As with all systems, please ask your database administrator to make periodic backups of the ScrumWorks Pro database. There is no "UNDO" button so user error may result in a loss of data.
Although one ScrumWorks Pro Server permits multiple users, please be careful to avoid write conflicts when simultaneously editing a single Product. Although ScrumWorks Pro receives changes from the server with each request, you can use the Refresh function to manually update your screen if you suspect it's been altered (File > Refresh or the F5 shortcut key). An automated refresh will occur periodically while the ScrumWorks Pro client is open.
ScrumWorks Pro is a client-server application; that is, there is a Desktop Client that reads and stores data on a centralized server. This User Guide is intended for end users, see the Server installation documentation for instructions on installing the ScrumWorks Pro Server component.
The ScrumWorks Pro Desktop Client is a Java application that launches via Java Web Start. Java Web Start works by locally caching the application and obtaining updates from the server when available. All data access and storage is done on the server over a network connection, so you must stay connected to the intranet/internet during the course of your session.
A valid license is required to run ScrumWorks Pro. You should have received a trial license file with your download. Otherwise, you may request one through the ScrumWorks Pro web site. Trial licenses are typically valid for 35 days, and full licenses are available through CollabNet. Please contact the CollabNet sales office for purchasing information.
Once you have obtained a license file, please follow the directions below to activate your ScrumWorks Pro software.
Please be sure that you have properly installed your license before attempting to log in.
Once you have installed a valid license file, please follow these steps:
administrator with password password.
The Create Product Wizard guides you step-by-step through the decisions necessary to set up and quickly begin using a new Product. Using the wizard as a guide to new product creation will ensure that routine setup steps have been taken such as setting up teams, roles and permissions, and product properties.
At each step in the process, a Help tab gives explanations of information you will be asked for, and provides information on changing the settings once your Product has been created.
Note that if you cancel the Wizard at any time before clicking Finish, your settings will be lost, including any Teams or Users you have created as part of the setup process.
Once the Product is created, two things happen:
Required Permissions: Global Administrator
Both the Global Administrator and Product Administrator may change the product properties by selecting File > Product Properties.
Users with access to the new Product can open the Product from the main menu: "File" > "Open Product".
Conversely, when Users are removed from a Team, their access to Products the Team is associated with may be removed. When a Team is disassociated from a Product, Team member access to that Product may be removed as well. Setting this default is a quick way to control access to a Product via Team membership, rather than having to grant Product access to each User one-by-one in the User Manager.
There are two ways to set a default Role for Team members:
ScrumWorks Pro uses a docking framework for a number of major interfaces such as the Sprints by Team, Product Backlog, Release Planner view, Sprint Detail view, and editors for Backlog Items, Tasks, Releases, and Impediments. While some behaviors differ between each type of frame, there are some general behaviors that are shared among them.
The Product Window acts as a container for dockable frames. "Docking" refers to the behavior by which frames adhere to (dock) or detach from (un-dock) the boundaries of the Product Window and other frames. Frames belong and may only dock to their parent Product Window; For example, the Sprints by Team frame belonging to Product A may not be docked into the window for Product B. To help users keep track of frames' parentage, the titlebar of each displays the name of the Product to which it belongs.
By default, a Product Window opens with the Sprints by Team and the Product Backlog frames docked to the Product Window, sharing the available space. As other frames are opened, they dock to default locations, and frames that were already open adjust to make room for the new frame. Locations, sizes, and relationships between frames are persistent within and between Product sessions; Users may re-arrange locations and relationships of frames, and these locations are remembered by the application so that frames, when restored, return to the location where they were last opened.
Because this high degree of flexibility allows a user to create a potentially confusing arrangement of the Product Window, the default layout of frames can be restored by selecting "View/Restore Default View" from the main menu.
Many frames contain tabs to separate information and allow comparison of like data sets. Some of these tabs may be undocked into floating windows or docked alongside other tabs' information.
In the Sprints by Team frame, for example, individual Team tabs may be toggled to floating frames so that Sprints for two or more Teams may be viewed concurrently. This is done by clicking and dragging a tab, or double-clicking that Team's titlebar. To dock a floating Team frame back into the Sprints by Team frame, click and drag the individual Team's frame or double-click its titlebar, and it will return to the parent frame as a tab.
The Editors frame is another multi-tabbed frame into which Backlog Items, Tasks, and Impediments open when they are opened from the backlog or impediments frames. Opening Backlog Items, Tasks, or Impediments opens a tab for each into the Editors frame. These individual tabs may be undocked into floating frames, but they cannot be docked individually alongside other docked Editors.
When a large number of frames share the Product Window, it may be difficult to find a space where a dragged frame does not want to snap to a border or another frame. Holding the CTRL button down when dragging a frame deactivates the snap-to docking feature so that the frame may be easily moved without snap-to docking suggestions.
The Editors frame is a container into which Backlog Items, Tasks, Impediments, and Releases open from either backlog or the impediments frames. Opening Backlog Items, Tasks, Impediments, or Releases opens a tab for each into a parent "Editors" frame. These individual tabs may be undocked into floating frames, or docked back into the parent "Editors" frame. Individual editor tabs may not be docked apart from the parent "Editors" frame.
Using the controls at either the upper right (Windows) or upper left (Mac) corner, or by combinations of clicking and dragging the frame title bar, the Editors frame may be maximized to occupy the entire window; toggled to a floating frame; 'docked' back into the window; and minimized to a tab at the bottom of the window.
When an Editor is opened from the Product Window, the row selection in the Sprints by Team or Product Backlog frames corresponds to the item displayed and selected in the Editor: Clicking on the "∧" (Previous) and "∨" (Next) buttons in the editor moves the row selector up or down while the Editor displays the information for each successive or preceding item. Row selection follows the type of item in focus in the Editors frame: When clicking the up or down buttons from a Backlog Item, row selection is moved to the previous or next Backlog Item. If the same buttons are being used from a Task Editor, row selection moves only between Tasks. To streamline editing while scrolling in this manner through multiple Backlog Items or Tasks, changes are saved automatically upon clicking the Next or Previous buttons. The Next/Previous buttons are absent on Impediments.
Keyboard shortcuts: CTRL + DOWN ARROW (Next), CTRL + UP ARROW (Previous)
Note: the "∧" (Previous) and "∨" (Next) buttons are not available in the Release Planner view.
The "New" button adds a new tab of the same type to the Editors frame and focus moves to that tab so that information may be entered and saved. Information for new Tasks must be saved before the new Task appears below the last existing Task in the PBI.
Keyboard shortcuts: CTRL + N (New PBI), CTRL + T (New Task), CTRL + I (New Impediment)
ScrumWorks Pro has defined the following keyboard shortcuts to allow users to quickly navigate through the application.
