After having installed TeamPulse the first thing a user is going to have to do is create a new project. Creating a new project presents the important decision of choosing a template for the project. Once a project is created you cannot change the template later so the decision is one not to be taken lightly. After reading this blog post you will understand what is a project template in TeamPulse as well as understand each of the different project templates available in order to be capable of choosing the correct template for your project.
What is a Project Template?
A project template in TeamPulse is a definition of how your project will behave. If you are familiar with project templates in Team Foundation Server (TFS) then the concept is the same. Templates define the following aspects of your project:
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The list of possible statuses that stories and tasks can have as well as the valid transitions between the statuses
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Which statuses are to be considered as indicating that the story and task is “Done”; This is necessary for a number of features in TeamPulse including reporting and our Dashboard
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Which statuses are to be excluded when calculating things such as percent complete, for example the TeamPulse template would exclude “Deferred” and “Deleted” statuses
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Validation rules for stories and tasks
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Allowed value rules for various properties of stories and tasks
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Which status values to display on the story board
This information is defined as XML in our database. By defining all of this information in a declarative way it opens up many possibilities such as one day having the ability to modify the templates to suite your individual team needs or to create brand new templates from scratch.
The project creation screen gives the option of 6 projects templates:
The default choice is the TeamPulse template. The other templates represent those that are available to TFS users. Let’s go into each template in detail so that it’ll be clear that you’ll know what you’re getting when you make your choice. In general, if you ever intend to sync your project with TFS then you will want to choose the template that corresponds to the target TFS project.
TeamPulse Project Template
This template was designed and used internally with much success by the TeamPulse team.
Story
Statuses
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Not Done
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In Progress
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Ready For Test
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Done
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Deferred
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Deleted
Status Transitions
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Transition From="" To="Not Done"
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Transition From="Not Done" To="In Progress"
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Transition From="Not Done" To="Deleted"
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Transition From="Not Done" To="Deferred"
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Not Done"
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Ready For Test"
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Deferred"
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Deleted"
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Done"
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Transition From="Ready For Test" To="In Progress"
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Transition From="Ready For Test" To="Done"
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Transition From="Ready For Test" To="Deferred"
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Transition From="Ready For Test" To="Deleted"
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Transition From="Done" To="In Progress"
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Transition From="Deferred" To="Not Done"
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Transition From="Deferred" To="In Progress"
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Transition From="Deferred" To="Ready For Test"
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Transition From="Deleted" To="Not Done"
Done Statuses
Excluded Statuses
Story Board Status List
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Not Done
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In Progress
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Ready For Test
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Done
Rules
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RequiredRule FieldName="Name"
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AllowedValuesRule FieldName="Complexity"
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AllowedValues
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1 - Simple
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2 - Somewhat Simple
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3 - Standard
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4 - Somewhat Complex
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5 - Complex
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AllowedValuesRule FieldName="PriorityClassification"
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AllowedValues
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1 - Must Have
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2 - Should Have
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3 - Could Have
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4 - Won't Have
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AllowedValuesRule FieldName="ValueClassification"
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AllowedValues
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1 - Cost Saver
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2 - Differentiator
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3 - Spoiler
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4 - Table Stakes
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AllowedValuesRule FieldName="Maturity"
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AllowedValues
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1 - Undefined
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2 - Not Mature
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3 - Somewhat Not Mature
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4 - Somewhat Mature
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5 - Mature
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AllowedValuesRule FieldName="Certainty"
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AllowedValues
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1 - Uncertain
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2 - Somewhat Uncertain
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3 - Average
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4 - Somewhat Certain
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5 - Certain
Task
Statuses
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Not Done
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In Progress
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Done
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Deleted
Status Transitions
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Transition From="" To="Not Done”
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Transition From="Not Done" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Not Done" To="Done”
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Transition From="Not Done" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Not Done”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Done”
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Transition From="Done" To="Not Done”
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Transition From="Done" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Deleted" To="Not Done”
Done Statuses
Excluded Statuses
Rules
Agile Project Template
This template allows you to organize and track the progress and health of a small- to medium-sized Agile project.
Story
Statuses
Status Transitions
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Transition From="" To="Active”
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Transition From="Active" To="Resolved”
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Transition From="Active" To="Closed”
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Transition From="Resolved" To="Active”
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Transition From="Resolved" To="Closed”
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Transition From="Closed" To="Active”
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Transition From="Closed" To="Resolved”
Done Statuses
Excluded Statuses
Story Board Status List
Rules
Task
Statuses:
Status Transitions:
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Transition From="" To="Active”
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Transition From="Active" To="Closed”
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Transition From="Closed" To="Active”
Done Statuses
Excluded Statuses
Rules
CMMI Project Template
This template allows you to organize and track the progress and health of projects that require a framework for process improvement.
