Timebox has added Report Writing to its growing list of features

When you log in to Timebox you will now notice the Report Builder tab on your main navigation.  Selecting this tab will take you into the Report Builder tool and here you can:

1. Create reports and save them
2. Customize your reports by selecting which fields from your screens you want to include on the reports
3. Set additional report criteria using conditional logic to create targeted reporting
4. Download the reports as CSV files to import into other applications

In addition to the Report Writing features we added a breadcrumb trail to assist you with getting around in the application.  As Timebox’s features and depth has grown we felt it important to provide an easy to see and use indicator to help you get around.  Enjoy!

Timebox has improved AGAIN!

Timebox has added customization to the product allowing users much more flexibility in their screens.  The new Timebox allows administrators to customize all of their input screens for projects.  Do you need a picklist with options you define?  You can do that!  Do you need to reorder entire sections of your screen layouts in your story forms?  You can do that too.

As an owner of a project you can open the “Project Settings” dialog where you can select “Customize Screens and Fields” to begin customizing your forms.

Customize Fields
From the Customize Fields screen you can select the business object you want to customize.  You are then presented with a list of available fields in the system you can customize or feel free to add your own fields with the “New Field” option.

When a user selects the “New Field” option the first choice is the type of field to create.  The options are:

Date	Allows users to enter a date or pick a date from a popup calendar.
Decimal	Allows users to enter any number up to 18 digits long with up to 10 decimal places.
Number	Allows users to enter any whole number. Leading zeros are removed.
Picklist	Allows users to select a value from a list you define.
Text	Allows users to enter any combination of letters and numbers up to 255 characters.

Once the type of field is selected the user can then define several attribute fields to provide more options to the user and flexibility on how the fields are used.  The field options are:

Caption	This field is the label that will show up on the end form by the input field.
Description	This field let’s the user add some details about the purpose of this field.
Required	Checkbox that makes the field required in order to submit the form
Help Text	This field provides an area for you to add helpful text that will appear on the form as a tooltip by your input.
Length	This limits the number of characters that this field should allow.  The maximum allowed is 255.  This is only available on the Text Custom Field.
Number of Digits	Total length of number including decimal points.  This is only available on the Decimal Custom Field type.
Number of Decimals	Number of decimal points allowed.  This is only available on the Decimal Custom Field type.
Picklist Options	The picklist options are the values that will appear in the dropdown selection in a form.  A user can add multiple values and even reorder them.  This is only available on the Picklist Custom Field Type

Customize Screen Layouts

Once a user is satisfied with all the fields they need you can begin customizing your actual screen layout for your team to use.  From the menu you can select the “Screen Layouts” section to begin your form layout.  On this screen you will find 3 major sections that are used to layout your screen.

1. Create & Order Screens
This section allows the user to create multiple sections within their form.  This allows you to logically group sections of a form as they relate to each other.  You can add sections and then reorder them by simply dragging the handle on the left.

2. Select & Order Fields for Screens
This section of the screen allows you to select from the fields you created earlier as well as standard fields defined by Timebox.  You can use the controls to move fields on and off your form.  In addition, you can order the fields by moving your selected fields up and down the list.

3. Set Options for your fields & select the sections they appear
The final section of the screen allows the user to select which screen section the associated field will appear, in as well as providing options to create Read Only and Required fields.

Agile Definition Of Done

This is a great article by Kelly Waters outlining the agile definition of done:

How can scrum eliminate long unproductive meetings?

Scrum is built on the foundation that everyone required to go from requirements to potentially shippable product is on the same team, preferably in the same general seating area, if not, preferably in the same time zone.  It is also recommended that someone is not on more than one team at a time.

This means that the business team member(s), the tester(s), and the developer(s) required to do the feature are on the team.  This also means that if you ask the question “Were all the people required for this feature on the team” and the answer is no, then you are missing a big component of scrum.  This has major implications and poses some significant challenges to organizations, particularly when they are trying scrum and haven’t organized their people or their workflow according to this concept.