This information is also available as printable, tri-fold keymaps for Windows/Linux and Mac OS X
| Windows | Mac | Action |
|---|---|---|
| CTRL+Q | CMD+Q | Close ScrumWorks Pro. |
| CTRL+W | CMD+W | Closes the current window. |
| ESC | ESC | Closes the current pop-up window or menu. Pop-up windows are dialogs with a cancel button. This action does not confirm changes, so be careful when using this key. |
| Windows | Mac | Action |
|---|---|---|
| ALT | OPT | Toggles the keyboard navigation for the main menu. |
| ALT+F | OPT+F | Opens the File menu. |
| ALT+E | OPT+E | Opens the Edit menu. |
| ALT+V | OPT+V | Opens the View menu. |
| ALT+U | OPT+U | Opens the User menu. |
| ALT+R | OPT+R | Opens the Reports menu. |
| ALT+T | OPT+T | Opens the Themes menu. |
| ALT+W | OPT+W | Opens the Window menu. |
| ALT+H | OPT+H | Opens the Help menu. |
| CTRL+O | CMD+O | Opens the Product chooser dialog. |
| CTRL+SHIFT+O | CMD+SHIFT+O | Opens the Program chooser dialog. |
| F5 | F5 | Refresh the current Product or Program. |
| CTRL+F | CMD+F | Opens Find. |
| ALT+N | OPT+N | Find the next incremental match. |
| ALT+P | OPT+P | Find the previous incremental match. |
| CTRL+U | CMD+U | Opens the user manager window. |
| CTRL+P | CMD+, | Opens the user preferences window. |
| CTRL+B | CMD+B | Opens the Release Burndown by Sprint and Sprint Change Report. |
| F1 | F1 | Opens the user guide in a browser. |
| Windows | Mac | Action |
|---|---|---|
| TAB | TAB | Toggles between the Sprint Backlog and Product Backlog. Focus returns to the last selection. |
| UP ARROW | UP ARROW | Scroll up one row within the Sprint or Product Backlog. |
| DOWN ARROW | DOWN ARROW | Scroll down one row within the Sprint or Product Backlog. |
| LEFT ARROW | LEFT ARROW | Expand the row selection. This option can be applied to a Release, Sprint, or Backlog Item. |
| RIGHT ARROW | RIGHT ARROW | Collapse the row selection. |
| ENTER | ENTER | Opens the item. For the Sprint row, this will open the Sprint Detail window. For a Release, Backlog Item, or Task row, this will open the corresponding editor. |
| PAGE UP | PAGE UP | Scroll up one page. |
| PAGE DOWN | PAGE DOWN | Scroll down one page. |
| HOME | HOME | Scroll to the top of the Backlog. |
| END | END | Scroll to the bottom of the Backlog. |
| CTRL+N | CMD+N | Opens a New Backlog Item editor. |
| CTRL+T | CMD+T | Opens a New Task editor. The Backlog Item drop down menu will be pre-populated with the current selected Backlog Item. The new task will be placed at the bottom of the tasks for the selected Backlog Item. |
| CTRL+C | CMD+C | Copy the current selected task(s). |
| CTRL+V | CMD+V | Paste the copied task(s) in the selected location. If the selected location is a Backlog Item, the task(s) will be pasted after the last task. If the location is a task, the copied task(s) will be pasted directly below the selected task. |
| ALT+ENTER | OPT+ENTER | Opens the context menu for the selected row. |
| DELETE | DELETE | Delete the currently select Product Backlog Item or Task. |
| CTRL+E | CMD+E | Switch focus to an open Editor. |
| Windows | Mac | Action |
|---|---|---|
| CTRL+E | CMD+E | Toggle focus between open Editors. |
| CTRL+Shift+E | CMD+Shift+E | Reverse direction of focus toggle between open Editors. |
| CTRL+R | CMD+R | Switch focus to "Sprints By Team" or "Product Backlog" from an Editor. |
| CTRL+L | CMD+L | Locate the current item on the window it was opened from. Not available in Impediment Editors. |
| CTRL+S | CMD+S | Save changes and keep Editor Open ("Apply" button) |
| ENTER/CTRL+ENTER | ENTER/CTRL+ENTER | Save changes and close Editor. |
| ESC | ESC | Close Editor in focus without saving ("Cancel" button) |
| CTRL+UP | CMD+UP | Open previous item in Backlog in place of currently open item (only in Editors where the Next/Previous buttons are available). |
| CTRL+DOWN | CMD+DOWN | Open next item in Backlog in place of currently open item (only in Editors where the Next/Previous buttons are available). |
| CTRL+N | CMD+N | Create new Backlog Item (only in Backlog Item Editors). |
| CTRL+ALT+N | CMD+ALT+N | Copy description text as a new Backlog Item. If description text is selected, only the selection will be copied. If no text is selected, the whole description is copied. |
| CTRL+T | CMD+T | Create new Task (only in Backlog Item and Task Editors). |
| CTRL+ALT+T | CMD+ALT+T | Copy Task description as a New Task. If description text is selected, only the selection will be copied. If no text is selected, the whole description is copied. |
| CTRL+I | CMD+I | Create new Impediment (only in Impediment Editors). |
Under the "Help" menu, there is an option to "Contact Support". Selecting this menu option will open the default browser to the ScrumWorks Support web site.
Some usage information about your ScrumWorks Desktop Client and Server will be submitted to the ScrumWorks Support website. The data collected is the same data shown in Help > About under the "Database counts" and "System properties" sections.
The only time the data can be used to identify your particular installation is if you choose to submit it to the ScrumWorks Support Team via the website. If you do not wish to have your usage/system information associated with your support request, uncheck the "Send System Information to Danube" checkbox on the website.
NOTE: on selecting this menu option, usage data is always submitted from your client to our server. Anonymous usage information is collected and aggregated to better meet the needs of our customers.
An "Active" product is one which contains a currently running Sprint, had a Sprint that finished within five days, or has a Sprint that will start in the next five days.
Selecting a product and clicking the "Open" button opens a Product Window for the product. ScrumWorks Pro lets users open more than one Product Window for the same product.
ScrumWorks Pro allows for multiple products to be open at once. To open another product, use the "File" > "Open Product..." dialog, or the keyboard shortcut key: CTRL + O.
Note, users can open the same Product many times. This configuration is valuable for moving Product Backlog Items large distances in the Product Backlog.
If you would like your database to be backed up first, select 'Yes', otherwise click 'No' (default "Hypersonic" database only). 'Cancel' aborts the delete operation.
Backup the attachments by copying the following directory to your backup medium:
The Backlog Item Workflow tab in the product properties allows you to define a custom work flow for your products' backlog items.
There are three status types for all products:
To create a new status, click on the Add button. The Add Status dialog will allow you to specify the name of your new status, as well as the status type. The status type will determine how the status is accounted in reports. For example, setting backlog items to any custom status with "Done" status type impact burndown charts and velocity reports.
The status name must be unique for the product.
Required Permissions: Product Admin
To manage custom statuses open the "File > Product Properties" pane and select the "Backlog Item Workflow" tab. A custom status label may be edited by double-clicking the line-item or selecting the line-item and clicking "Edit". The status label may be edited; however, the status type may not be altered because the type is determined by the position of items (e.g., In Progress items must be associated with teams).
By modifying the order of the statuses, one can imply a "backlog item workflow" on the product in question. Workflow may be used to represent sequential steps in the development process. Workflow order can be altered by dragging a custom status row and dropping the row into your desired location. The position of the status in the list determines the status list order on all backlog item editors for the given product. Note that the workflow does not force each status to be selected sequentially; rather, it is designed to act as a workflow guideline.
The first custom status of each status type will be the default custom status. Default statuses are used when the application must infer a status on a user's behalf. For instance, when moving backlog items from the backlog (Not Started type) to a team's sprint (In Progress type), the default custom status associated with the "In Progress" type will be selected.
Custom statuses may be deleted by selecting the status to be removed and clicking the "Delete" button. Because there may be backlog items associated to the status you wish to delete, when deleting a status you will be prompted to associate those backlog items to a different status of the same type.
Default statuses cannot be deleted. To get around this constraint, set another status to be the default or create a new status of the same type and make it the default. A status can be deleted once it is no longer a default.
The Product Window by default opens as a dual-framed interface, with the Sprints by Team frame on the left containing current and historical Sprint information per Team, and the Product Backlog frame on the right containing Product Backlog Items divided by planned Releases. Note that both frames may contain Backlog Items and Tasks; they each may be created directly in either frame, or may be dragged across the divider from one frame and dropped into another.
Using the controls at the upper right (Windows/Linux) or left (Mac) corner of each frame or by combinations of clicking and dragging the frame titlebars, each frame may be maximized to occupy the entire window; toggled to floating frames; 'docked' back into the window; and minimized to become tabs at the left or right sides of the window.
Keyboard shortcuts are available for navigating the Product Window.
This frame is typically used for planning Sprints, making daily updates to Tasks, and for Sprint reviews. It organizes Backlog Items and Tasks by Sprints (historical and currently running), and is divided by Team, each with its own tab. Individual Team tabs may be toggled to floating frames so that Sprints for two or more Teams may be viewed concurrently. This is done by clicking and dragging a tab, or double-clicking that Team's titlebar. To dock a floating Team frame back into the Sprints by Team frame, Click and drag the individual Team's frame or double-click its titlebar, and it will return to the parent frame as a tab.
For more on using the Sprints by Team frame, see Sprint Management.
For more information on docking behavior, see General Docking Behavior.
This frame is typically used for prospective release planning as well as Backlog Item prioritization. It organizes a list of outstanding Backlog Items and Tasks by Release. Product Backlog Items can be created in the Product Backlog and prioritized within and between Releases.
For more on using the Product Backlog frame, see Product Backlog Items and Release Management.
Backlog Items and Tasks may be exported to a printable format that allows users to print Backlog Items and Tasks as story cards for use on task boards or similiar. All titles will be fully visible. If a title spans the allotted space, fields at the bottom of the card will not be visible. Remaining fields have been compressed to maintain readability. Certain unsupported characters will be displayed as "?".
