March 2013 – Elementool Blog

How to Create an Agile Backlog in 2 Minutes

It’s Allison here again.

In this clip I’m going to talk about Backlog.
Most likely you’ve heard this term in the past.

I’ll explain what an Agile Backlog is, the advantages of using an Agile Backlog, and show you how you can setup your own Backlog using your Elementool account.

A Backlog is a list of the tasks or issues that the team needs to complete in a specific iteration. It shows you the progress of the development and the status of each task.

It’s a lot like a car GPS. It shows you how fast you are going, how much you’ve traveled so far, and how much you still have ahead.

Each row on the Backlog represents an Iteration.
Each column represents an Issue Status.
Usually at the beginning of the iteration, all the tasks will be under the Open status column, which means that they are not completed yet and need to be worked on.

In the middle of the iteration, tasks will change their status and location on the Backlog. Some will be in progress, some complete, and a few still open.

The ultimate goal is to reach the end of the iteration when all the tasks are in the Complete column.

To setup a Backlog in your Elementool account, you should follow these steps:

1. Define all the tasks in the Issue Tracking account and assign them as Status ‘Open’.
2. In your Scheduling tool, define a project and iterations.
I explained in detail how to setup projects and iterations in previous clips and I suggest that you check them out. You can find the links to these clips below.
3. Add the Issue Tracking tasks to the iteration by using the ‘Add Issue’ option.
4. Once all the Issues have been added to the iteration, let’s go back to the Issue Tracking’s Welcome page.
5. If you don’t see the Backlog, add it by clicking on any item’s Edit button, check off the ‘Show Backlog’ option, and click on Save.
6. Now the Backlog is displayed and the Issues are automatically added to it. You can see their status and progress on the Backlog.

I would like to offer you the Issue Tracking and Scheduling for only $119.99/month.
Added to this, I’m going to give you two extra services for free:

• Test Cases – for making sure everything is tested and no bugs are slipping through the cracks.
• Requirements Management – for making sure the project is developed according to what your clients want.
So click on the button below and upgrade your account now!

Your Trial Account Expires Tomorrow!

Are you excited to have the tools and strategies that can help you manage projects with ease?
Then you need Elementool, which offers a simple system for running successful projects.

You trial account will expire tomorrow so you need to act fast!

With your Elementool account, you will be able to:
• have better control over your project progress – this will reduce stress and enable you to have more free time.
• improve communication between team members – reduce frustration among your team members, improve team moral, and increase productivity.
• finish tasks faster and finish projects on time – making you more competitive and enabling you to do more for less effort and to earn more money
• and much more

Elementool can save you up to $13,160 a month for every 10 people on your team.
That’s an annual savings of $157,920!

But, believe it or not, we aren’t charging thousands of dollars for our project management system.
Your investment in Elementool starts at only $89.99 a month.

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How To prevent Bugs From Falling Through the Cracks

Hi, I’m Allison.

Today I want to talk to you about bugs and how to prevent them from falling through the cracks and getting ignored.

I don’t like bugs. Bugs cause problems. But bugs are a part of the programming game. I hate it when you think that the product is ready for release and after it’s out clients call to report bugs. That can be pretty embarrassing.

But you know what can be even worse? When a bug is discovered by the client, and then you find out that this bug was actually known to the team before the release — but because of a weak reporting process, it fell through the cracks and was never fixed.

It’s like when you make a grocery list for a big meal. You buy everything on the list, but then when you’re in the middle of making the meal, you realize you’re missing an ingredient. You look over your list and realize you did include it – it’s just that you scribbled it on the back of the paper instead of putting it neatly on the front with everything else, so it was overlooked.

That’s annoying enough in cooking, but it’s really bad news in project management, because the stakes are much higher. For instance, I was once working on a project that we had just finished and released, only to discover afterwards that there was a significant bug. Well, when my team and I re-traced our steps to try to figure out what went wrong, we discovered that someone had found the bug and simply didn’t report it correctly. As a result, a problem that could have easily been fixed long before the software release was overlooked.

That’s why Elementool utilizes the Bug Life Cycle model, an effective method for preventing bugs from falling through the cracks.

The cycle starts with new bugs and enhancements being submitted into the Elementool account by Quality Assurance as new issues.

Next, team leaders assign priority to new issues, and those issues are assigned to developers in the Elementool account.

After that, R&D fixes issues according to priority, and the issues’ status is changed to Fixed in the Elementool account. The issues are then assigned back to the QA for testing.

Following that, R&D releases a new internal version with fixed bugs and new features.

Then QA checks fixed issues in the new release, using the Elementool report engine.

Finally, fixed issues are closed in Elementool by QAand non-fixed issues are reopened in the Elementool account, allowing the cycle to resume.

By using the Bug Life Cycle model, Elementoolis able to keep bugs in check, making sure that any reported bugs are fixed before software is released.

You can get Elementool’s Issue Tracking for only $89.99 a month with unlimited users.

I would like to offer you to add three more services to your Issue Tracking account. Any combination of three additional services from the following:
• Help Desk – for running customer support and making your clients happy.
• File Sharing – for sharing files on the online and saving time.
• Test Cases – for making sure everything is tested and no bugs are slipping through the crack
• Requirements Management – for making sure the project is developed according to what your clients want.
• Scheduling – for managing the project plan and schedule and making sure tasks are completed on time.
• Conference – for running online meetings and improving communication.

Pick three of these services for only additional $30 a month.

Yes, that’s right.

For $119.99 a month you can have any combination of 4 Elementool services.
But that’s not all, if you upgrade your account now, I’ll give you 50% off the rate of the first month.
For example: if you upgrade now to $119.99, you will pay only $59.99 this time.
You better hurry because this special discount will expire at the end of the day.

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