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Manage your backlog

Creating a backlog helps you define the work that needs to be done. Once you have a backlog, you can use it to help manage when that work gets done, as well as associate items on the backlog with check-ins, acceptance tests, or other criteria.

  1. In your team project's backlog page, create a backlog item. Enter a title and add the item.

    Add button on the backlog page with the backlog item's title set

    Different backlog item types appear with different colors, to help you distinguish them at a glance.

    The product backlog with different work item types indicated by name and by a color bar

  2. Highlight an item in the list, and then add another item. It'll be added where focus is in the backlog list, which is indicated by a line.

    The backlog page with the target of the add command indicated by a green line

    You can move the focus in the backlog with the up and down arrows on the keyboard, too.

  3. Move items in the list to change their priority.

    An item moving up in the backlog The reordered backlog

    To move an item in the list using the keyboard, hold the Alt key down and use the up and down arrows.

  4. You can make a product backlog item the child of another backlog item. For example, move item 3 onto the order field for item 1 (highlighted).

    An item in the backlog being moved onto its new parent

    With the keyboard, you can open the item (press enter) and add a parent from the links tab.

  5. If you estimate your work, open a backlog item and provide an estimate of the effort required to complete it.

    The effort field on the product backlog item form

    This topic is based on the Scrum process template. It uses product backlog items in the backlog, with estimates in the effort field. If you use MSF for Agile Software Development, you'll create user stories and estimate story points. With MSF for CMMI Process Improvement, you'll create requirements and estimate size.

Tag and filter items in your backlog

Tagging backlog items helps you identify and organize similar kinds of work. You can filter your backlog by one or more tags associated with a work item.

  1. Open a work item that you want to tag.

    The add button (tags) on the user story form

    The tag bar shows the Add button, as well as any tags that might already be associated with the work item.

  2. Add a new tag, or choose one from the list.

    The list of existing tags appears when you choose Add

    When adding new tags, you can add more than one tag at a time by typing a comma between tags.

  3. Change the column view to show tags.

    The move right (greater than) button in column optoins with tags selected in available columns

    You can change the columns displayed to only show the information most valuable to you.

  4. Filter the backog using your tags.

    The filter icon on the backlog page, with the tags used by the backlog displayed

    To view all the work items again regardless of whether they have tags, turn the filter off. To show all items that have tags, keep the filter on but show all tags.

    The filtered backlog

In this topic, you've learned how to add items to your product backlog, estimate the amount of effort required, and use forecasting to project how much work can be done in a sprint. You've also taken a quick course in using a hierarchy to organize your backlog.

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