Four cards will be printed on a single sheet of paper in either US Letter (8.5"x11") or A4 (210 x 297mm) format. The US Letter size formatting is compatible with the Avery brand template 8387 (5-1/2" x 4-1/4" postcards) perforated sheets.
You have the following options for printing:
There are several ways to create a PBI in the Product Window.
Required Permissions : Create Product Backlog Item
Enter the Estimated effort remaining in the units specified for the product. Please note that effort estimates must be whole numbers (no decimals). The field may be left empty to indicate an unestimated Backlog Item. They appear with an estimate of "-" in the Product.
See Edit Product Backlog Item Estimates for more details about the various Backlog Item estimates.
Enter Benefit and Penalty estimates. The values entered here, in combination with the Effort estimate, generate a number of calculations by which the Backlog Item may be measured relative to its Release, Product, and other Backlog Items.
See Earned Business Value (Business Weight) for more on these calculations.
Product Backlog Items can be deleted in ScrumWorks Pro, but deleting PBIs can have unintended consequences when it comes to metrics. PBI effort estimate values and the historical log of changes to those values are used in Scrum metrics like the Release Burndown Reports.
Please consider carefully before deleting a PBI whether:
ScrumWorks Pro therefore gives users the option of simply removing the PBI from view or permanently removing the PBI and all effort estimation history.
For example, a user may create a "test" Backlog Item and assign it effort. The user then intends to delete the PBI because it was only a "test". In this case, the user probably wishes to permanently remove all effort estimation history in the delete operation.
As a counterexample, consider a PBI that was added by the Product Owner several sprints before the current sprint. Now, however, the Product Owner announces to the team that this PBI is no longer needed for the product because business conditions have changed. In "deleting" the PBI, the team probably wants to preserve the effort impact this PBI imparted on previous sprints because removing its history would skew historical metrics.
Required Permission : Delete Product Backlog Item
When accepted by the product owner, backlog items may be set to a "done" status type to signify completion of the feature or technical task represented. Backlog item statuses may be customized, and selection of any "done" type status will register the completion of the backlog item.
Backlog items completed in sprints contribute toward the team's velocity when marked "done" in the context of the Sprint.
To set a backlog item "done" via the editor:
The product window will indicate the done status with a green check mark and greyed text.
Note: backlog items may only be completed while associated to a team. Backlog items marked "done" cannot be moved to the product backlog side of the product; the "done" status must first be altered.
Required Permission : Mark Product Backlog Item as Done
To prioritize Backlog Item(s) select and drag them to their desired location.
When you drop a single or group of Backlog Items into a Sprint or Release filtered by Theme, the Backlog Item(s) will be prioritized immediately below the item (i.e. Backlog Item, Sprint, or Release) above the drop indicator, displacing downward all other items whether or not they are visible.
It maybe cumbersome to move Backlog Items large distances in the Product Backlog via drag-and-drop. Instead, use the "Move to Release" feature documented in the Associate Backlog Items to Release section.
Required Permission : Prioritize Sprint/Product Backlog
A backlog item's status may be edited in the desktop client by opening the backlog item in question and changing the status selection.
Note that the list of available statuses is limited by the location of the backlog item. For instance, only "Done" and "In Progress" type statuses are available for backlog items in a sprint, and the "Not Started" type statuses are only available for backlog items in the product backlog area.
Please read the section on backlog item status customization for more information on status types and customization.
Early Scrum literature recommends estimating the effort of Backlog Items in ideal team days, but many of us prefer less concrete-sounding backlog effort estimation units. Alternative units might be Story Points, Function Points, or "T-shirt sizes" (1 for small, 2 for medium, etc.). The advantage of vaguer units is they're explicit about this fact: estimates at this level are rough guesses that should never be confused with concrete estimates of work time to completion.
Whatever your preference, ScrumWorks Pro allows you to specify your choice of backlog effort estimation unit when you create a product or change its properties. Note that Sprint Tasks are distinct from Product Backlog Items and Task effort remaining is always estimated in hours. As a result, ScrumWorks Pro will not sum task hours to equal backlog effort.
Required Permission : Estimate Product Backlog Item
A Key is a combination of a Prefix of a user-chosen string of characters with an automatically generated number joined by a hyphen (ex: SW-234) used to uniquely identify a Backlog Item. The number portion of each Key is generated on a per product basis upon creation of each new Backlog Item. Numbers are generated sequentially and may not be changed.
The Key Prefix may be changed by a user with Global Administrator or Product Administrator permissions. When a Key Prefix is changed, all Backlog Items using that Prefix are updated.
To set or edit Backlog Item Key:
Users with permission to view product backlog items can add or view all comments.
Comments are listed in reverse chronological order with the most recent comment at top. Each comment includes the user that entered the comment and the time the comment was created on the server.
Note: A single comment is limited to 32767 characters. Text exceeding the limit pasted into the comment field will be truncated. Any HTML will be escaped and displayed as entered.
Files may be attached to Backlog Items for reference and illustration purposes. Files of any type may be uploaded, and multiple files may be attached to any Backlog Item. Multiple copies or versions of the same file may be uploaded to any Backlog Item.
On the Server, the uploaded files are stored in the "attachments" sub-directory of the ScrumWorks Pro Server data directory (INSTALLDIR/server/scrumworks/data).
A file is attached to a Backlog Item in the Attachments tab of the editor for a Backlog Item. This tab displays a table listing all existing attachments by file name, date uploaded, the name of the person who attached the file, and the file size.
Attached files may be downloaded to a user's computer by selecting the row corresponding to each desired file and clicking the "Download" button. Similarly, files may be removed from the Backlog Item and deleted from the directory by selecting the row(s) and clicking the "Remove" button.
In the resultant dialog titled "Attach File to Backlog Item", a text box appears into which you may enter the path to the desired file; or, click the "Browse" button to find the file using your operating system's file-browsing interface.
Note: If the file-browsing interface is taking a long time to appear, you may need to upgrade to the latest version of Java on the client machine. This is caused by a known Java bug that is fixed in Sun's latest Java 1.6 update.
Click the "Download" button to begin downloading every selected file. A "Please wait..." message appears while the files are being downloaded. When the download is complete, a notification appears listing the directory the files were saved to and the files that were successfully downloaded.
The confirmation dialog will list all of the files that were not successfully downloaded with its corresponding error.
If the filename already exists in the directory, the downloaded file will have a number appended to its filename.
You can open a Backlog Item editor in the web client from the Backlog Item editor in the desktop client. The web client allows you to view all of the tabs of the desktop client's editor at once.
To open the web client editor from the desktop client: Click on the Backlog Item's key in the desktop client, this will open a new page in your default web browser.
Note: If you are not currently signed into the web client, you will be asked to sign in before viewing the web client editor.
In Scrum, a Task (or Sprint Task) is a unit of work generally between 4 and 16 hours. Tasks describe how Team Members intend to complete Product Backlog Items. In this sense, Tasks are subordinate to Backlog Items. Team Members volunteer for Tasks. They update the estimated number of hours remaining and/or the Task status on a daily basis, influencing the Sprint Burndown Chart.
Note: CollabNet encourages splitting a task into several if the estimate exceeds 12 hours. Also, excluded days are not reflected in the Sprint Burndown charts.
Required Permissions : View Task
Enter the Task Title, Task Description (See Description Field Editing and Syntax for tips on entering a description), the Point Person and Estimated Hours remaining for the task. The associated product Backlog Item will be pre-selected based on the context from which the task was created but may be changed at this time.
Note: you can use the Task Description field to list any specific "definition of done".
Tasks can be prioritized within the Product Backlog Item in which they currently reside using drag-and-drop.
Required Permissions : Create, Edit, Delete Task
Tasks can be created by copying and pasting existing tasks to lessen the chore of adding similar tasks.
Required Permissions : Create, Edit, Delete Task
Right-click on any of the selected Tasks and choose "Copy Task(s)" from the menu (keyboard shortcut: CTRL + C).
The following attributes of the selected Tasks will be copied: title, description and the most recent estimate.
Select a Product Backlog Item or a Task as the target of the copy. Right-click on the selected target and choose "Paste Task(s)" from the menu (keyboard shortcut: CTRL + V).
