AgileWrap now supports IE9. Earlier releases supported IE7 and IE8.
In order to use AgileWrap with IE9, we recommend that you download Google’s Chrome Frame for IE to get better performance and experience.
Known Performance Issues in IE 9
- User Story page loading can be slow especially when you are filtering the stories with tags. User Story page is accessed from Plan>>User Story and Track>>User Story tabs.
- Backlog page loading is slow (Plan>>Backlog tab).
- Charts performance is slow. You can access charts from Analyze>>Reports tab.
While we are working on performance improvements of AgileWrap for IE9, we recommend using Chrome (the best performance), Firefox and Safari (for good performance).
A Burn-down chart (Burndown graph) for iteration depicts the work left (total hours remaining) per day. The X-axis represents days in an iteration, while the Y-axis shows the effort remaining. Ideally, we want to see the chart burns down to zero by the end of the iteration. In this post we will address some FAQ and recent improvements on Burn-down charts.
Iteration Burn-down
FAQ on Burn-down
- How often Burn-down chart is refreshed?
AgileWrap runs Burn-down process every hour and refreshes Burn-down charts every hour.
- How is Ideal Hours (green) line calculated?
AgileWrap calculates Ideal line from total estimated hours (of tasks and defects) for the iteration. AgileWrap calculates ideal burn hours for a day ( total estimated hours / total working days in Sprint), and plots ideal burn hours at the end of each day on the chart.
During the sprint, if you change estimated hours of task or defects then AgileWrap recalculates Ideal Hours line from most recently updated estimated hours.
- How is Actual Hours (red) line calculated?
Actual Hours line (red color) shows total ToDo hours for the iteration at the end of each working day.
- Why are data points for Ideal (green) and Todo (red) Hours lines are not same on the first day of the iteration?
The first data point for Ideal Hours line shows burn hours at the end of the first day (excluding first day’s burn hours from the total estimated hours of the iteration). Therefore even if Estimated Hours and ToDo Hours are same in the beginning of the iteration, Burn-down chart will show different data points at the end of the first day.
Burn-down Enhancements
We have made many improvements in Iteration Burn-down chart in AgileWrap 3.3 Release.
- Instant Refresh of Burn-down
AgileWrap updates Burn-down charts every hour. During daily stand-up meetings, it is useful to view the impact on Burn-down right away when team updates hours. AgileWrap users can now instantly refresh Burn-down and view the Burn-down charts with the most recent data. For this purpose, a Refresh Burn-down link is provided on Iteration>>Detail page.
- Burn-down for user customized days
You can now choose the days to run iteration Burn-down chart for. For example, if your organization works on Sunday, you can configure Burn-down to show on Sundays also. At the time of creating an iteration, select the days (including Saturday and Sunday) for the Burn-down chart. AgileWrap takes user selected ‘Days’ as default setting for the Burn-down of the future Iterations.
AgileWrap can show different days Burn-down for two iterations running simultaneously within same project when one team is working 5 days a week and another team is working 6 days a week.
Select days for Burn-down when adding an Iteration
- Burn-down shows even if Iteration is extended after last day of iteration has passed
We have enhanced Burn-down back end process to continue running for 5 days after an iteration has ended. There is no impact on the Burn-down if iteration has already ended. But if you extend the iteration end date within 5 days after it has ended, AgileWrap will refresh your Burn-down with the data for the extended days automatically.
1. Tagging in User Stories
- Adding, Changing and Removing Tags – To add a Tag for a user story, simply start typing tag name or select a tag from the auto complete drop down when you enter a space in Tag field on Add User Story pop up page. You can add multiple tags for a user story with a maximum length of 30 chars each, separated by ‘comma’. To change Tags for a user story, click on Edit User Story and clear/add more Tags.
