue and click Assign. Assign a request to this issue. Go to Requests and click Assign. Assign a retrospective to this issue. Go to Retrospectives and click Assign. Add a new link to remote documentation. Go to Links and click Add. Add a new file attachment Go to Attachments and click Add. The following screenshot displays how to manage issue details − Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

VersionOne – Sprint Planning ”; Previous Next Sprint Planning is also known as Iteration Planning. In this planning, agile team identifies the features to be worked on during a sprint. A planning meeting takes place at the beginning of every sprint. The team discusses the highest remaining prioritized backlog items and breaks them down into specific tasks and tests. Team also estimates the effort to complete them. Velocity and the teams past performance are used to determine the amount of work the team schedules into the sprint and commits to. Team members typically sign up for initial tasks during the meeting and later pick up additional tasks if time permits during the sprint. Sprint Planning is based on three pillars − Sprint Scheduling − In this phase, the team pulls the work that can be delivered from prioritize backlog. Detail Planning − Workitem lists in the sprint with all the associated tasks and tests. Member Planning − Current sprint work rolled up per member; it is the average capacity planning. These can be accessed by navigating Team Planner → (Under Sprint Planning) Sprint Scheduling/Detail Planning/Member Planning as shown in the screenshot below − Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

VersionOne – Defects ”; Previous Next In STLC, a user can create defects to plan and track fixes. Defects are work items of the Backlog. Similar to stories/backlog items, a user can estimate points to defects that factor into the team”s velocity. A user can break it into tasks and acceptance tests to allocate the work required to complete and deliver it. Defects are flagged as red symbol to identify and differentiate from other backlog items. Add a Defect Defect can be added by all the team members having project access. There are many ways to log a defect into VersionOne. In this chapter, we will discuss how to add a defect. Option 1 Go to Product Planner→ Backlog to open the backlog page. Click on Add Backlog Item Inline dropdown present at top right. It displays all available options. Click on Add Defect Inline option. It will quickly add a top row where user needs to enter detail and click on Save button. The following screenshot displays how to add a defect inline − Option 2 Go to Product Planner → Backlog Click on the Add Backlog Item Inline dropdown present at the top right. Click on the Add Defect option. A new window opens along with the different fields to enter details about the defect. Once the details are entered, a user clicks on the Save/Save & View/Save & New button. The following screenshot displays how to add a defect − The following screenshot displays the Defect Details page − Option 3 Click on the + icon at the sidebar menu. It opens the Add New options. Click on the Defect option as shown in the following screenshot − A new window opens along with the different fields to enter the details about the defect. Once the details are entered, a user clicks on the Save/Save & View/Save & New button to save the defect Access Defect Details Once the defect is logged, a user can view the details. In this section, we will discuss how to view the details of a defect. To view the defect details, click on Title or ID anywhere it appears in VersionOne. It opens the details of the defect in a pop-up window. Conversations and Activity Stream are present at the left side of the page. At the top right, the Action Menu is present. The Relationship Links are present at the top bar. The main page consists of the defect details. The following screenshot shows the Defect Details page − From the Defect Details page, the following high-level tasks can be performed using the tabs at the top right of the grid. If a user wants to… Do this… View all defect details Click the Details tab. View the change history for a story Click the History tab. View a graphical representation of the story”s relationships to other workitems Click the Visualize tab. Edit defect details Click the Dropdown arrow to select Edit tab to open the Defect Edit window. User can also open this dropdown menu to perform many other actions (Add Task, Add Test, Copy, Sign Me Up, Block, Split, Quick Close, Close, Delete and Watch Defect). Following screenshot shows the tab of high level tasks − Manage Defect Details At the bottom of the Defect Details page, a user can perform the following functions by clicking the Add or Assign buttons. To remove any item, a user can click Remove from the selected story. If a user wants to… Do this… Add a new task Go to Tasks and click Add Inline. Add a new test Go to Tests and click Add Inline. Assign upstream dependencies from available backlog Go to Upstream Dependencies and clickAssign. Assign downstream dependencies from available backlog Go to Downstream Dependencies and click Assign. Identify (select) issue(s) that have been resolved Go to Issues Resolved and click Assign. Select an existing issue to assign as a blocking issue Go to Blocking Issues and click Assign. Select existing backlog items that are affected by the defect Go to Breaks Workitems and clickAssign. Select an existing request Go to Requests and click Assign. Select an existing defect that breaks the selected story Go to Broken By Defects and clickAssign. Designate the most current build(s) affected by the defect Go to Last Affected Build Runs and clickAssign. Add a new link to remote documentation Go to Links and click Add. Add a new file attachment Go to Attachments and click Add. The following screenshot displays how to manage story details − Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;

VersionOne – Estimably ”; Previous Next Estimably is an estimation game. It is a cloud based estimation game that is used to play with sprint team to estimate the backlog items collectively. It helps in estimation for both co-located and remote team members. It works as group collaboration and combined with independent voting. When the team reaches a decision, it can automatically update the backlog item’s estimate. Estimably can be accessed in the Team Room by navigating Product Planner → Team Room. Now, click on Estimably as shown in the screenshot below − Start a Game There are some basic rules to play the estimation game. In this section, we will discuss how to start a game. Only the facilitator should start a game by clicking on the Start a Game button. The designated facilitator then communicates the URL and the Game ID to the participants. The participants log in to the game using that information. When they do, they are visible to the facilitator. The following screenshot displays how to start a game − By navigating to URL, it asks details to join the game. Enter the name and the Game ID and click on Join Game as shown below − Play the Game Once the game is started, all team members can play their part by choosing the estimation number. Here, facilitator plays an important role to start the round. Follow these steps to play the game. The facilitator drags an un-estimated item from the Backlog panel into the game. Click on the Begin Round button; this allows all participants to see numbers to estimate the item as shown below − At this point, the Product Owner again describes the item and the acceptance criteria to provide a good understanding. The Team Members can ask questions if any for more clarity. After that, the voting participants vote. As the voting occurs, the facilitator can see who has voted. Each participant can see a running total of the number of votes. When all participants have voted, the facilitator ends the voting round, which presents everyone the results as shown below − If there is agreement by all, then the facilitator simply submits the vote to save it to that work item and select another to estimate. If there is some variation in the voting, the team members can discuss their reasoning. At this point, the facilitator can elect to run the vote again or can select a verbally agreed-upon value to submit as the estimate. As soon as facilitator clicks on submit to workitem, the value gets updated as estimation into backlog item. Print Page Previous Next Advertisements ”;