Step types and workflows
Define the kinds of work on a board and the statuses each one moves through.
A step type is a kind of work, such as Development or Design. Each belongs to one Game Board, is allowed in some of its phases, and carries a workflow: the ordered statuses a Step of that type walks through.
Manage them on a board’s page in Settings → Game Engine.
Type identity
| Field | |
|---|---|
| Name | Unique on the board. |
| Description | What this kind of work is. |
| Icon and Colour | How its cards look. |
| Allowed board phases | The columns a Step of this type may appear in. |
| Allow Traps | Lets Heroes raise a Step of this type as a Trap, counted in the bug ratio. |
Time on Steps of the type named Testing is reported as testing time; everything else is development. Keep that name for your testing work.
Workflow statuses
The workflow is the walk a Step takes, in order. A new Step starts at the first status, and the walk finishes at the first Done status.
Each status has:
| Field | |
|---|---|
| Display name | The gamified name Heroes see. |
| Functional name | Stable identity for reporting. Cannot be renamed; remove and re-add instead. |
| Board phase | The column the Step lands in. |
| Category | To do, Doing, or Done. |
| Action label | The button text that moves a Step out of this status, for example Send to Review. |
| Jira status | Which XP stage the status counts as. Decides when XP is released. |
Side statuses and branches
Put a status such as Blocked after the Done status: it becomes a side status, reached only from the statuses you choose. Turn on Trigger Status on a status to set:
- Multi-Status: which statuses may move a Step into it (Source Status) and which it may move a Step to (Destination Status).
- Input: whether a Comment or Link is Not asked, Optional or Required when a Step arrives.
At runtime the buttons read the action label for the next status, Move to {status} for a branch, and Return to {status} when leaving a side status.
Lifecycle
A new step type starts as a Draft. Its identity and workflow can only be edited while it is a Draft.
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Activate | Publishes the type to the board. Needs at least one allowed phase and two statuses, all mapped to allowed phases. |
| Deactivate | Back to Draft so it can be edited. No new Steps can pick it, but existing Steps keep moving. |
| Archive | Retires it. Its history is kept and no new work can pick it. |
| Restore to Draft | Brings an archived type back to Draft to change it first. |
| Delete | Only for a Draft that was never activated. |
The default types
| Type | Workflow (action labels in brackets) |
|---|---|
| Development | To Do (Start Development) → In Development (Send to Review) → Code Review (Approve) → Done |
| Design | To Do (Start Design) → In Design (Send for Approval) → Done |
| Testing | To Do (Start Testing) → In Testing (Finish Testing) → Done |
| PM | To Do (Start) → In Progress (Complete) → Done |