Add/Edit Tags for a User Story on Edit User Story pop up
- Filtering on Tags- You can filter user stories by Tags on Track>>User Story and Plan>>Backlog pages. Tags for a story show before the User Story Name in the row of the grid. Click on a Tag name and AgileWrap filters grid data by that Tag name. The Tag name also shows in the title of the page. Click Reset Tag Filter link on top left to clear the Tag filter. If you have already selected filter values on the columns of the grid, AgileWrap saves column filters until you click Reset Filters link on top left.
User Stories filtered by Tag: Coupon
User Story page shows and filters by Tags
Filter Product Backlog by Tags
2. ‘All Projects’ view on Personal Dashboard
My Dashboard shows 'All Projects' view along with individual project views.
3. Burn-down chart enhancements
In AgileWrap release 3.2 this weekend, we have launched several usability enhancements and bug fixes.
Usability Enhancements
1. Directly go to Active Sprint and Release
On Quick Links menu on left, two new links are provided – Active Sprint, Active Release. When you click on these links, AgileWrap shows ‘In Progress’ Sprint and Release respectively. If there are multiple ‘In Progress’ Sprints or Releases for the project then AgileWrap shows the Sprint and Release that is ending sooner. In all other cases AgileWrap shows Track>>Iteration and Track>>Release pages respectively where you can select the desired sprint and release.
2. My ToDo enhancements
- You can now set sorting and filtering of columns on Home>>My ToDo page and AgileWrap remembers it when you revisit ToDo page. You can clear the filters by clicking Reset Filter link on top right.
- AgileWrap now remembers ‘View’ column entries on top left. For example you can select ‘Open Items Overdue’ on View column, AgileWrap shows open overdue items when you revisit your ToDo.
- You will not lose the context on ToDo page now as row level refreshing is implemented. When you edit or delete an item, AgileWrap refreshes only the impacted rows.
3. Task Details Page Enhancements – Tasks are usually accessed from Track>>Tasks tab.
- From Task Detail page, you can now view story detail and perform actions on the story while remaining on task details page. This will save few clicks as you do not need to travel to User Story Detail page. On Track>>Tasks>>Task Detail page, hover over User Story field, and click View User Story link to view story in pop up window. On User Story pop up window, you can edit story, add comments, upload attachments etc.
- You can now see description of task’s story on View Task pop up window itself. This will save few clicks and will help understand the context of the task. Hover over ‘more info’ icon next to user story name on Task pop up window and you can look at story description.
4. Quickly jump to Items view from Detail pages – You can now quickly jump to ‘Items’ view of Sprint, Release or User Story from Detail pages of a User Story, Task and Defect. For example when you click on Go To Items link next of Sprint name on Track>>Tasks>>Task Detail page, AgileWrap shows ‘Items’ tab of that sprint. This will save few clicks and will provide smoother navigation among pages. This enhancement is implemented for user stories (Track>>User Story>>User Story Detail page), tasks (Track>>Tasks>>Task Detail page) and defects ( Track>>Defects>>Defect Detail page).
5. Row level refreshing is now implemented for product backlog which is accessed from Plan>>Backlog page. You will not lose the context as you edit or delete an item in the product backlog.
6. Items tab of a Sprint and Release now shows tasks grouped by user stories under Tasks section. This will help view and update tasks easily during daily Status meetings. You can access the tasks from Track>>Iteration>>Iteration Items and Track>>Release>>Release Items tabs.
Bug Fixes
- Sorting now works on Status and Priority fields of Defects grid on Track>>User Story>>Items tab. Also when you edit a defect in pop up window, grid data is refreshed and user stays on the same page.
- Owner dropdown on top shows owner entries in sorted order in all the charts and reports accessible from Analyze>>Reports tab.
- Assign Project values are now sticky on Set Up>>Team Members>>Team Member Detail page when user edits the page.
- Assign Team Member values are now sticky on Set Up>>Projects>>Project Detail page when user edits the page.
In addition to sending feedback by email, you can now send us your ideas, feedback, questions and issues using the new Feedback Form inside AgileWrap. You can access the Form by clicking on Send Feedback link on the footer of AgileWrap User Interface. We promise to respond within few hours.
