Product management configuration

In this article, you will learn how to configure the Urban Turtle’s Product Management module (version 4.22 or later).

The Product Management module is designed for Product Owners to categorize and classify their business needs in a two or three-level hierarchy. For example, it can be used to define the following:

“projects” that contain “features” that contain “stories”
“themes” that contain “epics” that contain “stories”.

You can configure this module and select the relevant work item type to represent the different levels.

To configure Urban Turtle’s Product Management module, you need the TFS project administrator access rights in order to be able to access the Urban Turtle tab in TFS’ Configuration Project.

Type of product management structure

Two-level hierarchy

The two-level hierarchy can be viewed as a “parent-->child” or “top level-->child” structure. Typically named “feature” in the Microsoft Scrum template, the parent level is used to group items of the child level (i.e. product backlog items and bugs).

Three-level hierarchy

The three-level hierarchy can be viewed as a “grandparent-->parent-->child” or “top level-->second level-->child” structure. Typically named “Epic” in the MSDN white paper Agile Portfolio Management, the grandparent level is used to group items of the parent level (i.e. features). And the parent level is used to group items of the child level (i.e. product backlog items and bugs)

Steps to configure Urban Turtle’s Product Management module

Note: You need the TFS project administrator access rights in order to be able to access this configuration view.

From your project page in Team Web Access (TWA), open the administration page.
Be sure to be at the project level, and not at the team level.
Open the Urban Turtle tab.
Select the number of work item levels you need for your product management:

Select two or three levels.

Select your work item type for the top level.
If you selected a three-level structure, select your work item type for the second level.
Choose the desired work item types from the "Child work item types" list, usually "Bug" and "Product Backlog Item".

You can choose multiple work item types.
They should be the same work item types as those displayed in your Product Backlog.

Click on the Apply button.
Close the configuration view.
Refresh the "Product Management" page.

Configuration of Start and End Dates for the Roadmap (version 5.7 or later)

For prior versions, see Configuration of the start and end date for the roadmap

To assign start and end dates to your parent level work item type, typically a Feature, and to use the Product Management Roadmap, you need to have a Start Date and End Date field on the work item. Note that in the default Microsoft Scrum and Agile templates there is no defined Start Date field, but there is an End Date field named “Target Date”.

The steps to add a start date field are the following:

From your project page in Team Web Access (TWA), open the administration page.
Be sure to be at the project level, and not at the team level.
Open the Urban Turtle tab.
Go in the General Configuration Section under Product Management.
Select the field you want to apply for the Start Date.
Save

Note that if your TFS process template does not contain the selected field, a warning message will appear giving you the opportunity to add it to the template.

You can also set the End Date field by the same technique.

Using UrbanTurtle.StartDate and UrbanTurtle.EndDate

If you don’t have a Start Date in your Template, note that you can select UrbanTurtle.StartDate to create and use that field in your work item. You can also use UrbanTurtle.EndDate if you do not want to use the default Target Date field for the End Date.

If your template doesn’t already have the UrbanTurtle.StartDate or EndDate, it will be created in your Work Item Field definition.

Conditions for work item types

For a work item type to be used at the top or second level:

Must use the rankable field that is defined in your project.
The Start Date field is mandatory if you want to use the roadmap.
The End Date field is mandatory if you want to use the roadmap.

For a work item type to be used at the child level:

The rankable field must be defined in your project in the same manner as in the product backlog (although this condition is not mandatory).
It must be different from all selected parents.

Note: Multiple work item types can be selected at the child level (e.g. product backlog items and bugs).

Need to add a work item type to be used at the top level?

We recommend that you follow Microsoft’s documentation if you need to add a new work item type (WIT) to be used at the top level. You should also refer to Team Foundation Server’s documentation:

MSDN Agile Portfolio Management: Using TFS to support backlogs across multiple teams

Follow the steps described in the "Add another backlog level" section.

Create a work item type
MSDN Modify or add a custom work item type (WIT)

Hint

With Team Foundation Server 2013, Microsoft introduces the “Feature” work item type in the Scrum and Agile process template. You can duplicate and rename this WIT to be used at the top level (usually known as “Epic”).

Card color

If you wish to change the color assigned to your work item type in the Product Management module, follow the steps below.

Note: Assigned colors are used in all Urban Turtle’s modules.

Open the Urban Turtle configuration file of the project (typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft Team Foundation Server 12.0\Application Tier\Web Services\Areas\UrbanTurtle\Configuration).
In the <CardStyles> section, add an entry similar to the following: <CardStyle WorkItemType="[Name of new WIT]" Color="#ff0000" />.

Adjust the color code to the desired color.

You can also refer to this article for more details: http://support.urbanturtle.com/entries/21828722-Defining-a-non-standard-work-item.