If the target is a Product Backlog Item, the copies of the Tasks will be added at the bottom of the PBI's Task list. If the target is a Task, the copies will be added right below it.
Users with permission to view tasks can add or view all comments.
Comments are listed in reverse chronological order with the most recent comment at top. Each comment includes the user that entered the comment and the time the comment was created on the server.
Note: A single comment is limited to 32767 characters. Text exceeding the limit pasted into the comment field will be truncated. Any HTML will be escaped and displayed as entered.
A Sprint is an iteration of work during which an increment of product functionality is implemented. By the book, an iteration lasts 30 days; ScrumWorks Pro allows any length Sprint.
The Sprint follows a one-day Sprint Planning Meeting. Many Daily Scrum Meetings occur during the Sprint (one per day). At the end of the Sprint we have a Sprint Review Meeting, followed by a Sprint Retrospective Meeting.
According to Scrum rules, the team must not be interrupted with additional requests after a Sprint has been negotiated and started. Guaranteeing the team won't be interrupted allows it to make real commitments it can be expected to keep.
By default, weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) are excluded from newly created Sprints. All excluded days will be omitted from the date axis of the Sprint Burndown chart.
Required Permissions: Create, Edit, Delete Sprints
To edit the exclusion dates:
Required Permissions : Prioritize Sprint/Product Backlog
Product Backlog Items can be added to Sprints in two ways:
Sprints that do not contain any Backlog Items or tasks may be deleted. However, to protect against deleting data accidentally, users cannot delete populated sprints.
Required Permissions : Create, Edit, Delete Sprints
A Release is commonly defined as the transition of an increment of potentially shippable product from the development team into routine use by customers (internal or external). Releases typically happen when one or more Sprints has resulted in the product having enough value to outweigh the cost to deploy it.
"The product is released to customer or marketplace obligations. The release balances functionality, cost, and quality requirements against date commitments." (Schwaber/Beedle, Agile Software Development with Scrum, p. 80)
ScrumWorks Pro allows you to define two kinds of releases - Product and Program - and group Backlog Items into them. Product Releases are designated in the main Product Window by dark blue rows. Program Releases are designated by black rows. This section discusses Product Releases only. For a discussion of features specific to Program Releases, see the section Programs section.
A Product Release in ScrumWorks Pro can have dates/schedules associated with it. Alternatively, a "Release" can be used without dates to imply a free-form sub-grouping of the Product Backlog. Releases without schedules implied will not show up in progress reports.
There are two ways to create a new Release in the Product Window.
Required Permissions : Create, Edit, Delete Releases
Required Permissions : Create, Edit, Delete Releases
There are three ways to associate PBIs with releases:
Releases can be archived by any user with the Create/Edit/Delete/Archive Releases permission in order to hide them from default view in the Product Backlog and Release Plan by Theme frames. To be archived, a Release must not contain any uncommitted Backlog Items, and must not be the last remaining Product Release in the Backlog. When a Release is archived, it is effectively deactivated, and a number of functions are disabled:
Backlog Items may not be added to, moved to, or created in Archived Releases.
Backlog Items may not be imported into Archived Releases.
Records from external applications such as JIRA or Bugzilla may not be downloaded to Archived Releases.
Archiving a Release has no effect, however, on its appearance in reports.
There are two ways to archive a Release:
Archived Releases by default are hidden from view in the Product Backlog and Release Plan by Theme frames. They may be made visible by selecting "View/Archived Releases" in the main menu. When displayed, archived Releases are differentiated from active Releases by a greyed-out title and entries for various statistics total such as Backlog Effort, ROI, and rBV. Despite being visible, archived Releases are still unavailable to various actions and interfaces that are disabled by their archived status.
There are two ways to restore an archived Release:
Releases that do not contain Product Backlog Items may be deleted; users cannot delete populated Releases. Also, there must be at least one Release per project at all times.
Required Permissions : Create, Edit, Delete Releases
Epics may be used to define primary, high-level areas of work for a particular release. They consist of Themes specified with a description or "Done Criteria" and an effort budget to clarify the intent or expectation for that Theme in that Release. The same Theme can thus be used as an Epic in multiple Releases, but - with different scope definitions each time it is used as an Epic - it can be made to represent a unique set of features or capabilities from release to release.
Epics are most useful in the context of the Product Release Planner. Refer to its documentation for more information.
From the Release Planner frame, double-click the Epic row, or right-click and select "Edit Epic";
From the "Epics" tab of the Release Editor, double-click the Epic row, or select it and click the "Edit" button.
The Release Planner frame provides an Epic-oriented viewpoint of Releases, with Product Backlog Items (PBIs) scheduled for Releases grouped by Epics. Epics are Theme-derived goals for a Release. They consist of a description or "done criteria" and an effort budget added to Themes to define a Release planner's intended high-level goals for the Release. The PBIs associated with any given Epic are listed in priority order as it has been determined within the Product Backlog frame. The Epics themselves are also listed in priority, as determined in the Epics tab of the Release editor. For more information, see Prioritizing Epics.
Epics are designated by green folders appearing under each dark blue Release row. When an Epic is created for a Release, all the PBIs scheduled for that Release that are marked with the defined Theme will appear under that Epic in the Release Plan view.
Releases will likely require the addition of PBIs that do not correspond directly to the primary high-level Release goals and therefore are not included in any Epic. To house any work that does not correspond to an Epic, such PBIs are grouped into a designated black folder titled "Uncategorized". Before any Epics have been defined for a Release, this folder will contain all PBIs that have been scheduled for the Release. The sum of the Uncategorized Backlog Items' effort is displayed in the Backlog Effort column of the Uncategorized row. This sum should be considered when determining the status of the Release and committing more work to Epics. A budget for this sum may be set in the Epics tab of the Release editor, similarly to how budgets may be set for Epics.
As in the Product Backlog frame, all Releases not archived appear in the Release Planner frame. For a given Release, the Release Plan view shows the total Backlog effort currently slated for inclusion in the Release for each Epic, and in the Uncategorized folder. The status of each PBI is also listed in this view (not started, in progress, done, etc.) providing an at-a-glance picture of overall status by Epic.
The Release Planner frame is not visible by default and must be opened from the View menu, or by clicking the "Release Planner" button from the Product Backlog frame. By default, the frame opens underneath the Product Backlog frame, in the lower right corner of the Product Window. It may be dragged and docked to any other position within the window, un-docked to a floating position, or minimized to a tab on the right side of the Product Window. "Restore default view" from the View menu will restore an open Product Release Planner frame to the lower right corner. Clicking the "X" control in the upper right corner of the frame closes it.
As Backlog Items associated with Epics are added to the Release, Epic effort budgets, effort estimates, and progress toward completion are reflected in the following columns:
Because Programs typically organize work across multiple Products, Program-level Releases are accessible from certain Product interfaces. In order for a Program Release to be available to a Product, that Product must first be included in a Program. This inclusion is made in the Program editor (see Create Program and Include Products).
Once a Product has been included in a Program, that Program's Releases appear in all Product interfaces where Releases are expressed: in the Product Backlog, the Release Plan by Theme frame, and various Release selectors such as found in the Backlog Item editor Basic Info tab. Program Releases are differentiated by a black Release Row where Product Releases use a blue row, and by the display of the originating Program's name in parentheses after the Release name.
From the Product Window, users with Edit Product Release permissions can add both Product- and Program Epics to Program Releases, appending Program Epics with descriptions and effort budgets specific to their particular Product. This allows Product Owners to clearly delineate which parts of a Program Epic are their responsibility, and to set individual Product-level goals for a Program Release.
Note: In the Release Planner frame, Program Epics are denoted by the same green folders as Product Epics, but are differentiated by bold type used for the Epic name, whereas Product Epic names are displayed in regular type.
Program Epics may be removed from Product Releases just as Product Epics are. Note, however, that removing a Program Epic from within a Product Window context merely removes that Product's association to the Program Epic; the Program Epic itself is not deleted, and remains a feature of the Program Release, available for use by any included Product. In contrast, removal of a Product Epic deletes that Epic and its description and budget entirely.
Column displays for Program Releases in the Product Window are similar to those for Product Releases, with the following difference: Where displayed, amounts for Backlog Effort (and effort budgets where specified) denote the totals from that Product only, not for all Products contributing to the Program Release.