Use Feedback Form to send us your input
Now you can receive AgileWrap News and Support via Twitter and Facebook also. We also publish AgileWrap news on our Blog and Login page. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter and get answers to your questions and support issues in almost real time.
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, and receive automated updates on new release announcements, maintenance downtime, bug fixes, upcoming releases and industry news.
Often at the end of an iteration, team finds it necessary to split a partially completed user story, and schedule the incomplete tasks of the story in the next iteration. The agile project management tool, AgileWrap, now allows you to split a user story easily. To split a user story, go to Detail page of the story and click Split User Story link on “More Actions” drop down on top right.
Access Split User Story link from "More Links' dropdown
AgileWrap shows a pop up window for the new Split User Story that has many attributes copied from the original story – name with ‘SPLIT OF’ prefix, description, priority and estimated story points. AgileWrap resets status as New for the new Split User Story and clears owner, blocked status, attachments, comments, defects and audit history .
Split User Story pop up window
AgileWrap now allows you to move a user story and its entire content to another project easily. A good scenario is that you are managing many products that have overlapping features. When a new feature request comes in, you are not sure what product it belongs to. So you create a global project in AgileWrap and continue to add new feature requests and defects in this global project. At some time later when you have more information and clarity on a feature request (user story), you can move it to appropriate product backlog.
To move a user story, go to User Story Detail page and click Move User Story link from the “More Actions” drop down on top right. AgileWrap shows a pop up window to select the new project.
Access 'Move User Story' link from User Story Detail page
Move User Story pop up window
Access 'Duplicate User Story' link from User Story Detail page
This week we launched 4 new features in AgileWrap along with fixing some defects.
You can now move, copy and split a user story very easily. You can also use feedback form inside AgileWrap to send us your input.
New Features
- Copying a User Story – You can now copy a user story and its tasks to use it as baseline template for other stories. When you copy a story, you can optionally copy few or all the tasks of the user story. AgileWrap copies story points, estimated hours and priority, but clears actual hours, todo hours, status and comments for the new story. You can access Duplicate link from Detail page of the story in “More Actions” drop down.
- Moving a User Story, Task or Defect – As a Scrum Master or Product Owner you may need to move a user story from one project to another at the time of planning or when managing releases and projects. AgileWrap now allows you to move stories, tasks and defects to another project easily. When you move a user story, its content and all the items (children stories, tasks, unscheduled defects) are moved to the new project. AgileWrap also allow to move an individual task or defect to the new project. You can access Move link from Detail page of the item.
- Splitting a User Story – Often at the end of an iteration, team finds it necessary to split a partially completed user story, and schedule the incomplete tasks of the story in the next iteration. AgileWrap now allows you to split a user story easily. At the time of splitting a user story, AgileWrap displays all the non-accepted tasks and user can select the specific tasks he wants to move to the new (split) user story. The new story is scheduled in the same iteration and release as the original user story. Later, user can schedule the new user story to the desired iteration or product backlog from Plan>>Plan Product page. You can access Split Story link from Detail page of the story in “More Actions” drop down.
- Sending Feedback - You can now send feedback to us while working inside AgileWrap tool. When you click on Send Feedback link on the footer, a feedback form opens. Here you can suggest an idea, write your feedback, ask a question or report an issue. Once we receive your input, we will respond within few hours.
More detailed blog posts about these features will be published in the next few days.
We launched few bug fixes and enhancements this weekend.
- Import : Improved error messaging to user when source file for import is not in UTF-8 encoding.
- If the first row of source file is in unsupported encoding then a proper error message is now given on the initial import screen itself.
- Provided detailed help on how to prepare source file for import and how to convert to UTF-8 encoding. We have added link to help page on start import screen.
- During import, if the import process finds any row in unsupported encoding, proper message is displayed in import history logs which can be viewed from import history screen. Import History can been accessed from Analyze –> Reports –> Import History and the click on the status for the import run to see row level details and issues.
- read more…