Using Team Explorer with the Product Backlog
New Backlog Items with Team Explorer
To create a new Product Backlog item using the Team Explorer interface in
Visual Studio, right click on the Work Items folder of your Scrum project in the
Team Explorer window. A window will appear that may offer the option to "Add
Product Backlog Item" in which case select this option. Alternatively if this
option is not available you will find it in a further window by selecting
"Add Work Item". See the screenshot below:
It is also possible to create a new Product Backlog Item through the "Team" drop-down menu.
A "New Product Backlog Item" tab will appear enabling the entry of data into the work item fields.
For a detailed desription of each field see the Product Backlog Item section.
It is possible to create a new Product Backlog Item through Team Explorer with just the title entered. This means
that other information can be added as it becomes available. For example, the Business Priority and Estimated Effort can be worked
out at a later stage, with the Product Backlog item being assigned to a Release and Sprint as and when its priority rises high
enough to be considered for a Sprint.
Existing Backlog Items with Team Explorer
The best way of working with Product Backlog Items through Team Explorer is to use one the
"All Product Backlog Items" queries. Right clicking on the column title bar and selecting
"Column Options" allows selection of the fields of interest and the ability to order
them conveniently if default seup is not suitable. The "Sorting" tab in the Column Options window enables the query
results to be sorted by a combination of columns. Note that if a query is modified and saved it will change for all
the users of that Team Project so if you need an individually customised query first copy an existing Team Query to the My Queries folder.
Left clicking on a column title will also allow you to quickly order the results by that
field. When you have the query looking the way you want, selecting the desired Product
Backlog item will enable the item to be edited via the details pane.
The most common operations performed on existing Product Backlog items are:
-
Assigning a Product Backlog item to a Sprint or moving it to a different Sprint by
selecting the appropriate Release and Sprint from the Iteration Path in the "Release and/or Sprint" field
-
Changing the State of the "Current Status" field from "In Progress" to
"Deferred" if a Product Backlog item can not be completed in the current Sprint.
-
Changing the State of the "Current Status" field from "Deferred" to "In Progress" when an
unfinished Product Backlog item is moved to the current Sprint for completion.
-
Adding Sprint Backlog tasks required for the completion of the Product Backlog
item - this is covered in Creating New Sprint Backlog Items
-
Linking existing Sprint Backlog tasks for the completion of the Product Backlog item through the "Add" button of the "Links" tab
-
"Deleting" a Product Backlog item by setting the "Current Status" to "Deleted". This action will remove the item from
all report and query results except the "Recycle Bin" query (use this query to un-delete items).