A Product Owner may wish to give priority to backlog items in a certain Epic over those in other Epics. For this reason, Epics can be prioritized by their order of appearance within the Epics tab of the Release Editor, similarly to how positioning of Backlog Items in the Product Backlog or Sprints by Team implies priority. This priority is determined by the order of listing in the Release Editor. When an Epic is created, it is by default added to the bottom of the list, and therefore is of least priority. The listing order in the Release Editor dictates the listing order in the Release Planner view.
To change an Epic's priority order in the Release Planner:
This column represents the estimated effort remaining for each task created.
Required Permissions : View Task
This column shows the current status of the backlog items and tasks.
Required Permissions : View Task to view the Task statuses.
This column represents the Business Weight for individual backlog items. Please see the Edit Business Weight section for more information on Business Weight.
Required Permissions : View Business Weight
This column represents the Release Business Value for an individual PBI, which is the percentage of the sum of all Business Weights per Release. Please see the Release Business Value section for more information on Release Business Value.
Required Permissions : View Business Weight
This column represents a Return on Investment (ROI) index for an individual PBI, which is the rBV divided by the percentage of Backlog effort. Please see the Return on Investment section for more information on ROI.
Required Permissions : View Business Weight
URLs in the description fields for Backlog Items, Tasks, Impediments, and Sprint Goals are clickable, like in a browser.
Hypertext links can be added to description fields simply by entering a URL. For example:
If a Sprint contains Backlog Items, it can be collapsed to hide the Backlog Items. Similarly, Releases can be collapsed if they contain Backlog Items and Backlog Items can be collapsed if they contain Tasks.
To collapse a Sprint, Release, or Backlog Item, click the '-' (minus) icon next to the title. To expand the item, click the '+' (plus) icon.
Alternatively, use the LEFT ARROW and RIGHT ARROW to collapse and expand respectively Sprint, Release, and Backlog Item rows.
When a Backlog Item is collapsed, the sum of its tasks' hours will appear in the 'Task Hours' column.
The list of items you have collapsed is stored on the server. The next time you open the product, the Sprints, Releases, and Backlog Items you collapsed in the last session will still be collapsed. Each user's preferences are stored separately so you don't have to worry about having your changes stepped on.
Within the Product Window, users may select multiple Backlog Items for dragging and dropping between Sprints in the Sprints by Team frame, or between a Sprint and the Product Backlog frame. Users may also drag and drop multiple Backlog Items within the Product Backlog for prioritization or release planning.
Multiple Tasks may also be selected and moved between PBIs.
You may select a set of adjacent Backlog Items or Tasks, or noncontiguous groups:
You can search for text within the Key, Backlog Item or Task title using the menu item "Edit" > "Find..." (shortcut: CTRL/COMMAND+F).
Use the Find bar at the bottom of the screen to find any item in the product backlog which contains the search term entered in its title. The Find function is limited to searching PBI and Task titles only.
Users can navigate through the results using the "Next" and "Previous" buttons, or the following shortcut keys:
If no match is found, the Find field background color will change to red.
When done, you can close the Find dialog using the red X button on the bottom left (shortcuts: ALT+C, Esc).
In the User Information section of the User Preferences dialog, you can change your password, display (first and last) name, and e-mail address.
If your organization uses a directory server to manage login information, these fields will be disabled.
Users may receive notifications of Change Log entries via e-mail, filtered by Backlog Item, Tasks, and Team ownership criteria. In order to use this feature, the ScrumWorks Pro server must first be configured to send e-mail notifications to users based on certain events. The notification feature in the ScrumWorks Pro client will be disabled if a mail server is not configured. To enable this functionality, see the Mail Server Configuration section.
Once the mail server has been configured, users may set notification preferences:
Themes are the primary mechanism in ScrumWorks Pro for categorizing Backlog Items. Rather then use a hierarchical system like folders for categorizing the Product Backlog directly, Themes provide a means to associate specific keywords to Backlog Items. Themes group all items together that have been tagged with a specific Theme. And unlike a folder system, you can add as many Themes to a Backlog Item as desired.
Hierarchical categorization does not work well for Scrum Product Backlogs because all Product Backlog Items must ultimately be prioritized in a one-dimensional list. By nesting folders or hierarchies, the priority of individual items nested below the first level is obscured.
Themes can be used to filter and highlight the backlog for easy identification.
There is no right or wrong way to use themes in ScrumWorks Pro. You can use themes to identify feature sets, the source of backlog items, or just about any other reason you can think of. Themes can be a single word, many words, numbers, or characters.
Required Permissions : Create and Apply/Remove Theme
There are two ways to create themes and apply them to product backlog items:
Required Permissions : Apply/Remove Theme
Themes may be applied to Backlog Items in three ways:
Required Permissions : Create Themes
Themes can be edited (renamed) as follows:
Themes can easily be merged together. For example, the Themes "abc" and "xyz" can be merged into one, in this case say "abc", by editing the "xyz" theme and renaming it "abc". If a single item had both "abc" and "xyz" Themes, only the "abc" theme shall remain after this operation.
Required Permissions : Apply/Remove Theme
There are three ways to remove associations between Themes and product Backlog Items:
Required Permissions : Create Themes
Themes can be deleted entirely as follows:
Choose the action you would like to use to highlight Backlog Items.
"for all checked Themes": Highlights Backlog Items marked with every one of the selected Themes. If "(no Theme assignment)" is selected, Backlog Items with no Theme assignment will be highlighted along with those with all of the other selected Themes.
"for any checked Theme": Highlights Backlog Items marked with any of the selected Themes. If "(no Theme assignment)" is selected, Backlog Items with no Theme assignment will be highlighted along with those with any of the selected Themes.
"exclude checked Themes": Highlights all Backlog Items except those marked with any of the selections. If "(no Theme assignment)" is selected, Backlog Items with no Theme assignment will be excluded along with those marked with the selected Themes.
Product Backlog Items matching the selections will be highlighted with a green background color. Highlighting affects both the Sprints by Team and Product Backlog frames of the Product Window. Note that highlighting does not affect the Release Planner frame. To indicate highlighting status, the chosen selections will be displayed at the top of the Sprints by Team and Product Backlog frames.
There is a convenient way to highlight a Theme or group of Themes based on a particular Backlog Item. Existing Themed Backlog Items can be used to quickly highlight all other Backlog Items containing all of the same Themes.
To Highlight Backlog Items like selected:
Choose from the following three filter options:
"for all checked Themes": Displays only those Backlog Items marked with every one of the selected Themes. If "(no Theme assignment)" is selected, Backlog Items with no Theme assignment will be shown along with those with all of the other selected Themes.
"for any checked Theme": Displays only those Backlog Items marked with any of the selected Themes. If "(no Theme assignment)" is selected, Backlog Items with no Theme assignment will be shown along with those with any of the selected Themes.
"exclude checked Themes": Displays all Backlog Items except those marked with any of the selections. If "(no Theme assignment)" is selected, Backlog Items with no Theme assignment will be excluded along with those marked with the selected Themes.
Product Backlog Items matching the selections will be displayed in the Product Backlog and Sprints by Team frames. To indicate the status, the chosen selections will be displayed at the top of the filtered list.
Note: if someone else is currently point person, the context menu will notify you.
Required permission: Create/Edit/Delete Tasks
Right-click the target Task and select "Delete Task".
Required permission: Create/Edit/Delete Tasks
Right-click the target Task and select "Mark as Done".
Note: If an estimate has been entered, hours remaining will automatically change to zero.
Required permission: Create/Edit/Delete Tasks
There are two ways to update task hours remaining:
Either Edit Sprint Task as described above and modify the Estimated Hours Remaining field, or:
While "Hours Remaining" is displayed as a single number per task, ScrumWorks Pro records all previous values and the dates modified. These changes are reflected in the sprint burndown graph.
Required permission: Create/Edit/Delete Tasks
The Sprint Burndown graph plots daily changes to Tasks in two metrics: Number of Tasks remaining and Task hours remaining.
Data for number of Tasks remaining is drawn on the graph in blue, according to the left Y-axis which is scaled in number of Tasks. As remaining Tasks are revised, a line is drawn through each day's data point.
Data for Task hours remaining is drawn on the graph in red, according to the right Y-axis which is scaled in hours. As remaining Task hours are revised, a line is drawn through each new day's data point.
Notes:
Click desired column a third time to sort by the default.
