How to Link Different Parts of The Project Stages

Today I want to explain how to link between different parts of the project stages.

A project is never just one thing. It includes many tasks and items that – if you do everything right – come together to form a single whole and a successful end result.



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Each project is performed in stages. You have to first define the requirements of the features that you want to develop over the course of the project. Then you have to break down each requirement into workable tasks. When the tasks are completed and the features have been developed according to the established requirements, you must run test plans to locate any potential bugs. If you find any bugs, you report them for fixing so that you can ensure that the entire project works according to plan.

Clearly this is a complex process and it requires you to keep track a lot of information along the way. And if all that information isn’t tracked correctly, your project can turn into a total mess very quickly. A poorly tracked project means you have a chaotic work situation, frustrated developers, massive delays, and, ultimately, an angry client. Needless to say, you want to avoid a nightmare like that.

To keep a project running smoothly, you want to make sure that every aspect of it is connected. That way, tasks and tests don’t fall through the cracks, get ignored, and create trouble in your development process. The best way for you to keep everything connected is to use Elementool’s record linking feature. Elementool makes it easy for you to link all of the various project components together, so you can track each item along the way.

Now let’s talk about exactly how you utilize Elementool to link those components.

As you know, Elementool offers a full set of tools that helps you run the different stages of the project.
We enable you to write feature descriptions using the Requirement Management system, then you can break down each feature description into workable issues and assign them to your team members. At the same time, you can define the testing plan by using Test Cases to write tests for the different features in your projects.
All these parts are linked together.

Let’s say for example that we build a shopping cart for the website.

We will create a feature description in Requirements Management that will describe how the shopping cart should work.
Then we define issues for the specific parts of the shopping cart. This way the developers can start developing it.
Finally, we write the test cases that we should run to make sure the shopping cart is bug free.

Using the Link Issue feature, we can link the Requirements to the Issues and Test Cases.
Under the feature list in the Requirements Management, we can see the issues and Test Cases that are part of each feature.
This way everything is grouped together and we can see the exact status of each part of the project.

If you still don’t have Requirements Management or Test Cases, you should click on the Update Now button below to add these services to your account to make sure your projects are run properly.

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File Attachment and Form Customization

In this clip I would like to introduce two new updates that we’ve added to the new Issue Form and also talk about an important topic – Backup.



The first update brings some cool new options to the file attachment feature.
When attaching files, you can now see the files you just uploaded before submitting them to the system.
This way you can make sure that you attached the correct files. For example, when attaching a screenshot, you want to make sure you uploaded a screen image and not an embarrassing picture from your last vacation.
If you change your mind about the file, you can easily delete it by clicking on the delete button. All done before updating the issue.

By the way, did you know that you can increase the file attachment size limit from 1MB to 50MB by adding File Sharing to your account?
Adding File Sharing is easy. Simply go to Control Panel (only administrators have access to the control panel).
Click on Edit Accounts.
Go To Manage Account List and add File Sharing Premium to your account.
Click on Update when done.

The second update is in the form’s customization option.
We received feedback from clients asking us to bring back the option to display short fields in three columns in the main section of the form as used to be done on the old issue form.
So we did. Now you can have three columns of short fields right at the center of the form, giving you additional customization flexibility.
You can add fields to this section by simply dragging and dropping them into the field containers.
So easy!

Lastly, I’d like to talk about an important subject – Backup.
As you may know, our privacy policy dictates that when you delete information from your account, it’s being deleted immediately and permanently from the website.
This means that if you trash issues, remove a field from the form, delete users from the account, and so on, these changes are permanent.
Sometimes we receive calls from clients asking us to restore data that they deleted by accident. For example, a few weeks ago a client deleted one of the fields on her issue form and called to ask us to restore the field.
Well, unfortunately we can’t do that because in order for us to protect your privacy, data cannot be restored once deleted.

But there is a solution for this.
Elementool enables you to download a self backup file with all the information from your account. You can download your backup file at any time. And we recommend that you do that at least once a week. This way, if something has been deleted by mistake, it can be restored from the backup file.
To download a backup of your account, please follow these steps:
Click on Control Panel.
Click on Edit Accounts.
Click on Download Database.
Select the account you wish to backup and click on Download.
Elementool will send you a link to the backup file.
There, all done! Now just make sure to do these backups regularly so you don’t lose anything important.

In a few weeks I’ll send you another update about the new search feature that we’ve been working on.

Stay tuned!

The New Issue Form

Hi, it’s Allison here, and I have a brand new form to tell you about. As you may know, the Issue Form is the main form that is used with the Issue Tracking and Help Desk tools to submit new issues and to update existing ones.



The Issue Form is the main form that is used with the Issue Tracking and Help Desk tools to submit new issues and to update existing ones. We’ve come to the conclusion that it’s finally time to retire this form because we want to introduce more advanced technology. I want to introduce you to the new Issue Form.