Kanban Boards
A kanban board is a tool that helps visualize the workflow to bring clarity to the work process. For kanban boards, you can:
- establish the work-in-progress limits (WIP limits). They are applied to limit the maximum number of tasks in each step of the workflow.
- set up paired states and track the time the cards are in a specific state.
- use the service classes to determine which workflow is applied to solve the issues.
In SimpleOne the kanban board consists of the Columns, Swimlanes, Areas, and Cards.
You can also configure badges for cards to make them more visual and display important information on tasks.
- Any user with access to the agent interface can create kanban boards, edit and delete the records of the related elements.
- Users with the admin or kanban_manager role can edit and delete any kanban boards and their elements.
Create a kanban board
You first need to create a kanban board record. To do so, complete the following steps:
- Navigate to Kanban Boards → New.
- Fill in the fields.
- Click Save or Save and exit to apply the changes.
Kanban board form fields
- Board Configuration
- Card Configuration
| Field | Mandatory | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Public | N | Select the checkbox to make the board public to users that match the Access criteria. If no access criteria are set, the board will be available to all users. |
| Name | Y | Specify the name of the board. |
| Tables | Y | Specify the tables whose records are displayed on the board. You can select tables of the same hierarchy level. |
| Access criteria | N | Select the user criteria to limit the access to the board. |
| Background image | N | Upload an image to use as the background of the board. |
| Field | Mandatory | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Y | Select the field of the Tables whose values are used as the card titles. The default value is Displayable Name. If many Tables are specified, only the common fields are available as options. If there are no common fields, the fields of the parent table are used. |
| Blocking field | N | Specify a True/False field. A specific value of the field blocks the cards. If many Tables are specified, only the common fields are available as options. If there are no common fields, the fields of the parent table are used. |
| Blocked when | N | Specify the value of the Blocking field that blocks the cards. Available options:
|
| Filter conditions | N | Specify the filter for cards. |
| Responsible person | Y | Specify the field of the Table that contains the information about the assigned user. The default value is Assigned user. If many Tables are specified, only the common fields are available as options. If there are no common fields, the fields of the parent table are used. |
| Time field | N | Specify the Date/Time field based on which the time is calculated on the cards. If many Tables are specified, only the common fields are available as options. If there are no common fields, the fields of the parent table are used. |
After the kanban board record is saved, four UI actions are available in the Board Configuration section:
- Generate columns
- Create column
- Create swimlane
- Create area
- Create badge
Create a column
The columns represent specific steps in a workflow. They can combine many states that are similar in meaning.
You can create columns in two ways:
- automatically using the Generate columns action. This will create all available columns of the state options for the board, organized in order. The state options and their number depend on the values specified in the Tables field of the board record.
- manually by creating a record for each individual column.
The Generate columns and Create column buttons are not displayed on the form when columns for all possible state options are created.
To create a column for a board, complete the following steps:
- Click Create column on the kanban board record. The modal window appears.
- Fill in the fields.
- Click Save to apply the changes.
| Field | Mandatory | Description |
|---|---|---|
| State | Y | Specify the State options that the column should include. Cards in these states are displayed in one column. The logic of moving cards between columns depends on the state model of the card tables. If many Tables are specified, only the states with the same value are available as options. If there are no common states, the states of the parent table are used. |
| Title | Y | The field is automatically populated with the displayed value of the first selected option of the State field. You can change the title if necessary. |
| Order | N | Specify the order of the column. If the order is not specified, the value is automatically set and equal to the maximum value of one of the previously created records + 100. For example, one of all previously created records has the highest order value – 40, then the created record has an order equal to 140 if the value is not specified. When columns are automatically created, the step in record order is 100 (100, 200, 300...). The columns are displayed in ascending order. |
| WIP limit | N | Specify the maximum number of cards in the column. |
You can hide a specific column on the board. To do so, open the column record from the related list and select the Hide from the board checkbox.
All related columns are available in the Kanban Columns related list.
Create a swimlane
Swimlanes are horizontal lines that divide a kanban board into sections. They are commonly used to visually separate different types of work on the same board and arrange similar tasks together.
To create a swimlane for a board, complete the following steps:
- Сlick Create swimlane on the kanban board record. The modal window appears.
- Fill in the fields.
- Click Save to apply the changes.
| Field | Mandatory | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Y | Specify the name of the swimlane. |
| Order | N | Specify the order of the swimlane. The swimlanes are displayed in ascending order. |
| Ignore WIP limit | N | Select the checkbox to exclude swimlane cards from the WIP limits. |
| Conditions for cards | Y | Specify the filter for the cards that are displayed in the swimlane. |
- There is a default swimlane – Other records. It is displayed on the kanban board when there are cards that do not meet conditions of any created swimlane.
- You can hide a specific swimlane on the board. To do so, open the swimlane record from the related list and select the Hide from the board checkbox.
All related swimlanes are available in the Kanban Swimlanes related list.
Create an area
An area can combine several columns and set a shared WIP limit for them.
To create a column for a board, complete the following steps:
- Click Create area on the kanban board record. The modal window appears.
- Fill in the fields.
- Click Save to apply the changes.
| Field | Mandatory | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Columns | Y | Specify the columns of the kanban board that needs merging in one area. An area should contain at least two columns. |
| Name | N | Specify the name of the area. |
| Order | N | Specify the order of the area. The areas are displayed in ascending order. |
| WIP limit | N | Specify the maximum number of cards in the area. If the WIP limit is not specified, the WIP limits of the columns are summed up and used as a common limit. |
You can hide a specific area on the board. To do so, open the area record from the related list and select the Hide from the board checkbox.
All related areas are available in the Kanban Areas related list.
Create a badge
To create a badge for cards, complete the following steps:
- Click Create badge on the kanban board record. The modal window appears.
- Fill in the fields.
- Click Save to apply the changes.
| Field | Mandatory | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Column | Y | Specify the field whose values are used as a badge for the cards. |
| Order | N | Specify the order of the badge on the card. The badges are displayed in ascending order. |
| Text color | N | Specify the hex color code or choose one of the available colors for the text. |
| Background color | N | Specify the hex color code or select one of the available colors for the background. |
You can hide a specific badge on the board. To do so, open the badge record from the related list and select the Hide from the board checkbox.
All related areas are available in the Kanban Badges related list.
Kanban board view
The board is only displayed to users that match the Access criteria and when the Public checkbox is selected.
- If the Access criteria are not specified, but the Public checkbox is selected, the board is available to all users.
- If a user does not meet the Access criteria, then when they open a Public kanban board, the page with a 403 error appears.
- If a board is not Public, then when a user opens it, a page with a 404 error is displayed.
However, in all cases, the board is always available to its creator, an admin, or a kanban_manager.
To view a kanban board, click Open board on the record form. An example of a configured kanban board is shown in the screenshot below:
Available UI actions:
- – add to Favorites
- Fix column width. When reopening the board, the column width is fixed until the checkbox is cleared.
- – configure the kanban board
To open the record preview, click the card. To go to the record form, click .