Default sort is by "Point Person Descending". You can sort by multiple columns by holding the CTRL/CMD key and clicking additional column headers. For example, first click on Point Person, then hold CTRL/CMD and click the Hours Left column to sub-sort by Hours Left.
By default, the ScrumWorks Pro Sprint Detail window hides historical task estimate data and displays only the most current "Hours Remaining" for a given task. Checking the "Show Estimate History" box will expand the task list horizontally by adding a column for each day of the sprint. User should scroll horizontally to see the complete data set. Numbers correspond to a specific task's historical estimate for the given day. Blank fields indicate no change.
Required permission: Edit Historical Task Estimates
When a Task estimate is first entered, the number is recorded as that Task's Original Estimate. This figure is displayed in its own column in all versions of the Sprint Detail Frame, to the left of the Hours Remaining column in the default view, or to the left of each day's historical entry when "Show Estimate History" is checked and in the Timesheet view.
For users with "Edit Historical Task Estimates" permissions, The Original Estimate may be revised in all views.
The Timesheet tab on the Sprint Detail frame lets the Team Members view and edit the time they spent on the Tasks in the sprint.
Users can view the Timesheets of each Team Member, but can only edit their own. The Global Administrator and Product Administrators are allowed to edit each Team Member's Timesheet.
To edit a Timesheet entry for a Task and day, double-click on the table cell in the row of the Task and the column of the day to be edited. The time spent on a Task can be entered in hours as a non-negative decimal value.
The view also provides a summary of the total time spent on the Tasks by the entire Team. The summary can be viewed by selecting "All Team Members" in the "Show Hours for" selection box.
The Timesheets can be saved as an Excel document by clicking on the "Export" button. The document contains each Team Member's Timesheet as well as a summary.
Required Permission : View Task
The concept of Earned Business Value was first introduced to the Scrum community by CollabNet's own Dr. Dan Rawsthorne. Earned Business Value (EBV) is a metric that measures how "done" we are from a business perspective. Using EBV the business can see when the project is providing diminishing returns - when the additional business value provided is not worth the cost of the work being done. This could indicate that the project needs to move into a stabilization phase and released.
ScrumWorks Pro implements this theory using "Business Weight". Business Weights represent a Product Backlog Item's business value index, a relative value used to compare the business value of PBIs.
Required Permissions : View Business Weight
ScrumWorks Pro allows users to associate a "Business Weight" to individual Product Backlog Items. Certain PBIs will therefore have more Business Weight than others. The relative business value of PBIs can therefore be compared using Business Weights.
Business Weight units are user defined and can be anything from real currencies (U.S. dollars, Euros, etc.) to relative point systems. The units are set in the Product Properties window as described in Getting Started with Products
ScrumWorks Pro calculates the Business Weight of a PBI by summing two user defined values: Benefit and Penalty.
Required Permission : Edit Business Weight
In the text entry box for "Penalty (of omission from Product)" under the "Estimates" subsection, enter an assessment of the penalty to the Product and/or business of not including or completing the PBI. This value should be a whole number, and is expressed in units defined for Business Weight (BW) in the Product Properties window as described in Getting Started with Products.
The numbers entered in the "Estimates" subsection contribute to the values in the "Calculations" subsection to the right.
Required Permissions : View Business Weight
Release Business Value (rBV): A Backlog Item's Business Weight expressed as a percentage of the sum of all Business Weights per Release. rBV is expressed and displayed as a whole number percentage in the Backlog Item Editor and in the Product Window. It is calculated automatically by summing Business Weights in a Release.
Required Permissions : View Business Weight
Return On Investment (ROI): This is a cost-benefit analysis involving Business Weights (benefit) and Backlog Effort Estimates (cost). It is an auto-calculated ratio of a given Backlog Item's Release Business Value divided by its Backlog Effort Percentage. This gives an ROI number that is 'normalized' by comparison with the other Backlog Items in a Release. It is expressed as a number to a user-specified precision (see the Product Properties), from a whole number to a real number up to two decimal places.
You can export an entire Product into an Excel document, using the "File" > "Export" menu.
Required Permissions : Export the Product
The resulting Excel document contains several worksheets that contain all of the information necessary to recreate a product, including estimate histories. This export does not include the files attached to Backlog Items. To retrieve attachments, they must be manually copied from the following directory: INSTALLDIR/server/scrumworks/data/attachments.
The following describes the full contents of the Product Excel Export file:
Elements in the Excel document are associated by their IDs. For example, if you look at the 'PBI' sheet, it has a 'Sprint ID' column. If there is an ID listed there, it is the same ID listed on the 'Sprints' sheet.
In sheets where some columns are not the primary data source (such as PBIs listed in the 'Tasks' sheet), the columns use an Excel reference to point to the primary data source.
The export format includes several fields that are useful for creating reports or seeing the relationships between sheets. The same sheet can be used for importing into a new product. See Importing into a new Product for instructions on what can be safely modified.
If your Product is part of a Program, Program Themes and Releases will be exported with the Program name in parentheses. For example: if you had a Program theme called "Bugs" in the Program "Card Games", it will be exported as: "Bugs (Card Games)". The Product's relationship to the Program is not exported.
Copy from: {ScrumWorks server's install directory}\server\scrumworks\data\attachments\product{Product ID}
Copy to: {Destination ScrumWorks server's install directory}\server\scrumworks\data\import-attachments
Permissions conflicts can arise between the operating system and ScrumWorks when manually copying the attachments directories and then accessing them via a Product import process in ScrumWorks. To avoid any such conflicts, make sure the owner of the import-attachments/productXXXX directory and all attachment files within that directory is the same user that is running the ScrumWorks server process.
Perform the export, import, and copy the attachments directory as close in time as possible to ensure that there is no additional data changes.
Once a Product has been imported with all its attachments, you may delete the product folder at {ScrumWorks server's install directory}\server\scrumworks\data\import-attachments. All attachments from this directory have been copied to the imported Product. For the exact name of the product folder, refer to the Product Info sheet of the product's Excel export file.
If you receive a notice that not all attachments were imported, and you do not wish to continue with an incomplete set of attachments, you must delete the imported Product and repeat the export and import processes. To ensure that the import and export files are referencing the same attachments and data, follow the steps in the import process immediately after exporting the Product, without making any other changes in ScrumWorks between steps. Making changes to attachments or data in ScrumWorks between an export and an import process greatly increases the chances for corruption, synchronization problems, and missing files.
ScrumWorks Pro requires an imported Excel document to be formatted according to the guidelines below. The format matches that of the ScrumWorks Pro Product Excel Export to make it convenient to move products from one server installation to another using Product Export and Import.
Note: server versions must be identical when moving data between two servers using the Product Export/Import technique.
It is also important that the IDs of PBIs, Tasks, Sprints, and Releases be numeric fields that are unique among items of the same type.
The following worksheets are expected in the import format, along with the provided column names:
If your Product was part of a Program and had Themes and Releases from that Program, they were exported with the Program name in parentheses. When imported, the Themes and Releases will be imported as part of the Product, not part of the Program. For example: if you had a Program theme called "Bugs" in the Program "Card Games", it will be imported as a Product Theme: "Bugs (Card Games)". The Product's relationship to the Program is not restored.
Only the Global Administrator can import into a new Product.
The purpose of the import feature is to provide a simple interface for importing Backlog Items and Tasks into ScrumWorks Pro. The import feature uses a simple, four column Excel format.
The import feature can be accessed from the Product Window's file menu:
"File" > "Import" > "Import into Release of Current Product"
The import uses Excel file format. The rows of the spreadsheet correspond to either Backlog Items or Tasks. Tasks titles are indented one column (column B) and are subordinate to the last Backlog Item in the file before them. As the content of the import files are imported into Releases, every task in the import files need to belong to a Backlog Item (i.e., the first row in the file must be a Backlog Item row).
The columns are formatted as follows:
Example:
| A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backlog Item Title | PBI description | 5 | |
| Task 1 title | Task 1 description | 7 | |
| Task 2 title | Task 2 description | 3 | |
| Backlog Item 2 Title | PBI 2 description | 9 | |
| Task 3 title | Task 3 description | 2 |
Required Permissions : Import into Release
ScrumWorks Pro supports moving Backlog Items and Tasks from one product to another via drag-and-drop.
