Backlog

Overview

The Backlog page helps teams sort, review, and prioritize work before it moves into active Workflow states.

Use it to:

• Separate new or under-defined Stories from active work
• Review work before scheduling it
• Reorder upcoming work by priority
• Assign Stories to Teams, Workflows, and Iterations

Set up the Backlog

The Backlog is powered by Backlog Workflow States. These states appear before Unstarted and control which Stories appear on the Backlog page.

Admins and Owners can add Backlog states to existing workflows from the Workflow States Settings page. You can also create a workflow dedicated to backlog intake and refinement.

Recommended setup

The simplest setup is to keep Backlog states in the same workflow that the Story will eventually move through.

Benefits of this approach:

• Stories stay in one workflow
• Teams can drag and drop to reprioritize easily
• You can move a Story forward and add it to an Iteration from the same view
• Teams can signal whether work is unreviewed, being researched, or ready to plan

Create a simple backlog process

Use a single Backlog State or multiple Backlog states to reflect how work moves from idea to planned work.

• For example:
  • Unreviewed
  • Reviewed
  • Needs Research
  • Ready to Plan

Keep the state names simple. Shared language helps everyone understand what is ready and what still needs work.

Add Stories to the Backlog

Create a Story and select a Backlog workflow state. Any Story in a Backlog state appears on the Backlog page. Workflow states for the Backlog appear in the State dropdown for all Stories.

View and organize the Backlog

Use the Backlog page to search, filter, group, and reorder Stories.

To organize work:

• Drag and drop into a custom order -> use the dotted handle on the far left to enable manual sorting within the State groupings
• Assign owners
• Add labels
• Fill in Custom Fields
• Group Stories to review work by the dimension that matters most

Best Practices

Review the Backlog

Daily or frequent reviews work best to help it stay current and easy to prioritize. It also helps to assign one person or a small group to triage new work.

• Use workflow states for review to make the review status visible in the workflow state itself. This can make it easy to see which Stories still need attention. For example:
  • Unreviewed and Reviewed
  • Unplanned and Planned
• Use labels or custom fields for review.
  • This gives you flexibility, but it usually requires more manual upkeep than updating the workflow state.
    • Use case could be one prefers simpler Backlog states and tracking reviews with a Label or Custom Field instead.
      • For example, create a Reviewed or Unreviewed label. Then sort or filter the page to find work that still needs triage.

Schedule work from the Backlog

The Backlog page makes it easy to schedule Stories into upcoming Iterations or assign them to specific Teams and Workflows.

• For example:
  1. Filter by Epic to focus on the work you are planning
  2. Use Group By > Iteration
  3. Identify Stories that still need an Iteration
  4. Then:
     1. Update the Iteration column inline
     2. Or bulk edit multiple Stories at once
     3. Or right-click and use Move to Current Iteration or Move to Next Iteration

Add priority

The Priority Custom Field is the clearest way to show what should be worked on next.

• Assign Priority during review. Then use Group By > Priority to scan upcoming work quickly.
  • Example use case: Bugs. Filter by Story Type and review bug priority separately from feature planning.