What this screen is for
The backlog is where work is prioritised before it reaches a board. Items are grouped under the story they belong to, with anything unparented collected separately, and each row shows its order, type, points, assignee and iteration. Groups can be expanded and collapsed so you can work at story level or drill into the detail, and the type filter narrows the list.
When to use it
Use it when planning: deciding what matters most, sizing items, and assigning work to an iteration before a sprint starts. Choose the project at the top.
What you see on this screen
The columns, in order: Order, Type, Title, then Iteration where a single project is selected or Project where all projects are, followed by Points, Priority and Assignee.
Each story row shows its type as a pill, a count of finished child items out of the total with a progress bar, its story points, its priority and the assignee's name, or a dash where nobody is assigned. Story rows can be dragged to reorder them, which is how priority is set.
Expanding a story lists the work items beneath it, and offers links to add a Task or a Bug under it. Items with no parent story are collected under Ungrouped Work Items.
Filters and actions
A project picker chooses the backlog, with All Projects as an option, and a Type dropdown narrows to one kind of item. Expand all and Collapse all open or close every group at once, with a counter showing how many are currently expanded; each story also has its own chevron. New creates an item in the selected project. A view switcher moves between Board, Backlog, List and Calendar over the same items.
Status values
There is no status column here. An item counts as finished for the progress bar when its state falls in the completed category. Item type is one of epic, feature, user_story, task, bug, issue or test_case. Priority is shown as it is stored, so it reads in lower case.
Related
- Sprints
- Boards
- My Work Items