Required Permissions:
In the "Search Bugzilla Database" dialog, specify filters for data retrieval from the selected database. All fields in the database may be filtered, regardless of which fields have been chosen for download into ScrumWorks Pro. Select a Field, an operation, and a Value, and click the "Add" button to add that criteria to the list on the right. Certain operations support multiple words as the value. If the operation text is plural, then you can append different search values by separating them with a comma. For example: "Bug # contains any of the words 4,11" will search for the word 4 or 11 within the Bug # field and return Bug # 4 and Bug # 11.
Individual filters may be removed by selecting the line from the list and clicking the "Remove" button. Click the "Search" button to search the specified database according to the listed filters. A "Retrieving Items" dialog displays the status of your search. Clicking this dialog's "Cancel" button stops the search. When the search is complete, a list of items matching specified filter criteria are displayed in the table below.
A Backlog Item will be created for each downloaded record. The Backlog Item Title fields will be populated with the Bugzilla Summary field and the Backlog Item Description field will be populated with data from the the Bugzilla Comments field (including Description). All other Downloaded data is displayed in the "Imported Data" tab in the Backlog Editor. Otherwise, only data for fields you've specified will be retrieved and included in the "Imported Data" tab of each Backlog Item. All Backlog Items created from downloaded records will be inserted at the bottom of the selected release.
Required Permissions : Create Backlog Item
For each server selected, all undeleted items from all prior downloads will be refreshed with the latest data. Only those fields specified in prior downloads will be refreshed.
To refresh data in individual Backlog Items, in the Downloaded Data tab of the Backlog Item editor, click the button "Refresh from server". If you have an active session login to the server, the data will be refreshed with the most recent server information. If you do not have an active session login or if for some reason the prior login information cannot be passed to the server, you will be asked to authenticate before the data is refreshed from the server.
Required Permissions : Edit Backlog Item
Java and WebStart don't work with self-signed SSL certificates by default. There is a workaround that can be done until more complete support is implemented. The instructions below use Windows and Internet Explorer for getting the server's certificate. After you have the certificate, you can import it into any supported ScrumWorks Pro client platform (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X).
These steps will only need to be performed once for each computer that needs to download data from JIRA. Replace "<path_to_java>" and "<server_name>" with their appropriate values for each computer. Note that if you have multiple versions of Java installed, you will need to replace "<path_to_java>" with the one that runs ScrumWorks Pro via WebStart.
In the "Specify Release and Retrieved Fields" dialog, choose an existing ScrumWorks Pro Release as a destination for downloaded data: For each record selected for download, an individual Backlog Item will be created and placed at the bottom of the specified Release. Check the box next to each field you want downloaded from the server and included in each record's Backlog Item. Except for the fields marked "(always retrieved)", only data for the Fields you select will be downloaded.
The following JIRA Fields are always retrieved for each record:
Notes on Custom Fields:
The JIRA API limits access to custom fields via ScrumWorks Pro to only those with Administrator privileges in JIRA. Even if you normally have access to custom fields in JIRA, if you do not have Administrator privileges, you will not be able to retrieve custom fields from within ScrumWorks Pro.
Because the JIRA API does not identify data type for certain custom fields, internal JIRA code may populate a custom field in ScrumWorks Pro with the internal code rather than an appropriate display value. In such cases, values can only be viewed by accessing the issue directly in JIRA.
A Backlog Item will be created for each downloaded record. The Backlog Item Title fields will be populated with the JIRA Summary field and the Backlog Item Description field will be populated with data from the the JIRA Description field. All other Downloaded data is displayed in the "Imported Data" tab in the Backlog Editor. Otherwise, only data for fields you've specified will be retrieved and included in the "Imported Data" tab of each Backlog Item. All Backlog Items created from downloaded records will be inserted at the bottom of the selected release.
Required Permissions : Create Backlog Item
For each server selected, all undeleted items from all prior downloads will be refreshed with the latest data. Only those fields specified in prior downloads will be refreshed.
To refresh data in individual Backlog Items, in the Downloaded Data tab of the Backlog Item editor, click the button "Refresh from server". If you have an active session login to the server, the data will be refreshed with the most recent server information. If you do not have an active session login or if for some reason the prior login information cannot be passed to the server, you will be asked to authenticate before the data is refreshed from the server.
Required Permissions : Edit Backlog Item
To help manage the development of large Products, more than one Team may work against the same Product Backlog. ScrumWorks Pro allows Global and Product Administrators to create an unlimited number of Teams. Each Team has one or more Team Members associated with it, working on the Sprints created for the Team.
Global and Product Administrator users can add new Teams, change Team composition, and delete Teams using the Team Manager, found in the main menu under:
"User" > "Team Manager"
A single Team can work on Sprints in multiple Products simultaneously.
Select the Team Members of the new Team from the list "Available Team Members". If you didn't create any Users yet, this list will be empty. See User Management on how to create Users.
Note: adding Users to a Team will give them a default Role, set in Product Properties, for each Product to which the Team is associated. Removing a User's Team membership will remove that User's default Role on Product with which the Team is associated.
To remove Team Members from the team, select the ones to be removed from the list "Current Team Members". Click ">>" to remove them from the Team.
Note: adding Users to a Team will give them a default Role, set in Product Properties, for each Product to which the Team is associated. Removing a User's Team membership will remove that User's default Role on Product with which the Team is associated.
User access to features in ScrumWorks Pro is divided between two major feature sets of the tool: Products and Programs. Since users of each feature set may differ widely in how they use the tool, access to Products is given independently of access to Programs. However, because these features are related and share information, access and permissions given with regard to Products may affect a user's access and capabilities with regard to Programs and vice versa.
With regard to Product Access, there are three types of users in ScrumWorks Pro: Global Administrators, Product Administrators, and Users with Role-based access. Global Administrators have universal Product access and are the only users that can create, edit, or delete other users. Product Administrators may grant other Users Product Administrator access and Role-based access. Users with Role-based access have permissions determined by their assigned Role(s) and may not grant any product access to other Users. Any user may set their own password and preferences. The default Global Administrator login is "administrator" with password "password".
With regard to Program Access, there are three types of users: Global Administrators, Program Administrators, and Program Viewers. Global Administrators have universal Program access, and are the only users that can create or delete Programs. Program Administrators may include Products (viewing the names of all Products that exist in the system regardless of individual Product access) and grant Program access to other users for Programs they administer. Access to Product Backlog Item information is determined by per-Product access rights and Roles. A Program Viewer may view the names of only those Products that have been included in the Program.
If you are using directory authentication, add the user to the group designated for access to ScrumWorks Pro. Users will populate ScrumWorks Pro's User Manager automatically based on directory group membership.
See the Directory Authentication section for more information.
If you are not using directory authentication, click the "New" button under the list of existing users and enter the Login Name, Password, and Display Name of the user. Display Names are used in Task Point Person fields.
Usernames may not contain the colon : character.
This holds for ScrumWorks authenticated as well as directory authenticed users.
Passwords must be at least 7 characters, contain one alphabetic character, one numeric character, and one special character.
Multiple Users may be imported into ScrumWorks Pro at once from a spreadsheet file in Microsoft Excel® (97 - 2003) format (.xls). The new Office®/Excel® 2007 format .xlsx is not supported.
The proper spreadsheet format is:
Example format:
| Johnny Lawrence | jlaw | p3amfk1s | jlaw@cobrakai.com |
| Terry Silver | tsilver | w2gb7jq | terry.silver@gmail.com |
| Daniel LaRusso | dlarusso | waxonwaxoff | daniel@miyagi.com |
The proper cell format for all field entries must be a string of letters, or letters and numbers: for any field in the spreadsheet, a cell populated only with numbers will cause an error and the import will be rejected. All cells for each user must contain a value or the import will be rejected.
Passwords must be at least 7 characters, contain one alphabetic character, one numeric character, and one special character.
Upon successful import, Users will appear in the User Manager in alphabetical order by Display Name.
Note: Usernames may not contain the colon : character.
This holds for ScrumWorks authenticated as well as directory authenticated users.
In the "Login Information" tab,
update the Display Name, Login Name, Password, and E-mail address as desired for ScrumWorks Pro
authenticated users.
Usernames may not contain the colon : character.
This holds for ScrumWorks authenticated as well as directory authenticed users.
Passwords must be at least 7 characters, contain one alphabetic character, one numeric character, and one special character.
When the licensed number of Concurrent Users is reached, user logins will be blocked until slots become available. At this point, only those with Global Administrator privledges will be able to login, and access will be limited to the User Manager, managing logged-in users, or changing the license.