Our guess is that one of the reasons for this recommendation is so that the team can work throughout the day in a fluid manner.  Experience tells us that when you stick a bunch of people in a formal meeting, that it immediately becomes a wasteful activity.  Not to say that you can’t get value out of meetings, but we think you can get much more value out of fluid communication throughout the entire day.

Important Notes about User Stories

User stories are an efficient way to communicate requirements about a desired feature. They are easy to digest, they focus on the important information, and they can expand in detail as you refine your requirements.

For a feature that will not be implemented in the near future, the feature can be a single sentence such as, “As a user I can change my password.” As your features get closer to development time, you can break them up into more specific user stories, such as “As an existing user, I can change my password from any screen so that changing my password is easy to find and perform.”, and “As a user who has forgotten their password, I can reset my password so that I can get into the application quickly.” and so on.

To add further detail, you can add Acceptance Criteria (sometimes called Conditions of Satisfaction) to your user stories. Acceptance Criteria describe specific User Stories. From the first example above, you might have criteria such as “A successful login directs the user to the home screen for their role”, “An invalid user name or password results in the message: “Invalid username or password.”” and “Forgot Password? link on Login screen redirects user to Forgot Password screen.”

• Writing of the User Story is not the end of the conversation it is merely the beginning.
• User Stories should be in the “voice” of the end user as if they have the new feature now.
• User Stories are quick to write.
• The User Story should communicate a need of the user without getting bogged down in too many details.
• The User does not know any technical terms and the User definitely does not know HOW the User Story is going to be accomplished by the developer.  The user only knows what they want.
• The User Story explains the business value of the feature being requested.

Happy scrumming!

New Timebox Features – Security Groups, Exports, and Burndown!

NEW FEATURE Security Roles Timebox now allows for different security roles within the application.  When creating a project, you can assign members to be part of the admin group, the backlog contributor group, or the view only users group.  Here are the definitions of each. Administrator: Administrators can do anything in a project. They are allowed to deactivate or remove other members, and they can change anyone’s security group. Administrators are also allowed to change the project settings. Backlog Contributor: Backlog Contributors can do anything in a project except administrator functions like deactivating or reactivating other project members.  Contributors are not allowed to change project settings. View Only Users: View Only Users can only view the product backlog.  They may not add or change items or perform any administrative functions.  View Only Users may invite new members to the project.

NEW FEATURE  Export Your Backlog to Excel   Timebox now allows you to export your entire backlog to a .csv file.  It’s as easy as clicking “Export” in the top menu of your backlog!

NEW FEATURE  Burndown Chart   Timebox now provides a burndown chart next to the backlog.  The burndown chart works in real-time, adjusting as you make changes to your sprint.

TIMEBOX NEEDS YOUR FEEDBACK! The Timebox team is always looking for ways to improve Timebox. As you use Timebox, take a moment to click the Feedback tab on the lefthand side.  Tell us what you like and what you don’t like and we’ll apply your feedback to future releases.  Go directly to the feedback page here.

Introducing Timebox: A Simple Agile Project Management Tool

Timebox is a simple, intuitive way to manage agile projects. Within ONE screen you manage your user stories, iterations of any size, priorities, backlogs and releases. Timebox lets you see every aspect of your project easily, without any unnecessary clutter. Multiple teams can work on the same product backlog, and still maintain their own velocity and manage their own sprints.
Timebox is cloud-based, allowing for rapid startup and virtual team support.

Timebox is being introduced free of charge. No one will be asked to pay until Timebox is providing lots of value to lots of people. The best way to continually improve Timebox and make it the best tool possible is through user feedback. First-users of Timebox will receive a permanent discount on any future standard fees.

We invite you to visit www.agiletimebox.com for more information and to test it out. We welcome your thoughts and feedback. Please feel free to use the feedback feature within Timebox or contact us directly at contact@agiletimebox.com