Sprints and backlog

Use a project’s Planning screen to order the backlog, plan work into sprints, and start and complete sprints.

A project’s Planning screen puts the backlog and the project’s sprints side by side. The backlog holds every item that isn’t in a sprint yet. A sprint is a time-boxed batch of work your team commits to. Drag work from one to the other against real totals, start the sprint, and when it ends, decide what happens to anything that didn’t get done.

Key concepts#

Backlog: every item in the project that isn’t assigned to a sprint, in the backlog’s own order. That order is separate from any board or list order.
Sprint: a named batch of work with optional start and end dates. A sprint is planned, then active, then completed.
Done: an item counts as done when its status is in the Done category, not because of a status name.

Who can use it#

Permissions

sprint.viewsprint.manage

Anyone with sprint.view can open Planning and see the backlog and sprints. Moving work, reordering the backlog, creating sprints, and starting or completing them need sprint.manage. Members have both by default. If you can open the project but don’t have sprint.view, the Planning screen tells you that you don’t have access.

Open Planning#

Open a project and select Planning in the header. The screen is titled “Project name — planning”. Use the back arrow to return to the project.

Read the totals#

The Backlog pane and each sprint show how many items they hold and, where items have estimates, the total story points and hours. Points and hours are always reported separately and never added together. Totals count every item, including ones not currently listed.

Create a sprint#

Select New sprint
The New sprint dialog opens.
Name it
Name is required, up to 100 characters, for example “Sprint 14”.
Set dates if you want
Starts and Ends are optional. The end date can’t be before the start date.
Select Create sprint
The sprint appears in the list as planned, showing its dates or “No dates set”.

Plan work into a sprint#

Drag a backlog row onto a sprint, or a sprint row back onto the backlog.
Or use the row’s Move menu and pick Backlog or a sprint. Only sprints that aren’t completed are offered.
Reorder the backlog by dragging a backlog row onto another one. It’s placed above that row.

A moved row leaves its pane straight away. If the move is refused, usually because of permissions, the row goes back and a message explains why.

Sprints are collapsed to keep the screen fast. Select the arrow on a sprint to see its items. Each row shows the key (select it to open the item), title, status, and story points if set.

You can also move items between sprints on the board with sprint swimlanes. See Swimlanes.

Start a sprint#

On a planned sprint, select Start. The sprint becomes active, and UnitX records who started it and when. Only a planned sprint can be started.

Complete a sprint#

Select Complete on the active sprint
The Complete dialog counts what’s still open, for example “3 items are not done yet. Say where they go.”
Choose what happens to unfinished work
Nothing is pre-selected. Pick one:
- Move them to the backlog. They return to the backlog, in their current order.
- Move them to another sprint. Then choose the sprint under Carry over into. Only planned or active sprints are offered.
- Leave them in this sprint. They stay attached to the completed sprint as a record of what didn’t finish.
Select Complete sprint
The sprint is marked completed with the date. Done items stay with it.

Note

If there’s no other open sprint to carry work into, the dialog says so. Create the next sprint first, or choose another option.

Velocity#

The Planning screen doesn’t draw charts. To see how many story points your team completes per sprint, add the Sprints — velocity trend metric to a dashboard and choose the project. See Dashboard widgets.

Tips#

Estimate backlog items before planning, so the sprint totals mean something. See Estimation.
Keep the top of the backlog in priority order. It’s what you plan from next.
Use the Sprint Board view template for a board of the project’s work. See View templates.

FAQ#

What counts as “not done” when I complete a sprint?

Any item whose current status isn’t in the Done category. If your project has several Done-category statuses, all of them count as done.

Why can’t I carry work into a completed sprint?

A completed sprint is a record of what happened, so only planned and active sprints accept work.

A sprint shows a total but no rows.

Sprints are collapsed by default. Select the arrow to load its items. The total is always accurate.

Where did my backlog order go?

The backlog keeps its own order, separate from the board. Items returned from a completed sprint are added back to the backlog.

Can I run two sprints at once?

Yes. Nothing stops a project from having more than one active sprint.

Still stuck? Search the docs with ⌘K, open Help inside UnitX, or contact support.