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# Issue board
> [Introduced][ce-5554] in GitLab 8.11.
The GitLab Issue Board is a software project management tool used to plan,
organize, and visualize a workflow for a feature or product release.
It can be seen like a light version of a [Kanban] or a [Scrum] board.
## Overview
The Issue Board builds on GitLab's existing issue tracking functionality and
leverages the power of [labels] by utilizing them as lists of the scrum board.
With the Issue Board you can have a different view of your issues while also
maintaining the same filtering and sorting abilities you see across the
issue tracker.
Below is a table of the definitions used for GitLab's Issue Board.
| How we call it | What it means |
| -------------- | ------------- |
| **Issue Board** | It represents a different view for your issues. It can have multiple lists with each list consisting of issues represented by cards. |
| **List** | Each label that exists in the issue tracker can have its own dedicated list. Every list is named after the label it is based on and is represented by a column which contains all the issues associated with that label. You can think of a list like the results you get when you filter the issues by a label in your issue tracker. |
| **Card** | Every card represents an issue and it is shown under the list for which it has a label for. The information you can see on a card consists of the issue number, the issue title, the assignee and the labels associated with it. You can drag cards around from one list to another. Issues inside lists are [ordered by priority](labels.md#prioritize-labels). |
There are three types of lists, of which two are default:
- **Backlog** (default): shows all issues that do not fall in one of the other
lists. Always appears on the very left.
- **Done** (default): shows all closed issues. Always appears on the very right.
- Label list: a list based on a label. It shows all issues with that label.
---
In short, here's a list of actions you can take in an Issue Board:
- [Add a new list](#adding-a-new-list).
- [Remove an existing list](#removing-a-list).
- Drag issues between lists.
- Drag and reorder the lists themselves.
- Change issue labels on-the-fly while dragging issues between lists.
- Close an issue if you drag it to the **Done** list.
- Add a new list from a non-existing label by creating the label on-the-fly.
- [Filter issues](#filtering-issues) that appear across your Issue Board.
If you are not able to perform one or more of the things above, make sure you
have the right [permissions](#permissions).
## First time using the Issue Board
The first time you navigate to your Issue Board, you will be presented with the
two special lists (**Backlog** and **Done**) and a welcoming message that gives
you two options. You can either create a predefined set of labels and add their
corresponding lists to the Issue Board or opt-out and use your own lists.
If you choose to use and add the default lists, they will appear as empty
because the labels associated to them will not exist up until that moment,
which means the system has no way of populating them automatically. It'll be
the users' job to add individual issues to them.
## Adding a new list
Add a new list by clicking on the **Add new list** button at the upper right
corner of the Issue Board.
Simply choose the label to create the list from. The new list will be inserted
at the end of the lists, before **Done**. Moving and reordering lists is as
easy as dragging them around.
To add a list for a label that doesn't exist yet, simply create the label by
choosing **Create new label**. The label will be created on-the-fly and it will
be immediately added to the dropdown. You can now choose it to add a list.
## Removing a list
To remove a list from the Issue Board use the small trash icon that is present
in the list's heading. A confirmation dialog will appear for you to confirm.
Removing a list doesn't have any effect in issues and labels, it's just the
list view that is removed.
## Filtering issues
You should be able to use the filters on top of your Issue Board to show only
the results you want. This is similar to the filtering used in the issue tracker
since the metadata from the issues and labels are re-used in the Issue Board.
You can filter by author, assignee, milestone and label.
## Creating workflows
By adding new lists, you can create workflows. As lists in Issue Boards are
based on labels, it works out of the box with your existing issues. So if you've
already labeled things with 'Backend' and 'Frontend', the issue will appear in
the lists as you create them. In addition, this means you can easily move
something between lists by changing a label.
A typical workflow of using the Issue Board would be:
1. You have [created labels] so that you can easily categorize your issues.
1. You have a bunch of issues (ideally labeled).
1. You visit the Issue Board and start [adding lists](#adding-a-new-list) as to
create a workflow.
1. You move issues around in lists so that your team knows who should be working
on what issue.
1. When the work by one team is done, the issue can be dragged to the next list
so someone else can pick up.
1. When the issue is finally resolved, the issue is moved to the **Done** list
and gets automatically closed.
For instance you can add a
list based on the label of 'Frontend' and one for 'Backend'. A designer can start
working on an issue by dragging it from **Backlog** to 'Frontend'. That way, everyone
knows that this issue is now being worked on by the designers. Then, once they’re
done, all they have to do is drag it over to the next list, 'Backend', where a
backend developer can eventually pick it up. Once they’re done, they move it to
**Done**, to close the issue.
## Permissions
[Developers and up](../permissions.md) can use all the functionality of the
Issue Board, that is add/remove lists and drag issues around.
## Tips
A few things to remember:
- Moving an issue between lists removes the label from the list it came from
and adds the label from the list it goes to.
- When moving a card to **Done**, the label of the list it came from is removed
the issue gets closed.
- An issue can exist in multiple lists if it has more than one labels.
- Lists are populated with issues automatically if the issues are labeled.
- Clicking on the issue title inside a card will get you to that issue.
- Clicking on a label inside a card will quickly filter the entire Issue Board
and show only the issues from all lists that have that label.
- Issues inside lists are [ordered by priority](labels.md#prioritize-labels).
[ce-5554]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/merge_requests/5554
[labels]: ./labels.md
[scrum]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrum_(software_development)
[kanban]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanban_(development)
[created labels]: ./labels.md#create-new-labels
|