Story
Statuses
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Proposed
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Active
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Resolved
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Closed
Status Transitions
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Transition From="" To="Proposed”
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Transition From="Proposed" To="Active”
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Transition From="Proposed" To="Closed”
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Transition From="Active" To="Proposed”
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Transition From="Active" To="Resolved”
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Transition From="Active" To="Closed”
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Transition From="Resolved" To="Active”
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Transition From="Resolved" To="Closed”
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Transition From="Closed" To="Active”
Done Statuses
Excluded Statuses
Story Board Status List
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Proposed
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Active
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Resolved
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Closed
Rules
Task
Statuses:
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Proposed
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Active
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Resolved
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Closed
Status Transitions:
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Transition From="" To="Proposed”
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Transition From="Proposed" To="Active”
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Transition From="Proposed" To="Closed”
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Transition From="Active" To="Proposed”
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Transition From="Active" To="Resolved”
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Transition From="Active" To="Closed”
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Transition From="Resolved" To="Active”
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Transition From="Resolved" To="Closed”
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Transition From="Closed" To="Active”
Done Statuses
Excluded Statuses
Rules
EMC Scrum 2008 Project Template
This template encompasses the statuses of the Scrum TFS template provided by EMC. Scrum is an agile process that can be used to manage software and product development using an iterative process.
Story
Statuses
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Not Done
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In Progress
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Done
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Deleted
Status Transitions
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Transition From="" To="Not Done”
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Transition From="Not Done" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Not Done" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Done”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="Done" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Deleted" To="Not Done”
Done Statuses
Excluded Statuses
Story Board Status List
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Not Done
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In Progress
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Done
Rules
Task
Statuses:
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Not Done
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In Progress
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Ready For Test
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Done
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Deferred
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Deleted
Status Transitions:
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Transition From="" To="Not Done”
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Transition From="Not Done" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Not Done" To="Deferred”
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Transition From="Not Done" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Done”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Ready For Test”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Deferred”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="Deferred" To="Not Done”
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Transition From="Deferred" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Deferred" To="Ready For Test”
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Transition From="Deferred" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="Ready For Test" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Ready For Test" To="Done”
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Transition From="Ready For Test" To="Deferred”
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Transition From="Ready For Test" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="Done" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Deleted" To="Not Done”
Done Statuses
Excluded Statuses
Rules
EMC Scrum 2010 Project Template
This template has the same underpinnings as the 2008 one but provides an updated version of the EMC template.
Story
Statuses
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Not Started
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In Progress
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Done
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Descoped
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Broken
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Deprecated
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Deleted
Status Transitions
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Transition From="" To="Not Started”
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Transition From="Not Started" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Not Started" To="Descoped”
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Transition From="Not Started" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Descoped”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Done”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="Descoped" To="Not Started”
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Transition From="Descoped" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Descoped" To="Deprecated”
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Transition From="Descoped" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="Done" To="Broken”
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Transition From="Done" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="Broken" To="Done”
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Transition From="Broken" To="Deprecated”
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Transition From="Broken" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="Deprecated" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="Deleted" To="Not Started”
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Transition From="Deleted" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Deleted" To="Done”
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Transition From="Deleted" To="Descoped”
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Transition From="Deleted" To="Broken”
Done Statuses
Excluded Statuses
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Descoped
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Broken
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Deprecated
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Deleted
Story Board Status List
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Not Started
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In Progress
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Done
Rules
Task
Statuses:
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Not Started
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In Progress
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Done
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Descoped
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Deleted
Status Transitions:
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Transition From="" To="Not Started”
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Transition From="Not Started" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Not Started" To="Descoped”
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Transition From="Not Started" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Descoped”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Done”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="Descoped" To="Not Started”
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Transition From="Descoped" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Descoped" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="Done" To="Deleted”
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Transition From="Deleted" To="Not Started”
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Transition From="Deleted" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="Deleted" To="Done”
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Transition From="Deleted" To="Descoped”
Done Statuses
Excluded Statuses
Rules
Scrum Project Template
This template allows you to organize and track the progress and health of a small- to medium-sized Scrum project.
Story
Statuses
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New
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Approved
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Committed
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Done
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Removed
Status Transitions
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Transition From="" To="New"
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Transition From="New" To="Approved"
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Transition From="New" To="Removed"
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Transition From="Approved" To="Committed”
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Transition From="Approved" To="Removed"
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Transition From="Committed" To="Done"
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Transition From="Committed" To="Approved"
Done Statuses
Excluded Statuses
Story Board Status List
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New
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Approved
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Committed
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Done
Rules
Task
Statuses:
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To Do
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In Progress
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Done
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Removed
Status Transitions:
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Transition From="" To="To Do”
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Transition From="To Do" To="In Progress”
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Transition From="To Do" To="Removed”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Done”
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Transition From="In Progress" To="Removed”
Done Statuses
Excluded Statuses
Rules
And there you have it! With the detail provided above you will know exactly what you are getting when you select a template. At the moment we aren’t supporting modifying these templates or creating new ones however you can be sure that we are working on making this available to you in an upcoming release.
As always, let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you!