To manually log users out (requires Global Administrator privledges):
To remove a directory user, simply remove them from the group designated for ScrumWorks Pro access in the directory server. ScrumWorks Pro will detect the change shortly and remove the user(s) from the User Manager.
Please see the Directory Configuration documentation for more information on configuring ScrumWorks Pro Server to authenticate against LDAP or Active Directory.
Global Administrators and Product Administrators can grant either Product Administrator or Role-based access to Users through the "Product Access" tab of the User Manager dialog.
Global Administrators can grant Product Administrator or Role-based access to any product in the system.
Product Administrators can grant Users access to only those products for which they themselves are administrators.
When a Product's Roles & Permissions are enabled, Global Administrators and Product Administrators can assign Roles for that Product to multiple users at once from within the Role Manager, or via the "User" menu.
Required User Type: Product Administrator or Global Administrator
Global Administrators and Program Administrators can grant Users program access and designate their User Type through the "Program Access" tab of the User Manager dialog.
Global Administrators can grant Users access to all programs in the system; Program Administrators can grant Users program access and designate User Type for only those programs for which they are Program Administrators.
Strong passwords are not enforced by default. To enable the enforcement of strong passwords the ScrumWorks Pro server configuration will need to be changed.
Please see the following document for instructions on how to enable strong passwords: Security FAQ.
Roles are Product specific; a single Role applies to just one Products. Administrators may then grant Users access to specific data or features by associating Users to Roles.
Roles and Permissions are optional on a Product by Product basis. Disabling Roles and Permissions leaves access to that Product open to any User in ScrumWorks Pro. By default, Roles and Permissions are disabled for newly-created Products.
Roles apply only to Products; Roles are not applicable to Programs.
To ease administration, Role Templates can be created that are available to each Product in ScrumWorks Pro.
Roles can be created manually, copied from existing Roles, or copied from system-wide Role Templates.
Required User Type: Product Administrator or Global Administrator
Product Roles can be edited by the Global Administrator or the Product Administrator. If permissions are modified for a Role that is currently assigned to Users, the Users' permissions will also be modified to match the Role.
Required User Type: Product Administrator or Global Administrator
Existing Product Roles can be deleted. If a Role is deleted to which Users are already assigned, the Users will lose the the permissions granted by only the Role in question.
Required User Type: Product Administrator or Global Administrator
Four standard Role Templates are provided as a guide for getting started with Roles and Role Templates. The standard Role Templates can not be modified. However, they can be copied to custom Role Templates or Roles which can then be modified.
The standard Role Templates include:
Role Templates can be created manually or copied from existing Role Templates.
Required User Type: Global Administrator
Existing Role Templates can be edited, unless it is a standard template. Because Role Templates are copied into Product level Roles, modifying Role Templates will not have an effect on existing Roles in the system.
Required User Type: Global Administrator
Existing Role Templates can be deleted, unless it is a standard template. Because Role Templates are copied into Product level Roles, deleting Role Templates will not have an effect on existing Roles in the system.
Required User Type: Global Administrator
In software parlance, the term "program" often refers to related project teams or groups with overlapping features and release dates. In ScrumWorks Pro, the "Program" entity is an umbrella for multiple related Products. Programs can have their own Releases with release dates, as well as Program Themes defining high level features or "epics". When Products are included in Programs, those Program Releases and Themes are inherited by the Product. In this way, multiple Products can be coordinated with a single, collective release date and by using a common set of Program Themes defining the high-level features for a multi-Product Release.
How do Programs work? Products can be included in the Program at creation or when editing a Program. Program-level Releases can then be defined, indicating anything from internal milestones to production releases. All constituent Products will inherit these Program Releases. Then, Program-level features can be defined by creating "Themes". Themes are effectively tags or keywords used to mark or categorize Backlog Items.
How do Program Themes interrelate with Program Releases? A Program Release represents a milestone for the Program. Program Themes can be targeted as Epics for work in specific Releases. Themes become Epics when specified with descriptions or "Done Criteria" to clarify the intent or expectation for that Theme in that Release. An Epic, therefore, represents a high-level requirement for the Release in question. Because Done Criteria for an Epic is specific to a particular release, a Theme that has continuity throughout the Program can nevertheless be made to represent different scopes of work from release to release.
Double click the Program row or right-click the Program name and then choose "Edit Program".
Program Administrators can edit all of the fields that were available during Program creation: title, description, and assigned products.
Program Viewers can view all of the attributes, but editing is disabled.
Each Program opens into its own Program window that displays the Program Release Planner.
While multiple Program windows can be open at the same time, users can only see and open Programs they have access to as described in the User Management section of this guide. Global Administrators can see and open all Programs.
Any open Program will be restored the next time you open ScrumWorks Pro.
An open Program can be deleted by selecting the "File" > "Delete Current Program" menu item.
After selecting the menu item, ScrumWorks Pro will confirm the Program deletion.
Program deletion will delete all Themes, Releases and Epics belonging to the Program, removing these items from appearance in any included Products. All Product Backlog Item associations with the Program will be deleted as well. In all cases, Product Backlog Items will not be deleted.
Only Global Administrators can delete Programs.
A Program Theme will be displayed in each of the Program's included Products.
Required Permissions: Program Administrator
Program Theme names may be edited from the File menu by selecting the Themes > Edit Program Themes option, selecting a Theme, and clicking the "Edit" button. Edits to a Program Theme will reflect in the Program and all constituent Products.
Required Permissions: Program Administrator
Program Themes are deleted from the File menu by selecting the Themes > Edit Program Themes option. When selecting Themes to delete from the list, consider that Products included in the Program may have assigned the Theme to Backlog Items, and deletion of the Theme will remove it from those Backlog Items. Also note that Themes being used as Epics for any Program Release cannot be deleted.
Required Permissions: Program Administrator
Program Releases enable the Products included in a Program to work toward a shared Release date while contributing to common goals and features identified by Program Themes. When a Program Release is created, it appears as a black bar in the Program Release Planner as well as the Product Backlog and Release Planner frames of all Products included in that Program.
To create a new Program Release in the Program Window:
To save the Program Release, click "Apply" or "OK". The new Program Release will be represented as a black row in the Program Release Planner. To abort and discard all changes (including defined Epics), click "Cancel".
Required Permissions : Create, Edit, Delete Program Releases.
Program Epics represent high-level requirements for a Program Release. Epics are Themes that have been specified with a description or done criteria in order to clarify the intent or expectation of that Theme for that Release. While the Theme on which an Epic is based may have broad and general continuity throughout the Program, the addition of a description or done criteria gives it specific applicability to a single, finite release - making an Epic essentially a high-level requirement for the Release in question.
Program Epics are created in the Epics tab of the Program Release editor. In this tab is a table listing Epics (by their Theme name) that have been defined for that individual Release. The first column lists Epic/Theme names, the second column displays the first few lines of the description entered.
The Program Release Planner frame displays all Releases scheduled for a given Program. It is open by default for all Programs. The frame is organized first by Releases, then by Epics that have been defined for the Release, next by included Products, and finally lists Backlog Items.
Epics shown are those that have been defined for each Release. Under each Epic, only those Products that have created Product level Epics related to the Program Epic in question will appear; that is, only Products that have indicated an intention to work on the given Program Epic will appear. Likewise, if a Backlog Item is scheduled for a Program Release without being included in any Program Epic, it will appear in the Program Release Planner under the Uncategorized folder. Backlog Items scheduled for a Release are displayed under their Product in the Epics with which they have been marked, or in the Uncategorized folder. Note that if a Backlog Item has been marked with multiple Themes being used as Epics, it will appear multiple times in the tree, within its Product under each Epic.
The Program Release Planner frame contains the following columns, reflecting different views of effort estimates and Products' effort budgets represented at each level of organization:
For Backlog Items: Displays the status of the individual PBI in four states - "Done" if it was marked as Done; "In Progress" if it is in a Sprint and not marked as Done; "Not Started" if it is uncommitted or in a Sprint that has not yet started.
In the status bar for all rows (except PBIs), a vertical line expresses the theoretical percentage of effort units that should be done for the time elapsed in the Release, assuming work was completed at an even rate throughout the release and all scheduled work would be complete by the Release end date. Releases without start and end dates will not display this line.
For more information on how PBIs relate to Program Epics, see Program Epics.
Required Permissions: Program Administrator